Hi there, Mrs. 1500 today, wanting to know where you live. Before you answer, let me say that you can get as specific or as general as you like. We say we live in Northern Colorado, and that is as specific as we prefer to be, as we blog anonymously for several reasons.
But even more before you answer, let’s go back to last week, when we asked What is sentimental value worth to you?
As you may recall, Mr. 1500 came across a signed baseball that used to belong to his Grandfather. It is worth quite a pretty penny these days, and neither Mr. 1500 nor I watch baseball, preferring to spend our time viewing paint drying or grass growing. (This past weekend we watched snow falling for hours, and had infinitely more fun than any of the times we attended a baseball game.)
We took our children to the local baseball team’s home game once and left around the 4th inning, the girls were complaining so vociferously. We are just not a baseball family.
Chris over at Flipping a Dollar (my new favorite blog that I cannot get enough of – Chris please write more!!!) had a real great point. This isn’t the last thing that Mr. 1500’s grandfather ever gave him, in fact he didn’t really give it to him at all. We found it in a box of stuff we have moved around for several years. If we never came across it again, it wouldn’t have been missed by us.
Mrs. SSC reminded me that, “…everything isn’t sentimental.” Too true. I could make an argument for keeping almost anything in that overstuffed garage* of ours…
Reader Beth makes a good point with this, “Heirlooms are family history and keeping these items in the family is more important than the money I could get for selling them.” I wonder how many amazing things my family before me has discarded.
Reader Carlton has a wonderful suggestion, “…is there anyone else in the family who is, or who may be someone who would appreciate this in the future?” I wish this were the case, because how cool would it be to receive something like this if you were into this sort of thing?
Reader Lara proposed a flow sheet:
A) Is anyone in your family going to be seriously miffed if you sell the ball? If “no”go to B
B) Do you get warm fuzzy feelings about your grandfather when you look at ball? If “no” go to C
C) Sell the Ball to collector Spendosaurus
Thanks, Lara! Perfect!!!
And now back to today’s regularly scheduled question: Where do you live?
Three years ago, we lived in Madison, WI. We absolutely loved the city – it has an amazing vibe and is continuously found on those “Best Places to Live” lists. The two downsides to Madison are the abhorrent weather and ghastly taxes.
(There is an episode of NewsRadio where Dave is talking about staying up too late the night before his SATs and performing poorly on them, resulting in his going to college in Wisconsin rather than California. With sarcasm dripping from his voice, he says, “I love winter in Wisconsin – it’s the best seven months of the year!” Unfortunately this is so true…)
The taxes are ridiculous – we paid something like 2% of the price of the house every year in taxes. This was also back when we lived in our most expensive house ever, before discovering the wonderful world of financial independence and early retirement.
We decided to move to Colorado after talking to a cousin of mine who went to school near Denver. We were at a different cousin’s wedding, and she told us how she would go snowboarding every weekend. We made up our minds to move west, somehow deluding ourselves that this is what our weekends would be like, too, even though I was 6 months pregnant with baby #2…
But we were pleasantly surprised at how low the taxes are out here in Colorado. That was the only pleasant surprise in our first city in CO… We moved again one year later, and have found our forever home. We live in a different city in CO, and the taxes are even lower. We purposely chose a smaller house with lower taxes so we could reach financial independence even sooner – had we stayed in that Madison home I don’t think we could have ever retired early…
So where do you live? And a second question, would you move if it meant you could achieve financial freedom sooner?
*This picture is very very old. We can now fit one car in the garage, and the only reason the other one doesn’t also fit is because there is a bathtub/shower insert taking up a large portion of said garage.
Northern Serbia, Europe.
San Diego, Ca. The real estate here is horribly expensive, but everything else seems to be about the same as the rest of the country ( I am sure some would argue that) Gas, milk and other common purchases are slightly higher, but really not that significant. I speak based on my experiences of visiting my daughter in Mississippi (the poorest state in the union) At T shirt at Walmart there is the same here as it is there. Of course you can spend more here if you choose too. I live in a smaller unincorporated part of the county, Spring Valley. It’s not the prettiest neighborhood, but it works just fine for us. As a single parent I was able to purchase a foreclosure in decent condition in 2009 for $160k. My mortgage at the time for a 1400 sq ft, 3 bed, 2.5 bath house was the same as the rent in my 720 sq ft 2 bed apartment. $1200 a month. Over the years my wages increased and my mortgage decreased due to refi, and I find myself closer to financial freedom than most of my peers. Our property taxes last year were 1.3% of the purchase price and the base tax won’t change as the property value increases, we have a ordinance that protects us from that. Our income taxes for CA were just under 4% but that is always subject to change as well. I plan to retire from my regular job at 52, then plan on working contract/part time as I do like to work, but will because I want to and don’t have too 🙂
Karen, my cousin lived in Spring Valley. Holy cow you purchased something there for $160k?!? Score!!!
