Thank you all for your kind words. You are good bunch…
bearishgirl, you asked why we do not stay up there.
Ultimately, the answer is because we do not have family up there. My wife’s and my family are both amazing, and we want involved Grandparents. But if I were master of the universe we would move the whole lot to lake tahoe (or SLO) and I would only be cognizant of my after tax income. But sadly I am not master of the universe.
So when it comes to to really settling and putting down deep roots, SD (because we hate OC even more) or Minneapolis are our only really viable choices.
To the materialism thing. I think their is a big difference with MN’s and the cabins, and CA and their houses and cars and boats and clothes.
You have a hard time finding a new BMW or Mercedes in MN, even people who can afford them are embarrassed by their money and are not in a hurry to flaunt it. Not that there is anything wrong with either car (not my thing, but in MN it is a source of embarrassment). I remember in school we would call kids who were higher in the socio-economic ladder “rich” and they would vehemently deny it. There was no, my dad makes more than your dad shenanigans.
Cabins are something families have and are passed down from generations. Most of my friends had cabins that their grandparents gave them. As long as you pay the taxes your family keeps the cabin.
I agree with you all about letting the materialism roll off your back, it doesn’t bother me much. I drive a beat honda and wear clothes till they have holes. It can get in my wife head from time to time, and I am terrified of what it could do to a child.
