Thinking more seriously about relocating to MSP. (Minneapolis: apartment, rentals)

[Hockeygirl063]

I have been reading the forum and have gotten quite a bit of great information so far. It seems like most areas have good/great school and family friendly places to live that are safe.

I have a couple questions about utilities, of course I know it can depends on the type of housing, age and insulation it has but how much is electricity if it is just being used for lights? I am hoping we can find a place with gas appliances and heat. The place we live in now is all electric and it's about $100 a month depending if we have to turn on the heat which we did because it has been cold. Same with gas how much in an average month?

Right now how much is a gallon of gasoline?

Eggs milk bread?

basic cable? What options are there. We currently have Comcast


Thanks so much.

[ellysbelly]

COL is far more impacted by rent/housing prices, taxes (property, income, and to a lesser extent: sales) and insurance prices than the factors you're asking about, but I am a total planner, too, so I get it.

There are SO many variables to consider for gas/electric-- size of house, age, insulation, weather, personal comfort. Your best bet is to determine the rate that you pay per kilowatt (I think that's the measurement used, but not 100% certain) where you are and what you would pay here. Same goes with gas-- how efficient the system you're using is (age, condition, maintenance), size of home, insulation, usage, comfort, etc.

For instance, we use a good bit of water (3 kids, 4 athletes, more laundry than you can possibly imagine, multiple people taking multiple showers per day, cooking/cleaning, etc)-- which also spikes our gas (water heater) bill-- to keep up with those hot showers, laundry, dishwasher, etc, along with our water bill. Other people, even with the same amount of people (or even more) would likely consume far less water/gas.

Gas is currently $1.80-ish/gallon

I don't buy milk nor bread (as my kids and I are all gluten free and we usually drink water or iced tea)-- and I buy my eggs from a farmer, so they're pricier than some, but far more delicious (I pay $3/dozen to a farmer that will deliver to my front door- there's another farmer where I buy pork that's only $2/dozen but he's 35 miles away, so I only get them when I'm picking up a bulk pork order) Costco and ALDI, as well as SuperTarget, are all here-- and I don't believe that there's that much variation from place to place (though I could be wrong when it comes to those items-- but I find the prices for other items at Costco to be identical to what I paid in FL)

I don't think that you'll find cable rates are all that different, but again, there are tons of variables (bundles with phone/internet) or options such as DirecTV and, obviously, constant promotions. Also, not all areas have Comcast here-- strangely, my home doesn't have Comcast as an option but others in my suburb do.

[pvoyd]

Originally Posted by ellysbelly

COL is far more impacted by rent/housing prices, taxes (property, income, and to a lesser extent: sales) and insurance prices than the factors you're asking about, but I am a total planner, too, so I get it.

There are SO many variables to consider for gas/electric-- size of house, age, insulation, weather, personal comfort. Your best bet is to determine the rate that you pay per kilowatt (I think that's the measurement used, but not 100% certain) where you are and what you would pay here. Same goes with gas-- how efficient the system you're using is (age, condition, maintenance), size of home, insulation, usage, comfort, etc.

For instance, we use a good bit of water (3 kids, 4 athletes, more laundry than you can possibly imagine, multiple people taking multiple showers per day, cooking/cleaning, etc)-- which also spikes our gas (water heater) bill-- to keep up with those hot showers, laundry, dishwasher, etc, along with our water bill. Other people, even with the same amount of people (or even more) would likely consume far less water/gas.

Gas is currently $1.80-ish/gallon

I don't buy milk nor bread (as my kids and I are all gluten free and we usually drink water or iced tea)-- and I buy my eggs from a farmer, so they're pricier than some, but far more delicious (I pay $3/dozen to a farmer that will deliver to my front door- there's another farmer where I buy pork that's only $2/dozen but he's 35 miles away, so I only get them when I'm picking up a bulk pork order) Costco and ALDI, as well as SuperTarget, are all here-- and I don't believe that there's that much variation from place to place (though I could be wrong when it comes to those items-- but I find the prices for other items at Costco to be identical to what I paid in FL)

I don't think that you'll find cable rates are all that different, but again, there are tons of variables (bundles with phone/internet) or options such as DirecTV and, obviously, constant promotions. Also, not all areas have Comcast here-- strangely, my home doesn't have Comcast as an option but others in my suburb do.

