Back in 2022, we were a childless, broke-but-not-poor filmmaker couple in Los Angeles.
We adored our Koreatown apartment, but between soaring rent, gas, utility, and grocery bills, we were truly scraping by.
With our dreams of financial stability and having a child in the next couple years, we decided it was time to leave LA. We were able to work remotely so we had flexibility to do it.
In July 2023, we packed our dog and belongings into an F150 and made the move to a small town in rural Oregon.
Living here has been cheaper, and we’ve made some surprising adjustments
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One reason we chose Oregon is I lived there before and felt confident our dollars could go further here, especially in a smaller, more remote town.
Although our rent isn’t quite as low as we’d hoped, living here is decidedly cheaper than LA. Plus, many properties here have way more outdoor space, which is a huge value add (especially for our dog, Stella).
Although Oregon is not immune to current inflation, our groceries are still more affordable now. What’s more, food quality is often better since we have easier access to locally grown produce and lots of farmers’ markets.
That said, our options can feel a bit more limited since there are only two grocery stores near our home and absolutely nothing like a Whole Foods, which was everywhere in LA.
Beyond the basics, there are other trade-offs of going from a big city to a small town that I hadn’t considered before moving.
The main one is that leisure activities are generally cheaper, but there are far fewer of them. Going out for drinks sets us back way less than it did in LA, but there are only four bars in town — and only two are worth the visit.
Thankfully, outdoor leisure here in the Pacific Northwest is plentiful, mostly free, and requires almost no commute.
Even so, we’ve run into a few extra costs and higher service fees
Although living in a major city can get expensive fast, our more rural life still has still come with costs and inconveniences we weren’t anticipating.
For example, reliable internet is not guaranteed in our area. Our first Oregon house wasn’t set up for internet at all and it took months to get fiber internet installed (Spectrum would have taken even longer).
To survive the first few months after the move, we paid through the nose for a high-powered mobile hot spot.
Our garbage service is also significantly more expensive than it was in Los Angeles, in part because our local provider has to travel farther for collection and disposal.
At our first house, trash service cost us a whopping $70 a month, far more than it ever did in LA. Worse, the garbage truck couldn’t drive down our narrow gravel road, so we had to drag our trashcan some 200 yards each week.
Still, we’re grateful to be here — especially now that we have a kid
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Our daughter was born this past January. Walking her around the sleepy streets of our charming little town has been an experience I know we’ll cherish forever.
We feel lucky we can make a living as filmmakers without living in LA. After all, making this kind of move wouldn’t be possible for many families, as finding work in such a limited commercial pool is vastly more difficult than in a city.
I’d be lying if I said I don’t miss La-La-Land’s never-ending stream of entertainment, cultural events, and unparalleled people watching. But if I had to make the choice to move to the country again, I would.
Overall, our new small-town life has saved us in more ways than one: money, stress, hours of sitting in traffic, and time spent deciding between too many options for just about everything.
And as the cherry on top, we now get to be woken up not by an alarm clock but by our neighborhood rooster … every. single. morning. We may not be small-town folks forever, but, for now, we’re home.
