Wyoming cost of living

[Jared]

I log my expenses in Quicken, and have done so for a few years now.
I thought people might be interested in how my cost of living has changed since moving to Wyoming.

I've been in Wyoming just over 2 years now.

I pulled numbers from Quicken in 6 month blocks ... I used the immediate 6-months prior to my move, and then the 6-month block prior to that (I didn't have another complete 6-month block prior to this).  I averaged these 2 numbers.
I then averaged the next four 6-month blocks of me actually being in Wyoming.

So now I've got a "before" and an "after".

Here's my results:

Automotive (fuel+insurance+registration+svc) .............. +18%

Food (groceries+dining out+snacks) ................... +10%

Entertainment/Recreation .................... -12%

Overall change for these categories ....................... +8%


Explanation & Disclaimer:

The disclaimer is simply that while I'm fairly certain I pulled the numbers accurately, I'm not a statistician or anything, so consider these numbers "rough".  They should be accurate enough for the intent of this post.


Obviously the past 2 years have seen a crrrrazy run-up in fuel prices, so it's no surprise my auto costs have risen ... also I live farther away from stores so I drive more often for small errands than I used to.
Food prices could also be partly explained by inflation ... not sure that my habits have changed that much.  I actually expected this to be a negative not a positive but I suppose I could be eating out more than I thought I was.
I think the entertainment one is less because my hobbies have changed.  I don't go to bars with my buddies as much as I used to, out to the movies, etc.  I have been doing more outdoor activities which don't cost as much.

So overall I think if you account for inflation my cost of living has stayed real close to constant.

My quality of life however has increased many times!  It's one of those things that you can't put a number on, but I really wouldn't trade what I have now for anything.  The people I've met, the experiences I've had, and just where I'm at in my life --- it's all so amazing and I'm constantly grateful.


Anyway, I hope this is of some interest to those of you looking at Wyoming.  If you have any questions please let me know.

 

[celeste]

My family has lived in Wyoming for over 100 years in all directions.  This is ALWAYS the case.  Wyoming happens, for whatever reasons, to fall behind the natural supply/demand curve for the rest of the country.  Unfortuanltely that causes , as do all outlaying natural processes, an amplified wave effect.  So at the time of your post, yes, times were good becasue the inflation had not yet reached Wyoming, but when the oil bubble pops, we're not going to be in such a nice position here.  But those of us who are really  Wyomingites, or belivers in states rights will endure beyond such fickle things as mercedes benz and 68 degree climate control.

[wyomiles]

Howdy ckumelos, glad you found us. Any questions we can answer for ya just let us know.

[manfromnevada]

I was just remarking to my wife yesterday how our gasoline costs have changed since moving here.

Before we moved, we made lots of short distance trips: Costco, Home Depot, Papa Murphys (pizza), fast food, not so fast food, the mall, etc.

Now, living out in the boonies, I don't leave the house but once a week, but when I do, it's a 120 mile round trip minimum, but I make lots of stops along the way. Yesterday I had 8 items on my "to do" list.

So which uses more gas? Hard to say. Driving 120-150 miles a week isn't bad compared to commuting to work, but I'm retired. So, much like Jared's info, we can't really compare apples to apples because everything changes up here compared to where we came from previously.

The quality of life, however, is much improved. Here is a snippet of an email I sent to my extended family last night:

On the drive home tonight we saw our first elk. Right there on the side of the dirt road. Huge! Wow!
In fact we saw lots of animals today which I'll list:
1: elk (1st time)
2: deer (very common)
3. antelope (very common)
4. turkey (very common)
5. geese (infrequent)
6. porcupine (2nd time)
7. chipmunk (very common)
 
domestic animals
8. cattle (way too common, she had to stop several times for the calves to get off the road)
9. dog (in neighbor rancher's truck)
10. cats (don't know if these are feral or somebody's pets, they were just off the highway)
11. horses (about a dozen of them are around my neighbor rancher's place)
 
And this is just TODAY! And the best part is that I don't have to feed or take care of any of them. Nature's bounty for me to enjoy. A hunter could surely keep his family fed around here!
Mac

[ScottBieser]

I would think the cost differential of living in Wyoming versus where you came from would depend a lot on where you came from.

