Greetings,
This is my first post, having been a reader for several weeks now.
I have an opportunity to make a very large life choice, in an effort to clear debt and start saving significantly.
I live outside of DC - Falls Church. My mortgage and spending is such, that my net savings is fairly low. I still have a 401k, and small other general savings, but I am nowhere near the 40-50% that it takes to get to FI.
My opportunity is that I can sell my current home in Falls Church, clear ALL debt (including student loans, car payments, credit cards, and a few other). My family (wife and two children under 4 y.o.) would buy my wife's grandparents house. It is 2.5 hours from where we currently live (in Staunton VA), but about 1/3 of the price.
The result is that we could increase our savings to 25-30% per month. We would move closer to in-laws, and clear ALL debt. Obviously a huge pro. The con is that I would likely need to spend most weeknights renting an apartment, AirBNB and would have to travel back and forth Monday mornings and Thursday evenings. It would be a grind. But I have no idea how taxing it would be unless we do it.
We are targeting about a year from now - for lots of reasons. We want to get our house in condition to sell. We want our son to finish pre-school with his current school, and it would take that much time to get everything else lined up.
I guess I'm just looking for feedback - has anyone pursued something like this? Regrets? I'm guessing we don't know until we try it.
Pros
Clear debt
Increase savings
move close to in-laws
Nothing is really permanent
Cons
I'm further from my extended family
I don't see my wife or kids most week nights
Strain and stress of commute and nights away from home