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.
I always enjoy your posts here, and it doesn't surprise me that you are posting here looking for a sounding board of sorts. Nothing wrong with that. As a long time person in this biz I'd say a couple of things. 1) Do whats best for your family first. 2) Your QOL. 3) Your earnings. I've been a commuter most of my time here save for a few years I lived in base (which Delta subsequently closed). That forced a move to where we are at now and we haven't looked back.
I hate commuting, not gonna lie. Hate it. With a passion. However, where we've been at we live in a great area, great schools (we put our kids thru private schools though, but still all said, the schools around us are very good), have great neighbors and a very good sense of community. My wife has made long term friends here. She's engaged locally with many of the local civic groups. We grew roots here as a family and I never thought once about uprooting that tree just to make my life easier. So I commute, and I hate it, but my family is happy (just me and wife now as the kids are all grown up and on their own).
Living below your means - yes. I've done this my entire career. It's not hard. No boats, no planes, we only own one house, and its paid for many many years ago. I do have hobbies, they are just not the expensive kind (guess Im lucky in that regard??). The best advice from me, as a long term player in this game - Live below your means, keep your family happy best you can and retire still married to your first wife.
Best of luck to with you and your families decision, and I mean that sincerely.