I have retired from 3 different positons and get 3 checks each month. I have often wondered if I could live in a different place and live better with my present income. Does anyone have any information on the (cheapest) place to live. I perfer the USA. Thank You. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), April 25, 2000

Answers

Hi try the Florida panhandle, been here three years,moved from Key LARGO. Land prices are cheap as is the cost of living.Climate is between zone 8 and 9. 20 miles from Chipley Fl. Check it out.Daryll

-- Daryll (twincrk@hotmail.com), April 25, 2000.

I have lived in 48 of the states and the cheapest cost of living in my opinion is--Iowa. I sold a 4 bedroom ranch style home built in the 1970 with full basement 3 car garage and machine shop/barn on 5 acreas for 29,900.00. That was average near Fort Dodge, Iowa in 1995. I don't think it has changed very much since then. If you buy in bulk than you can feed a family of 4 for about 1000.00 a year. However, Iowa people are the nosiest people on planet earth and the education system ranks next to--none at all !

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), April 25, 2000.

We are in a similar position. My husband gets an Air Force retirement every month which we believe could be enough to live on, even with our five sons, if we choose wisely. We are getting ready to sell a house and will have about $60,000 in equity after doing so. I would like to use the equity money to create a home and homestead for us. We are fortunate to not have to worry about medical insurance, also, so I believe we could focus entirely on growing our food, spending time with our kids (homeschooled), and just following our most passionate interests. When I read about the obstacles some have overcome, I feel that it would be such a shame to waste the opportunity we have. We are already living differently than the mainstream and have a lot of experience with home building and renovating, although up to this point our experience has been in conventional building. We are thinking strongly of Minnesota, maybe within driveable distance to St. Cloud so that our kids can attend college there if they wish to while living at home. We've lived in Minnesota before and loved it. We seem to be well suited to the northern climates and are drawn to areas like Minnesota, Wisconsin, upstate New York, and New England. It is important to me to be in an area with non-intrusive home school laws. We are thinking of building rather than buying but aren't set in stone about this yet. We'd like to do it for far less than the $60,000 so that we can have extra for things like alternative power. Thanks! Lucy

-- Lucy (Saligers@aol.com), April 25, 2000.

Lucy, it sounds like you folks are well set! I've just been looking at the property UnitedCountry has listed on the net, and if you want to build, (use your five boys for labor! -- when my oldest girl was twelve she was my main helper while I build a small barn!) it would be easy to find land. If you chose land that was well wooded, you could build with logs or use cordwood construction, getting most of the materials off your own land. It would take a while and definitely be a lot of work, but has been done before and could be done again. Check out the situation with regard to codes, regulations, and taxes.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), April 25, 2000.

Eagle, you have focused too narrowly. Cheapest is not necessarily best. If that is your primary concern, however, I would suggest Haiti. You will live far above your means. Put together ALL your "druthers", and cheap may be one of them, but I'll bet dollars to dirty socks, you have others! GL!

-- Brad (Me) (homefixer@mix-net.net), April 25, 2000.

You might what to check out www.homefair.com, www.unitedcountry.com, and www.money.com (best places). You can customize your searches. Good luck!

-- Lorin (netorcs@pacbell. net), April 25, 2000.

Check out WV. Call 1-800-wva for tourist info. Try looking at Homes and land magazine in our region for rentals/sales or our Market Bulletin.

-- Anne (Marshwiggle2@aol.com), April 25, 2000.

sorry----thats 1-800-call-wva

-- Anne (Marshwiggle2@aol.com), April 25, 2000.

If you want cheap, don't choose Wisconsin. We just moved from there. A nice state, but one of the top tax states in the nation. Also most counties are going to zoning requiring a minimum purchase of 35 acres to build a house. Property is getting expensive in the southern part of the state. We moved to Missouri and love it here. Property is cheaper, taxes are MUCH cheaper, heat is cheaper ( we heat with wood here), the gardening season is longer, etc. Where you live does make a big difference in your cost of living. Good luck!

-- Deb (andersland@webound.com), April 26, 2000.

Well my husband and I chose Oklahoma although we aren't there yet. Here are the reasons. For one thing there is more to it than where is the cheapest. You could pay $10/acre for land but if you can't use it the way you see fit it isn't worth it. Here in California you can easily find 20-40 acres in rural areas for $1000/acre or less, but it could cost you $30,000 before you can stick a shovel in the ground in fees, taxes and inspections. Then there are freedom issues. Oklahoma has good gun laws, homeschooling is constitutionally protected, You need no permission from anyone to build on your property, and taxes are low. Weather is another issue. If you are planning on raising most of your food you have to look for ample rainfall, bearable seasons, good soil, and decent topograpy. Then you also need to be able to have a decent wood lot. All of these things make finding the right place difficult. We chose Oklahoma because we could live ther and still keep most of our freedom and we could afford it. Just some things to think about.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@calinet.com), April 26, 2000.

