So I was at this playdate today about 20 minutes into the county side from our urban home and it got me thinking if I moved 20-30minutes out into the country I could afford a brand new bigger home with twice the size and land as my current home. I live in Tacoma and while the prices are not as high as they are closer to Seattle the average home price is still over 300K. But then again I ask do I want to have to drive 15 min just to get to a freeway to go somewhere? does DH want a longer commute? Do I really need a bigger home right now or do I wait until we have out grown our current home? We are in no way planning to move for now I am just curious

Would you ever move to be able to afford a home or just a larger home? How far would you be willing to go?

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

Twenty minutes? Heck, we moved 1000 miles. We relocated from CA to ID about 8 years ago just because of the cost of living.

We were surviving pretty well in CA but it wasn't the lifestyle we wanted. When we moved to ID we reduced our income and increased our quality of living. We have never looked back.

When we move again (probably in a year) we will probably move out into the boonies again. Growth comes quick enough and will find us. I do think about how nice it will be 'closer in'. I'd even like to one day live within walking distance of everything. But I'm not quite ready yet. I like having a little bit of space around me.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

We're moving 1200 miles from here in a couple of years. The ball is rolling and we're going to just do it. I agree with Cookie about the quality of life. The thought of having "nothing" around us is very inviting!!
The freeway is at least 10 minutes from where we'd live, and the closest big city is about an hour away....ahhhh I'm enjoying that!

Absolutely!
We live in the San Francisco area, where, even with two incomes, we can't afford a house. We live in a 2 bedroom apartment....spacious, but still, no yard, no ownership....unfortunately, we are tied here as dh is in the computer industry and this is the heart of it...
so we've been looking at houses just over an hour away. it's a long commute, and its going to cost him more in gas and time, but its the only way we can afford a house...and the houses will only cost us a couple hundred more per month than our apartment!
if youre thinking about moving, make sure to look into all the costs in the area. we found that in the new area, the gas is cheaper and the groceries are cheaper. However, car insurance is more expensive...and that doesnt even factor in the increase for having a longer commute....

-Lucky

My sister lives in Yelm- yeah it is a drive but she and her family are content- have friendly neighnors and are living comfortable.

I live in Buffalo- inside the city and if 3 things happen we will be sitting pretty.
1/ We are allowed to buy power generated by Niagara Falls.It is cheaper and cleaner than coal.
2/ proposed expansion of Chevy plant and possible building of hybrid engine plant in area.
3/ the 190 section built a long the niagara river maybe removed to allow beach development

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We did it about 5 years ago we left our suburban Twin City home that was about 1500 sq ft. We had 3 bedrooms and a 15 yr old dd, 8 yr old dd and 3 little boys, 4,3 & 2!!! We could never afford to get a bigger home around there!! We moved to a very small farming town and got a great 4 bedroom 2500 sq foot home with a huge yard and a nice school district. My dh commuted 1.5 hours each way, but it was so worth it!!! Oh, yeah, did I mention that our mortgage payment was half what we were used to?

We have recently moved to a bigger town (9000 people) with way more opportunities for our kids and I can actually grocery shop without driving 30 miles!!! Our mortgage is still less than what we paid 5 yrs ago and we have a nice 4 bedroom home. We have never regretted out move out of the suburbs. I don't know how we ever would have surrvived if we had not moved!!!

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~Happiness is a large family~

You know I asked my DH about it and he looked at me like I was crazy for entertaining the idea that we move. (he also lived in the same dorm room for 5 years in college he resists change) I don't know how our homes previous owner did it. She raised 4 kids in our small 1050sqft home. I guess the depression really did make people able to be happy with what they had. So the plan is still to wait until the third child comes along (we only have one so far). I would like the bigger home but really would have to go pretty far into the country to get something we could afford. I just see myself liking my central location too much at the momement.

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

we are in this situation right now. We will be moving next year but we are moving states. I would definetly move just 20 or mins is nothing!

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I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do. -Edward Hale

We moved over 600 miles from NJ to NC... There were a lot of factors involved in our decision, but cost of living was definitly the biggest.

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Does Money Matter?

We did.
The main reason we moved to where we are now is financial.
We had to expand our business quicker than we were expecting and couldn't afford a larger premises where we had lived for the last 15 years. So we packed up, left family and friends and live 2 hours away, inland.
It was difficult and, 2 years later, still is. But we are here for afew more years yet until we can sell the business and move to where we want to be.