One thing we knew before heading out to Los Angeles/California is the cost of living is higher out here. They say the little things add up and this is certainly true when it comes to living in the La-La Land.
I will concede wages tend to be higher here in the area when viewed against comparable jobs back in Chicago. However the old adage is something like “… little things add up …” and this is certainly true for us in our new city. Various online calculators estimate living in Los Angeles is 23% more expensive than living in Chicago and our real life experience thus far in LA can back up these numbers.
Here’s a look at some thing that are more expensive in Los Angeles in our case. Mind you, some are trivial and some more practical.
- Gas – We don’t drive as much here in Los Angeles but we are paying slightly more per gallon than we would be in Chicago. There isn’t much of a comparison here really since both LA and Chicago seem to be locked in some contest to see who can have the highest gas prices in the country.
- Insurance – I shouldn’t be surprised after spending 10 minutes on the road here that auto insurance is more expensive in LA. We pay around $130 a month which is $45 or more a month when compared to Chicago for the exact same insurance more or less. Our renters insurance is $50 more a year than our condo insurance was (is).
- Food – All food is more expensive here. Grocery stores? Check. Restaurants? Check. Ordering in? Check. Anything you are putting into your body food and drink wise will set you back a little more out here in the west.
- Clothing – Pretty comparable in all honesty, mind you neither H or I are sporting the latest trends and usually buy our gear in department stores or big box retailers.
- Automobile Ownership – Let’s start with the smog test which is a joke. I understand California wants to lower emissions and I’m all for it. They have the same kind of testing back in Canada and Chicago. However I found it to be stupid when we had to have our car tested in order to register it here in LA. If we had an older car I would understand but at the time of testing our 2008 vehicle had been on the road for 6 months. If we bought the same car in California we wouldn’t have been required to get the test. Kind of a scam don’t you think? We’re just about to take our baby in to the dealer for 15,000 mile service so I’ll let you know how it plays out money wise when we do. Of course we were not happy about the $250 registration fee and seriously contemplated leaving our Illinois plates on the car.
Overall it costs a lot more to live here in Los Angeles than it does in Chicago.
