This is all very hypothetical at the moment but DP and I are hoping to start a family and it's at the back of mind that we could be significantly financially better off if we moved back to my roots in the North of England.
At the moment we live in a lovely but extremely expensive place which is a flight or ferry away from the UK. Great quality of life, lots of good friends who already have DC, plus DP's Sister & her family on hand, who we're close to. The problem is a 2 bedroom property here is upwards of £400k (I own a 1 bedroom flat now, just in my name) and other living expenses are equally high.
If we moved 'home' we'd hopefully be able to afford a much better property but we'd have no friends around at all. My parents would be reasonably close but as they don't drive we wouldn't necessarily see them often unless we lived in their exact town (not keen, we'd prefer to live by the coast as we do now and they're very much inland). No good for childcare help etc.
DP is in an industry that would allow him to move fairly easily and I'm in travel which is totally up the shoot anyway so I'm probably no more secure here than I would be there, work wise.
What would you do!? Does a nice house and parents an hour away trump nearby friends? Is a lower cost of living worth a reduction in general quality of life?
And if we did decide to move, where would we even start? Sell up here and just fly back with suitcases to rent until we find jobs and a house and then start from scratch?? Fly back and forth (in normal times) to do all that before then making the leap with a removals van?
Sorry for the long post and congrats if you're still reading! All this is just circling round and round in my head and I think some unbiased views would help.