[mabbo]

> I spend so much more cash living in London

This is the weird part for me: moving into the city saved me money overall.

In the suburbs where we lived, every person needs a car. It was a 30 minute walk just to get to the nearest store. So we paid insurance, gas, maintenance, etc on two vehicles. In the city, we have one car that we rarely use. If it dies, we'll get a car-share membership. (Frankly, I'm not certain we wouldn't save money if we just did that immediately).

The commute wasn't just long before, it was expensive: $400 CAD or more per month. Inside the city, $140 has me covered. Utilities on the small house we rented were nuts, especially in the winter. We pay a fraction of that now.

Adding it all up, the increase in rent was less than the saved amount.

The only real danger I find now is that I can go out with friends. I have more opportunity to spend money- but at least I'm enjoying spending that money.

[stuxnet79]

I discovered this as well, that's why I moved to downtown Toronto. GTA is a blight of suburban sprawl ... if you live outside the city and have to commute in for work, daily, it's an absolute nightmare AND expensive. After years of doing this the value proposition just didn't make sense anymore.