Moving for the sake of being Frugal

eigenmouse · 4 months

We scrimp on things we don't care about so we can afford the things we do care about, such as living in an expensive metropolitan area.

PandaJones · 4 months

Better quality of life for you maybe, but not me. For me, a better quality of life is having access to multiple art museums where I can see world famous art, several colleges where I can attend free lectures about all kinds of topics, the site of several festivals throughout the year, just about every musical artist you can think of coming here at some point or another, etc, etc.

xnoseatbelt · 4 months

Keep in mind that for some people it is much easier to make more money in metropolitan areas.... this is true for myself. While it costs more to live in the city you can also make a whole lot more in some instances.

budgetchick · 4 months

I live in a small city in the midwest and coming from a city of a little less than a million, I am incredibly bored here. Almost every weekend, unless I work, I go down to visit my boyfriend. He lives in a big city, and even just driving around is more interesting than being in my small town.

I would rather pay more to live somewhere interesting than pay less to live in a boring town. Some people don't want to live in a big city, but for me it's a necessity.

Trunkbutt · 4 months

Employment? Most of the companies who hire for the types of jobs my husband and I do are in cities. I'm working back toward full time telecommuting so it's no big deal, but his job works best when he's on-site at this time. I doubt we're the only ones with this issue.

flaregunpopshow · 4 months

You might also have to take in account that the job selection in small towns is much smaller than that in cities.

I would also have to agree with what 5-4-3-2-1-bang said about living in a small town. For me, being bored all of the time is not worth saving the extra money.

goddesspyxy · 4 months

Living close to where I work, being able to walk to shops and restaurants, having choices other than Wal-Mart...these are my reasons for living in a metro area.

The_Chief · 4 months

Because I hate driving.

heylookitsliz · 4 months

I Think that quality of life can only be determined by the person to whom this is referring. Arguing that the quality of life is inherently better in a certain area is negating the fact that if you don't enjoy living there, than it doesn't matter how good the amenities are.

I went to college in a small town in the midwest. I understand the charm, but I wouldn't change my city preferences, regardless of cost-of-living.

5-4-3-2-1-bang · 4 months

It's a quality of life issue. I went to school in a relatively small town (roughly 40K people) but I grew up in a major metro. I couldn't wait to get the hell out of BFE when I graduated!

Simply put, the phrase "What's going on? Nothin'" doesn't exist in a major metro. There is always something to do if you want to do it, and a lot of it is free. Not-at-all true for a minor town; pretty much everything revolves around the local high school football team, alcohol, or both. Boooo-riiiiiing.

dishtowel · 4 months

Bridgeport, CT here. It is much cheaper to live here or in the less ghetto surrounding areas, but some people just prefer to live in the city. I'd personally prefer to live in an even smaller town, but it's just not possible for me.

I think deciding where to live is much less of a financial choice for many people.

dropanchor · 4 months

We moved from the SLC area to a small town of about 30k people and we love it. We also save about $700/mo. on rent. However, I think other people would be bored here. I am a maker, I love to try new things and can food from my garden and the fact that this place is surrounded by farms keeps me busy on the canning front. We go to the river and float it on the weekends, people fish here a lot. It's a different lifestyle completely, and I'm cool with it, but others would not enjoy it as much as we do.

duderMcdude · 4 months

There are hidden costs to living outside of the city. I live in a mid-western city (milwaukee), and by appropriately choosing my area, I didn't need to buy a car. A car's costs can vary wildly, but I'd say that not having one easily makes back any higher costs of living. I'm not saying this is for everyone, but it certainly works for me.

SquareIsTopOfCool · 4 months

Around where I live (Connecticut) cheaper housing means living in a lousy neighborhood (as I currently am). Anywhere with cheaper housing in nice neighborhoods is pretty far away, and it would mean giving up my friends, family, pets - my entire support network. Since I have a variety of medical problems, moving would also mean I'd have to find new doctors, which is VERY difficult. I lived in North Carolina for a while and loved the lower cost of living there, but I had to move back up north because I couldn't manage my medical problems on my own.

Moving means uprooting your entire life. It's more complicated than it seems.

isleepinahammock · 4 months

Because in my experience, smaller, more rural places have a far lower quality of life.

I'm LGBT, trans specifically, and it will be a cold day in hell before I move to some podunk town in rural Arkansas. Sorry, played that game. I've lived in small towns and small cities. When I think "small town" I don't think classic America, Leave it to Beaver, or any other cliche. I think backwards, close-minded people who hate and fear anyone who isn't white, married, straight, and Christian.

Could I get cheap housing elsewhere? Sure. But my rent is $367 a month. I could buy a nice two bedroom condo here for $45k. I live in a safe neighborhood in one of the 5 largest cities in America. I have far more access to jobs here than probably anywhere else in the country. For me to move to a small town would be isolating, physically dangerous, and financially suicidal.

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