Little Bit, how did you find all that information about Oklahoma? Those are all things that we want to take into consideration (and we are looking at eastern Oklahoma), but haven't known how to find out the answers! When are you thinking of moving?

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), April 27, 2000.

o.k. one more plug for N.D. Electric=high. Everything else=cheap. People=wonderful. Schools=decent but distant. Homeschool=not too nosy. Towns=small. Rules=not to strict. Us=HAPPY!:)

-- Novina West (lamb@stellarnet.com), April 27, 2000.

Novina, that's why the rest of us always remind you to turn out the light when you leave. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), April 27, 2000.

How about a plug in the other direction?! As in, don't waste your time here?! I see by Steve's numbers on another thread that Illinois has a high number of subscribers. I can't for the life of me figure out what we're all doing here! Unless maybe we're all reading Countryside hoping to be able to escape someday... Well, here's an introduction to my county...

High property taxes - $2600-3000 for 30 acres and a 2000 sq foot house,with 120X30 foot shed. Dad's taxes on an unimroved piece are much lower, but the second you slap a house on it, start digging deep in your pockets!

Zoning - Can't build the garage or shed first and live in it while you build the house. Have to have a septic tank that costs $3500 and uses electricity and special chlorine pellets.... House has to be a certain size, I think at least 750 sq feet. Permits, permits, permits..... more permits. Mobile homes have to be of a certain age (newness) and a certain square footage.

Of course, the above zoning rules are only for certain people. The dope dealers down the road, pardon me, methamphetamine producers down the road, got no permits, moved in a too small, too old trailer, then cut another trailer in half and put it on as a T off the front door to make it the right size. They then dug a hole and buried an old leaky gasoline tank for a cesspool - no leach field,etc... Health department won't send anyone out to inspect the septic - since the raid on the meth lab, they're afraid of toxic chemicals! And I live downstream!! Did I mention the vicious dog with no tags that animal control won't pick up (can't catch it, they say)? Or the thirty of forty autos in various stages of cannabilization sitting in their field - no junkyard permits issued? How about the giant ragweed (and I'm talking 8 feet tall!) covering their front "yard" all summer long? Lousy neighbors are everywhere, I guess!

We live about 40 miles from a town with drive by gang shootings, and another town 15 miles away is developing gang activity. The police keep finding bodies in our "recreational"lake, and the dope related murder, arson, etc...rate is skyrocketing - even in tiny little towns! We have NO 911 - we might as well be our own emergency services. It took an ambulance over 40 minutes to come out here - 6 miles from the firehouse. When I discovered an auto roll-over (drunks) on my way to pick up the kids after a dance one night - I called in to report it, then waited 20 minutes and finally sent a kid that happened to stop by into town to the convienence mart to find the local cop. He called for the ambulances - seems whoever took my call missed the part about one dead, two injured... We had a blizzard in mid March, started late at night, 8 to 12 inches on the roads at noon, snow had pretty much stopped. I had stayed in town, highways were plowed, started out toward home, got stuck in the middle of the road. Our plows weren't out - Hey, it was Saturday - nobody NEEDED to go anywhere...

Property is expensive, just try to find a house in the $40 - 50,000 dollar range that isn't falling down. Farm ground goes for anywhere from $1500 (lousy soil) to almost $3000 an acre. There is 8 1/2 acres with a four bedroom house a mile or so from us - divorce dispute / bargin $200,000.

I'm here because my extended family is here (33 for Easter Dinner!), and I probably won't sell out unless my daughter moves and settles a long distance away. I'm not ruling out another place, though.

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), April 27, 2000.

It's good to see all the information on here so far. Brad, I think I remember from reading one of your previous posts that you live in Maine...is that right? I have heard good things about Missouri many times but I think we will still end up further north. Sorry to hear how bad it is in at least some parts of Illinois! I agree that property taxes are an important issue. I don't mind paying a moderate amount but I don't want $200 to $300 a month going to that! That's one thing that worries me about Wisconsin because when we looked into it before, back when we lived in Minnesota, the property taxes seemed very high. Does that get better if you get away from the metropolitan areas? Some of the northern Minnesota areas seem good in terms of letting you do what you want on your land with just a $50 building permit and decent land prices. Other important factors to us are low crime rates, low pollution, friendly people, natural beauty, and as I mentioned before, nonintrusive homeschooling laws. Someone mentioned Florida...not a good match for us climatewise but I have heard from someone on a list I subscribe to who lives there that the cost of living is very good and the area is safe...I think it's the same area that was mentioned here. Anyway, hope to keep hearing from people! Lucy

-- Lucy (Saligers@aol.com), April 28, 2000.

