Relocate And Improve Your Finances Dramatically
July 1, 2009 – 7:46 am
I don’t understand why so many people choose to stay in high cost of living areas when they could relocate. A move to a new state could easy result in a higher standard of living at a much lower cost.
Making such a decision is easier at certain points in life, like upon graduation from college or upon getting married for example. An alternative approach would be to make a plan to relocate after a certain period of time, like after achieving X years of expreience in a given industry.
I would assume some of the most common reasons for staying in one area of the country might include:
- Being close to family
- All of your friends still live in city X
- You enjoy living in city X
- You can’t find a job anywhere outside of city X
Although I can understand wanting to live close to friends and family, I would challenge you to think about the benefits to YOUR family if you could provide the following by moving to a less expensive locale:
- an affordable home for your family that costs less than $200M
- a paid-for education for all of your children (b/c you could save a lot more if you didn’t have a $400k mortgage)
- better healthcare and less car payments…
I can also relate to wanting an exciting job after college. I lived in Indiana my entire life until I graduated from schoool, and as an eager young-adult I decided to take a job as a consultant with a custom software development firm that required 100% travel. Talk about spreading my wings! I had a great time working at a job I loved, clocking tons of hours and seeing what it was like to live in most of the big east coast cities. Over a six year period I lived in Providence, Richmond, Miami Beach, NYC, White Plains NY, and Philadelphia.
Eventually though, when it was time to scale back the hours and travelling, I focused my search on locations that met my needs AND was cost effective. I was able to get everything I wanted in Texas (affordable housing, close to a big city, down to earth neighbors, numerous job opportunities, etc.). Although it’s true that the south can be a less expensive to east or west coast locales, there are affordable across the U.S. if you’re willing to search a little.
Life is all about choices. If your willing to move you can open up financial opportunities that may never be available to you or your family otherwise.
If you would consider moving to a lower-cost state, please do your research thoroughly. Figure out exactly how much you think you will save, and then verify your numbers and assumptions. It’s easy to see lower house prices, for example, and think your new locale is a great idea. But did you consider the higher state income taxes, or higher state sales taxes, or higher real estate taxes? Be sure to do the research before spending the money to move! You might also want to consider renting for a year or two after moving in order to get your bearings and take your time house hunting.
Image Credit: stevekeys
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People argue this point from a variety of angles, and I’m the first to admit that tithing on net income would be a lot easier than on gross income. It’s just too bad that the “net income” approach isn’t Biblical.
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