We have lived in Houston for the last couple years now. We live here for our jobs, and the second we don’t have these jobs we will move. I’m not saying we don’t love Houston – honestly, it is a great city, and if it was a little closer to some mountains and a bit colder, I would stay here forever. But – Mr SSC and I are from a bit further north, and we both seriously miss having four seasons. I mean – I lived in Chicago for a bit and loved the winter…
I don think there is anywhere we could move with similar jobs to retire sooner. No wait, let me take that back… Nigeria, Angola, or maybe Saudi Arabia pay high premiums. But, I’ll take working another year or so to stay closer to my family!
Mrs SSC recently posted…Retirement Quest: Where to live?
I used to work in the Quilting Supply industry, and we had a huge trade show in October in Houston every year. October is a nice time to visit…
Austin, TX and we aren’t ever leaving!
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Keep Austin Weird!
Also Austin. Property taxes for me were 2.3%. But state/city income tax is zero. I like warm weather, open mindedness, and city living in a first-world country and probably can’t get that cheaper elsewhere. I’ve also become attached to Tex-Mex foods, casual living, the big university library, and friends. I don’t mind the subtle autumns and brownish greens. I do miss the good mass transit and walkability of other places.
Austin is a great place! I spent a couple months down there for work years ago and loved. The live music alone made it worthwhile.
I like what you have to say about the library too. I have found that if a town had a good library, they probably have their priorities in the correct order.
Oh, loved the Hill Country and Enchanted Rock too!
I know. So enchanting!
We also have Alamo Drafthouse Theatres which show related video clips and commercials (other things with similar themes and/or the same actors) instead of obnoxious ads. (You can also order real food instead of theatre food, but I don’t care about that as much.)
Lots of Texans here…I dig it!
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We live in Southeastern North Carolina in a very impoverished, crime-ridden area. We are doing our best to get out. The reason we moved here is because this is where family is located. We plan to move to another city within driving distance so our son can still spend time with them (Grandparents, Great-grandmothers, uncles, cousins, etc).
We live in Cohoes, New York. Generally, I usually say “Albany” because people know where that is. But I’m not afraid to say that, yes, I live in the tiny old mill city of Cohoes. I am a big booster of our tiny city, and anything to get the word out about how great it is is fine with me, even if that means sacrificing a modicum of “anonymity.” Right now, Cohoes is a city frozen in time from the 1860s. It was basically forgotten about throughout the 20th century, but I think it is ready for a comeback.
I don’t think I’d move if it meant I could achieve FI earlier. I wouldn’t leave the northeast (we love it here, our families are near, and we like our jobs) and within the northeast, there aren’t many places cheaper than Cohoes, property taxes aside… We pay almost 3% of our 2009 purchase price in property taxes. But, we will be paying off our mortgage in about 2 1/2 years.
Can I say I love that you quoted NewsRadio, my all-time favorite sitcom? I use that same quote when describing upstate NY.
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I live in a small town in Sweden.
Not sure if I would like to move away from close friends and family just to retire 5 years earlier. Maybe if it’s my dreamjob and it will boost my career.
I should have put in a small bit about how I have moved around my entire life, not ever having stayed for more than 5 years in one place. I hope this house changes that. Actually, I KNOW this house will change that.
We live in Chicago and they call it Crook County for a reason, well many reasons. Because our plan is closing in(July 2020), I don’t believe we would move to achieve financial independence sooner. Our jobs are somewhat location dependent at the moment so this would make it more difficult to do this as well. Since we basically have no mortgage payment to speak of, our plan is going quite well.
With all that being said, our plan is evolving. Chicago winter’s while not as bad as Madison(I grew up near by) they still make you cry a little on the inside and out as to how cold it is. I could certainly see a move to Flo-Rida in 2-3 years, happy wife, happy life.
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We lived in Buena Park for a whole year once. ~Montrose and the Lake. It was nice, but it was also just the two of us. 405 sq ft. Yikes!
