The person who said they need to make 8k a month just to cover expenses lives in Seattle. Someone who lives a bit north of Seattle pays $1,300.00 a month in rent; they can't afford to buy a house there. He and his wife both work, and they work hard.

Sometimes places like Seattle are tempting, and though I suspect the person who needs 8k a month isn't living an insanely frugal lifestyle, I'm glad Idaho is so economical. We almost doubled our mortgage payment when we moved, and we don't pay $1,300 a month.

I'm not trying to give you the impression that we live in a palace, but we have a nice-sized home for our needs and it's new enough and efficient enough that it doesn't have a lot of issues that will need to be fixed. (Rice and I are not handy, nor do we know a lot of people who are who don't charge plenty for their work. Not that I begrudge them their prices.) It was important to us to buy a house that was economical, would meet our needs, and wouldn't require a lot in terms of money, time, and effort to keep up. Rice doesn't have the skill, I don't have the skill or the back to do it.

I have a lot of wishes for where I live: that the area was more pedestrian-friendly and a bike commute was more feasible, that there were more cultural opportunities, more writer geeks to say hey to, a good academic library nearby... but truly we have everything we need. The things I'd like aren't that huge a deal. They're not a deal breaker. And my mortgage isn't killing us.