Rural living for double the income, would you?

[House Cat]

I see 5 years as a small blip in time. If your child is young enough, maybe he/she will only be in first through third grade by the time you are ready to move. This is a good time to move to a more desirable area. Kids haven't formed their cliques yet and are still open to developing new friendships quite easily.

$500K is a lot of money. If you can save a majority of this money or even half of this money throughout the five years, think of the position you will be in moving forward in your life. Maybe your husband can work fewer hours? Maybe he can retire earlier? Maybe you can move to a neighborhood that has much better schools for your child. What are the long term goals for your family? How will you meet them? With $1,250,000 in your pocket, I think your goals will be easily met with a short, 5 year sacrifice.

Also, to hold over your cravings for big city, can you plan weekend trips? Can you fly to those cities? Your husband makes the money to do so and they will be very short flights. You could enjoy the weekend getaways to refill your soul.

Time away from the hustle and bustle can give you the solace you might need to concentrate and create a strong bond with your little one, reflect on yourself and build healthy habits that can carry you through life. I would be asking myself the question, "what could I accomplish with this time that I wouldn't if I were more busy?"

The five years will pass anyway and when you look back on it, you will see that it passed very, very quickly. Will you regret not having that money in your pocket?

The only other questions, and these are important and very personal...to be asked only of yourself and your husband:
Is our marriage strong enough to withstand the stress of living so isolated?
Am I strong enough to withstand the stress? Do I suffer from depression or anxiety that is brought on by this type of isolation?
Do I believe that relocation will solve problems within myself or my marriage that will probably exist no matter what?

Are there any other deep questions that should be asked before moving forward?

This isn't an easy decision. My personal bias should be revealed too...I am looking to get out of the suburbs and get land for horses! But, I have already told my husband that I need to be within short driving distance of normal people. I have a very strong need to feel connected too.

 

[SB621]

If I could make 2.5M over 5 years with virutually no cost of living and saving the vast majority of it you bet I would go. I like to work hard and play hard. With the savings I would buy a forever home in the state I wanted to raise my kids in- and buy it in cash. Then go on an African safari with the family.

My point is I would do it because I would much rather live in a rural area with my family now while my kids are young then later on in life. Now my children are thrilled to swim in lakes, chase the dogs, and enjoy time with my DH and I. If they were teenagers no- I wouldn't do it. So if you have the opportunity now to do it I would, becuase it allows you more convenience later on.

 

[rubybeth]

You were in my state! I love Minnesota. We used to vacation 'up north' on a large lake near Bemidji/the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and cell service at the resort was terrible. However, you can see the stars perfectly at night, it's immensely quiet, the air quality is great, you're in the middle of a pine forest with lakes and rivers all over, just pristine and gorgeous. I'm not going to be on my death bed saying, "I wish I spent more time on the internet!" or "I wish I ate at more restaurants!" I'm going to be thankful for the time spent with family and friends.

That is so funny, I have actually mentioned my trip to my acquaintances IRL and I had one person tell me she was from MN, too!

There was wireless Internet, that was so slow it seemed like it was purposefully slow to discourage users. I didn't miss it or my cell phone after a few days. I loved it, and the people were so nice compared to Californians, even the TSA airport workers.

Yep, 'Minnesota nice' is a real thing. Glad the TSA folks were friendly, too. The internet connection at the resort up north was also horrible, but that meant no work calls or e-mails while on vacation, a truly relaxing vacation. The resort we are going to this year is much more up-to-date but I am still telling my colleagues that I won't have e-mail or cell phone service while away.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

If I could make 2.5M over 5 years with virutually no cost of living and saving the vast majority of it you bet I would go. I like to work hard and play hard. With the savings I would buy a forever home in the state I wanted to raise my kids in- and buy it in cash. Then go on an African safari with the family.

My point is I would do it because I would much rather live in a rural area with my family now while my kids are young then later on in life. Now my children are thrilled to swim in lakes, chase the dogs, and enjoy time with my DH and I. If they were teenagers no- I wouldn't do it. So if you have the opportunity now to do it I would, becuase it allows you more convenience later on.

I can see your point about saving the majority of income, be it the 2.5M (minus taxes), then move where a person wants after five years. I do think this requires quite a bit of self control, though...I'm not sure about the others, but I'd end up falling into the retail-therapy group to cope with living out in the middle of nowhere or would end up traveling into the city to get back into culture & all that.

But, that aside, I do agree that it's better for kids to have the rural experience at a younger age rather than as teenagers.

ETA - just a thought...if I were going to stay in the rural location, I'd figure out where I'd want to live in five years from now and buy a house or condo and rent it out during that time as an investment property for now that later would be a place to live. You could end up finding a place that would cost a couple hundred thousand more when it came time to move to the desired urban location and that would provide more financial security by purchasing at a lower price. You can hire a management company for $50 a month.

 

[Gypsy]

It really depends.

There's rural with lots of crops and fruit and veggie stands around and people selling fresh eggs, and weekly farmer's markets. People who are proud of what they do, and living a lifestyle they believe in. And then there is middle of no where, no good farm land no beach, depressed local labor force and nothing but a Walmart and some fast food for miles and terrible weather to boot. Completely different.

If I made 500k a year in the first scenario, and I could buy a post office box and have stuff mailed to me, and also travel a fair bit. I might be able to do it for 5 years and save up to move somewhere more agreeable. I'm a foodie, but I am also a homebody.

In the second scenario? Nope.