I am fortunate to live in one of the most temperate climates in the world, but that comfort comes at a huge cost. It’s hard to leave your family, friends and loved ones behind though in order to save a few bucks (actually a lot of bucks). Today, PF Pro contributor, Kali Hawlk takes a look at what it would cost for her to move away from the beautiful low cost of living state of Georgia and experience the world.
Why do you live in the area you do?
For us, there were three major factors that influenced our current location:
- It was in the same part of the state we grew up in (so it was familiar)
- It was less than 10 miles from where we both worked (so it was convenient)
- It was relatively cheap (so it was well within the budget of the young newlyweds we were when we bought our home)
That third reason is the biggest reason we’ve stayed in our current location. Without a doubt, we’re spoiled with a low cost of living.
But we don’t want to stay in our current house forever. We we want to get out there and explore; live in different places and experience new things.
This is especially important to me. I’m actually quite embarrassed to admit that I’ve never lived outside of the state of Georgia. In fact, I’ve never lived anywhere but the northwestern part of the state.
While I love Atlanta and I’m proud to call the city my hometown, this country is way too big to stay in one place forever.
Dealing with Higher Costs
That being said, I’m still amazed when friends tell me how much their rents on tiny apartments are in different areas. After I pick my jaw up off the ground, I have to resist saying, “but our mortgage payment is only…”
I don’t feel the urge to say it to be rude, but I think it in the same way someone says, “oh come on, that just can’t be true, because…” after the person they’re speaking with says something so totally outrageous that it couldn’t possibly be accurate.
I don’t say it because my friend’s numbers are accurate. Even two bedroom apartments in some of the cities I’m interested in moving to are more than double my mortgage payment.
As much as I want to move to a new location and experience a different city, I feel like it would be financially irresponsible to move to a place where not only your accommodations but also everything else you want to buy is so expensive.
To deal with the higher cost — on just a living space — we’d need to cut back on how much we can save.
Making Room for Cost of Living Increases Affects Savings
We already have a pretty bare-bones budget as it is. We’ve eliminated expenses and cut costs where we can. We’re naturally pretty frugal by nature, and don’t enjoy spending money (unless it’s on something we really value).
So if we wanted to move, we’d have to save less to free up money for an increased cost of living. That’s just a hard pill for me to swallow, so I’m curious: does cost of living affect where you live?
Did you choose your current home like we did — because it was cheap and allowed you to accelerate your savings goals?
Or did you prioritize the ability to live in a particular location, even though it was more expensive to do so?
I don’t think there are any wrong or right answers, but I’m extremely curious to hear from Your PF Pro readers on this issue because I feel stuck myself!
It’s hard to imagine spending double what I’m currently paying to keep a roof over my head. But I also understand that there’s a reason some locations are more expensive. You often receive more bang for your buck in a variety of ways, from job opportunities to more exposure to unique cultures to “amenities” like events, restaurants, shopping, and public parks, transportation, and other resources.
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Personal Capital lets you see all of your accounts in one convenient place. Sign up now for free.So what do you think? Does cost of living affect where you live — or did you seek out your current location based on factors that went beyond just finances?
Great thoughts. I completely agree with you!!! Where I live leaves A LOT to be desired locally… i.e. there really isn’t much of anything for most people where I live.. (in the So. California High Desert) I try to look for the things I do have where I live.. the ability to Run, cycle and rock climb for free almost anytime I want providing I can tolerate the 115 degree temps in the summer..
With housing being the 1 thing that most people spend the greatest amount on in their lifetimes.. it is certainly at the top of the list for expenditures…
You didn’t throw out any numbers and with reason to perhaps keep that under the radar or not make people feel bad like you said… You could perhaps indicate your over all housing costs and utilities as a % of your income…
I just heard yesterday the US census bureau research says that Americans spend 33% of their income on housing expense… That seems like a lot to me. Currently, I spend 7.5 to 8% of my income on my overall housing, rent plus utilities.
I might like to get closer to the norm.. maybe say 20%. However, I look at that and just say that is about 12% more that I could be investing.. So no thanks on that one!..