I moved to Cheyenne in May 2005, from Riverside, California. I don't have Quicken records but by rough reckoning here are the cost changes I experienced in the year after I moved versus the year before:

Housing: Sold my 1445 sq.ft. home for $325k, bought a 1875 sq.ft. home in Cheyenne for $165k, paying $50k down. Mortgage is very manageable.
Food: About 15 percent higher here for most staples, although sometimes you can get good deals on beef.
Fuel: Avg. gas price in Cali when I left -- $2.25/gal, avg. here, $1.80/gal.  Nowadays, the avg. here is $3.85/gal vs $4.49/gal in Riverside.
Utilities: Water/wastewater is about the same; gas is about the same; electricity is only about 2/3 of what Cal Edison charges, those rat bastards.
Auto registration: For new vehicles, about the same as Cali, but the cost drops faster each year as the vehicles age.
Property tax: For residential property, works out to about 0.75 percent, compared with 1 percent in Cali. We don't have the cap on increasing property valuations but property isn't rising here the way it had been in Cali, so it's tolerable.
Biggest bonus: No personal income tax. The feds will allow you to deduct state sales taxes (the state rate is 4 percent) instead, so hang on to your receipts especially for big-ticket items.

[Volcan]

Hi Jared,

I think this is the place to reply, so now it's been a year since your post. . . does your Quicken show a similar +/- in the cost of living?  Has the year in WY changed your habits even further?  Lastly, Where did you move from?

Thanks,

Volcan

[Jared]

Good question!  I've got about 6 weeks of receipts staring at me that I've been neglecting to input , so consider your reply the final kick-in-the-pants reminder I needed!
Oh, and I moved here from the Seattle-Tacoma area.

[innov8r]

so...what about a gallon of gasoline/diesel today? how much per kWh of electric?

[rhodges]

so...what about a gallon of gasoline/diesel today? how much per kWh of electric?

The last time I filled up (in Beulah) a week or so ago, I think gasoline was around a buck ninety.

Looking at my current electric bill (Powder River) and just dividing the final amount by the kilowatt-hours, I get 5.8 cents.  This is including the "basic charge" and tax.  Others may be higher or lower depending on the usage and plan.  Hope this helps.

[innov8r]

so...what about a gallon of gasoline/diesel today? how much per kWh of electric?

The last time I filled up (in Beulah) a week or so ago, I think gasoline was around a buck ninety.

Looking at my current electric bill (Powder River) and just dividing the final amount by the kilowatt-hours, I get 5.8 cents.  This is including the "basic charge" and tax.  Others may be higher or lower depending on the usage and plan.  Hope this helps.

thanks for the info. southern md has ~$2.10 and 14.4 cents/kWh

[MacAaron]

I log my expenses in Quicken, and have done so for a few years now.
I thought people might be interested in how my cost of living has changed since moving to Wyoming.

Nice.  I don't have those kinds of hard numbers to quantify and our living situation changed dramatically coming here.  Here's some anecdotes in that regard, as well as some numbers that I do know for comparison:

Our rent on a 780 sq ft duplex in Holladay, Utah was $650/month (no land).  Gas (heating/water) was $82/month (12 month avg).  Electric was $45/month.  My wife's commute was 40 miles round trip at a cost of $55/week (Honda Civic).

Our mortgage on a 2100 sq ft house with 1/4 acre is $750/month, taxes and all.  Gas (heat/water/range-oven/clothes dryer) is $80/month (average).  Electric is part of the city's bill for garbage and so forth.  Electric-only is $28/month, whole bill is $60.  My wife's commute is now 90 miles/day at a cost of $30/week, even with fuel rising.  

The other bills are pretty obvious, but let me explain the fuel.  Gas prices have risen, dropped, and are rising (slowly) again. Gasoline here is cheaper than Utah no matter what--every major gas company has a refinery in Wyoming.  The largest difference, though, is the type of commute.  In Salt Lake City, her commute was across and then around town (she drove for part of her work, hence the miles) and was all in-city driving.  Out here, even thought it's double the miles, her commute is all freeway.  Anyone who knows anything about small, fuel-efficient, non-hybrid cars knows that the longer the distance at speed, the better the mileage.  Her car has jumped from getting a 28mpg average to over 35mpg now.

Many of our expenses have actually dropped since I'm not living on the road anymore.  We're also becoming much more self-sufficient in regards to food and maintenance.  Now that I'm home, the vehicle maintenance is mostly done by myself.  We also have started our garden this year and I've been growing sprouts and working out trades with neighbors to lower costs.  I also trade labor for goods regularly.  The owner of the hardware store in Kimball, for instance, had a bunch of cedar 4x4 posts he'd pulled up when he took down a lady's fence to replace with vinyl.  They weren't very old and were in great shape.  I unloaded his truck for him in return for the posts.

