Is it expensive to live in the U.S.?

[garagegodness]

1. Expensive medical bill .. Did you ever see a $500,000 inpatient hospital bill? I did. What if you did not have medical insurance? Guess you will be on the list of collection agency. Well...in China, if your work does not cover your medical insurance, you will be miserable too. Now i have been working and paying tax in the U.S, i know i will be taken care even if i lose my job.

2. Difficult medical care access. Is there any doctor's office that you can just walk in without making an appointment weeks or even months in advance? Guess very few. How about your getting medical care whenever you wish in China?

3. Expensive car insurance. Do you want to own a brand new car? Full coverage. Have you ever had any accident? yes? sorry, no discount.

4. Sales tax. You love shopping? Me too..how about 8.25% sales tax. That sucks..i miss tax-free shopping in China. Shopping is good, tax free sounds better.

5. Want to buy a 2 bedroom house? Nothing under $300,000 in LA now. Monthly payment? around $2,000. Household expenses $1,500. Guess you have to make about $4,000 a month net pay after tax.

6. Retirement pension. How much do you get monthly after you retire? From social security, guess about $600? Does not look good enough to live comfortable with that amt. I still have more than 30 years to work, what can i buy with $600 30 years later? Hope it is more than a Hagen Daze ice cream.

7. 401k. Looks like a good way to pay less tax. I started my 401k as soon as i started working here. Lost some money last month. Well, nothing i can do to make the economics index go up...or the market go up.

8. Labour is expensive. What about DIY? I do not have a talent for that. DIY cooking is no problem.

[Jeikun]

It all comes down to pros and cons I guess. For example, though it's more expensive to live here (I'll use Jun as an example) She was making about $12,000 a year in a job that would probably have paid at least $80,000 a year here.. maybe more. So someone here with that same job could easily afford the higher expenses.

 

Also, the US can be quite different from region to region. I have very little problem making a doctor's appointment for the next day here. Even walk-in if you can stand to wait. The home that costs $300,000 in L.A. likely would cost about $80,000 here (of course average salary is lower). And sales tax is only 4.5% I guess sales tax is something that having always lived with it I never gave much thought to.

 

Medical and Dental, way more expensive here. But Jun had a tooth pulled in China several months ago. When she went to the dentist to be x-rayed in preparation to get a false tooth, they found out the dentist had left roots in!! Assurance of quality is important too.

 

I think in the long run many things balance out. A lot of the higher expenses seem daunting at first to a newcomer, but there are many advantages as well.

[tonado]

USA is definitely very expensive to live. If you lose your job, you will have trouble surviving.

 

1. Expensive property tax. Every year, it goes up. Some people had to sell their houses because they cannot afford the tax.

 

2. Contract laborers are expensive. If your house requires a plumber, carpeter, or electrician, then you will have to fork out big bucks.

 

3. Expensive cable TV bill (not really needed).

 

4. Car service or repair is very expensive.

 

5. Heating oil or Natural Gas is very expensive in winter time.

[tonado]

Most expensive cities in the world

 

http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/11/pf/costofliving/

[Jim - Portland, USA]

The biggest cost difference I see is with medical/dental care. Just yesterday my honey got a filling (in China). It was with the really good material which is white and non-metallic and looks like your real tooth. Total cost = 100 RMB = US$12. And she just walked-in off the street (no appointment). She could have gotten a gray metal filling for 20 RMB = $2, but we went for the good stuff!

 

If she had to have that filling here in America (the white non-metallic one), it probably would have been around US$500. But with health insurance (provided one has health insurance), maybe the out of pocket expense would be around $100 to $150. Maybe after a 1 month wait for an appointment too.

 

Basically, the way I look at it is ... by coinidence ... things in China are generally 8 times cheaper than here, but Chinese on average earn about 8 times less, and there are roughly 8 RMB to the dollar, so everything balances out.

 

Good house in America, US$ = 300,000

Good house in China, RMB = 300,000

 

Good meal in America, US$ = 15

Good meal in China, RMB = 15

 

Good jacket in America, US$ = 100

Good jacket in China, RMB = 100

 

Good dental filling in America, US$ = 100

Good dental filling in China, RMB = 100

 

So when my honey and I talk about costs of things in America and China, we sometimes just drop the reference to currency, knowing that 100 dollars in America has *roughly* the same purchasing power as 100 RMB in China.

[Robert S.]

Standing at the prescription counter recently when an old lady went to pick up her medications the druggist told her the price and she said, "Damn, it would be cheaper to just go ahead and die!"

[garagegodness]

Standing at the prescription counter recently when an old lady went to pick up her medications the druggist told her the price and she said, "Damn, it would be cheaper to just go ahead and die!"

Oh.doesn't she have medi-care? I think it is really important to plan ahead financially. You know, for a rainy day.

[Jeikun]

If she had to have that filling here in America (the white non-metallic one), it probably would have been around US$500.  But with health insurance (provided one has health insurance), maybe the out of pocket expense would be around $100 to $150.  Maybe after a 1 month wait for an appointment too.

 

Wow, the cost for that here in Roanoke is about $110... with no insurance

[eeyore]

It looks like things on the west coast are more expensive that Ohio. Housing starts at around $100,000 for something tolerable, a moderately nice house $200,000. $300,000 and up, your livin large. I think the Midwest generally has a good cost of living to wage earning ratio. So, how well one can live can depend on where to live to some degree.

My lp says that outside of the major cities in China people are generally very poor and work very hard for little pay. Many people have to move to major cities to find employment. My general impression is, after returning to the states from China last month, the U.S. has a better standard of living. But, that's not to say that life in China is bad. There is more to happiness than material wealth.

