[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I'm not retired. I still work. I'm newly transplanted down here, and I know what my grocery bills were in 2018 in Connecticut compared to what they are now in Florida. Prices here in the Villages are ridiculous. Even something as basic as a pound of ground chuck is insane. In order to get the best prices, every week, I have to go to 4 different stores, and take advantage of their rotating sales, and buy mostly store-brand. If I need a particular item that is only sold at one store, and that store charges more for everything else, that's a trip to a store for ONE item only.

Gas, time, effort, mileage on my car (or golf cart) all add up. Where I used to live in Connecticut, I could get everything I wanted at 2 different stores, each within a mile of each other. I could walk to one of them, and it was a 5-minute drive to the other. Quality foods, brand names for most items, specialty items that I usually got were also usually on sale or had coupons.

My usual weekly supermarket trip in Connecticut was $55. My usual weekly supermarket trip in Florida is $70.

Doesn't seem like much - but neither does a $1.44/hour raise from $8.56 to $10/hour. It basically covers the grocery bill increase, and the added cost of gas, time, and mileage to buy them.

And that doesn't even start until next September. The $15/hour doesn't start until September 2016 - almost 7 years from now.

By then, who knows how much it'll cost for just the basic needs in Florida?

Everybody think there getting break by Florida no income tax? They make it up and more with other taxes.