The Villages Expenses
 

How many of you found out that the expenses to live here
were much more than expected? For example even things like
going out to eat or entertainment that is not included etc.

One thing to remember is whether you are a snowbird or a frog, this is your home, and you are not on vacation. So a person has to school themselves into enjoying the lifestyle, not hard to do, yet live as though you are or were in your previous primary home. Which means not going out to eat 5 times a week, or having a toddy every night at the Town Squares, etc.
You can certainly have a great time here and it doesn't have to be budget busting!!!

Homework
 

We found TOTV 2 years before we moved here,asked questions and read all the info. On one of our visits we met a nice couple the husband was pretty much spot on with the costs. As for food and drink after coming from Long Island I find food and drink quite a bit less. Ditto on my insurance, taxes, and electric. If your going to go to the higher end CCs often you might have a problem but if you go to the squares and regular CCs you should be OK.

Came from rural Maryland. Cost of Living here is somewhat cheaper than there

I think you can get a pretty good picture of the cost by searching the form. The problem is we are changing our life style so eating out may cost about the same as back home, but maybe you eat out two or three times as often as you did back home. Also maybe you did not water your lawn but now you do. I think property taxes will be your big difference, but part of this difference can be offset by HOA fees etc if you did not have them before.

Which County? asks the St. Mary's Countian, who has is on well and septic and Amish Farms relativly close. Just back from an egg and corn run.

ajdeck, go to the Nuts and Bolts section of this forum and read the 3 messages at the top. They will give you some very good information about expenses.

Much less than expected. I came from New York.

Wash co=hagerstown. city taxes, all public utilities, chain grocery stores , country club= 1 course. 1 pool, 1 dining rm. TV expenses much lower for comparable or better value

Depends on your "cost of living" and if you budget yourself or not. We've found that we really are living within our "very" fixed budget. We 'maybe' eat out once or twice a week but tend to go where we can find great prices! Some weeks we don't eat out and others we may do more that the above so it all pans out.

We're not spending anymore on our groceries than we did up north. I probably spent more up north as I'd get items not on the list so they were non-essentials. Living in FL is cheaper than our midwest living--taxes etc etc etc. Another reason (other than not having to shovel, and put up with frigid weather)

Cheap Lifestyle
 

Up at 6:30, play pickleball 7:30-9am, Executive golf in the p.m., go to the pool, go to the square to listen to the entertainment, home to watch some TV and then to bed. Busy day and didn't spend a dime on active lifestyle, so all my money can go to eating out, breakfast and dinner at various area restaurants. This is why I feel the Villages is not an expensive place to live in retirement.

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade regarding some of the costs here, but go to thevillages.com and click on the Homes Icon, than go to the bottom left and click on "check out how affordable..." icon.

Everyone says their taxes are lower than where they used to live. On a typical Designer home ($250k) as they mention on the site, the costs for Taxes+Amenity fees+Bond adds up to much more than many pay elsewhere. They are all "taxes/fees to live here". That totals $587 per month or $7044 per year! Even the water/sewer fees of $62 per month (which we all know is still LOW due to having to run the irrigation systems) is higher than normal. Trash is twice what I paid, and utilities are a bit more for me here. The other basic fees of cable and phone is low ($104) if you also add in internet and other services. Typically a bundled service with HD and internet/phone will run about $138 per month. House insurance is less than $100 here though, about $70. Thus about $1100-$1200 per month on top of any mortgage you may have here. Good news is NO state income taxes here.

Now I know some might have paid more in lifestyles and/or living areas prior to retirement, but that's still a lot of money. It's about 25% more per month I was paying for 3300 sf on a large lake and many extras.

The other expenses such as food, meals out, movies are a wash. Entertainment here is FREE all over here, but don't get fooled by the free golf. Country Clubs will cost per month depending on how many you sign up for, but still cheaper than elsewhere. Executive courses will cost you either nothing, if you walk and use the phone reservation system, or $20 per month for golf cart trail fees and online tee times.

Don't get me wrong though, I still like it here and the other intangibles make up for the differences PLUS some! You will like it here also I would be pretty sure. most do! But as they say in all things material..."You get what you pay for"! We may pay a bit more, but we get a lot more!

state taxes
 

Expenses would not be complete until you factor in that there is also no state income taxes in FL if it is your primary residence.

we have very little choice in resturants up north and have to drive half hour at least to get to ones we like, so our cost of living in TV is more because we can get to a resturant in 9 minutes by cart

:welcome:I guess it all depends on where you live now and what home you are moving from-too. We moved from Georgia and our county was very senior friendly (no schooltaxes). Seniors also get a BIG break on income taxes. Eating out, food etc are about equal. Golf is much less expensive in TV, even at the CC's. Our biggest saving came from moving from a 5000 sq ft home with large yard to aCYV. Electric, water and yard maintenance are about one third. Moving from and older home with high yearly maintenance to a new home makes for a savings too. Enjoy TV...there is a place for it to work on any budget.