I personally think one of the major advantages of living here as apposed to a city like Shanghai or Hong Kong is less crowded.

[TimD]

It definately depends on where you live in the states. Ohio is pretty reasonable.

 

Let me put a twist on this for you all. Regarding cloths here in China. Shirts and pants here are cheaper than in the states, unless you buy Levi's or some non-knock off brand. Though the cloths here are cheaper, the quality is below what you would find in the states. Most of the cloths I wear now I have brought back from the US. The colors don't fade, the buttons and zippers don't fall off and for the most part they don't shrink.

 

Same thing for shoes. The 4 pairs I've bought here haven't lasted more than a few months.

 

Electronic equipment here is about the same, you get what you pay for.

 

I've also discovered that buying things at the fake markets just doesn't pay off. Most of the coats I've bought here have broken zippers.

 

In all I think that here in China things are cheaper, but the quality is cheaper. If you want good quality you will pay about the same price you pay in the States.

 

Utilities, however, are much cheaper. I think we pay maybe $50 USD per 3 months for electric.

 

Cars are the same thing. You can get low prices on cars here, but they are small, by US standards. Western cars are expensive, by our standards. On the other side of the coin public transportation here is cheap and for the most part it's easy to get around town.

 

"Western Style" expat apartments are very expensive here in Shanghai, starting at about $2,000 USD a month and going way up there.

 

I think that if you want to live a western life style here in China you will end up spending more than you would in the US in day to day costs.

 

If you live more of a Chinese life style by living in Chinese apartments, which is pretty good, eating at Chinese restaurants and shopping the fresh markets, you can really save a lot of money living here.

 

-Tim

[IceBreaker]

But of course! the US is much more expensive since we have a different economy. I live in San Francisco, nearly the most expensive place anywhere. Everything is expensive! The mediun home price is about $550,000, an 18% increase over last year. Each year we have record increases in home values that are stunning by comparison to other areas. My rent is $1600/month for a 1-bedrooom apartment. Of course the location is fabulous and in my opinion San Francisco is the most beautiful City in the US, the best climate, so multicultural, the best food... and has lots of beautiful Chinese women. So why did I meet one who lives in China instead of a local gal?

 

When us locals cry about the prices here i sometimes recall this-- during the San Francisco gold rush of 1849, an egg cost $1. Shabby tents were renting for $1000/month. Yet in those crazy days prostitutes charged only about 5 cents! Hard to imagine!

[tonado]

Calling China from US is very cheap. Calling US from China is very expensive.

[Davter]

The biggest cost difference I see is with medical/dental care.  Just yesterday my honey got a filling (in China).  It was with the really good material which is white and non-metallic and looks like your real tooth.  Total cost = 100 RMB = US$12.  And she just walked-in off the street (no appointment).  She could have gotten a gray metal filling for 20 RMB = $2, but we went for the good stuff!

 

If she had to have that filling here in America (the white non-metallic one), it probably would have been around US$500.  But with health insurance (provided one has health insurance), maybe the out of pocket expense would be around $100 to $150.  Maybe after a 1 month wait for an appointment too.

 

Basically, the way I look at it is ... by coinidence ... things in China are generally 8 times cheaper than here, but Chinese on average earn about 8 times less, and there are roughly 8 RMB to the dollar, so everything balances out.

 

Good house in America, US$ = 300,000

Good house in China, RMB = 300,000

 

Good meal in America, US$ = 15

Good meal in China, RMB = 15

 

Good jacket in America, US$ = 100

Good jacket in China, RMB = 100

 

Good dental filling in America, US$ = 100

Good dental filling in China, RMB = 100

 

So when my honey and I talk about costs of things in America and China, we sometimes just drop the reference to currency, knowing that 100 dollars in America has *roughly* the same purchasing power as 100 RMB in China.

That's a little different from Beijing,

 

Brand new good house in US= over $800,000

Good house in Beijing=800,000 RMB(with in the 5th bridge), my boss' house=1,500,000 RMB in asian game village, busy area

 

Good meal in US= over $ 100 (for 2 people)

Good meal in Beijing= over 800 RMB

 

Good meal with desert cooking yourself at home in US= around $ 20( for 2)

Good meal at home in Beijing= aroud 30 RMB or up

 

Good jacket in US= over $ 100

Good jacket in Beijing= over 500 RMB

 

I earned around 36,000 RMB a year, plus my parents retirement money total a little bit over 32,000 RMB per year, that's enough for an ordinary life for 3 people. Don't consider the currency's value, according to the living standard, I think U.S. and China are almost the same.

In states, we don't have to pay the hospital bill, insurance company almost covers everything, some times we just pay $15 co-pay. you have to make a appointment with your docotor, but you can go to the emergency room in the hospital, the only thing I don't like that sometimes you have to wait over 2 hours in emergency room if you are not in real emergency and too many patients there, tax is ok for us, if we want to purchase something that is over a grand, we would drive to NH, no tax there. I would think different place has different situation, all depend on where you live.

[turtle]

Good meal in US= over $ 100 (for 2 people)

Good meal in Beijing= over 800 RMB

Where the heck are you eating???

[Davter]

Good meal in US= over $ 100 (for 2 people)

Good meal in Beijing= over 800 RMB

Where the heck are you eating???

Hi Turtle,

 

In Beijing sometimes my family went to good meal paid over 300 RMB, one time we paid over 800 RMB, that was so good one, if I tell you my boss used to spend over 9000 RMB (over a grand ) for one meal you would be surprised (I wonder if here has a meal over $ 1000)

In states we spent over $ 100 in Anthonys Pier4, its a good meal and nice service. (other places we spent over $ 30 meal, I would say they were so so, I don't like one japanese house, cost $ 75, but food was too salty)

We are eating good and healthy food