3 ms·

If you spend $100/month on a thing and I, in a city, spend $500/month on the same thing it could still make strictly logical financial sense to live in the city

If you spend $100/month on a thing and I, in a city, spend $500/month on the same thing it could still make strictly logical financial sense to live in the city. Suppose you and I both save 30% of out net income. If I'm making far more in a city then my 30% savings will go very far in a not city location. We can also assume if you spend 100/month on rent and I spend 500/month on rent it's the same "percentage" of the pay we make.

VRay 5y ago
Yeah, I was looking for a job pre-COVID, and REALLY wanted something remote since I hate living in a big city. No matter how hard I looked or negotiated, I couldn’t manage to get any remote offers or jobs in small towns in the USA that’d pay over about $140k. Meanwhile, with my experience it was EASY to get an offer for $300k in the Bay Area. That means that even paying $3300/month to rent a run-down shithole and $6 per gallon for milk, I’m saving $120k a year vs the $40k I’d save in a small town. The numbers get even more insane if you buy property in one of these hideously overpriced Bay Area cities. I haven’t done it yet, since a downturn could leave me holding the bag and trapped in this nightmarish place for 5 years, but the financial incentives are incredible
- gravypod 5y ago
  > That means that even paying $3300/month to rent a run-down shithole and $6 per gallon for milk, I’m saving $120k a year vs the $40k I’d save in a small town. Exactly this. I hate the highly populated areas of the world but I'm working in one with hopes that I can buy a house with high speed internet within driving distance of a medium sized family-oriented town with a shopping + restaurant district. If cost of living is 1/3rd then your 120k savings just got you a whole bunch of slack.
  - spacedcowboy 5y ago
    Me too. My numbers are higher, and I’m probably older, but as retirement looms on the horizon, the goal is simply to make hay while the sun shines. The exit strategy is to sell the ridiculously overpriced house, fully paid off, which has doubled in price in the last 8 years, and sod off to a lower COL area. Since I’m a Brit, a small castle with grounds in Scotland ought to be on the cards, for less than my 1500 sq ft ranch-style house here.
    - novok 5y ago
      One piece of advice, the sun can shine a lot long than you think it would.

VRay 5y ago

Yeah, I was looking for a job pre-COVID, and REALLY wanted something remote since I hate living in a big city. No matter how hard I looked or negotiated, I couldn’t manage to get any remote offers or jobs in small towns in the USA that’d pay over about $140k. Meanwhile, with my experience it was EASY to get an offer for $300k in the Bay Area. That means that even paying $3300/month to rent a run-down shithole and $6 per gallon for milk, I’m saving $120k a year vs the $40k I’d save in a small town. The numbers get even more insane if you buy property in one of these hideously overpriced Bay Area cities. I haven’t done it yet, since a downturn could leave me holding the bag and trapped in this nightmarish place for 5 years, but the financial incentives are incredible

gravypod 5y ago
> That means that even paying $3300/month to rent a run-down shithole and $6 per gallon for milk, I’m saving $120k a year vs the $40k I’d save in a small town. Exactly this. I hate the highly populated areas of the world but I'm working in one with hopes that I can buy a house with high speed internet within driving distance of a medium sized family-oriented town with a shopping + restaurant district. If cost of living is 1/3rd then your 120k savings just got you a whole bunch of slack.
- spacedcowboy 5y ago
  Me too. My numbers are higher, and I’m probably older, but as retirement looms on the horizon, the goal is simply to make hay while the sun shines. The exit strategy is to sell the ridiculously overpriced house, fully paid off, which has doubled in price in the last 8 years, and sod off to a lower COL area. Since I’m a Brit, a small castle with grounds in Scotland ought to be on the cards, for less than my 1500 sq ft ranch-style house here.
  - novok 5y ago
    One piece of advice, the sun can shine a lot long than you think it would.