Little things like that are possible all over the place here.  I'm going over tomorrow to take the chain saw to the neighbor's railroad ties bordering his yard (cutting to fit in place) in return for some 1x4s he's got left over that I'm going to make shutters out of.  

The point is, your cost of living goes down in more ways than just what you're paying for amenities.  As you said, your lifestyle improves tremendously!  I have neighbors that actually talk to us and don't care what church we belong to.  Who wave, stop to say hi, and even grab a leash and walk dogs with us once in a while.  Not to mention the fishing...

[manfromnevada]

The KWH charge in my area is about the lowest in the country. The lowest provider in the whole area. Powder River Energy Corp. It's a cooperative. It's about 1/2 the rates in other locals.

Of course, this will all change if the Obamites get their way. Most of our energy here comes from that evil coal!

Mac

[MacAaron]

The KWH charge in my area is about the lowest in the country. The lowest provider in the whole area. Powder River Energy Corp. It's a cooperative. It's about 1/2 the rates in other locals.

Of course, this will all change if the Obamites get their way. Most of our energy here comes from that evil coal!

Mac

Nice!  Our power is about .02/kwh here.  Very cheap.  Also, for those who don't know, switching to a laptop will cut your computer's power usage by about 2/3.  They're much more efficient.  Cheap too.

[Dirttime Dude]

 This is a very cool thread. It really depends on where you came from.
 I have checked , for instance , on what the cost  would be for insurance on my RV, My car and my SUV.
 It is about half what I pay here, in Toluca Lake ca. in the San Fernando valley.
 Gas here ,right now is at 2.39 a gal.

 Ca. income taxes eat me alive. I wouldnt have that problem in Wyoming and few other places.
 I like to buy in bulk when I can. That works to save a lot of money over a years time.
 We do like to go to a movie once in while. But can live without it.

 Cost of what the abode would be in Wyoming for us, I have no idea.
 We dont need much. All the kids are very long gone.
 I am frugal by nature, except when I go nutz... My evil other half calls it "compulsive".
 I call it a "need", ahem....She has learned to shake her head and thats all...

 Very interesting.... Any breakdown of real goods, food per item , just a few things would be nice.
 And of course the quality of life makes a huge difference as well.

 I figure when I move , it will be my "last stand" , wont buy another place after that happens.
 I will either "buy the farm" or they will put me in a "home" ....you have permission to put me out of misery it that becaomes the case...
 I have the last say.... ...if I can talk without drooling etc...ahem...

 Dude...coveryer6

 
 

[MacAaron]

 This is a very cool thread. It really depends on where you came from.
 I have checked , for instance , on what the cost  would be for insurance on my RV, My car and my SUV.
 It is about half what I pay here, in Toluca Lake ca. in the San Fernando valley.
 Gas here ,right now is at 2.39 a gal.

 Ca. income taxes eat me alive. I wouldnt have that problem in Wyoming and few other places.
 I like to buy in bulk when I can. That works to save a lot of money over a years time.
 We do like to go to a movie once in while. But can live without it.

 Cost of what the abode would be in Wyoming for us, I have no idea.
 We dont need much. All the kids are very long gone.
 I am frugal by nature, except when I go nutz... My evil other half calls it "compulsive".
 I call it a "need", ahem....She has learned to shake her head and thats all...

 Very interesting.... Any breakdown of real goods, food per item , just a few things would be nice.
 And of course the quality of life makes a huge difference as well.

 I figure when I move , it will be my "last stand" , wont buy another place after that happens.
 I will either "buy the farm" or they will put me in a "home" ....you have permission to put me out of misery it that becaomes the case...
 I have the last say.... ...if I can talk without drooling etc...ahem...

 Dude...coveryer6

Most household and "normal" goods are roughly the same here as they are most other places.  Energy is generally much cheaper (most of it is produced here, after all).  Housing is EXTREMELY low cost here unless you move to a glorified resort town like Jackson Hole.  Go to http://www.realtor.com and compare.  Wherever you live in CA, you'll find that Wyo is cheaper.

The largest change spending-wise for us was in our planning for spending.  Living in a city with easy access to all of the shopping got us into the bad habit of buying as we needed rather than stocking up.  You learn to think of your pantry in terms of weeks instead of days, though.  In the end, this largely lowers your budgetary needs because you can justify buying in bulk.

By the way, the sales tax here will be less than half the new 9% tax in CA no matter which county you end up in in Wyo.

Unless you're a full on commie, gun-hating, liberal Obamabot, you'll love Wyoming.