Cost of Living

The weather overall has been lovely here the past week.   Mid to high 70s, a couple days in the low 80s, perfectly sunny, no humidity, a slight breeze, just perfect.  Sorry to rub it in for everyone who’s weather hasn’t been great.

But I won’t lie, weather like this is why I pay $4.75 a gallon for gas and deal with exorbitant taxes.  You just can’t put a price tag on this.

Well, you can.  It’s called a high cost of living.  But it’s worth it to me!

Warm weather makes  me want to drink iced coffee.  Or iced coffee with a twist: Chocolate Protein Iced Coffee

I crave lighter, juicier foods when it’s warm outside like tomato, edamame, and cucumber salads.

Vegan Slaw Dressing is my #1 go-to condiment.  Condiment talk was yesterday’s post.

From my Horsing Around post, it was fun to hear who likes horseradish and also what your favorite condiments are.  Not enough people horsed around though over the weekend judging by the comments.  Darn.

Dessert: No Bake Toffee & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Questions:

1. Best thing you ate or did over the weekend?

Best thing I ate were No Bake Vanilla Cake Batter Chocolate Truffles .  For sure.

2. Do you live in an area where the cost of living would be considered low, medium, high?

I think by all standards, Southern California, less than 5 miles from the ocean, would be considered some of the highest cost of living in the country.

3. Would you be willing to trade off certain things in exchange for a higher/lower cost of living?

California is expensive.  Yes, indeed. But, we have great weather, the ocean, progressive-thinking people, and I just love the vibe here.

I love where I live and would sacrifice and cut other corners and expenses from our budget in other areas in order to live here.

I learned the hard way that just because real estate in Phoenix is cheap compared to San Diego, it didn’t mean that the cheaper housing and cheaper cost of living was worth it, for me.  Everything was cheaper from gas to groceries to taxes, but I was extremely unhappy.  You can read about the whole story, here and why we only lasted 9 months before moving back to San Diego.  Our forever home.

So, I’d rather pay more and live where I want to live, and love it, even if that means a higher cost of living and other sacrifices and trade-offs need to be made.

Do you like where you live?  What things would you sacrifice or trade off?