Rent or own not sure which is best

[Laura T123]

Hi I'm new to this forum and am hoping for some advice. I am 45 and disabled with M.S. and another chronic illness so I'm on Social Security Disability. I'm 45 and live with my ex husband. We've been together 27 years but divorced 15 years ago due to my medical bills and insurance issues. Things have been tough. Hubby's job got shipped to china soon after I got sick he now works in retail and makes 8.75 per hour after 5 years and three raises!! I make 693.00 a month. Right now he has some debt 6000 from a credit card he defaulted on due to 2 years of unemployment. We now rent an apartment it costs 510 a month including all utilities. It is 16 miles from where he works but we can hunt here (free venison takes care of our meat bill for the year) and I have a small garden that helps with veggie prices. We could move to town where his commute would only be a couple of miles and I have thought of selling my car and just taking the bus in town.  But rent is much more expensive, there is no private land to hunt and I could not grow my own food. Ideally we would like to own our own home and grow all our own food. We are saving 200 a month right now, I just turned off my pc and will be using the library's for free when I go to town for groceries once a week or so. Other than that we have cell phone bills prepaid the cost is 55 a month for both phones and I have dish network where I negotiated a crappy but doable package that costs 17.00 a month.
I wash clothes in the bathtub and hang them outside in the summer so I only have to go to the laundry every 2 weeks. I never eat out and buy everything resale or I just don't buy it. I don't know where else to cut. I don't feel deprived and spend as much time as possible outside. Hey stuff is stuff and doesn't make you happy but I would love a small home of my own. Is this crazy or should we just rent...how do you decide?
Thank you in advance for any advice you may have. P.S. I keep the cable because I'm home and sick a lot and need some connection to the outside world.
Thanks again,
Laurat

[grantmeaname]

Renting versus buying depends on a whole host of factors. Most important are: how much does it mean to you? will you be in the same place for long enough that it's worth it? can you afford to have that much of your money illiquid for that long?

After you've answered those questions, you can look at the numerical specifics of renting vs buying here with the incredible New York Times calculator. It's not as important as the big picture stuff, like what it means to you, but it lets you see how the various constants like property taxes and mortgage rates interact to make one choice cheaper in the long run than the other.

It sounds like you're on the right track with trying to be frugal. So your next big step is to see whether buying can make sense for the two of you.

[Done by Forty]

Given the information you've provided so far, my advice would be to continue to rent for a couple reasons.   Better jobs in other areas are much easier to accept when you're renting.    And, two, the living situation you're in is unique -- while it might be a perfect fit now, it's possible that you or your ex husband might want something else later on...and when you come to that decision, the other person might not want to sell right then (or at all), the housing market might be in the tank, etc.

[arebelspy]

IMO you can do much better than 55/mo for two cell phones (~27.50 each).  That can be an easy cutback, because you can get the exact same thing as you have now, just save money, by going through a minor hassle.

[offroad]

IMO you can do much better than 55/mo for two cell phones (~27.50 each).  That can be an easy cutback, because you can get the exact same thing as you have now, just save money, by going through a minor hassle.

How can the OP do better?  thats pretty cheap for two phones monthly, that get used.

[arebelspy]

Well of course it'll depend on how much they get used (and how they get used, data, text, etc.), but 55 for two phones is definitely beatable. 

The OP said:

I don't know where else to cut.

So I was trying to offer a suggestion in that vein.  Without more budget details I don't know, but that's one place that could likely be trimmed.

[CB]

How can the OP do better?  thats pretty cheap for two phones monthly, that get used.

We pay <$15 a month total for two relatively new but non-smart-phones on Virgin Mobile.  One of us is usually home (which sounds like it should be the case for the OP) so our landline (actually an ooma VOIP box, grandfathered in on a $0/month plan) gets most of the use on one end.  We aren't big talkers but the phones get used several times per week, though certainly not every day.

[Laura T123]

Thanks for the advice...I'll consider all. I would like to find out about cheap cell phones, actually, I qualify for 250 min  a month free through a medicaid plan, but they don't have coverage in my area...likely Virgin Mobile is still unavailable here too, but I will recheck....didn't mention I live, literally, in the middle of the forest, so I'm limited to what I can use . I got Hughes Net to try install a Magic Jack but it doesn't work with DSL, at least we couldn't get it to work so we're getting rid of the Hughes net and going to the library. So nice to meet you all. Thanks Again.
Laura

[offroad]

Thanks for the advice...I'll consider all. I would like to find out about cheap cell phones, actually, I qualify for 250 min  a month free through a medicaid plan, but they don't have coverage in my area...likely Virgin Mobile is still unavailable here too, but I will recheck....didn't mention I live, literally, in the middle of the forest, so I'm limited to what I can use . I got Hughes Net to try install a Magic Jack but it doesn't work with DSL, at least we couldn't get it to work so we're getting rid of the Hughes net and going to the library. So nice to meet you all. Thanks Again.
Laura

I had my magicjack working on my DSL at one time.  It was a PITA to get working correctly and consistantly, but it was possible.  Good idea about the library, as you can sit in the car to use your WIFI phone device; if the WIFI does not block those services (some routers are smart and will block voice over internet protocol VOIP)