I have options to move about 10 miles down the road and have A LOT more local amenities and options. However, this would also increase my commuting distance and would further up my overall costs.
Tim, it’s hard to share precise numbers because experiences, backgrounds, etc all change how people perceive an exact number. As a percentage of income, our current mortgage (with taxes and escrow) ends up being way lower than 33% — around 17% after tax, so it’s an even smaller percentage when if you’re considering pre tax income.
Looking at what average folks do, I suppose we have room to move up. But it’s hard to sacrifice the ability to save more.. like you said, it’s percentages that I could be investing!
Although our house was very expensive we did choose it so that we could decrease our monthly costs. Both my wife and I now walk/bike to work. So although we paid a bit more for our house we were able to save a lot of money each month on our commute (not to mention the time we save!)
Nice work! Looking at overall cost is essential to everything. Trading commuting expense in exchange for a higher housing cost balances it out.
Bicycle commuting is the only way for me.. It feels weird on the days I end up driving to work as it seems like a foreign concept.. LOL.
Totally. I really enjoy biking to work now. I wouldn’t ever go back to taking transit.
Thomas, I am SO wanting to live in a place where I don’t need a car. Atlanta, and Georgia in general, is spread waaaaay out and public transportation isn’t helpful at all. I’m ready to be able to walk and bike!
Some cities and towns are definitely better built for biking. Although my city is pretty biker friendly it still took me 3 years to start biking after I moved here. Sometimes you just have to give it a try.
This is so on point! I’m experiencing this exact thing right now. Most of my life I was born and raised in Hawaii-prob the most expensive place to live in the country; its double the national average. I also lived in places like the San Francisco Bay Area and D.C, also expensive places to live.
This past summer I packed up from Hawaii, left family and friends and relocated to Jacksonville, FL because my boyfriend got stationed there. I had never been to Florida before this yet alone Jacksonville. And let me just tell you, a cheaper cost of living is making all the difference! From rent, to gas, to the cost of groceries…I still find myself tripping out on prices on a weekly basis. It took me 4 months to get hired at a company out here and we managed to scrape by on only one income and I know for sure we couldn’t have done that in Hawaii, California, or DC.
Needless to say, I dont think I’ll ever permanently live in Hawaii ever again, as beautiful as it is and despite the fact that all my family lives there-its just too expensive! I was making a lot more money there and barely making it. But here, I’m getting paid a lot less and still able to pay my bills on time with a tiny bit of money left over. I am convinced that my boyfriend and I are going to live in other states with a comparable cost of living to Jacksonville. We are considering Charleston, SC and I personally would like to live in Colorado. But I know it wont be Hawaii, but maybe California if I’m lucky:)
California might have some good options for the 2 of you, depending on what branch your bf is in. There are some military options near me and COL on a day to day is pretty reasonable here in my opinion…
That must be a nice feeling coming from Hawaii to see prices so much cheaper than on the islands.
Yes it is a very nice feeling!!! Because the thing about Hawaii is (unlike California), the wages are not comparable to cost of living. I absolutely LOVE the bay area for many reasons-its close to home (only a 5hr flight!), its breathtakingly beautiful, and a lot of my friends from college live there. But I will say, the East Coast has its perks! hopefully we will find a happy medium. My bf is from Pennsylvania and I have yet to visit there. Going there for christmas
Glad I’m not the only person going through this. That’s interesting to hear from someone who went from a high cost to a low cost of living location. I think at least trying a new (more expensive) area would be worth the experience, but might not be a permanent move.
At this point, I dont think I can live in any city more expensive than Hawaii where the wages arent comparable. SO, its only up from here-LITERALLY! but a happy medium is out there!
We definitely fall in the camp of living in a crazy-high COL area. Our mortgage & escrow for taxes & insurance is $2,741 per month. Yep, it’s high. But, our salaries are also higher here than they would be in a lower COL area. We bought this house primarily for its awesome potential as a rental property down the road. The great thing about a high COL area is that, if you’re a landlord, rents are high and increase (almost) every year. We’ve managed to live in some of the most expensive cities in the country (go us 😉 ): NYC, DC, and now Boston and have really enjoyed it. But, our plan for the long-term is to move out of the city to a homestead in a lower COL area where we can be more self-sufficient–something that we’ve discovered isn’t always possible in dense, urban environs.
