Let's talk about Kentucky...

[Murgatroy]

Kentucky, it's like a low rent version of Tennessee with a lot of horse fences.

My wife asked that "Do we have to become horse people?"

[Caster]

My wife asked that "Do we have to become horse people?"

Nope, but tell her you may be required to call her "Sis" in certain circles.

[Guest jkintn]

Less orange....always a good thing.

[Guest nicemac]

Shepardsville is a nice little town. AND like I said, you are minutes away from the coolest gun range on the eastern coast.

Check out Bardstown. 38 miles from downtown Louisville. A lot like Franklin.

[Murgatroy]

Check out Bardstown. 38 miles from downtown Louisville. A lot like Franklin.

That is on the list as well. Bardstown is a little out of the way though, as I will be working by the airport. I really wanted to stay <30mi.

[Murgatroy]

Well I send my deposit up tomorrow, and sign the lease papers on the 19th, looks like we are moving to Shelbyville. Keeps us out of Jefferson County, and isn't a half bad drive to work.

Plus, I am less than an hour away from Buds Gun Shop...

And I look right out my back door and over my patio to a horse pasture.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Murgatroy

[Murgatroy]

So I have been here a week. Not a half bad place. A little colder here than it was when I left Knoxville.

I have found a couple of decent gun stores. One just down the street with a nice fellow behind the counter. He had a Jericho 941 behind the counter, with a nice price. I have a feeling he and I are going to become well acquainted.

Found another shop across the street from where my wife works, lots of milsurp and they had just gotten a shipment of Ruger's new take down 10/22s in. Those are kinda sweet.

My commute is a fair bit longer, and the drivers are a bit more aggressive here, but overall I think I will make it just fine.

Work is great, I am so pleased with my decision to take the job, it is less stress, more time to do what I need to do, less of a rush. Plus I met with the two heads of our new department and was told why I was cherry picked for the position.

I miss Tennessee, but I think Kentucky is going to be good for me and my family.

[Timestepper]

I go past Shelbyville quite often on the way to L-ville - sometimes even deliver to Lowe's in Shelbyville. From what I've seen of it, you've made a good choice. Maybe I'll hit one of the nearby truck stops sometime and offer to buy you a cup of coffee if we've both got time.

Glad you're happy and congrats on the new job!

[Mr. Brooks]

Glad it's working out for you. I moved just over the state line into Ky about a year ago.

I've enjoyed it so far as well. Ky even has a few perks over Tn, such as open carry and car carry without a permit.

[Murgatroy]

So things are good.

The job is great, my stress level dropped exponentially.

I have a longer commute, which sucks. No one up here knows how to drive, which makes that worse.

I have already found two gun stores to call home. Both are nice, small owner operated shops with great prices. I have been buying my ammo from Five Point in Shelbyville for a while now. Oakwood guns in Louisville is another really nice place with a lot of mil-surp. If the wife had taken five more minutes at the boutique next door I would have walked out with a 91/30 in nice shape. I was bummed though, I wanted a rough one, and all he had were nice clean round receivers. I want to chop it up, and can't bring myself to ruin a nice one. They had a K98 Russian capture with all the Nazi markings struck out. Real nice shape on that one.

So all in all it is good. Tomorrow I am going to head out to a little known WMA the owner of Five Point told me about just out of town and see what it is like. There are still a couple of shops just down the street from me I haven't visited yet, but I need too.

[Sam1]

I'll warn you ahead of time... Grew up there left for 6 years and came back for 5 more then moved to Knoxville in '10.

Taxes Taxes Taxes...

You will pay 6% state sales tax

State income tax - On $60k it cost me almost $300/month and I usually only got a $25-$50 refund at the end of the year

County Taxes - Paid 1% or 1.5% on income for Pulaski County

Occupational Taxes - 1% of income in McCreary county (yes this is for real a tax I had to pay because I worked in their county, only people that work have to pay it, if you're a bum on government assistance you don't have to pay it)

Vehicle Insurance - for 2 cars and a motorcycle in KY it cost over $240/month with no tickets and no accidents on my record (here in Knoxville we have 3 vehicles, our life insurance and home insurance and it is only $207/month, that is with an at-fault wreck on my record and a wreck on my wife's record) KY was also 200% higher that it cost me for the same vehicle in Cincinnati - no idea why KY is so expensive

Vehicle taxes - you have to pay an annual property tax on your vehicles there in addition to the normal registration fees. I believe this is 1% of the book value (was around $300/year for 2 cars and a motorcycle for me)

Gas - usually gas back home is between .30-.40/gallon higher than here in Knoxville

When we transferred to Knoxville, we seen almost $500 extra per month in the bank just because we don't have to pay all of that craziness anymore.

<edit> sorry, just read the first page didn't know you had already moved. God bless 'ya and good luck dealing with the people up there!

Edited May 20, 2012 by Sam1

[Murgatroy]

It cost me $60 to register each of my cars. $40 of that was my custom plate. I was not required to pay taxes on the vehicles, as the tax rate was 6% in Kentucky and 'over 7%' in Tennessee. That is a little over half what I paid a year in Knoxville.

My insurance dropped $20. For two cars. I sold my motorcycle last year.

The 6% sales tax is much better than the 9.25% I was paying in Knoxville, and there is no tax on groceries.

Yes, gas is more expensive.

Yes there is a state income tax. Comes out to about 5% for me. This negates the salestax savings. But I am saving money on my groceries. at $400+ a month with no tax, it offsets the losses and nearly creates a gain.

However, the nondriving issues is the worst for me. I have yet to meet a person up here that understands what a blinker is, what a speed limit is (either at or over) or that Kentucky actually has Keep Right Laws. Most drivers up here drive ten under, in the middle and left lanes. It is baffling.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Murgatroy

[East_TN_Patriot]

It cost me $60 to register each of my cars. $40 of that was my custom plate. I was not required to pay taxes on the vehicles, as the tax rate was 6% in Kentucky and 'over 7%' in Tennessee. That is a little over half what I paid a year in Knoxville.

Either you have two older vehicles or Kentucky has changed their tag rates significantly. I was born and raised in Richmond, KY and moved away at the age of 26. I remember paying $200-plus per year to get my car tags renewed. I didn't find the state income taxes all that oppressive, but some counties like Fayette add a city income tax that stinks. There are times I think I might want to move back to Kentucky at some point, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I'm glad things are going well for you up there.

[Murgatroy]

I don't believe in driving new cars.

[Sam1]

Should be 5.8% - 6% Say you make $50,000/year, that 5.8% equates to almost $250/month just completely gone. If you look at 9% sales tax only vs. 6% sales tax + 5.8% income tax, you would have to pay 9% sales tax on nearly $100,000 every year to negate the difference. So it would be impossible for a no-tax grocery (not all products are tax exempt though) bill to provide a gain unless you are spending nearly $3000 a month in groceries.

The vehicle tax we are talking about is not from bringing them into the state after being purchased, it is a recurring expense that you pay every year. Say the car is worth $10k, you pay $100 tax (pretty sure it is based on a 1% retail value of the vehicle) + registration and whatever other fees annually. Am also really surprised to see your insurance cheaper, that's the first time in over 30 years that I've met someone that got it cheaper inside KY.

The other thing to look out for is all of those extra fees on your service bills (phone, internet etc.) The "surcharges" and other forms of legal rape are higher there as well. I put up with it most of my life and after seeing how good TN has it, I would not even consider moving back unless it was for a job that came with a $20k raise... and that just isn't happening

Edited May 20, 2012 by Sam1