And if you ever need tile for a remodel, go to Tile Outlet. 2444 W. Fullerton in Chicago, just three blocks west of the Kennedy Expressway… I miss that place! They had amazing tile. Mr. 1500 is coming back to Chicago for a work trip, and he is making a stop there to get some awesome tile for our project out here… Such a great place!
I find it hilarious how much you guys love the Tile Outlet place. Not the pizza, beer, lake front, nope Tile Outlet, haha.
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I love that the thing you loved about Chicago is the Tile Outlet, ha ha. I live in Chicago and have mostly loved it. I live in one of those small condos by the lake, so my real estate taxes are only $750 a year (includes homestead exemption) but the last two winters have been brutal for me. I am looking at moving to Austin (no state income tax, fairly low cost of living), Colorado (all those days of sunshine and mountains), San Diego (hello sunshine), New Orleans or Ft. Lauderdale (no state income tax)by 10/2016. IL kills us with a flat 5% income tax and the most corrupt polititians ever (I think 3 out of the last 5 governors are in prison.)
The pizza is good – try Pequod’s – 2207 N. Clybourn and if anyone tells you they don’t like Pequod’s, stop being friends with them, they have no taste. I am not a beer fan, the lakefront is wonderful but try riding your bike on a semi-warm day on the path… You can’t go very fast because of all the runners and walkers and kids. But as a rehabber, I miss Tile Outlet.
Alice, I think that only the last 3 of 5 are in prison because one was released or died recently… If you move to CO, you can visit Rod Blagojevich, he is in prison here.
We live in Scottsdale, AZ and are big fans. Well, I am. My wife hates the heat of the summers and wants to move someplace green.
Colorado’s on the list! Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask: my buddy who hikes sections of the AT with me recently moved to Canyon City (near Pueblo, I think). We are looking for any advice on a backpacking trip in that general corner of the state, and when to go (seems like anything even in the spring may still involve snow).
Thanks!
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We haven’t been to Pueblo yet, so we don’t know anything about it. We did have grand dreams of hiking the AT – so jealous of you and your friend!
I live in the city where people come to make their financial dreams come true….Houston, TX.
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You should get together with Mrs. SSC. Have a nice little frugal party! We have met several readers and made new frugal friends.
I live in NYC (Queens) and have lived here all my life. My wife and I both have family here so that is one of most significant reasons we wouldn’t leave. In my younger years and before learning about financial freedom, I never dreamed of leaving this city. But yes, sometimes I wonder how much earlier we could achieve financial freedom if we left for a lower cost area. Being close to family is a great thing…though they don’t come without some downsides. I could imagine the amount of “guilt bombs” if we were to leave =P
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I live in northern Vermont. It’s definitely going to be harder/take longer to reach financial independence here, but it’s my home and I love it!
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Are you anywhere near the Woodchuck Cider plant? They are my favorite cider…
About a 45 minute drive 🙂
Cider is becoming big business here!
Kara @ The Daily Whisk recently posted…So Long, Black Yoga Pants
Good to hear. I don’t care for beer, but I really love cider.
Brentwood, TN (Nashville Metro Area)
Welcome and thanks for reading. We love to hear what you have to say!
We moved from north Texas to central Oklahoma nearly a year ago. I don’t really see a different location helping us to reach financial independence any earlier. The reason we came here was to support the well-paying salaries that are helping us to reach that independence. That being said, we will definitely leave when we reach FI. We grew up in Texas and will return. The other compelling reason to move is the 155 acres waiting for us in west Texas that we own free and clear. Hard to beat that!!
North Central North Dakota, where I live about 11 miles away from my job but it never takes more than 16 minutes to get to work and pretty much the whole town we live in has 15 mph speed limits!
Whether we would move would depend on a large set of variables – how close to FI are we, are we moving for a better position, etc. If it was a temporary thing where we’d move for the last couple years of work, then move back, I could maybe see moving. We have most of our family on both sides here locally.
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We live in a small town near Neuchâtel lake, in Switzerland!
Yes we would move but that’s somehow what we already did when coming in this beautiful country!
We live in Minneapolis, MN. Similar weather and taxes to Madison, unfortunately.
We have family in Minneapolis. It is a great city, and the people are amazing!
