A few years back my husband and I decided to make a major change in our life. We wanted a simpler lifestyle. We came up with some of the best reasons to move to the country. The benefits easily outweighed any negatives for us.
In 2017 we sold our beautiful home located on a golf course. Now this was a totally renovated and modernized home. It was not easy to leave. We had spent the last 16 years in this home.
After a fire a few years before, this home had remodeled down to the studs in most parts of the house. I just want to paint a picture here. This house would have been hard for most people to leave. I discussed it before here: http://www.savingmoneylivingfaithfully.com/lessons-we-learned-rebuilding-after-a-fire/ We decided to pay off debt and find a smaller less expensive home on some acreage in the country. That was a big decision and one we did not make lightly. We came up with a list of pros and cons to moving. There were more reasons to move than to stay, so we started looking.
Timing Is Everything
This was a good time for us to do this. With the exception of one adult son, our children had grown up and moved out of our house. We needed a more accessible one-story home to enable our parents to visit us more easily. We had family dinners at our house and our parents struggled with the stairs in our split-level home. I envied those with one level homes. I always envisioned how much easier cleaning and laundry would be on one level instead of up and down multiple levels.
We discussed the move extensively before deciding this was the right decision for us. It is never too late to create the life you want. We decided we wanted to embrace a different lifestyle. At the time some of our family and friends were paying off their homes. I am sure many of them thought we were crazy to buy a new home. We planned for the home we decided on to be our last home barring any unforeseen complications.
There are a number of reasons we came up with to move to a more rural location. We wanted a more authentic life. We wanted to focus. It was important for us to wake up and enjoy our day. It is easy to be grateful when you can step out your door every morning and see God’s glory all around you.
We felt like we could save more money by purchasing a less expensive home in the country. Having said that I want to stress that not every home in a rural area is less expensive. There are variations in price all across the country. We happen to live in the mid-west where home prices are modest compared to some parts of the country.
We really had to search for the right property at the right price. It took a year for us to find the right home after we sold our previous property. We had some specific criteria in mind along with a certain amount of money we wanted to spend.
Save On Monthly Expenses
Monthly home expenses were costly in our previous home. In our previous location we had a cable and internet bill every month. Even with basic service and just a few channels it was close to two hundred dollars a month. When you live within the city limits you pay a fee for water and sewage. That was always over hundred dollars every month. Our heating and cooling bill was generally several hundred dollars during the coldest and hottest parts of the year. Heating and cooling our larger home took quite a bite out of our budget.
Basic Cable And No Internet
Living in the country means we have a basic cable package that is very cheap. We don’t have too much time for to watch television anyway. No internet bill because there isn’t an internet provider in the area we moved to. We have learned to use the hotspots on our phone for internet coverage. Netflix in harder to binge watch now.
We do not have a water or sewage bill. We have a well and a septic system that does not require a monthly fee to use. Our home is smaller and easier to heat and cool. We have a woodstove that helps our central heating system during the colder parts of the year. We have ceiling fans in most rooms that help with heating and cooling.
Living on a golf course meant my golf-loving husband spent money at the golf course. It was too much temptation for him to look out the window at the expanse of green and not want to go play nine. His love of golf was one of the major reasons we originally purchased that home.
We now live on 5.5 acres with a pond and my husband will often start and end his day with fishing which is free! He still golfs but much less frequently than he once did. I am a non-golfer, but I have to think fishing is a calmer sport compared to golfing. Never once have I seen my husband throw a fishing pole from frustration. There have been times when I have watched my husband be upset with a shot he made in golf and mightily toss his golf club in frustration. This can actually happen, trust me.
Mental Health Benefits
Health benefits is definitely a top one of the reasons we wanted to move to the country. Mental health was another consideration when moving to the country. There is something to be said to waking up to the sounds of nature instead of traffic and people. Watching the sun rise over the pond is such an awe-inspiring event.
I have spent many hours sitting on the porch listening to the delicate music of the wind chimes. The sounds of birds chirping in the early morning is such an inviting sound. I can feel myself relax as I enjoy my morning cup of coffee on the covered porch. It gives me such an appreciation for God’s glory all around us.
Physical Health Benefits
My physical health has improved since we moved. It is way easier to get up and move when you have 5+ acres to walk around. There I something to be said for walking around your own little piece of earth on a quiet morning.
This world that God created is just beautiful especially without anything but the sounds of nature to spoil it. Given the choice between walking outside or on a treadmill with CNN on the big screen, there is a clear winner. Walking outside I often forget that my allotted time is up and I try to find ways to stay outside longer.
Gratitude and Appreciation
Gratitude and appreciation come into play in this setting. This is one of the best reasons to move to the country. I am so grateful and appreciative when I eat a tomato that we planted in the soil ourselves. I know there are no harmful chemical that have been applied to that tomato. Even better, after you eat that tomato, another will grow, and you can enjoy that experience again in a few days. There are few things better than a sweet juicy tomato straight from the vine to the plate.
Becoming More Sustainable
Sustainability is another one of our reasons to move to the country. Incorporating some sustainable practices in your life is much easier in a country setting. You can grow food on even a small plot of land, but more land equals more options. We decided we wanted chickens. The grandkids picked out a dozen baby chicks earlier this year. They have been excited to watch them grow. They named each baby chick.
We finally have our first eggs from these chickens and the eggs are delicious. Knowing what they have been fed and how these chicks have been cared for is a good feeling. Food safety is important. The plan is to have more animals in the future. We get good food independent of the grocery store and our grandkids get to learn some valuable lessons caring for them.
A wonderful bounty of freshly grown vegetables awaits even an amateur gardener when you live on a farm. My husband and I experimented with growing a few different vegetables, herbs, and flowers this year. Next year we will probably add a few more.
My husband can create beautiful bouquets of flowers for free from what we have growing. He is happy to save the money he would have spent on flowers. Who doesn’t love a bouquet created from what you already have growing? Score, beautiful flowers plus they are free!
We were able to make our own salsa from ingredients grown in our garden. For some reason it just tastes better when you prepare it with fresh ingredients you just picked a few hours earlier.
Benefit To Children
One of our other reasons to move to the country had to do with our grandchildren. Moving to the country would be a benefit to our grandchildren. We had two 4-year old grandchildren when we moved. We babysit these two little balls of energy. They adapted to farm life like you would not believe. Kids are so amazing.
Children find wonder in everything. They can swim in the pond. Our grandchildren can drive around the property on their battery-powered ride on toy. Both of them have their own fishing pole. They can climb on their swing set clubhouse. They can safely practice their bike riding skills in the long driveway. The list of creative and fun activities to do on a farm is long.
I wanted my grandchildren to be able to be outside playing and exploring like I was able to do for a short period in my childhood. Those memories from my childhood are what drew me back to a simpler lifestyle all these years later.
There are so many great reasons to move to the country. I have talked about a few that were important to us. Some of these same reasons may resonate with you as well.
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