Wednesday, July 29, 2009
There are pros and cons to it all, Pittsburgh
Posted by JennyPop City has an article out about the wonders of Pittsburgh’s low cost of living, How To Live Like A Millionaire: Live Here!
The many benefits of the region are certainly what attracted us to this area. But we’ve had a reality check since then.
Sure, the houses cost less. But our property taxes on a house valued around $25,000 add up to about the same amount (after all three bills come in) as our property taxes on a $270,000 house in Juneau. No savings there.
Food may cost less (it does everywhere when compared to Juneau) ... and I distinctly remember being blown away by low bar and restaurant tabs when we visited ... but that hasn’t made up for the higher utility bills we’ve had to pay.
On the one hand, our house is more than double the size of the house we had in Juneau. Utilities should be expected to be higher. On the other hand, the bills we were paying last winter were for an empty house with heat set to 55 F so that drywall mud would not freeze. There was no level of comfort being achieved, and the bills were more than double what we paid for a comfortable living environment in Juneau. Adding to the negative (and my fear of next winter) is that the local bills were using a brand-new, energy-star furnace in a fully-insulated house. Our place in Juneau had an old boiler and no insulation until we added some in the attic, and the heat ran on oil rather than gas. For the whole winter in Juneau we paid about what we paid for the worst month here. And there was more snow in Juneau.
We’re definitely not living like millionaires here. We rarely get a chance to eat out and enjoy those low food prices. But that can’t all be blamed on Pittsburgh taxes and utilities, a lot has to do with renovating a house...Another area where prices are no lower than anywhere else. As a friend of mine recently said on Facebook ... “I’ve come to realize that money...runs out quickly when you’re improving your home.”