You know we have similar goals 🙂 I think we’re a little behind you in the homestead plan because we haven’t yet had the experience of traveling extensively, here and abroad, and we haven’t ever lived in a “big” city. I’d like to have that experience before we look at purchasing land!
My family moved to Georgia when I was in middle school so I have stayed due to the low cost of living. I love not having to pay exorbitant prices for food, gas and a place to live! If I were to move, any increase in the cost of living would definitely be something I would take into consideration and may keep me from moving..
Oops, “if I wanted to move,” not “if I were to move.”
As someone who has lived in different parts of the country and the world, I actually think about this topics a lot. My first job was perfectly adequate for the smaller town I grew up in, but it wouldn’t be enough to cover my rent at my first big city studio apartment.
I think that’s kind of how we’re thinking of things.. for now, stay put and establish a firm financial foundation. Then exercise some of that freedom that investing a lot of money early on in life gives you by moving somewhere that may keep us from putting away the amount we’re saving now 🙂
Hey Kali, we’re going through the same thought process! 🙂 I only ended up back in Phoenix (born and raised) because of a job, otherwise I would have never came back. However, now that I’m here and we own a house… WOW does that change the thought-process! Everywhere we’d like to live (cooler climates with walkability, public transportation, and closer to my best friends from college) is so much more expensive.
My challenge is saying goodbye to the incredibly low COL here (and the ability to buy another property and rental income!) and move to a place that’s more expensive, leaves less ability for us to save, and definitely erases the possibility of rental income for a long time. However, it would be a place we could thrive (because, you know, we could actually go outside during the summer and not die!) and have friends. Just trying to figure out if sacrificing savings and income is worth it! :-/
I think for us we’ve prioritized our ability to save and invest — for now. The further out we get into the future, the less we’ll NEED to save for our financial goals (hooray, compound interest over time!) That doesn’t mean we’ll stop saving entirely, of course, but I think some of the pressure to put away huge percentages of income will lift and we’ll feel more comfortable spending a bit more to live in our ideal location.
We definitely chose where we live based on other factors. NJ is an expensive and crowded state, but it has lots of wonderful things as well. I’ve lived here most of my adult life while my wife grew up here. We managed to find a reasonably priced town (relative to NJ prices) that gives us what we want and keeps us near family and friends. I’ve been tempted to move to FL for both the climate and the cost of living, but my wife has other priorities, so we’re staying put for now.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Gary. I definitely think it’s about priorities, and we’ll need to figure out what ours look like to decide if the increase costs are worth it down the road!
Hi,
In fact, when I bought my house I just made sure to have a mortgage I could pay easily with an average job so that I would have a margin of safety in case of job loss. I also wanted to be close to my job, friends and family. Now that I’m older, I sometime think I should sell the house and buy an even smaller one so that I could be mortgage free faster. I bought a 180,000$ house in 2008 and I think it was way too expensive even though the average house here costs 260k$ back in the days. The idea of spending 30 years of my life refunding a mortgage to put a roof over my head has always felt like a total non-sense to me. Nowadays we see a starting trend with tiny homes and I’m happy to see that happening. Living in a 20k-40k house makes a lot more sense to me. A huge mortgage is a cage I don’t want to be stuck in.
So, to answer your question, yes the price of rent or houses would have a huge impact on where I’d live unless the salary would be in line.
Best regards,
Hey Allan! I am also interested in the Tiny House movement for the same reason! The idea of building a house and owning it outright with no mortgage is so appealing to me. I cant come to terms with working so hard to get out of debt to then turn around and acquire a huge mortgage that I will be paying off for decades. I think Tiny homes are the way to go-and they dont necessarily have to be extremely tiny. Anywho, i’m right there with you!