What’s The REAL COST Of Living In Florida: Breakdown Of Our Monthly Expenses

If you're considering moving to Tampa Bay or anywhere in the Sunshine State and wondering what it cost to live In Florida, your search has ended!

Today, we're sharing our monthly expenses: housing, including taxes and homeowners insurance, healthcare, childcare, auto prices and insurance, groceries and dining, utilities, internet, and even pool and lawn care. This practical breakdown will help you plan your budget effectively.

For decades, Florida was known as a beautiful place to live with a very low cost of living, attracting people from high-cost-of-living areas like New York, NY; Washington, DC; Chicago, IL; Miami, FL; Boston, MA; Los Angeles, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Seattle, WA; San Francisco, CA; and Atlanta, GA. But over the past five years, inflation has increased the cost of insurance and buying a home.

Kate and I know that our monthly budget may look very different from yours, but we wanted to be as transparent as possible about what it really costs us to live in Florida.

Juan Alcala - Tampa Realtor
📲 Call/Text Direct at [phone]

⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 What’s The REAL COST Of Living In Florida: Breakdown Of Our Monthly Expenses
01:54 50-30-20 Rule
02:43 Housing Options and Cost
07:53 Everyday Expenses
12:27 Utilities
15:20 Healthcare

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About Tampa, Florida:

#florida

[trulivingtampa]

Thinking about making the move to Florida? Reach out! We're here to help.

Juan Alcala - Tampa Realtor
📲 Call/Text Direct at [phone]

[JessicaKeith-ujjq]

The cost of living seems to be increasing every year, making it harder to keep up.

[LanAndMila]

This is very very informative. Thanks for taking the time to provide such useful information

[tejarojnikmaher]

Two adults and a dog(80lbs) around 1000$/month for groceries in St Louis Missouri. We prioritise grass fed meats and organic foods. Takeout depends but usually it’s 150-200$/mo on top of groceries.

[RaptorMike-Bailey]

Thanks for sharing. It gives me a more realistic idea of what i will be looking at. I’m hoping for positive economic changes in the next couple years when I can make the move.

[boratlion]

Brother you’re an eloquent speaker. Thank you for being so transparent. Wish your family the best. From Toronto.

[Jacksonzole]

Great video thank you for taking the time!!!

[MedicRex]

Chose to relocate to New Port Richey FL from Palm Harbor FL after my retirement in 2017, primarily due to the sales tax half a point lower. State base sales tax is 6% while it's only 7% here. Real estate is more affordable so I paid cash for my 1800 Sq ft home with $850 HOA a month. Like you, I'm ten minutes to the beach. High and dry 😁 I wanted to sell my place for something smaller then the inflation set in. Now I'm stuck. Love Florida, been here since 93.
Love your channel and welcome to Paradise.

[DanielAmstutz]

WOW, nice to see other Michiganders moving here. We moved here from MI (Frankenmuth) in 1996 in our mid 30's. We are in Central Florida (Lake/Sumter Co.) We are now retired and live in "The Villages" area. Going back to Michigan for Summer to be with family. Love Florida living!!! FYI, it was much cheaper moving here 20+ years ago. We have owned 2 homes and doubled our investment on both. Now live in a retirement community.

[Bicyclechris]

We live in Riverview, have 2 in our household with a cat. We spend about $400 per month in groceries, and avoid all processed food. We cook at home 90% of the time. Our staples are black beans and eggs which are nutrient rich and cheap. We also have food delivered from Weee because we don’t have a good Asian grocery store store where we are. Are house, and cars are paid off, and we avoid lifestyle creep as well. There aren’t too many great restaurants around, so it’s easy for us to eat at home. For good food, we go to Tampa, all of the good Chinese restaurants are on Fowler Ave in Tampa, JFYI. :) We also have solar, so our electric bill is about $18 per month in an 1, 800 sq ft home.

[dcimtim]

Juan, I don't know if you know this but this is benefit that might be helpful to your VA loan purchasers.
It is called the VA IRRL benefit, and it just depends on their lender. Is a special type of refinancing that is different from the traditional refinancing.
Long story short, we bought last year at a 7.587 rate, through this benefit we are able to drop our rate down to 6.25 and drop our mortage payment by almost 400 dollars!

[erinsears]

Thank you for your transparency. Love your channel. I hope to work with you when I move.

[usmcthmeu]

I live near lady lake out in the country. I am retired my home, car are all paid off and I live on social security a small military disability and a annuity . All comes out to about $60000 per year. I have no problem doing anything I want on my income.

[louiesanchez]

Dang, your bride has some guns! Great video!

[samurai_LT]

Thank you so much for being transparent about the money. My wife are thinking about relocating down to Riverview, FL area due to my job wanting to relocate me. We would be moving from South Carolina so we have been watching numerous videos to gather the best information on what it is like to live down there. (Money wise)

[kevinhenault]

We are currently living in Costa Rica and will be heading to Florida before the end of 2024 for family health reasons. Prices where we live have increased dramatically in the past few years.
Average rent 2 bed 2 bath- $1800-3500/mo
Purchase 2 bed 2 bath- $350k+ 1200sqft all cash*
Utilities-$300+/mo
Groceries for 2- $550-1000/mo average
Car ins- $1400/yr per car
Entertainment- $700+/mo
Healthcare- $140/mo per person
The average spent by our 2 person couple friends is $4000-7500 per mo
We will be renting in the Tampa/St. Pete area. Could you do an episode with pricing for apartments? We just found your channel yesterday so, if you have done one we will find it. Thanks for the informative videos, cheers!

[wrt]

Great video. We live in Lutz, and we pay about $700-900 per month for 2 people for food.

[Leo_Q]

no car payments correct? that definitely helps as well! thanks for the insight.

[steven_dekok]

Great video! When we move to Florida, we will sell our house in Kommiefornia and have about $400K to put down. Our criteria is for finding a house is a 5-10 minute drive from the beach and a marina for the boat, definitely a pool and would love some sort of view. Personally, I'd love a house on a canal to have the boat there instead of paying for a marina. We're open for the stretch from Clearwater down to Sarasota/Bradenton. When we move, we will also be moving with nothing but certain clothes and our doggos - and one crazy cat.
Our current monthly food budget for a family of 4 (2 adults & 2 high schoolers - only on the weekends though) is roughly $1200. We are primarily focused on a carnivore diet. This does NOT include date night meals or family pizza night.
Our current water bill is roughly $42 a month - we took out our lawns and put in rock.
Our current electrical bill averages $200 a month.
Our current gas bill averages $100 a month.
Our garbage/sewer is a set $206 every other month.
Our cheapest gas is around $5.29 a gallon.
Our state tax rate is a little over 13%.
Our auto insurance for the G Wagon and convertible Audi is $225 a month.
Our health insurance through my wife's work (I am self-employed - Broker) is $1000 a month.
Our current mortgage is just under $2K a month at 2.5%.
Our cell phone is $160 a month.
Our property tax is $6K a year.
What else am I missing?

[ileanamartinez]

I pay $5000.00 a year for homeowners insurance with a mitigation report, live in Pembroke Pines, in South Florida 10.5 miles from the beach. I wish I paid $2500.00 a year. My water bill is over $100.00 for 2 people and my lawn service is $45.00 a week. I have a large circular driveway and concrete patio on the back. I have lived here all my life but insurance rates and HOA fees are driving people out of Florida. I am considering moving to the Sarasota/Venice area where prices are better.