We are fortunate in that we are retired (early for 5 years) and spend summer/fall in NE Ohio, and winters/spring in PHX area. Our home in OH was built by engineering-geek hubby, so it’s a great house, paid for. Also, our families are all in NE Ohio. We love the seasons OH has to offer, yet wanting to escape the frigid winters, we rented a home for several years in AZ before deciding on where we wanted to buy, and fortunately found a good deal as the market just barely began the upswing here in the PHX area. We were going to pay cash for this home, but the 2.75% int. rate was a no brainer for a 15-year mortgage. We are fortunate because hubby is like Mr. 1500, he can fix/repair/build just about anything – which really saves a ton of money over the years. He just finished installing a new irrigation system here in AZ – cost for a landscaper to do: $2,500; his cost: $250. He’s done many upgrades to the home already, so if we sell it for a bit bigger home, we’ll definitely make $. Eventually we think we may make the move to AZ full-time, sell the OH home, and possibly buy a summer-escape home somewhere out West. Living the dream! 🙂
Ohio is nice. A bike trip I was on a long time ago went through Ohio, some parts by the lake.
Eastern Nebraska
I grew up in North Dakota and stayed there through college, so I know all about brutal winters 🙂
Nowadays, I live in Colorado myself, down in Denver. I moved out here for a girl about 4 years ago, and today she is my wife, so it was a great decision! Believe it or not, I still miss ND a lot of times, but Colorado is great too!
We are in northern CO too – Loveland to be exact. And also recently moved here from Minnesconsin – southern MN to be exact. Just found your blog through Frugalwoods Family blog today.
When we were living in MN, we were semi-financially independent. We bought a house for cash and were working on renovating it from a slummy triplex to a decent duplex. We lived frugally enough to survive just fine on my husband’s part-time engineering job, so we had lots of time with our kids during the seven years we lived in that town while they were babies and preschoolers.
Then we got the bug to head west. We knew it would mean a full-time job for a while (we sold our house at a heavy loss b/c the market was still dismal in the town we left and the house was in the midst of serious renovations – and the housing market here was quite a bit tighter), but we bought a small efficient house and are working a plan to pay off our mortgage in four years so we can once again have the flexibility to only work part-time, or save aggressively for a few more years and retire early.
Even so, we are making the best of these four years. I’m not working a day job, so I can take care of most of the domestic stuff during the day and clear our evenings and weekends for downtime and to be together with friends and family. And today my husband is squeezing all he can out of a vacation day, snowboarding in all this fresh powder with some friends!
Nice. We love Loveland Ale Works. And I think I could eat at Mo’ Betta Gumbo every day.
Thanks for the shout out!
We just moved to MD over the summer. We’re slowly moving south.
The taxes aren’t bad (we’re outside of the city) and the HOA is reasonable for the awesome services (especially the pool).
I’d love to move out to a ranch house with at least a 1/2 to 1 acre, but I feel like I wouldn’t appreciate it until I had time to work on it (I don’t have that now). Between family, keeping fit (volleyball), eBay, and my blog, that’s about all I have in me.
Goal right now is to pay off our current house quickly. I’d love to rent it out if our family has grown by that time and we need some more space.
I also like the idea of cramming the kids into bunk beds and never having a mortgage again… Decisions decisions….
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Bunk beds are so fun.
When did it become punishment for kids to share a room? 🙂
Our girls sleep in the same bed every night.
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16 years now in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Rated as Canada’s number 1 mid sized city in 2014. Can’t even talk about taxes or grocery prices, because they’re so much more than the U.S. Will move in the next 4 years to achieve FI, as we will tap into our home equity to push us over the goal line. Though it would be great to move to a warmer climate, we likely will stay within an hour or so of Burlington.
Live in hawaii where housing is the highest in the country. Our taxes are pretty bad also, but bad weather days are high winds and rain.
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We honeymooned in Hawaii, and have been back 4 times since, visiting all of the major islands. We got married in January (in Wisconsin, no less!) and by the end of our week in Hawaii, were asking ourselves, “I wonder what it is like here in the winter?” having forgotten that it was -12 back at home after basking in those beautiful 80 degree days…
When can I come visit?
Any time the 1500 family visits hawaii you’ll have a new friend. I can show you the non tourist hawaii although with the internet that’s no longer a secret.
Charles@gettingarichlife recently posted…Pay Your Past To Save Your Future
Thanks Charles!
