Living on a farm in western Cheeseland I can pretty much ditto all of this, with a couple of exceptions.
I live within commuting distance to the twin cities, so if you go 10 or 20 miles to the east, housing costs drop off dramatically. But right here, it's very close to the above. There is actually a 207 acre farm, 4 beds, one bath, listed near here for 2 million. But you can rent a really nice apartment for under 1000 in this area.
I've been known to park the JD utility tractor under some pine trees for a night, but an Airstream? Seriously? Give me a tent and some shore line on the Chippewa flowage up north and I'm in heaven. Of course that tornado a couple of years ago wasn't much fun. But it was free. Perhaps Maverick is correct in his assumption that you get what you pay for. But I digress....
Med insurance - 235/month just for me. Very healthy 44 y/o. $1000 annual deductible.
Coke - 1.25, Big mac meal, 4.50. Angus Burger meal - 6.25. Not much different from Twin cities suburbs.
College - 3500 per year at a random state Wisconsin school. Just tuition. Total estimated cost would be around 7k/ year, as opposed to Mad town, which is 22k/ year total estimated. Marquette is 31k/year just for tuition. So obviously, your college costs depend on how ritzy you want to get.
A Volkswagen? Who cares? Probably free around here. Brand new Ford F-150 crew cab at the local dealership - 41k. Buick Regal will run you around 27k. A used Grand Prix with 35,000 miles on it a year and a half ago - 14k.
Gas was 3.59/gallon yesterday.
