Could be worse...

[missroserose]

Property taxes in Juneau have gone through the roof (again) this year, which not only makes it even less likely that Brian and I'd be able to afford a condo here, but also means our rent will go up to cover the increased cost. We weren't sure how much, obviously, but expected it to be between $100-$200 a month. Fortunately, we talked to the landlady and she said that since we were planning on staying another year and because we'd been excellent tenants, she'd only charge us $50 more a month (as opposed to the $100 a month extra she was planning on charging if she'd rented the apartment out to new people). Between the two of us that's more than doable, especially since I'm likely going to get a raise in June.

Still, though, I'm getting a bit sick of how expensive it is to live here. Especially since I was in Anchorage and saw the shampoo we usually buy for $5 a bottle selling for $2.83 at the local Sprawl-Mart...

Comments

[decibel45.livejournal.com]

I thought Alaska paid folks to live there...? (seriously)

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

We do get a Permanent Fund dividend every year; however, that usually amounts to several hundred or at most a thousand or two. And living in AK in general is pretty expensive, because almost everything has to be shipped up here, Anchorage has become a big enough port of trade that things aren't quite so pricey anymore - many major cargo airlines have flights that stop there before going on their way to Asia. Anywhere else, though, and you can expect to pay anywhere from 10%-50% more than in the Lower 48 due to shipping costs. (I've actually seen tourists in Barrow taking pictures of the price of milk because no one back home would believe that there was a place where people would pay $7.99 for a gallon of milk.)

As for property costs, Juneau's got kind of an interesting location - we're pretty much squidged between the ocean and a nice steep mountain range. Add in the fact that a lot of people work for the tourism and government industries here (so housing's at a bit of a premium) and factor in shipping costs for a place where there's no ground transport in or out, and you see what I mean about it being expensive...