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The only parts of the nation that this can be done is the rural midwest or the rural south. There are areas in Michigan for example where a house can be bought for 20k, mostly repos in very small rural areas. Nice move in ready homes can be had for 50k. Any town or city that people want to be in will be expensive, sun belt towns like Nashville, Atlanta for example. In the midwest Chicago and Minneapolis are more money, but much of the midwest and south is afordable. Michigan may be the best example with the dirt cheap houses. I hear Indiana is very cheap too.
The only parts of the nation that this can be done is the rural midwest or the rural south. There are areas in Michigan for example where a house can be bought for 20k, mostly repos in very small rural areas. Nice move in ready homes can be had for 50k. Any town or city that people want to be in will be expensive, sun belt towns like Nashville, Atlanta for example. In the midwest Chicago and Minneapolis are more money, but much of the midwest and south is afordable. Michigan may be the best example with the dirt cheap houses. I hear Indiana is very cheap too.
Owning a home would be completely out of the question for a person seeking to live on part-time wages. If someone gave me a house, free, it would cost me more to live in it than I am currently paying for apartment rental. Taxes, insurance, upkeep and repairs, trash collection, snow removal and lawn care, kitchen appliances -- I wouldn't be able to afford a house, even if I could buy it for a dollar. My sister "owns" a mobile home, and her site rental is higher than my apartment rent.
The only parts of the nation that this can be done is the rural midwest or the rural south. There are areas in Michigan for example where a house can be bought for 20k, mostly repos in very small rural areas. Nice move in ready homes can be had for 50k. Any town or city that people want to be in will be expensive, sun belt towns like Nashville, Atlanta for example. In the midwest Chicago and Minneapolis are more money, but much of the midwest and south is afordable. Michigan may be the best example with the dirt cheap houses. I hear Indiana is very cheap too.
Most of those repos for under 50k need a lot of work, often times costing twice as much as the asking price of the house, itself. You're better off living in something requiring much less maintenance like a mobile home. There are plenty of those, particularly in the Sunbelt. As Jtur88 in Post #12 said, owning a house isn't feasible on a part time salary.
You need to define comfortably. I would say I lived comfortably making 10.50 an hour about 30 hours a week in Breckenridge Colorado, while most people think you need a six figure income to live here.
Probably many places in the Midwest, the upper Midwest, the South, parts of the Northeast. Actually, one could probably get by fairly well working like that in many parts of the U.S, outside of places like Southern California, the Bay Area, Boston, NYC, Chicago and some of the other trendier, cosmopolitan areas.
My goal is to do just that: work as little as possible while living a comfortable life. I think working 40+ hours a week at a full-time job is crazy.
Probably many places in the Midwest, the upper Midwest, the South, parts of the Northeast. Actually, one could probably get by fairly well working like that in many parts of the U.S, outside of places like Southern California, the Bay Area, Boston, NYC, Chicago and some of the other trendier, cosmopolitan areas.
My goal is to do just that: work as little as possible while living a comfortable life. I think working 40+ hours a week at a full-time job is crazy.
I don't think anyone, anywhere, who lives independently can work part-time and not live a life of borderline (or full-on) poverty. It just simply can't be done.
I don't think anyone, anywhere, who lives independently can work part-time and not live a life of borderline (or full-on) poverty. It just simply can't be done.
Saying it can't be done is a stretch, I think. It may be atypical, it may be somewhat difficult, but I'm sure it can be done, and probably rather easily for some people in certain areas.
Probably many places in the Midwest, the upper Midwest, the South, parts of the Northeast. Actually, one could probably get by fairly well working like that in many parts of the U.S, outside of places like Southern California, the Bay Area, Boston, NYC, Chicago and some of the other trendier, cosmopolitan areas.
My goal is to do just that: work as little as possible while living a comfortable life. I think working 40+ hours a week at a full-time job is crazy.
Just out of curiosity what do plan to do with the time you're not spending at work? Are you an artist or writer or have some kind of avocation you want to spend your time doing?
Just out of curiosity what do plan to do with the time you're not spending at work? Are you an artist or writer or have some kind of avocation you want to spend your time doing?
Good question. I have many possible interests. And the reality is, I'll still be working a fair amount doing that which I choose to devote my time. But the important thing is I will be working more on my own time and at my own speed and less on someone else's time and speed. I never again wish to work a typical 40-hour work week. I mean, that's a huge chunk of time devoted to simply earning money (and that does not include commute times). Currently I'm doing a few different side gigs which combined probably add up to maybe 25 or 30 hours a week, and most of those hours are spent working more or less at my own speed, without supervision, and with a lot of work schedule flexibility. I'm also exploring ways to maximize my personal savings and minimize my personal expenditures, which has turned out to be both fun and challenging. But a positive result is I have become much more frugal and have greatly reduced my cash outflow, which will speed up my goal of eventually having to work less permanently while, hopefully, having a few residual income streams coming in.
And I am seriously considering relocating to a cheaper cost of living area, as where I live (Southern California) the rent and real estate prices are very high, not to mention the price of gas, insurance, and various state and local taxes.
Bottom line is I value freedom more than money or prestige, so I care little about working a 'normal' professional job with a fancy job title, set hours, a dress code, etc. And it's easy for me to take that position since I view work and working as only a means to an end; that is, it's a means to make money. That's it. I have no desire to pursue a certain line of work or obtain a particular career in order to impress anybody or to gleam some type of social benefit.
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