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I hear you about wanting a simper life. My DH and I are both from Long Island, NY. The best thing we did was leave there 20 years ago. When we hear from my husband's siblings their lives sound like they are the hamster on the wheel. Sure they make a lot of money but their property taxes are about $15,000 a year….and that is just the start of all their expenses…and yes stress.
My DH and I are very lucky. We lived in NC for awhile on a farm and had a roller skating rink. Then we sold, move to Florida and starting flipping houses. Sold our last one(at the time) and bought a big motorhome and traveled the country for 3 1/2 years. Talk about a simpler life. It was great. No extra stuff at all
Then my DH wanted to try to build and design an off grid home on 40 acres in the TN mountains. We learned a lot along the way and now we remodel houses in Florida in the winter and live away from it all the rest of the time. We get to live different lives which is pretty cool.
Chow
Have you tried Prescott Arizona? I was there many years ago and it is a higher elevation but still desert mountains. The temps are good year round. It was very nice(at the time)
Good luck with the car. I dread that day when it comes. My DH wants to go back and buy and old, 1950's, Chevy truck so he can work on it. The new ones have way too much electric which equates to way to many potential headaches.'
Mrs. Chow is a smart and funny lady.
There has been a history of whites being sorta rude to natives too ... There are a lot of Indian Reservations in MN. The more you travel, the more you see people are just pretty much the same everywhere though, but yes definitely visiting is on my to-do list as well
We could start a mutual admiration society.
I laughed at your cat comment, but couldn't rep you back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ylisa7
My DH and I are very lucky. We lived in NC for awhile on a farm and had a roller skating rink. Then we sold, move to Florida and starting flipping houses. Sold our last one(at the time) and bought a big motorhome and traveled the country for 3 1/2 years. Talk about a simpler life. It was great. No extra stuff at all
Then my DH wanted to try to build and design an off grid home on 40 acres in the TN mountains. We learned a lot along the way and now we remodel houses in Florida in the winter and live away from it all the rest of the time. We get to live different lives which is pretty cool.
I hear you about wanting a simper life. My DH and I are both from Long Island, NY. The best thing we did was leave there 20 years ago. When we hear from my husband's siblings their lives sound like they are the hamster on the wheel. Sure they make a lot of money but their property taxes are about $15,000 a year….and that is just the start of all their expenses…and yes stress.
My DH and I are very lucky. We lived in NC for awhile on a farm and had a roller skating rink. Then we sold, move to Florida and starting flipping houses. Sold our last one(at the time) and bought a big motorhome and traveled the country for 3 1/2 years. Talk about a simpler life. It was great. No extra stuff at all
Then my DH wanted to try to build and design an off grid home on 40 acres in the TN mountains. We learned a lot along the way and now we remodel houses in Florida in the winter and live away from it all the rest of the time. We get to live different lives which is pretty cool.
Chow
Have you tried Prescott Arizona? I was there many years ago and it is a higher elevation but still desert mountains. The temps are good year round. It was very nice(at the time)
Good luck with the car. I dread that day when it comes. My DH wants to go back and buy and old, 1950's, Chevy truck so he can work on it. The new ones have way too much electric which equates to way to many potential headaches.'
Smart lady. I tried to get the Mr. to leave Long Island ages ago, but at this point we pretty much have to ride it out until retirement. His end of the bargain being that he takes early retirement and we get the hell out... and not succumb to the economic slavery of LI home ownership.
I hear you about wanting a simper life. My DH and I are both from Long Island, NY. The best thing we did was leave there 20 years ago. When we hear from my husband's siblings their lives sound like they are the hamster on the wheel. Sure they make a lot of money but their property taxes are about $15,000 a year….and that is just the start of all their expenses…and yes stress.
My DH and I are very lucky. We lived in NC for awhile on a farm and had a roller skating rink. Then we sold, move to Florida and starting flipping houses. Sold our last one(at the time) and bought a big motorhome and traveled the country for 3 1/2 years. Talk about a simpler life. It was great. No extra stuff at all
Then my DH wanted to try to build and design an off grid home on 40 acres in the TN mountains. We learned a lot along the way and now we remodel houses in Florida in the winter and live away from it all the rest of the time. We get to live different lives which is pretty cool.
Chow
Have you tried Prescott Arizona? I was there many years ago and it is a higher elevation but still desert mountains. The temps are good year round. It was very nice(at the time)
Good luck with the car. I dread that day when it comes. My DH wants to go back and buy and old, 1950's, Chevy truck so he can work on it. The new ones have way too much electric which equates to way to many potential headaches.'
My step mother used to always mention Prescott. There isn't enough "industry" there for my line of work. Assuming I don't change and I hear jobs are tough there. My dad and his now passed on wife live(d) in Lake Havasu City and always sorta crab about how there isn't any real work in AZ outside of Phoenix area. IDK I guess it depends what you wanna do. Retail jobs like grocery stores and Home depot types IDK.
I'd love to live just outside a large-ish metro are like ABQ and be able to drive 20 mins out and be in the sticks as they say. You just don't have that here in So Cal. I know a lot of places in the rest of the country has that. Live in a semi-large metro area with all of the amenities you need but can get away with a short drive.
Mrs. Chow's mom is getting pretty old and she doesn't want to leave because of her, which can see. It's much easier for me my mom has passed I have no siblings and my dad already lives out of state. If I were single I probably would have left ten years ago.