San Diego, CA. We live in a neighborhood called Mira Mesa that is not really hip, but is smack in the center of the city, geographically speaking. My drive to work is only 15 minutes and I don’t have to drive on the freeway. We would definitely move if circumstances were different. My stepdaughter is 8 years old, and having her dad in her life on a nearly-daily basis as she grows up is incredibly important and non-negotiable. We do plan to move somewhere with lower housing costs and hopefully lower state taxes when SD graduates from college (if she chooses an in-state school, she gets free tuition because her dad is a vet but we must maintain state residency), or if she doesn’t choose an in-state school, we’ll probably move out-of-state ourselves after she graduates high school. In the meantime, we are enjoying all that the area has to offer, frugally of course!
Those beaches are an awesome way to spend a day, free of charge!
Colorado, north of Denver, east of Boulder. Do you ever arrange No CO meetups? Would love to connect!
Stay tuned…
Alberta, Canada. I like it here, but someday I’m moving somewhere warmer. 🙂 Definitely not doing these winters anymore once I’m FI!
Near Buffalo, NY. Property taxes are crazy high here, but real estate prices are very reasonable. I don’t see ever not having some sort of ‘home base’ here – as all of my family and friends are in the area. I would definitely consider downsizing though. And if I move into the city proper, the taxes get much lower than they are here in the suburbs. As for the weather – I will take snow over sweat any day of the year 🙂
Fargo, ND.
I am 43 and have no idea how or why we still live here. Family is the only reason left on my short list. My biggest issue is the brutal weather 7-8 months of the year.
I get it. Nice people. Good schools. Good jobs. Low employment. Blah blah.
2/3 of the year stuck inside watching TV. Everything should be 2/3 less expensive and it is not.
I am done venting now. 🙂
A couple of responders have said North Dakota. Probably the only people in the continental US that can say they have it worse than Madison…
We moved from Boulder, CO, to your Northern Colorado neighborhood for various reasons, but I do think that it is going to help us reach FI earlier – we got more house for less money (not always a good thing, but we like the space), and we’re renting out our Boulder home (becoming landlords has helped us financially too).
Until FI, I would rather change jobs than move again. And switching jobs looks like a very real possibility this year.
After FI, and after becoming empty nesters (~15 years from now) I really hope that we can rent out our house(s) and travel the country and the world, living in one place for a year at a time. Still working out the details, though. 🙂
Ooh, job switch? You’ll have to tell me about that…
London, United Kingdom
Thanks for asking ! We are fortunate to live 6 months in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, at our summer home on a lake, so we have all summer visits with our children/grandchildren. Then to miss the usual winter cold and ice, we escape to our favorite house in a seniors community in Mesa, Arizona, along with thousands of other retirees. (aka – snowbirds!)
It is wonderful to spend time with friends who are no longer working, but still vibrant and active, and the choice of activities are endless. Many of my friends at home choose or need to keep working.
If you decide to achieve financial independence, be sure you know what you want to do to keep involved and in touch with people that have the same goals as you do.
I live in NoCo too. Somewhere in there between NoBo and FoCo. I’m always impressed with people who are able to live in places that aren’t Colorado. I can only imagine the fortitude it must take.
Ben, I think CO’s weather is the best kept secret on the planet! Midwesterners have this misguided notion that it snows here all the time. Nope, just the mountains. And in the Midwest, when it snows, that snow is around for months, turning black from all the driving. Our snow melts the next day! If it weren’t for the fact that my mailman has MS, I would never have to shovel.
Southcentral PA, near Harrisburg (the capitol). We are close enough to several big cities (2 hours from Philly, 3 from Pittsburgh, 1 1/2 from Baltimore MD) that we can get our big city fix but still live in the land of cheaper houses.
I always liked PA, except for Pittsburgh. I went there for a trade show 1000 years ago, and the entire downtown closed at 5:00. Seriously, there were no food places open, no shopping, nothing open after 5:00. We ate at the same restaurant every single night – we had to because it was the only one open!
Seattle, WA. We ran away from the awful winters of Fargo, ND to this wondrous green place.
Southern Indiana (Evansville)….hot, humid summers; frigid winters; over-abundance of unhealthy people so a great lack of active things to do and active people to do them with; however, relatively low crime, close to family, and a quick thirty minute trip to rural areas bless you with beautiful country side.
That can generally be said about the entire Midwest…
Vancouver Canada or as we normally call it Raincouver. It has been a pretty sunny winter though so maybe need to start calling it Suncouver. 😀
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I live in Southeast Virginia. We actually just moved here for my husband’s new job, so in that sense, yes I would relocate for a job, but would I move just because the cost of living is lower somewhere else? No. I moved from Texas, where the cost of living is pretty dirt cheap, and it’s been a bit of a shock how expensive things are here! I’d be happy to end up back there eventually.
