Yesterday I talked about MP Dunleavy chatting about her increase in cost of living. On Friday at LAL Musings I ranted about hating my neighbors.
Today I’m pondering about the sacrifices of living in an expensive area. I guess this mostly came up because I hate my neighbors. Don’t get me wrong. This happened because my DH and I chose to live in a HCOLA. This happened because we chose to live within our means. This happened because we chose to live in a smaller living area versus driving 1 hour to work.
We definitely made choices which forced us into circumstances. But I wonder, how do you get out of living in a HCOLA? How do you leave your jobs? Do you look in a different field? Or do you perhaps stay in a HCOLA but make other sacrifices to live in a SFH?
Would you move to a HCOLA? Or to a LCOLA? What motivates you to live where you live? What would it take to make you move?
I believe my DH and I one day would love to move to a MCOLA. I’ve love a LCOLA but I’d settle just to live some city not amongst the highest in the US.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Meg from FruWiki // Jul 12, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I think a lot of people don’t understand how hard it is to move — even if you don’t have a spouse and kids to uproot. Some people act like it’s a simple solution to things. Can’t find a job? Move. Housing too expensive? Move. Don’t like the weather? Natural disasters? Too much crime in the area? Move.
Unless you work online and can work from just about anywhere, it often doesn’t make sense to move to a LCOLA because your income will likely drop and you’ll end up spending more moving your life around. Plus, you may lose your network of local friends contacts, which can be very valuable. And you may also find hidden expenses in LCOLA areas such as fewer resources and services like public transportation.
My husband and I live in a city we love. We know he could make more elsewhere, but our expenses would be much higher if we lived in California or New York. Plus, we don’t have to deal with the health issues of living in smog.
However, there aren’t a lot of job opportunities here and staying here has been difficult at times. We probably wouldn’t be so far in debt had we chose to move instead of stick it out when my husband couldn’t find a full-time job quickly. That’s the price we’ve paid, though, and we think it has been worth it.
And on the other extreme, we could move a half hour east of here to where I grew up and housing is even cheaper. However, there are even fewer opportunities there and the drive to work — and everything else — would be much farther. Driving consumes time and money. It really adds up. Plus, local options are not only limited but priced higher than here because there is no competition. And don’t even get me started on the health care options there!
So, I guess no place is perfect — though they each have their draws, too. And you learn to live with what you have. I think we get the best of both worlds living in a MCOLA, even if we also have the problems of each to some extent. But I do feel like we have more choices here.
2 LAL // Jul 13, 2009 at 7:23 am
I think it’s still a choice. You chose where you live, it doesn’t chose you. If you decide to live somewhere expensive you can’t cry over it.
3 R. May // Jul 13, 2009 at 12:50 pm
LOL I’m moving! Well not this second. But I live in uber pricey DC/Metro area.
I grew up here, it wasn’t always so pricey – but as more people got priced out of the city and moved further and further out, my little town got sucked into the metro area.
It wasn’t until this year that I realized – I’m not where I want to be financially because I don’t earn enough or I’m not sufficiently frugal. I live in a extremely expensive area!
So now I’m really socking away money for two years and I’m outta here!
I agree it’s a choice – but one that is easy to make and harder to carry out. It’s not a good idea to move without a job – but how do you interview for jobs half-way across the country? How do you decide on someplace – throw a dart at a map? Where I live didn’t choose me exactly, but I didn’t exactly choose it either.
4 LAL // Jul 14, 2009 at 3:10 pm
You just apply and try for it. They usually realize from your resume that you are living away so they might do a phone interview first before scheduling a real interview, in my experience.
I am choosing based on jobs, idea of weather, family, COLA.
5 R. May // Jul 15, 2009 at 1:23 pm
True but that only works for certain types of jobs. I can’t fathom being hired from a distance with what I do. For my type of job, when we have job openings we get hundreds of applicants, with that kind of response why bother with person who lives 5 states away?
6 JoeP // Jul 15, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Based on my limited experience, HCOLAs have more volatility when it comes to prices in things like houses. The percentage might be similar, but the actual dollar swings are big. For example, a relative lives in Anaheim and saw their house assessed value go from about $400k to $750k in less than 10 years. I know for a fact that their salaries did not increase almost 100% in the same period.
For us to move from a LCOLA area into that would require major adjustment. First, we probably wouldn’t be able to qualify for a house similar to ours, unless having a 1 hour commute is an option. Second, we’d probably have less cash on hand and likely not be able to save for our retirement as we do now. Sure, my salary may increase, but I don’t think by that much.
I always wondered why they don’t sell their house for even $700k and move to a LCOLA. For *half* of that they could buy a really nice efficient house for cash, put away some for retirement, and find even “ok” work that has some health coverage. I think that the freinds/family connections are important, and it is easy to armchair the options, but I would give it serious consideration.
7 LAL // Jul 16, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I think it’s impossible to leave a HCOLA to a LCOLA and come back period. I think once you leave getting back into the market is tough.
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