Anyone who thinks living in Arizona is a bargain compared to other parts of the country (except possibly New York, L.A., or San Francisco) may be surprised. Some time back, the governor complained to the legislator that taken together, the various taxes levied on state residents and companies add up to an amount high enough to discourage employers and residents from coming here. The sales tax in the Phoenix area is 8.3% now, and every time you turn around some new initiative to raise it appears on the ballot. The county assessor dropped the valuation on my house $15,000 but my taxes ROSE by $600.

Because of high accident rates, auto insurance in some zip codes is astonishing. One of the two power companies in the Phoenix area charges a per-kwh rate that is among the highest in the nation. Gasoline is cheaper than California’s (especially if you buy at Arco or Costco) but it goes way up in the summer when it is diluted with ethanol to cut the smog. Food prices: comparable to California’s, except that you don’t find farmer’s markets with any serious bargains, and the produce is not as good as that available in, say, Washington State or California.

My budget of $840 covers
* the prorated monthly amount of the annual homeowner’s insurance and car insurance ($780 and $790, respectively, which is very low because I’m insured through AARP)
* the prorated monthly amount of property tax
* the prorated monthly amount of car registration
* $170 for the Renovation Loan
* estimated electric bill: $225
* estimated gas bill: $30
* estimated water bill: $125
* long-term care insurance: $80
* life insurance: $30
* yard care: $75

The long-term care insurance will cover most of the cost of a nursing home or in-home care when I reach senility; if I cancel it now I will have to divest myself of all my assets including my home and my car should anything happen that I need nursing care. Given my age and limited other resources, that stays.

The life insurance is a 30-year-old whole life policy that now returns considerably more than the premiums cost; its value presently represents a nice chunk of my projected retirement savings. When I cash it in, at retirement, that premium will go.

The lawn dudes perform heavy monthly maintenance of my yard that, as an elderly woman, I am physically unable to do. A healthy younger man (and possibly a hardy younger woman) could dispense with that cost, and obviously if you were living in an apartment you’d be free of it