[dceddia]

This is along the lines of what Mr. Money Mustache [0] recommends, minus the long commute. For anyone interested in early retirement through working hard and saving money, his blog is absolutely worth a read.

It could be a bit of a lifestyle change (or maybe you're already close and you don't know it!), but for people with software-developer-level salaries, early retirement is absolutely within reach.

[0] http://www.mrmoneymustache.com

[pc86]

Yeah, I am assuming that long train ride + cheap mortgage is probably cheaper than very short commute + downtown Chicago rent, which may not be the case everywhere. And quality of life goes down pretty quickly with increases in commute.