We live on Mount Desert Island on the coast of Maine. We moved here for my job 20 years ago. I no longer have that job but we have raised our children here. It is expensive to live here as real estate is high-priced and there are not many places to shop on the Island (which is a good thing).
Maine is one of a handful of states I have not yet visited. I shall visit them all before I pass. We also have grand plans to hike the AT, so we should end up in Maine at some point.
Acadia National Park is located here on the Island and is family-friendly. We have great hiking and biking plus the ocean!
I live in Dallas, Texas. I don’t know if we want to live here forever, but we are hustling (working) and saving as much as we can.
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San Francisco, California
Born and raised in the actual city. Didn’t inherent any property (grew up in an apartment). Currently living with boyfriend in a 5 bedroom flat we share with four roommates. He rents a place 3 hours away, where he goes every other week for a few days for work. Not ideal, but still very enjoyable. I’m in a surprising situation where I get along really well with each and every roommate (no Craigslist nightmares here!).
I pay $800 + utilities/monthly. To get our own 1-bedroom apt in SF right now start at $2,200, and that probably would not even include a parking spot. Sigh.
I just got a big promotion (20K!) and I’m at a fast rising tech company, pre-IPO. We’re not thinking of moving out of the Bay Area anytime soon, even to speed up FI. It’s definitely on my mind, though, especially after lurking on your blog for the last 6 months 🙂
You live in SF? Have you ever had Donna’s Tamales? They are sold in Whole Foods and at the farmer’s markets. To. Die. For. Vegan and vegetarian, and even if that isn’t your thing, those tamales should be your thing. SOOOOO good!
I grew up in Turlock, and I remember fondly going to SF about 3 times a year. And I love Alcatraz. So touristy, but still so very cool.
Charlotte, NC…House paid for, taxes equal $3300 based on $252,500 tax value of house. Will probably increase with revaluation in the next year or 2. NC income taxes went up in 2014 contrary to what state politicians claim. Everyone pays 5.85% regardless of income. Definitely considering moving, but can’t decide where. Would like better climate, heat and humidity of summer is hard, winter is cold though little snow, and we get few perfect spring/fall days.
Well let me introduce you to the great state of Colorado. Warm but dry summers, cool but not frigid winters (as long as you aren’t in the mountains) and plenty of beautiful spring/fall days.
We have had at least ten over 60-degree days in 2015 already. We just got 15 inches of snow, but that will all be gone within a week. Tulips are already popping their heads up. Housing prices are a bit steep, but our house, which cost us $176K, has $1,100 a year property taxes. Not a typo, $1,100 a year. Come visit!
I live in central Ohio in a beautiful suburb of Columbus. I love it here 9 months out of the year. Winter here just depresses me. Now that the kids are grown I can seriously consider a mover to a warmer climate. I may even be able to stay with my same company if a postion becomes available for transfer.
Once you leave those bad winters behind, you will wonder how you ever lived through them. I remember the wind whipping through our neighborhood in Madison, and we were on a lake, so there was nothing to block it. Sometimes it seemed like you would get blown over, and you didn’t dare run outside to get the mail or newspaper without bundling up, you would be a frozen block before you got back inside.
Grew up in Winnipeg and Montreal but moved to Vancouver for work. Beautiful city with mild winters but a bit rainy for me so I bought a second home in Palm Springs… FI early due to hard work and thrifty lifestyle. Now can spend summers in Vancouver and winters in PSP:)
Northern Arkansas.
We moved here from South Alabama about 15 years ago. It is lovely here with rolling
hills. “Ozark Mountains” My husband grew up in Alaska. He says there aren’t any mountains here, “they’re hills.” 🙂 Whatever. The weather is nice with four seasons.
Property taxes are low.
If you like outdoor activities there are lots of trails, camping, fishing, and, floating down the Buffalo river.
I won’t be disappointed if we live here forever. That said, I do love Colorado. We vacation there quite often. We also love parts of Montana. But, my husband’s heart is in Alaska. He hopes to move back one day.
Upstate New York. The taxes here are awful too and we have honestly thought about moving somewhere down south. Not only would it be warmer but the cost of living woul be that much cheaper. Along with that, the stress would be so much less, we would probably have a much high quality life than we do right now.
