Utilities can be a biggie - especially if you need to heat and/or cool a lot where you live. Water can also be higher in some areas (desert SW). Increases for things like sewer charges and trash hauling often go up every year. Utility costs seem to be always rising and, for most people, aren't something you can do without like cable or internet when it gets too expensive. Other things are increases in medical, dental, home and car insurance, maintenance and repair costs for home and car (living in a higher wage state means your mechanics will be higher paid in most cases), fuel for your car, property taxes, rent if you rent, food, and clothes. Some of those things can be mitigated by living in certain places or in certain ways (i.e. being car free, growing your own food, living in a temperate climate, etc...) some, like taxes and insurance, probably can't. One reason I'm tempted to stay living in Calif is because of the property tax structure - 1% of the purchase price and can't go up by more than 2% a year. I keep hearing stories of people in other states who's property taxes increase so much, so fast, that they are forced from their homes because they can no longer afford to pay the taxes. Same thing with high heating costs when oil prices go up or oil is scarce. The temperate climate where I live (coastal SoCal) also means I never have to heat or cool my house so have very low gas and electric bills) and I can bike most places so have low fuel and maintenance costs for my car.