When I finished with my bachelor's degree in psychology, I worked in a credit union for about six months while I attempted to determine what I actually wanted to make with the rest of my life (I haven't figured it out yet, honestly), then I decided to go to grad school and get a task in Cincinnati. I transferred to the city over Independence Day weekend in 2014. Considering that then, I lived in two various neighborhoods within the city limitations. One was 2 miles outside of downtown in a stylish home developing a brief walk from an awesome park, and the other was seven miles from downtown in a highly preferable area in a house where I could hear my upstairs next-door neighbor sneeze (amongst other, less innocent things * shudder *). Then I moved to a suburb right outside the city limitations, in an apartment building right on the bike trail where I could ride into town to grab an ice or a beer cream cone.
In autumn of 2017, my hubby and I bought our first house in my little hometown-- a 50 minute drive to three significant cities (select which direction you're in the mood to drive: north, south, or west), but absolutely a backwoods. The high school I went to was literally surrounded on all sides by cornfields. We live "in town" now, however that isn't saying much. There are also cornfields in the area.
THE PROS
One of my finest friends lives a block away, and there is an unbelievable homemade hard cider place that's run out of the basement of a household house, and there are a few fantastic regional stores and dining establishments. There were also a lot of tradeoffs involved with selecting to move out of the city.
I'm going to begin with the pros list, the great things about where we live and why we selected to move here. When I lived in the city in an extremely popular area, every time I strolled my pet I would look up the details on any home I would see with a for sale sign out front. That's a substantial cost savings from a home mortgage in the city, and is substantially lower than our lease in the city or residential areas.
Another pro is that we live closer to family. We live in the exact same town as my moms and dads, and are a short drive from my in-laws and grandparents. We have much more outside space than we could have gotten in the city on our spending plan, including a big, fenced-in backyard.
Creekin'
I matured going "creekin,'" capturing amphibians, riding four wheelers, and having the day off school for the very first day of open season. It was an actually fantastic childhood.
THE CONS
There is absolutely an expense to moving out here, too. For starters, it feels like everybody understands everybody else! And often I simply desire to go to the supermarket in my sweats for wine and cookie dough and not encounter one of my former teachers or buddies' moms and dads, ya know ?? Bear with me as I go through these cons; I'm not trying to complain (much), but the reality is that there is a lot to think about when considering moving from a city you official site enjoy to a lower expense of living location in order to save money.
Perhaps one of the most apparent failures of living in a small, rural, low cost of living location is that it's far from things. Much of my friends live in or closer to the city, and it needs more preparation and driving in order to see them. It's also even more from home entertainment; there is a small selection of excellent restaurants close by. When I remained in the city I could walk to lots of places and drive to a practically endless list of dining establishments and bars. Cincinnati is a very foodie-friendly city with a remarkable brewery scene. I've said this prior to and I'll state it forever: food is life. Places in my town also close previously. Now, I'm not much of a celebration animal any longer, but if I desire to be out later than 11 p.m. there is actually only one option here. And it's great, however often I wish to be out at a bar where I'm not visiting any of my former instructors, friends' parents, or anybody I went to high school with. When it concerns getting house safely, Uber and Lyft aren't a thing here. You need to find a great old made designated motorist, or walk. (Once, my buddy who lives a block away and I got a bit toasted at the regional white wine store and walked two miles to get to the hard cider place. Thankfully we discovered a friend from high school there with his parents, who gave us a trip back. Benefits and drawbacks of understanding individuals all over you go.) When I resided in the city, an Uber would be offered to select me up within minutes at any time of day, and it was a low-cost flight anywhere, generally under $10.
If I were to get a various task in my field, I would have to drive to one of the significant cities, at least about 40 minutes each way. When I lived in the city, there were SO MANY choices for psychological health tasks, as well as other resources including a number of grocery choices, yoga studios, animal stores, and so on. And not to sound too petty here, however the grocery my review here shop in my town does not offer the great brand name of goat cheese that I like, and I have to drive 30 minutes to the nearby Kroger that does.
I enjoyed living in a city filled with diversity and with a variety of political and social views. There is a church on every corner, on your method into town no matter which path you take, and pretty much a stone's toss from any location you might take place to be standing in town. We went to a wonderful church in the city that I liked, and finding something that compares is crucial to me but it's something I'm still browsing for.
So, while I love my house and there are a great deal of things I enjoy about my town, I do miss living in the city. I do not see myself residing in this town permanently, and right now moving back to the city is in the medium-term strategy. For now, small town and low cost of living life is affording us the ability to pay off our trainee financial obligation more rapidly in order to get there. If you've made a similar move or have ever thought about it, let me understand.