Agree that discussing the cost of utilities is meaningless without knowing one's household size and composition, and desired housing - type (own vs. rental, single-family house vs. townhouse vs. apartment), age, quality of insulation, etc.

[Hockeygirl063]

Wow your gasoline is so much cheaper than here.

We do some shopping at Costco now and I am glad there is Costco in MN. We have Target with some grocery but I don't think it is a Super Target. probably more prevalent there since that is the company headquarters in Minneapolis.

I just bought eggs today regular ones although I do buy brown eggs sometimes I paid $3.49 for 1 1/2 dozen. Milk was $2.99 that was store brand (Safeway).

We currently rent and pay $1495 plus water, sewer and garbage that's about $70 for those. The rent here is getting way out of hand. We pay less than someone who is new to living here I am sure. We have been here for 9 years. I was looking on CL and saw quite a few rentals that were townhouses and had garages for the same price we are paying here in Oregon.

The prospect of moving is both frightening and exciting. 25 + years ago I moved from PA to Seattle with barely anything and no savings to speak of. Not sure I was completely sane when I did it but I am glad I did. I was single then with a boyfriend. Now I am married and we have a daughter .

I contacted one moving company and they gave me a ballpark estimate on that roughly $2500. But i am sure it is going to be a little more and i will get several estimates when the time comes.

Anyone have an recommendations on moving companies? Good or bad things to share?

Thanks again for the replies

[Citykid3785]

Eggs, $1.29-$1.99 I'd say?

[ellysbelly]

PS Just filled up today (at Costco) for $1.65/gallon-- filled up my SUV for $25; that was a nice treat!

And noticed that eggs were right around $1.60/dozen at ALDI.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Eggs, bread and milk are all very reasonable here I think and are probably comparable to other parts of the country. I try to get the free-range organic eggs because I have this perhaps odd belief that a happy chicken makes a better egg. We survive on comcast internet+netfix so I'm not sure how much Cable TV would cost. I want to say there is a package that includes cable and internet with HBOGO for around $70-80/month.

[earslikeacat]

I.d be concerned with that moving estimate. It cost me $3500 to move 1bed 1bath townehome from Chicago. They held my stuff hostage until i paid an extra $800 "carry fee", although it is an elevator building and the truck backed up to the front door. And it was a nationwide moving company to boot.
Do you have a good job lined up? Do NOT move here without a job that pays at least 40k. To what neighborhood are you thinking about moving to? Not Northside I hope!

[ellysbelly]

Originally Posted by earslikeacat

I.d be concerned with that moving estimate. It cost me $3500 to move 1bed 1bath townehome from Chicago. They held my stuff hostage until i paid an extra $800 "carry fee", although it is an elevator building and the truck backed up to the front door. And it was a nationwide moving company to boot.
Do you have a good job lined up? Do NOT move here without a job that pays at least 40k. To what neighborhood are you thinking about moving to? Not Northside I hope!

I used U-Pack and paid $3300 to move the (pared down) contents of a 3000 sq ft home from FL to MSP. We did have to hire help on both sides to pack and unpack (which cost us another $700)-- so while a full service move from anywhere to MPS at $2500 is dubious, it's VERY possible with 'full service'-ish cerriers.

PS Your story of being held hostage is EXACTLY why I opted for ABF/U-pack. No hidden fees, no massive increase from an estimate, the price was dead on (and if I needed extra space, it was a minimal upcharge). HIGHLY recommended.

[Hockeygirl063]

Thank you Elly!!

We have decided to sell most of the furniture. Still debating if I want to sell Zoe's dresser and armoire, but we already sold her crib/toddler bed so it isn't a complete set plus she is older and would probably enjoy picking something out for herself.

We are in a 1100 sq apartment and we don't have any super high end furniture so selling the dining room table and our bedroom wont be too difficult. I already made a list of the few things furniture wise I need to keep. I have a bookshelf which I have had at least 25 years. it is very sturdy and another bookcase which has our dvd's. There's another thing we need to pare down. We have tons of dvd's it might be hard to get rid of all but I know there are some we can get rid of.

Actually when my mom moved they hired people to unload and they said it was worth every penny. They had friends help load so they didn't have to pay for that i think they had pizza afterwards :-)