Comments on: Financial Impact of Moving from New Jersey to Virginia

By: walkinwood

walkinwood — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:05:20 +0000

What about property taxes in NJ?

By: How One Debtor Resolves Her Credit Card Problems

How One Debtor Resolves Her Credit Card Problems — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:35:18 +0000

[...] The Sun’s Financial Diary: Financial Impact of Moving from New Jersey to Virginia [...]

By: Weekend Linkage – September 13, 2009

Weekend Linkage – September 13, 2009 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:41:31 +0000

[...] store about 8 miles away, where we can get almost everything we need for less. I am glad that Giant isn’t the only choice for grocery [...]

By: Saving Money on a Printer | Money Smart Life

Saving Money on a Printer | Money Smart Life — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:27:11 +0000

[...] Financial Impact of Moving @ Suns Financial Diary [...]

By: Kathy

Kathy — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:33:34 +0000

In Manassas at the Manassas Mall in the back a new super Wal-Mart will be opening soon and you have Costco right down the street and the other option of Shopper’s Food Warehouse… So you get to come to the Battlefield and shop, and then make a day of it.. I am sorry that I can’t find what town you made your home? Manassas is 14 miles outside of Vienna.. Are you there?

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:38:22 +0000

Regarding the credit card charges, $19/month savings.

Sometimes you have to look at the overall benefits. If the day care is just a small mom/pop shop, a lot of times, I would use check/cash. You might have save $19/month but they are paying $50/month++ extra in fees.

By: SavingEverything

SavingEverything — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:19:06 +0000

You can also check out the area for closeby(?) Food Lion, Trader Joes, WholeFoods, and Safeway, in addition to Wegman’s. I’ve found Wegman’s in NY, PA, and NJ to be more expensive than others. For Giant, they should be familiar to you: it’s the same company as StopandShop, which was found in MA and branched out to CT, NH, NY, and NJ (merged with Giant in 2004). How close to MD are you and how far do you like to drive? You can consider The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company’s SuperFresh, has 12 stores in MD (though i think they’re mostly northern MD). You can also consider Costco’s, Walmart Supermarkets (which include grocery stores). Is it true that: “fresh local produce sold at farmers markets and grocery stores, or basic, unprepared cold grocery foods, are taxed 2.5%”, includes local tax???

The other factor you may have to consider is the fees involved to change over titles, registrations, and drivers licenses. It may be expensive in VA, compared to keeping your out-of-state license ’til expires. But, you’ll have to switch over based on VA’s rules. Also, do you have to pay a fee for car emissions inspection and regular car inspection per year?? per 2 years?? NJ it was free, right? Also, is the car tax or auto excise tax a 1-shot tax or is it like Massachussetts where they have an auto excise tax that residents pay to their towns every year??

For State Income Taxes? Is there a City or County Income tax as well for people who both work and reside in VA? (MD has this. And, several cities have this like NYC, Philadelphia, to name a few.) Is there same deductions allowed in VA vs NJ?
Enjoy your new home; and remember, if you ever visit NJ, PA, CT, MA, NH, that I believe these states do not tax your clothing purchases… and think Delaware and New Hampshire as the place to make your big purchases for sales tax savings. But, then again, we’re required to umm put that on our income tax.

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:38:46 +0000

Seconded on Wegmans. Better quality and lower prices (if you can resist the dangerously tempting prepared foods area).

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:45:53 +0000

1. Gas where you live should be some of the cheapest in the DC area. It gets more expensive in Arlington and DC.

2. The savings in car insurance should cover most of your Personal Property Tax. It’s for cars, motorcycles, and I believe boats are also included. There is a waiver for the first $20K of the car’s value, and another $17K-20K in value for a clean fuel vehicle. So if you have an older car like I do, you will pay less than $125 for the car in tax, and probably $25 for the tax decal ($18 for bikes). Typically you have until November to pay it before the cops start checking stickers. Also they use published rates for car value, so you can figure this out. It’s $5 for every $100 of value.

So for a $25K car, less $20K, the rest of the value is $5K. That amounts to $250 in tax. There is also another provision if your car is worth less than $20K, which reduces your tax by some graduated amounts. My 2001 Altima now pays zero tax and only the tax decal for $25.

(I have the 2010 tax doc for my car in front of me. But I moved to DC so I don’t sweat it.)

3. There should be some farmer’s markets in your area.
http://vagrown.vi.virginia.gov/default.aspx?market_type=%27RFM%27%2C+%27WFM%27&rid=5

4. Try the Wegmans in your area. There are some things you can get cheaper there than you can get at Giant. (At least compared to the ghetto Giant where I shop in DC.)