I live in the US right now. If I ever moved there, would it be expensive to live there? Just tell me as much as you know.
Other - Italy - 12 Answers
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1 :
very expensive
2 :
Why?
3 :
Not sure but it sounds fun! :)
4 :
excessively. i spent over $10 on a small bowl of strawberries, during strawberry season, for desert in a cafe over 15 years ago. its completely insanely expensive there.
5 :
It would depend on the area you're thinking of, there are several different regions in Italy. Some things are more expensive, but the life style tends to be 'simpler' in some areas. However, if you do move to Italy, I'll be jealous! I've looked into it myself, and I'm in the US too.
6 :
Well, first of all what are your standards? Street- for free, and sometimes people give you Euros shackish thing- I have no idea, never lived in one a house- about the same US MANSION- you can just guess Also, it depends on where in Italy BE MORE SPECIFIC:)!
7 :
It depends on how much of a "cu$hion" you have in your bank account. And if you plan on trying to find work or create your own business to produce an income (not easy). Big cities - anywhere - are always expensive, but smaller towns are affordable. I live in a Italy but always come back to the states for visits. The one thing that I find costly is not being able to buy in bulk, like at Costco or wherever. They just don't have that "more is better" mentality there. Clothes in general are expensive, if you have fine taste (italian jeans!), but everything else seems the same across the board. Of course I'm comparing Hawaii (my roots) and Italy, so this is a very extreme example in contrast to say....someplace out in the Midwest. Just to give you an example: my electric bill is approximately 60 euros for every other month (family of 2), water is less than 80 euros, billed bi-annually, heating (gas) is a whole other story during winter.
8 :
I've been living in Italy for nine years and have a home near Denver, Colorado. The expenses for my 4 bedroom house in Colorado and my one bedroom apartment here in northern Italy are about the same. I live in a smaller city, not one of the more expensive tourist destinations. As someone else mentioned, heating bills in the winter can be quite high, but since there's no air conditioning, the electric bills through the summer are lower than in the US. Basically, you can count on having bills for electricity, gas, water, and trash removal with internet and phone bills depending on your subscription. There's an annual television tax. You'll also have fees for renewing your permesso di soggiorno (permission to stay) every year. I just stopped for fuel on the way to work this morning - 1.32 euro per liter for diesel. That's equivalent to about $7.17/gallon at the current exchange rate. The dollar has strengthened against the euro recently - it was about $10/gallon a few months ago. My food bills are about the same as in the US, but that's not comparing identical items. There are some things cheaper here in Italy and some that are more expensive. You need to know that it's more complicated than just deciding to move to Italy. As a US citizen it would be illegal for you to live and work here unless you have the proper visa. You can get visa information here: http://www.esteri.it/visti/index_eng.asp. Getting a work permit and visa is not easy for a non-EU citizen. As a US expat, you will also have to file taxes in both the US and in Italy - Italian tax rates are higher than in the US. The expat websites are a good place to do some research; for example: http://www.expatsinitaly.com/,
9 :
Depends on your lifestyle and what you will be doing on a daily basis. But in General compared to the USA Gas is more expensive - but if you get a motorino (scooter) you can save big time or use public transportation or if you live in the center you can walk alot, saving money. Electricity - more expensive but you will probably consume less of it since they dont believe in Air Conditioning, although it is becoming more popular every year many people dont have it. Rent is expensive if you want to live in the center of downtown, but that goes the same for everywhere. Food - much less. I found that in America fruits an vegetables in the US are much more expensive. In Italy you get taxed on everything. Every year you have to register your car even if it's sitting in the garage broke. You have a TV tax every year and a trash removal tax, they aren't expensive but they add up. Cell phones are definitely cheaper and so is the bill. In the end I think it just comes down to your lifestyle.
10 :
we are in bad economy condition...but i don't belive so much than you in USA. Remember that euro is stronger than dollar and the life here in italy is expensive. An I-pod here costs 160 euro in US costs 120 $ (in fact many italians go in usa also to go shopping.)
11 :
hi, i'm an italian girl and i live in the north of italy (milano) is, leaving in italy it's quite expensive i think for us people it could be much more expensive, because 1 euro is about 1.4 dollars apart from this, life is much more expensive in big and touristic cities (such as milano, rome, florence, venice) and in the north of italy exmple: in milano you may pay 5 euros (almost 7 dollars) for a coffee + croissant, in the south of italy just 2 euros (2.7 dollars) or less milano is one of the most expensive cities he world to buy a house |it's about 4.400 euros (6.000 dollars) for square meter| and for life in general moreover, we have inflation problem
12 :
veeryyyy expensive!!! ciao
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