KnowYard Community

Property taxes are the real killer. No income tax sounds great until you realize you pay 2.5% of your home value every year. That adds up FAST on a 400k house.

Car insurance in Texas is insane and nobody talks about it. Mine went from $140 to $210/month for the same coverage. Zero accidents. Zero tickets.

Protested 5 years in a row. Won every time. Average reduction of about $20K in appraised value. The informal hearing is where it happens — bring your comps printed out and be polite.

Groceries are where I feel it the most. Same cart that cost $120 two years ago is $170 now. And the shrinkflation is real — everything is smaller.

The best BBQ I ever had was at a family reunion where my uncle cooked it in a homemade smoker made from a oil drum. No thermometer. No YouTube education. Just vibes.

It depends where you came from. My friends in California still pay double what I pay for everything. Texas is expensive compared to 2019 Texas, but cheap compared to a lot of other places.

If the spot doesn't have a line of construction workers at 6am it's probably not that good. That's my filter.

Unpopular opinion: corn tortilla breakfast tacos are superior. Flour gets soggy too fast if you're taking them to go.

Find a place that makes their tortillas in house. That's the only criteria that matters. Everything else follows.

Any medical facility. Not as a doctor — as everything else. Phlebotomy cert takes 4 months and pays $18-22/hr. Medical billing is similar. Hospitals are desperate for support staff.

Chorizo and egg with a little bit of potato mixed in. Squeeze of lime. That's the one.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. I waited 2 years for prices to drop and they went up $40K instead. Timing the market is a myth. Buy when you can afford to.

I use a pellet grill and I'm tired of pretending I'm sorry about it. The brisket is good. My family loves it. I don't care about your offset smoker opinions.

Trades. HVAC, plumbing, electrical. Most will hire you with zero experience and train you. Starting pay is $18-22/hr but within 2-3 years you're at $30+. Texas needs tradespeople badly.

Bacon egg and cheese on flour with green salsa. That's the order. Every time. Don't overthink it.

Check your city and county job boards directly. Government jobs don't always post on Indeed. The benefits package is usually better than private sector even if the pay is slightly lower.

My Mexican friends refuse to eat at most Tex-Mex places. But they also admit that queso (which doesn't exist in Mexico) is addictive. Cultural exchange works both ways.

The insurance situation in Texas is rough right now. Get quotes BEFORE you make an offer on a house. Some areas are seeing 40-50% premium increases after recent storm seasons.

The bathroom thing alone justifies its existence. After driving 3 hours on a Texas highway I would pay $5 just for a clean bathroom. The food is a bonus.

Factor in ALL costs not just mortgage. Property tax, insurance, HOA, maintenance, and the stuff that breaks. My first year I spent $8K on things the inspection missed.

Birria tacos here have gotten so much better in the last few years. The trend actually brought legit birria spots out of hiding.

It's both. It's a tourist trap AND it's good. Those things can coexist. The prices are high but the quality is real.

Counterpoint: standards are what make Texas BBQ great. If we stop caring about quality we end up like every other state's mid BBQ. Gatekeeping has a purpose.

Utility companies are almost always hiring and pay decent with good benefits. Check your local electric co-op or water district. $22-28/hr starting for field positions and you don't need a degree.

This is why I specifically bought a house with no HOA even though it meant a longer commute. My trash can sits wherever I want and nobody sends me letters about it.