Move where you want, not because of housing prices. Right?

I would never be in the camp of moving where you want regardless of costs to live there. I don't know when it started that people decided (to live on credit cards) to live the life they want; it's been prevalent at least the last 20 years.

I moved around a lot in my earlier years, always living beneath my means, or right at them b/c I had no choice. As I aged and my income increased, I still lived beneath my means.

This offers a lot of opportunities. Freedoms. Less stress. I could change jobs if I wanted even if they offered less money. There came a time where I didn't have to sweat the big stuff when it rolled around (and big stuff is always right around the corner). Etc.

I'm not motivated by money but you need it. That said, I tried to work jobs that gave me purpose, or enjoyment, whatever...but none offered a salary that you see these days. I never got above middle-middle class, and then that was only because of a single job I held for 14 years and combined with my husband's income.

Now that I'm in my older years, it's paid off in ways that end up very important yet in reality, I hadn't considered them as such.

We bought a bit of a fixer-upper 20 years ago b/c it checked all the boxes of what we wanted and was purchased for less than what we were approved for .

Sunk a lot of CASH into the house; didn't even have a credit card then(!).

The 30-year mortgage was paid off in 14 years.

My credit score, even without credit cards, was 810 or 820. (My husband had the same mindset as me--live beneath your means--which made life a lot easier to navigate.) His credit score without credit cards was 820.

When we started buying new vehicles b/c we tired of used, we got excellent interest rates. We were able to buy two new vehicles in one day b/c even though we weren't "well off," we had a nice discretionary income and stellar credit. (We'd both been able to buy two new vehicles we always wanted--another win!)

We didn't live a dull life b/c of our approach. He was a musician on the side--very expensive. We had Harleys (one at a time) and he was finally able to buy a brand new one; it was paid off a year early. And of course, he was a guy so he had big-boy toys. None of it was a problem.

I'm now a widow, and my income is waaay down, but the house is paid off, my expenses are covered. I don't have to stress about this or that getting shut off or bill collectors, etc. And b/c I keep expenses down, there is the occasional month that rolls around here and there where I'm actually able to put a few extra hundred dollars aside beyond what I put in my budget to save. (Though I've been known take a bit of that to the casino, lol.)

It's less about saving, more about living in a manner that allows you to live with less stress or worrying about the "what-ifs." I'd rather have a nice little house than a "better" one I could lose b/c of the economy, job loss, death/divorce, etc.

No matter how much money the average working person makes, they're only a paycheck away from potential disaster. Always been that way.

I like your philosophy ;-) I am a Realtor. But, caveat to that: has to be planning/some structure figured out prior to a relocation...if you want success... We only come around one time so I say "Move, you are not a tree!" I have a bucket list going.. One thing I would like to do as I love NYC, is to live there for the month of December one year... Told my NPD Mom re; this idea. She shot it down multiple ways to Sunday. When my Son tells me he'd like to live in NYC or London for some time in his lifetime, I say "Just Do It!"...aka.. Nike ;-)

eat-pray-love, I have a friend that wants to do exactly that, too. You can easily swing a month in NYC, partcularly in December, but it's very dark and cold then. Great restaurants, shopping and some super-nice people there.