Last edited by Chowhound; 08-20-2016 at 04:13 PM..
Smart lady. I tried to get the Mr. to leave Long Island ages ago, but at this point we pretty much have to ride it out until retirement. His end of the bargain being that he takes early retirement and we get the hell out... and not succumb to the economic slavery of LI home ownership.
You're right on the "economic slavery of home ownership" never heard that phrase before but it makes a lot of sense. We bought our place years ago not so much that I was dying to be a homeowner it wasn't really all that much on my radar but all of the "old" guys I worked with back then (the age I am now btw) used to tell me to invest in some real estate and plus get some tax advantages. I was starting to make better money by then and it all made sense. We got lucky buying when we did buy. Right now even in the "down market" our house(condo) would sell for three times what we paid for it, I'm not bragging at all, again, it was just dumb luck, but it's hard to be sitting on so much equity and knowing we could just sell and get out of dodge and own a paid off home somewhere and take an easier job with less stress. Of course I'm not working right now but will be going back in a little while and I just don't look forward to getting into that damn grind again.
I wish this had video; a lot of what makes him so funny are his expressions and bodily movements. Anyway, the whole thing is funny, but from the start through about 1:00 explains a lot of these threads. lol
You're right on the "economic slavery of home ownership" never heard that phrase before but it makes a lot of sense. We bought our place years ago not so much that I was dying to be a homeowner it wasn't really all that much on my radar but all of the "old" guys I worked with back then (the age I am now btw) used to tell me to invest in some real estate and plus get some tax advantages. I was starting to make better money by then and it all made sense. We got lucky buying when we did buy. Right now even in the "down market" our house(condo) would sell for three times what we paid for it, I'm not bragging at all, again, it was just dumb luck, but it's hard to be sitting on so much equity and knowing we could just sell and get out of dodge and own a paid off home somewhere and take an easier job with less stress. Of course I'm not working right now but will be going back in a little while and I just don't look forward to getting into that damn grind again.
Yeah, I mean if we could have timed it and bought in when bungalows were still pretty cheap out by us we would have, but prices started to soar when we were 21 and did not let up for nearly 10 years. Property taxes are no joke; if we were given a comparable house tomorrow, the taxes and utilities alone would be almost what we pay in rent on a 2.5 bedroom apartment; imagine trying to afford a mortgage on top of that! We still occasionally get comments about "throwing money away on rent", but these days, it's either that or we throw it away just as much on property taxes and mortgage interest. But we've always been very disciplined with saving and investing, so in the long run we'll be able to buy a retirement home cash somewhere cheap and live quite comfortably in our golden years. There's just no real short- or long term financial advantage for us to buy now, unless we could swing a six-figure down payment and carry a 15 year note. Quite frankly, we just don't want to work so hard just to keep a roof over our heads. A couple of hippie slackers, lol.
I'd like to end up either back in Vermont, but it will be better financially to live on the New York side of the VT/upstate NY side of the border, because the Mr. pension won't be taxed (NY state employee) if we stay in NY. If I kick off first, he'll end up going down south somewhere, or wherever the kids end up. While if I don't really care where I am as long as there is a proper winter, mountains, a chicken coop, a place to park a VW bus, and a few decent, unpretentious vegetarian restaurants.
Yeah, I mean if we could have timed it and bought in when bungalows were still pretty cheap out by us we would have, but prices started to soar when we were 21 and did not let up for nearly 10 years. Property taxes are no joke; if we were given a comparable house tomorrow, the taxes and utilities alone would be almost what we pay in rent on a 2.5 bedroom apartment; imagine trying to afford a mortgage on top of that! We still occasionally get comments about "throwing money away on rent", but these days, it's either that or we throw it away just as much on property taxes and mortgage interest. But we've always been very disciplined with saving and investing, so in the long run we'll be able to buy a retirement home cash somewhere cheap and live quite comfortably in our golden years. There's just no real short- or long term financial advantage for us to buy now, unless we could swing a six-figure down payment and carry a 15 year note. Quite frankly, we just don't want to work so hard just to keep a roof over our heads. A couple of hippie slackers, lol.
Yeah, there are pros and cons to both. My dad just sold his house and is now renting an apartment. I works for him because his house was too big and he was spending too much money on it. He managed to get into an apartment complex that is for seniors on a fixed income and is rent controlled. He really was able to slash his expenses which worked out good for him.
Bottom line is that people got to do what fits and works the best. There are definitely advantages to renting for sure. The thing is is that you have to pay to live, no matter how you slice it, rent or mortgage you're still paying at the end of the day. if you can manage to sock a few bucks away hell, you're doing good. I saw some thread over in the POC forum talking about some article stating how 70 percent of people (I think it was) have less than a 1000 bucks in the bank. That would terrify the hell out of me to be that close to losing everything if something major happens. I mean you could be literally out on the streets if some major event happens in your life and you have no one to fall back on.
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... There are a lot of Indian Reservations in MN. The more you travel, the more you see people are just pretty much the same everywhere though, but yes definitely visiting is on my to-do list as well 
, again, it was just dumb luck, but it's hard to be sitting on so much equity and knowing we could just sell and get out of dodge and own a paid off home somewhere and take an easier job with less stress. Of course I'm not working right now but will be going back in a little while and I just don't look forward to getting into that damn grind again.
That would terrify the hell out of me to be that close to losing everything if something major happens. I mean you could be literally out on the streets if some major event happens in your life and you have no one to fall back on.