What would you do?

[BeTheChange]

Long story short, my husband and I moved to Texas 2 years ago when the bay area dried up too much for comfort. We both found great jobs here. I actually telecommute which means I can take my job anywhere and the hubby has a great job that he would never have gotten in Cali with the experience he had when we came here. The job and salary are perfect, this is just the wrong place for us.

However, we want to get back to the Pac NW. Today he was offered a job in Reno. It's not exactly Lake Tahoe, but its pretty damn close. If we could live anywhere in the world, it would be Tahoe or Mendocino. Tahoe is our number 1 choice for active living age... Mendo for old age.

The catch is that it looks like median housing prices in and around Reno aren't much better then the Sacramento area, which is where both of our parents are.. and they are double what they are here in Dallas. That wouldn't be so bad, except the job pays 12k less then my husband currently makes. I know that doesnt seem like alot but, it is when you are saving to buy a house outright or with atleast a very significant downpayment instead of mortgaging yourself to the eyeballs.

Pros are:
-The people he would be working with seem really cool. He is not a fan of the folks he works with here.
-The job is alot more kicked back then the one he has here, lot less stress, flexible work hours... flextime, flexible schedule. They just seem very relaxed yet they are a very established company that is not a tech company where we have to worry about his job getting outsourced or them going belly up.
-We would be close to skiing, and could feasibly live up in the mountains.
-We would be close to both sets of parents as well as settled in for awhile, which means that we can start seriously thinking about having children.
-We would be closer to our friends.. which we've found out are irreplacable.
-We would be within easy driving distance of all the places we love, and within a short flight to the greater pacific nw.
-He would be learning lotsa new stuff. He mostly works in the Microsoft platform and this would give him the oppurtunity to expand to linux, mysql, apache... etc

Cons:
-Pay
-Not sure if we should just make the move back to Cali and hope he finds a better job when we get here.
-He has the dream of starting his own business (we have successfully started one, that had it not been for a car accident and major medical bills with no insurance, would have been beyond self sustaining by now) and he wont do it as long as he is comfortable. If we have a child, I fear he will never take the leap which I feel could be very rewarding.
- He seems to be getting a decent number of interviews, even though we are 2000 miles away. Are we jumping the gun and taking the first, not nessecarily best, thing?
-We have set a date of 7 months from now to move back to cali job or no job. By that time we should have around a very sizable amount in savings and no debts.. which should open up options.. I would think.. to start his own company or wait it out till a great job came around.

Should we:
a.) Take this job with 1/2 of the amount in savings and a 15% salary cut, plus 3k moving and a cost of living increase.
b.) Wait 7 months and go with the original plan, even if that means there is no for sure employment for him and we have to stay in a place that we hate for 7 more months?

**edited for spelling

[liss681]

1. that's a tough one...

but if it was me, I would do whatever will make the two of you happy.. money isn't everything!

[Floogeldy]

2. Uh . . . is your name Elle Woods?

Or are you otherwise legally blonde?

;)

[BeTheChange]

3. Not blonde..

and simply dont get the snide remark hidden behind a smile emoticon.

Care to enlighten me?

I just thought Id ask for any advice anyone had to offer as it is a rather big decision to make and both of us are on the fence.

[Floogeldy]

4. No insult intended.

And nothing hidden behind the smiley.

:)

[BeTheChange]

5. Interesting...nt

[Corey_Baker08]

6. By Your Post It Would Seem Like you favor Moving to Reno?

You list more active pros than cons. You seem as if your up for the adventure and while you hate the thought of the actual moving experience you love changes in locations.

So Go with your heart, this is a life long choice that will stick with you for the rest of your life. I sense your heart is choosing the move to Reno but your brain is shoving the cons in your face, always follow your heart I would say.

[Floogeldy]

7. Good answer, Oprah.

B-)

[BeTheChange]

10. Wow...

You are a real charmer. :)

** edited because I forgot the emoticon salve.

[Floogeldy]

11. I know.

:)

[Corey_Baker08]

12. Actually I Prefer to be compared to Dr. Phil

Damn you blew my cover :)


Just some late night prolly should go to bed will regret in the morning when i have to go to work post.

[BeTheChange]

8. Thank you for the input :)

I appreciate it.

I honestly dont know where my heart lies. I just feel so miserable where Im at that Im not sure if Im letting that effect my logical thinking.

[WCGreen]

9. What ever makes you happy.....

We did it and even though we are struggling, we have so much less stress in our lives.....

Life's too short to be scramblin' after money the whole time you are here on earth....