A rural lifestyle costs less to maintain, promotes a more thoughtful way of life, and provides you with a true community of friends and neighbors.
This Stack is a little more personal this week. I have lived in some of the most expensive urban areas in in the country—Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Coronado. Due to personal choice and life events, in mid-2020 I relocated from Coronado California to a village of 1,400 people in Upstate New York—”The North Country”.
Professionally, I work with clients all over the country, and many of them reside in densely populated, more costly urban centers. From my personal experience and professional observations, I believe that adopting a rural lifestyle will help you live a healthier and more financially sustainable lifestyle.
By its very nature, a rural lifestyle costs less to maintain, promotes a more thoughtful way of life (particularly when it comes to food production), and opens up income-generating opportunities often impossible in more populated areas.
Lower Cost of Living
Generally, small-town America has a much lower cost of living. Many are familiar with the economic factors that contribute to this—particularly the reduced cost of housing in less densely populated regions. However, one often overlooked aspect to the lower cost of living is that the lifestyle expectations are very different in a rural community versus a city or suburb.
Housing Costs
Housing expenses decrease significantly the further away one moves from urban centers. When I exchanged city for country in 2020, I also traded my two-bedroom Condo in Coronado for a four-bedroom home and an investment account large enough to purchase additional real estate if I so desired. Professionally, I have worked with a number of clients who have either relocated or are in the process of relocating from densely populated areas of California to more rural communities in other states. And their household costs are drastically reduced.
Rural living is not for everyone. But for those of us willing to take the plunge, it can mean lower property prices, lower construction costs, mores space—and more freedom.
If you have ever considered a change of pace to small-town life, and own your own home in a city or suburb, think about how far that equity could take you financially if you were to relocate. It could reduce your need to work by years, open the door to diversifying your portfolio into rental property or more liquid investments, or enable you to change your current work-life balance.
Lifestyle Expectations
Another factor in reducing the cost of living is the decrease in cost of what I call “lifestyle expectations” in rural communities. When you live in a costly city, much of your time is spent socializing at restaurants and bars, exercising at expensive gyms, and attending networking and other pricey social events. This lifestyle requires a lot of inputs—things like the right clothes, purses, watches, and possibly a certain type of vehicle.
When you move rural your lifestyle expectations change—drastically. There is little expectation to see and be seen. Within a month of living in our village, I traded Nordstroms for local shops with more appropriate clothing for a lifestyle of working in the yard and taking care of our pets throughout the day.
Because our business networks source from a much smaller population, they end up being much more diverse and include lawyers, accountants, and real estate agents, but also manufacturers, home builders, and shop owners. By its very nature, this creates a more casual dress and event environment.
Of any one aspect that has contributed to my more joyful life, it is the change in the hustle and bustle of lifestyle expectations. It has given me mental space to focus on things that truly matter—like taking care of my family, our home, and participating in the community.
Food Is Cheaper & Much Healthier
Living a rural lifestyle will significantly reduce your food expenses. But cost savings is only a small part of the transformation your approach to food may take. In fact, you may discover a newfound appreciation for knowing the source of your food and even feel inspired to start growing and preserving your own.
Food Costs
In our garage freezer, we have about half a cow, several chickens, pork, and a half a lamb—all sourced within a 10-mile radius. Our refrigerator is filled with eggs from our own chickens, and in the summer all our vegetables come from the local farm-share or our own garden. I’ve never eaten healthier than I do now, and it’s never been cheaper.
To eat now the same way we eat in a city would be outrageously expensive. City dwellers often tout the health of buying local and organic, but doing so in an urban setting can be time consuming and costly. However, because many rural communities are farm communities, they naturally provide easier access to locally grown food, which is often cheaper than products that are shipped from distant locations.
Cultivating Your Own Food & Improving Your Well-Being
Similar to lifestyle expectations impacting your environment, being in an environment where your neighbors and community emphasize growing food naturally motivates you to consider adding a garden or livestock to your routine. Not only can this lead to fresher and healthier food, but raising your own food can also provide numerous physical and mental health benefits, as well as a sense of connection to the land and community.
Creates New Possibilities for Income Generating
One of the biggest criticisms of living in a rural community is that your ability to earn income is reduced. Statistically, this is correct. There simply is not the industry available to generate as many high-paying jobs as cities and suburbs.
However, with the rise of technology, and as more people embrace remote work, these income limitations are being reduced substantially. Personally, I run a successful small business with three employees all from a town of 1,400 people—so I can tell you it’s definitely possible!! Professionally, many of my clients are choosing to relocate to smaller towns and villages because they have remote employment, and they are still finding success.
In addition, because the cost of living is so much lower, you do not need to make nearly as much money to maintain your lifestyle. For our family I have found that our lifestyle has significantly improved and costs much less.
New Income Generating Opportunities
In addition to a rural community being a great option for remote workers who want more freedom with a lower lifestyle cost, these small towns offer a lot of other income-generating opportunities. For instance, because real estate is more affordable, there is a whole market available for people who want to grow more sources of income through rental properties and “flipping”.
In addition, it’s common for people in these areas to have multiple sources of income. For example, a shop owner may also work part-time for the local government. This ability to diversify your income streams is partly due to the slower pace of life, which allows for greater focus on different areas without feeling rushed or anxious about any one of them.
Community Support Contributes to Your Financial Well-Being
In the city, it feels like you’re constantly surrounded by people. The word “community” is used in corporate marketing campaigns in an attempt to label an overwhelming number of unconnected peopled with nothing in common. Reality is a lot different; a true community in a heavily populated area is very difficult. Many people in cities do not actually know their neighbors.
Rural communities operate entirely differently; your neighbors are the local business owners and community leaders. You see them when you go for a walk, dine in a restaurant, or drop off your property tax bill.
We participate in the local economy to help our neighbors as they help us. For example, a shop in town sells local eggs at a much lower price than the grocery, so we supply ours so others can eat heathy food at a reasonable price. (And the eggs were laid within the past three days; you can’t get much fresher than that!) We care for others’ homes when they travel. Last year our neighbors even went to far as to help our chickens during a blizzard when we were traveling over the holidays! We have also discovered that municipal services are much more responsive because they are your friends and neighbors. One example that was astounding to me was this last quarter, when I paid our property taxes I made a mistake in the amount of a few dollars, the clerk corrected it on the check and sent me a hand written note explaining she did not want me to be penalized for being late for a simple mistake.
I grew up in a small town, but forgot how wonderful it is to feel like part of a community. Community, as with lifestyle, contributes substantially to your overall well-being in ways that are almost impossible to capture.
Rural Living is the Way Forward
Rural living may not be for everyone. Of course, there are reasons to live in more populated areas: employment opportunities, family, lifestyle preferences. But if you find yourself struggling financially, or you feel like you are running from pillar to post in your current life, consider relocating to a more rural setting. It was the best financial decision I ever made, and I could never go back to an urban lifestyle now—at least our chickens probably would not like it!