[reacharavindh]

I have lived exactly both the scenarios you just described. (1) Lived in a suburb of Chennai commuting 15-20 Kms to work. It took 1 hour to get to work and 1 hour back regardless of how much I can pay for it. That's 2 hours of my life wasted every day! - All the while paying my mortgage that would last until my retirement. (2) Now, Live in a US city. Ironically, work in a suburb, but live in Downtown 20 miles away. I spend 20 mins in commuting to work, peacefully. With my pay, I'm confident I can pay off my mortgage in under 12 years. Now, I'm not saying this is true everywhere in the US. Living in NYC might be the extreme case, whereas living in the countryside would be cheapest. I'm trying to compare equivalent in my mind.

First step towards change and improvement is to accept the need for it. IMO.