Hi All, I left the big city behind and relocated (eventually) to a little town in the mountains of California - Mt Shasta after a nasty money pit renovation in Oakland left me burned out sick and exhausted. It's in a somewhat economically struggling area and I bought the smallest cheapest structure I could find with what I had left. It's got great sunny exposure -the first thing I did was install a 2.5K solar myself using Wholesale Solar - a great local resource that sets you up with all the pieces and a wiring diagram for permits. The system saves around $800 per year and cost $7K in materials. The municipal water for the town comes off the mountain untreated from a spring and one can walk and bike around town. My new 15 year mortgage (my only debt I try and buy used stuff that is made well like my 2001 Toyota Tacoma) on 600 square feet with a garage is $600. During the original renovation I learned all the trades and now have a full set of tools and supplement some income from remote software work for non-profits with local handy man and light construction. I'm going to get my contractors license to build decks and install solar. There's no traffic, lot's of free epic backcountry skiing. No boss. I just spent a month battling with the local building department to let me build a 250 square foot ADU using the new california ADU law. They said the minimum was 400 square feet but I researched the code and can build down to 150 square feet - a tiny house but on a foundation legally. When I finish that (which I hope to do without incurring any debt and using mostly recycled and natural materials which I will build myself, I can live in it and rent the house out effectively ending my housing cost. This has been a dream since about the year 2000. I think I might finally get it sorted out. Wish me luck! I'll post progress as I go on.