Everything, other than services, is very inexpensive in the United States. Goods are cheap, but labor is expensive. You can buy a great GE microwave oven for $60 but it will cost you $75 for someone to come out and look at it if it breaks. Normally you would just take the item back to the store and they would immediately replace it, no questions asked.

To give you a broad idea of what things cost in Charlotte, NC, here are some examples of items you may be purchasing :

• $250 000 will buy you a 2500 sq ft (approx. 250 sq.m) home with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms in a good area with good schools
• $10 000 will buy you a great second-hand late model mini van or SUV
• $600 will feed a family of four with basic meals for a month
• $1 will buy you a Double Cheese burger at McDonald's!
• $100 will pay for your electrical / power bill in the above house per month
• $120 per month will get you state-of-the-art Digital Cable TV and Broadband Internet and home phone at your residence
• $1000 will buy you a stunning 50" Plasma HD television  - but you can get a fine TV at WalMart for $60!!
• $3 for a box of 12 Coke cans
• $2.80 per gallon for Fuel / Gas for your car - average car takes about $30 - $40 to fill up
• $2000 per year for car insurance for the first year as a new driver in the US - which will drop dramatically the second year
• $2000 for a Dell XPS latest model laptop, but you can get a good HP wide-screen Laptop for $600.
• $6 for a snackwich toaster machine

Furniture is expensive in the USA and the quality is not always great at the lower end of the market. Good planning will involve bringing as much high quality furniture with you in a container as the first choice. Appliances are to be bought here unless they are top end items like expensive Cuppucino machines or Surround Sound systems that can be operated on a transformer available from a SA company before you depart. Televisions are best bought here as they are NTSC and SA has PAL.

NOTE : These prices are for the South Eastern United States and do not reflect other major metropolitan parts of the US - which are mostly far more expensive. Cities like San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Boston, New York etc are way more expensive that these prices quoted here.