When I finished with my bachelor's degree in psychology, I worked in a cooperative credit union for about 6 months while I tried to determine what I in fact desired to do 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 job in Cincinnati. I relocated to the city over Independence Day weekend in 2014. Because then, I lived in two different neighborhoods within the city limits. One was two miles outside of downtown in a trendy apartment building a brief walk from a remarkable park, and the other was seven miles from downtown in an extremely preferable area in an apartment where I could hear my upstairs neighbor sneeze (among other, less innocent things * shudder *). Then I moved to a suburb right outside the city limits, in an apartment building right on the bike path where I could ride into town to grab an ice or a beer cream cone.
In autumn of 2017, my partner and I bought our very first home in my little hometown-- a 50 minute drive to three significant cities (choose which instructions you remain in the mood to drive: north, south, or west), however absolutely a rural area. The high school I went to was actually surrounded on all sides by cornfields. We live "in town" now, but that isn't stating much. There are likewise cornfields in town.
THE PROS
One of my best friends lives a block away, and there is an incredible homemade hard cider location that's run out of the basement of a household home, and there are a few fantastic local stores and dining establishments. There were also a lot of tradeoffs involved with choosing to move out of the city.
I'm going to begin with the pros list, the excellent features of where we live and why we selected to move here. I've currently discussed a number of. Maybe the biggest aspect is CASH. When I lived in the city in an incredibly popular community, whenever I strolled my pet I would look up the information on any house I would see with a for sale indication out front. My rent at the time was about $650 a month for a one bed room home with a bonus space that we utilized as a dining room. Very affordable. Home costs were through the roofing system. There was a 2 bedroom, one bath house with practically no lawn a street over listed for $250,000(!!!!!!!). What?! And I understand that house prices are dependent and extremely relative on location, and maybe you live in California or Toronto or wherever and you're reading this thinking that's a take, however my house in the country-- my three bedroom, one bath, redesigned house on a quarter acre with a basement-- cost $92,000. Lease when we moved to the suburbs for a two bedroom house was $890. Our present regular monthly mortgage (which we pay extra on and plan to settle early after squashing our student debt) is $587. That's a big savings from a home loan in the city, and is significantly lower than our rent in the city or suburbs. Which suggests more cash to put toward student debt and pay it off quicker.
Another pro is that we live closer to check here family. We live in the same town as my parents, and are a brief drive from my grandparents and in-laws. We have much more outdoor space than we could have gotten in the city on our budget plan, including a large, fenced-in backyard.
Creekin'
I grew up going "creekin,'" catching amphibians, riding four wheelers, and having the day of rest school for the very first day of open season. It was an actually excellent youth.
THE CONS
There is certainly a cost to leaving here, too. For starters, it seems like everyone understands everybody else! And in some cases I just wish to go to the supermarket in my sweats for red wine and cookie dough and not run into one of my previous instructors or buddies' parents, ya understand ?? Bear with me as I go through these cons; I'm not trying to grumble (much), but the truth is that there is a lot to consider when considering moving from a city you enjoy to a lower cost of living location in order to save loan.
Possibly among the most apparent downfalls of living in a little, rural, low cost of living location is that it's far away from things. A lot of my buddies reside in or closer to the city, and it needs more planning and driving in order to see them. It's likewise further from home entertainment; there is a small choice of excellent restaurants close by. When I was in the city I could stroll to lots of places and drive to an essentially endless list of bars and dining establishments. Cincinnati is a very foodie-friendly city with a remarkable brewery scene. I have actually stated this before and I'll say my company it permanently: food is life. Places in my village also close previously. Now, I'm not much of a celebration animal any longer, however if I wish to be out later than 11 p.m. there is really only one option here. And it's great, but in some cases I want to be out at a bar where I'm not visiting any of my previous instructors, pals' moms and dads, or anybody I went to high school with. Uber and Lyft aren't a thing here when it comes to getting home safely. You have to discover an excellent old made designated motorist, or walk. (When, my pal who lives a block away and I got a bit toasted at the local wine store and strolled two miles to get check here to the hard cider place. Thankfully we discovered a buddy from high school there with his parents, who gave us a flight back. Benefits and drawbacks of understanding people all over you go.) When I resided in the city, an Uber would be available to select me up within minutes whenever of day, and it was a cheap flight anywhere, normally under $10.
If I were to get a various job in my field, I would have to drive to one of the major cities, at least about 40 minutes each method. When I lived in the city, there were SO MANY alternatives for psychological health jobs, as well as other resources including numerous grocery options, yoga studios, animal stores, and so on. And not to sound too minor here, but the grocery store in my town does not offer the great brand of goat cheese that I like, and I have to drive 30 minutes to the nearby Kroger that does.
The individuals here, while I like them, are overwhelmingly of one political persuasion. I enjoyed residing in a city filled with diversity and with a variety of social and political views. Let's just state that the prevailing political views in my town are not always opinions that I normally agree with. Something this town isn't doing not have in though: churches. There is a church on every corner, on your way into town no matter which path you take, and basically a stone's toss from any place you may take place to be standing in town. And they practically all hold comparable views, objectives, worths, etc. The one church that differs in regards to social values is the Quake church and there is really an excellent Quaker population here (the local college is Quake). I've outgrown the church I matured in, and discovering another close by that aligns with my own worths and beliefs has actually proven to be an obstacle. We went to a wonderful church in the city that I liked, and finding something that compares is crucial to me however it's something I'm still looking for.
While I like my home and there are a lot of things I like about my town, I do miss living in the city. I do not see myself living in this town forever, and right now moving back to the city is in the medium-term strategy.