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I live in Southeast Virginia. Would we move to achieve FI sooner? Yes, but there must be a job to go to. My husband’s job options tend to be in or near larger cities with lots of healthcare facilities. We chose to live here but for retirement anticipate going back to middle or east TN where our families live – it’s less expensive to live there.
Seattle. Love the weather, the natural surroundings, and the greenery. Plenty of high paying jobs as well. Cost of living is definitely a strike against, though.
I don’t think I’d move, even if it meant achieving financial freedom sooner. I mean, never say never, but I do like it here. Also, moving is stressful and costly. The offer would need to be extremely high is what I’m saying.
James@StartingNegative recently posted…Your debt comfort level
I live in Los Angeles, pretty expensive although I think food costs here are cheaper than other places. My husband works in the entertainment industry so moving somewhere else would mean a big pay cut for him. We definitely talked about it when we realized just how expensive house prices were.
I have lived all over the U.S. It took me years to return to my favorite place I ever lived….Newport Beach, CA. CA is crowded and expensive, but you can’t beat the weather when living close to the coast. I love it here!
ALASKA, where it was a warm 40 degrees today with no snow…
I never would have guessed you lived in Alaska, based on your name… 40 is nice in the winter. Is this a common temperature for winter where you live? I know some parts of Alaska are warmer than others, but really, I know nothing about our 49th state, except that…
Melbourne, Australia – and there’s no way I’d ever move, even to achieve my goal of financial independence. We are in a home we absolutely love, in a neighbourhood that we absolutely love, in our favourite suburb in the city. Every morning when I wake up I’m reminded how lucky I am. Now if we could only get our crazy, temperamental weather sorted, this would be heaven 🙂 It’s definitely not cheap, but it’s worth working hard for.
Jason@Islands of Investing recently posted…A great investment – but a bad decision?
I lived in South Yarra for 6 months years ago, great city to live in and much preferred to Sydney
Another place to visit from my bucket list…
London in the UK. It’s one of the most expensive places to live in the world but while we still have careers making good money it works for us. We will move to Scotland at some stage as that is where family is but for now here suits us just fine. Considering that 5 years ago we had no net assets and now are closing in on 25% of the way to FI I don’t think we’ve made a big mistake staying on. Hopefully that rate accelerates in future 🙂
The ‘fair city’ of Perth, Scotland.
We live in western Iowa. I would consider moving if it meant I could achieve financial freedom sooner, but I wouldn’t want to move too far from my family. We enjoy spending time with them and wouldn’t want to give that up for money. Also, we live in a pretty cheap region of the country. For example, we recently bought a twenty year old 1400 square foot house with a full (unfinished) basement and attached garage for $125,000. Pretty cheap compared to some other areas of our country. And there are houses around here that are even cheaper, but below $100,000 houses are pretty run down or they older homes.
Becky recently posted…Philippians 4: Steady In God
Iowa is pretty great! We’ve enjoyed many RAGBRAIs over the years.
I would never move away from family either. In our case, all of ours had already moved away from us. Maybe we smell bad or something.
Nashville, Tennessee
We live in Southern California, about an hour north of San Diego and an hour south of Orange County.
We used to live in the OC, but then decided we would rather spend $370K on a 3,300 sqft house on a quarter acre. The alternative was pay $600K for a 1,200 sqft house with no backyard, and that was a fixer upper.
Income taxes and property taxes are very high here…but the joke is that’s the sunshine tax your paying.
Our property taxes are about 2% and based on based on our income bracket we fall into the 9.3% state income tax bracket.
But we love it here, so probably won’t move anytime soon, especially since this is where a lot of family is.
However, I have been hearing a lot of good things about Colorado.
Gen Y Finance Guy recently posted…My Love/Hate Relationship with Tax Season
I live in the Northeast and it’s super expensive. Taxes, car insurance, housing, rent, you name it! The benefit I guess would be that we have the high paying salaries to match the cost of living (in most cases). At this point in my life I’m not ready to make the move to anywhere else except someone nearby, but I’ve definitely considered it as a means to achieve financial independence in the future.
Debt Hater recently posted…Debt Snowball Method
I’ve already moved a couple of times pursuing better opportunities although the last time was about 15 years ago. I grew up in Nova Scotia, for those who follow the Avalanche I grew up close to where Nathan MacKinnon grew up. Once my career got going I had moved to Vancouver for a couple of years and then moved to Toronto. I was lucky that I bought my house here before prices went sky high. The good news is our property tax is relatively cheap, a little more than 0.5% of the value. Friends of mine live less than a half hour from me and pay double for their tax rate. Hopefully in a few years I will sell the house and start living part of the year (winters) somewhere south and back in Canada for the warmer months.
