Originally Posted by
myrkridia
My wife and I have been wrestling with this question for a bit. Bought a house before getting hired at a legacy, locked in our mortgage at a cheap 30 year fixed rate and now I commute for Delta. The common conventional wisdom is to live below your means so a pay cut would not be some devastating event should an economic down turn occur, but if there ever was a reason to subject our family to such risk it might be living to base.
We are restricted to where we can buy. We live in a nice area with good schools for our kids and frankly don't want to give that up. Looking at comparable living situations, we'd be almost tripling our monthly mortgage expenses, likely forcing me to upgrade or work the system more than I am currently as a fairly senior FO.
I don't mind the commute so much, but obviously not having to commute anymore would open up a ton more possibilities in this line of work.
Always, always, always do what’s best for your family, not yourself. It’s part of being a husband and a father. If that means commuting for the remainder of your career, then that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
If you can make both goals (best for your family AND live in base) align, then you've won the lottery!
Also, remember that living in base as a new hire FO may not mean living in base later in your career depending on your other goals (upgrade, widebody, etc.).
Where do you have the most family and family support around? Where are your friends? Where are your kids’ friends? How are the schools? Would moving to live in base mean your entire family starting their lives over? All questions to ask.