YES!! That’s what home ownership does to you – it ties you down and sucks the military life right out of you! Haha… One of the biggest cons no one likes to mention when you’re thinking of buying a home ;) It’s def. not for everyone!

Maybe you can rent it out and go move somewhere else like we’re doing? It’s not as optimal as selling and cutting ties once and for all, but it’ll get you out the door finally. And maybe it’ll turn into a nice little investment over time too :)

Well still tell me when you’re back visiting! Perhaps I can make a road trip out of it and meet you for a lunch :) At the airport so I can get my shirt!!! Haha….

Too bad it’s not Richmond–we’d be neighbours when I visited my parents at home! :)

I bought my tshirt at the Richmond airport…not sure where else they are sold, but I’d bet there’s an online shop somewheres!!

Wowwww one income and a family of five! Way to rock it!! And here I thought I was smooth doing it with only three of us :) Guess you gotta get there before you hit five, eh?

There ya go! You’re on it! :) Yeah, I’m sure you’re higher than the 50K/yr…I’m closer to the 20K, so it works out GREAT for us…especially since we’re a one-income family of five. ;) And, yes, it is STATE only…but those savings help us survive the federal hit we always take.

Best of luck in the move!! It’s gonna be a whirlwind but you’ll be glad you went through it all in the end. ;)

There you go! Those are the best sometimes, eh? Going with the flow and seeing where it takes you :) I don’t personally do so well with “permanent” – especially in housing.

Haha…. you don’t think we could get a downtown place in Alexandria for that? Come on ;)

Answer: it’s hard and drives you crazy, but it’s also fun and full of adventure :) we pretty much started with like 5 cities all across the country and then visited some and cut others out based on actual odds of it happening near term. Which really helped out and got it down to only 2 states. For example, we REALLY want to move to California, but too many variables for it to work out on *this* move if we wanted to do it this summer. So we crossed it out and moved it to “future moves” to look into – which isn’t as depressing.

I’d start by taking road trips and hanging with family/friends that live there and then see what happens :) some places are WAY different (good or bad) in person than online for sure. Good luck!

(also – STATE only…. but again, still good!)