I’ve talked about the benefits to us moving in general, but what are the real budget changes we’re expecting once we move? I know the first few months will be all over the map on how much we spend because we’ll still be settling in, fixing things in a new house, etc. But I have a pretty good idea of how much extra we’ll be saving. This isn’t all of our budget, but the items I think will be changing. The rest, like how much we spend on clothes or groceries might change a little, but not really drastically. Our income isn’t changing significantly (I’m getting $2000 less per year – about $150/mth), and Dad’s is staying exactly the same.
Overall, we’ll be spending a little less in food and clothing purchases because of Pittsburgh/Allegheny county sales tax (0% clothes and basic food vs the 6% on clothes and 2.55% on food in VA). We’ll also theoretically be paying less in income taxes, VA has a 6% on Federal AGI tax, but PA taxes ~3% of all income (very few deductions), and 0.5-1% local income tax – depending on where we live. We shelter a lot of income from the feds (and therefore VA), and it won’t be sheltered from PA income tax, so I don’t know how the raw numbers will work out. I don’t *think* we have enough sheltered to make up the 3% difference, but we might.
Bills that will go up:
| VA | PA | Difference | |
| Auto insurance | 75 | 110 | -35 |
Bills that will go down:
| VA | PA | Difference | |
| Mortgage (including property taxes & insurance) | 2700 | 1700 | 1000 |
| Daycare | 1300 | 500 | 800 |
Just among those three things, we will be able to save an extra $1765 per month beyond what we’re saving now.
Definitely looking forward to seeing how all the expenses play out. We are also likely to save more in fuel as I’m planning on taking the bus to work on a regular basis (and I get a free bus pass as a perk of employment, but I have to pay for a parking pass). That’s a decision that hasn’t been made yet though, so we’ll see how it plays out.
We’re also going to have at least one month with no mortgage – just as part of the buying and selling process (and we’re living with my mom during that time).
Update July 21: I just found out that I’m also getting an $80 “communication allowance” per month to pay for cell and Internet service. That’s about 90% of our entire family cell phone bill – an “extra” $80 per month 🙂
Have you ever made a significant move to lower your expenses?