The affordability of an area plays a very large role when it comes to selecting a place to live. What area will allow you to live comfortably? What area will allow you to afford to send your children to camp, athletics, etc.? Where is the rent not through the roof and schools are rated well?

These are all questions we ask ourselves when we scope out our next move. Although everyone may have different wants, we all have something in common – the want for a happy and sustainable life. Many people want an area where their money will go far and allow them to live closer to or at the way they want.

I think a great amount about where to move when I graduate. I try to study the trends of different cities and understand the economics of it all. I want an area that has stability (for the most part) and allows me to spend my extra money on paying off my house rather than tossing it into an ever-climbing elevator of rent. I want to be able to save, invest and spend on things like my future child’s soccer lessons, math tutoring, college, and organic foods for the family.

Life can throw us many different curveballs as we have seen recently with the pandemic, but also in the 2008 housing crisis, natural disasters, etc. Different events shape how we function, they reveal what is truly important to us, and they set many things into perspective.

The more change that ripples through the world, the more I crave stability and sustainability, with room to grow financially.

Forbes lists the 10 most affordable cities in the United States as –

https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2021/07/28/the-best-and-cheapest-places-to-live-in-america-in-2021-ranked-by-the-experts/?sh=497c2ed32e28 (tap to view the Forbes article)

Cedar Park, Texas

Midland Texas

Ogden, Utah

Raleigh, North Carolina

Provo, Utah

Des Moines, Iowa

Austin, Texas

Minneapolis, Minnesota

St. Paul, Minnesota

Winchester, Virginia

Forbes lists the 10 cheapest states as -

• Alabama

• West Virginia

• Arkansas

• Indiana

• Missouri

• Utah

• Mississippi

• Tennessee

• Minnesota

• Kentucky

  The city I chose as my number one is Raleigh, North Carolina, and my number two is Austin, Texas!

  #1 https://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/2021/04/10-things-i-love-about-living-in-raleigh-north-carolina/

  #2 https://www.wardnorthamerican.com/blog/20-reasons-why-people-are-moving-to-austin/

*All photos are linked to their owners