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[quote=Anonymous]Like other people have said, it is easier starting here out of college.  You are used to not having a lot of disposable income and you start making the space/commute tradeoffs pretty early on.  I lived in a sketchy area of Alexandria ...but where I could save up money to buy my own place sooner than if I had lived in Arlington.

When we were looking for a single family home, I thought about moving to a less expensive part of the country but reality is that we wouldn't have the same job opportunities elsewhere.   We have made it work partly by luck.  The downpayment saved living in the non hip area allowed me to buy a townhouse pre-2000 that  led to the kind of downpayment needed to buy a SFH inside the Beltway.  Part of having lots of career opportunities has meant being able to make one big leap in salary when I changed jobs during the heyday in my field and find another job when it has seemed as though layoffs were coming. For me, two salaries (both Dh and my salary), living like we had no money even as our salaries gradually increased, being able to both stay consistently employed, and buying pre-bubble has enabled us to afford this area.

The rest are things people have already mentioned, de-emphasizing the material aspects of life ...buying cars used, driving your car longer, kids sharing a room, not buying as much stuff (partly because of cost, partly lack of space), shopping yard sale/used (and trust me you would be surprised how much people make and still shop for used items), and in general finding a compromise you can live with.  You could for example live in Prince George's County, send your kids to parochial school or one of the more affordable private schools if you don't like the local public school, and spouse could work in one of the higher paying counties as a teacher, and you pick a location that is a good commute to someone's job. People have lived further out and either slugged to use HOV or lived along the VRE or MARC line or willing to drive for up to 1.5 hr commute.  People find jobs with potential to telecommute one or two days a week to help offset long commutes.  They find jobs in the suburbs e.g. Reston, so they can live even further outside the City with more space or lower cost homes. They live in a condo or townhouses and trade the backyard for the closer commute. They may also rent instead of buy.  There are lots of ways to make it work but the bottom line is I wouldn't move here unless I thought the job opportunities on the whole were better or a job here would put you in a better place to move back to your hometown.  There are other places with culture with a lower cost of living.  [/quote]

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