Brisbane Australia. But I have lived in London for a year and 12 years in The Netherlands(Arnhem and Nijmegen) with my Dutch husband who I met in USA while backpacking nearly 25years ago. We had a family holiday with our then 11 yo daughter a year ago and we would love to live in Utah. The scenery was wonderful but also the people. I got sick while there and everyone from the motel owner, to the hospital receptionist, to the lady that gave up her appointment for me, to the nurse and doctors were so nice.
Wow, Australia! Your country is on my bucket list. Hopefully, I’ll make it in the next decade or so.
Utah is a great place. Nice people and stunning places. The natural beauty there is incredible as you mentioned.
Do come to Colorado some time too…
Colorado was lovely too. But Utah has well and truly won me over. Zion, Bryce, Arches….
Just wondering if you are at all surprised by how many different nationalities read your blog?
Ontario, Canada! Close enough to Toronto to visit, but far enough to not live in a bedroom community. It’s nice to see fellow Canadians replying 🙂 And other international readers too!
It sure is great to see such a diverse audience! I have a huge smile on my face right now.
Canada is pretty great too. BC may be the most spectacular place on Earth. I can hardly wait to explore the rest of your fine country.
PS: Please excuse our ridiculous politicians.
I currently live in NYC. Talk about crazy taxes. I pay about 6.5% in NY state income tax and then another 3.5% in NYC residency tax. I never thought I would have to itemize before owning a home, but I was wrong. NYC is good now while I’m young and advancing my career. It is definitely not forever and may just be for another year or so (we’ll see).
I would 100% move if it meant I could secure FI earlier, and I plan on it. I just need to figure out how to make NYC salaries in low COL areas… 🙂
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near Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Living in this city is quite ok for FI since the higher salaries offset the slightly higher cost of living in other parts of Germany. I also lowered my spending where possible.
We bought a condo just before the prices in Germany went up due to the very low interest rates. We also bought in a part with lower prices but still very good infrastructure etc. The mortgage will be paid in less than three years, since I always paid high percentages (about 8,33 % amortisation per year).
With the then additional free money and low housing costs a savings rate of nearly 60% is reached every month.
I think I will go for semi-retirement instead of early retirement mainly due to some specialities here in Germany (health insurance and social insurances). So I will lower my working days per week but still keep my job. From my point of view this is the perfect middle ground.
Hello Germany! Always wanted to visit, but have not yet made it to your corner of the world.
“So I will lower my working days per week but still keep my job. From my point of view this is the perfect middle ground.”
This sounds like a great compromise and I like this idea very much. I may try to do the same for a couple years. It would make for a better transition.
I you ever make it to Frankfurt, it would be great to meet you in person. (I am kind of a shy introvert too, but love to talk about money – so this should help the conversation.)
Together with “Dividendmantra.com” you are my favourite blog (not just finance!). Unfortunately in Germany you can not blog anonymously, so I stay away from this.
The semi-retirement has another advantage for me. I can try to live of my investment returns (dividend, interest) without touching the principal capital. If the money is still not enough, at least some salary is there every month to further fund my investments and living costs.
just north of Toronto Canada. If anyone wants some snow I can ship it to you…..
Normally I’d take you up on that offer, but we just got dumped on today…
Currently living in Utrecht, the Netherlands, originally from Germany. I certainly would consider moving during retirement or when reaching semi retirement – mostly due to different climates etc. not so much the COL aspect (which is probably the icing on the cake).
Melbourne, Australia. Well about a 30 minute drive to the east of Melbourne. Due to our current financial situation, we’ve decided to move further east, out into the country. Prices are lower and after the hit our credit rating is about to take, maybe the smartest choice. Time to be brave!
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Tarpon Springs Florida, and why would I ever leave? This is where everyone else comes to retire!
Beautiful weather (if you can take the humidity), low taxes, no state tax – and a beach about 15 minutes from me 🙂
Living near Pittsburgh, PA – and we did just move for a lower cost of living (at least according to the publicity numbers), but we were in the Northern Virginia/DC metro area previously. We’re actually breaking just about even with the move on expenses – but I got a salary bump by moving, so we’re coming out ahead.
Mom @ Three is Plenty recently posted…February 2015 Early Retirement Progress
Denver-but you knew that 🙂 Can’t wait to hang out soon!