One note on FL, it is my understanding that there are a lot of restrictions for homeschooling. Be sure to check that out. Illinois has lots of nice land, but as mentioned above, everything is expensive here and plenty of regulations, too. Wouldn't be my choice, but the family and job are here, for now. There is very little of the homesteading attitude here, the only people I know of are on these forums! Wish we all lived nearer each other - I sure do appreciate this Countryside forum!

-- Jean (N IL) (schiszik@tbcnet.com), April 28, 2000.

You know, I was just thinking about the fact that a lot of people are where they are because of family -- maybe if you moved, some of them would follow? That often used to happen, back when our ancestors were heading west in covered wagons (well, some of mine were, at any rate!). If you find a place where things are good, they come to visit, they like it too, next thing you know they'll be asking you to look around for work and a place for them to buy!! And in the meantime, you are probably better off than you were in the more expensive area. Just a thought.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), April 28, 2000.

Thanks so much for alll the responses. I really didn't exactly mean cheapest, just the best place to get the most for my money . It looks like other people got some good information, not just me. That's great . I've always heard you could live real good in Mexico but you had to get a special place where there was a retirement community of retired USA people. Thanks a lot. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), April 29, 2000.

I would have to say Florida! We are in the southern end and enjoy a yearround growing season, loads of tropical fruits and a comfortable climate (well, that's coming from a native... but only on occasion do we need to pull out sweaters) When looking for a home try to find a house built for the climate: deep porches, cross-ventilated, elevated, storm shutters, etc. Land anywhere near the coast is not cheap, but if you stick to the interior, you can find decent land prices. Zoning in most towns/cities is ridiculous, but vast areas of the state are agricultural. Water is always close to the surface and central FL is covered with lakes. Homeschooling (although we don't currently participate) is pretty liberal (check out the Florida Parent Educators Association at www.fpea.com for specifics). No state taxes either. Sales tax is 6%. Most people come here for the winter or to retire, we have the good fortune to enjoy it every day! Good luck.

-- Lynne David (lynnedavid@email.msn.com), April 30, 2000.

eagle, I admit I am prejudiced for Kansas, the taxes could be less but really aren't that bad. The school systems are good to poor but homeschooling is legal. the prices are very resonable esp. out in the sticks. Eastern Kansas is quite scenic with rolling hills and lots of wildlife. the people are fantastic and are about as nosy as Joel said they are in Iowa. The weather here in SEKansas if pretty nice with about one good snowfall per winter(that's less the 6 inches). There is no zoning here in the "boonies" but when you get close to population centers there are plenty. I like it here. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), May 01, 2000.

Of all the states we have lived in, the one with some of the nicest people is Maine. Thought it is cold there in the winter, you might get 2 months of frost free weather.So it can get exspensive to heat. And the bugs in summer LOVE people. :O)

I now live in western Washington,, very,very pretty place, but getting very crowded, land is very exspensive,, and the taxes for a 2 1/2 acre place is $2,500 a year. Is alot more on the Seattle side. The county I am in only requires testing once a year for home schoolers,,you need a person,, any person with a 4 year degree to procter it. Other than that they seem to leave you alone. The people are so so,, most of my friends are from other countries or from Canada,, and are like me,,, have no idea why the people have the attuide they have. Dogs rule here,, if you are not a dog,, you have no rights.

Have always wondered about Vancouver Island BC,, would love to know about their laws about Homeschooling, Dogs, taxes etc etc...We have gotten used to the mellow cool climate.

-- Bergere (autumnhaus@aol.com), May 02, 2000.

Eagle, if you want to move to Mexico, don't limit yourself to areas where there is an "American" community. Mexico, along with many other Latin-American countries, have regular people, just like the U.S. Sure, there are some bad ones, and some good ones. And the cultures are all different, but hey, it's an adventure!

A couple of dozen of us are kicking around the idea of moving down there and starting our own retirement home, to be called "Purple Haze Retirment Center", when we get a few years older. I love it there; I'd be there now if it weren't for having so many friends here, and having kids nearby.

Learning Spanish is of course necessary, even if you choose Belize, but it's fun to learn, and won't take long if you DON'T live in a gringo enclave.

Wow, Bergere, one of my neighbors moved to some place on the north end of the Olympic Peninsula to get away from our "high" taxes in Oregon; I think it was called Squim, or something like that. In a rain shadow, he says, with only eight or ten inches of rain a year (probably another reason he left). But the numbers you are showing are tons higher than here. Of course we have an income tax, but no sales tax. Did the $2500 tax include the house, or just two and a half acres?

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), May 05, 2000.

I have lived in Gulf Breeze Florida before (18 years). I just wanted to know if there were any other places in Florida that we as nice. I moved from there because my husband passed away.I know that there is no state tax but can't remember about the personal property tax.

-- nanny (fbnn@sybercom.net), January 15, 2001.

Central to Eastern Kansas has rolling hills, lost of trees and in the small rural counties with low population numbers there are no builing codes, permits or restrictions

-- sharon rossiter (slr@tectelco.net), April 24, 2001.