DQOTD: Would you pay $100K to avoid winters?

[rayinpenn]

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness."

John Steinbeck had it wrong, I just don't recall hearing a southern Californian saying "dam another day without cold and snow!"
I much prefer:

"Winter in New England is 9 nine months of snow followed by 3 months of incredibly bad sledding."

[misshathaway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayinpenn Allow me to help you ... 1) Sitting in an ice cold car waiting for the windows to defrost sufficiently to safety proceed 2) Even in my snug as a bug, in our well insulated, triple paned, draft free home feeling guilty about turning the heat up to 70 on the stoves because I am chilled to the bone. ... and more terrible, accurate items

I have been going back and forth on making "the move" for those reasons. This past winter in NE 'bout killed me. And it is still somewhat going on - had to wear a coat to the gym this morning. After some research on snowbirding, decided to try adapting next year. I bought a head-to-toe industrial insulated suit for snow shoveling and daily walks, which IS perfectly warm even at windchill below 0. It's a man's XS which is still too big. I am willing to look like an idiot to be warm. I am also doing wall and attic insulation this month so I can be comfortably warm in the house. Theoretically, if you can keep your body warm, the weather should not matter.

For me it has been really true that the older you get, the more you feel the cold. I'd pay the 100K if I could stay where I was and live under one of those climate controlled sci-fi domes that cover an entire metropolis.

[Car-Guy]

To me, as an outlier on this forum, it's a simple decision with 3 basic steps on spending.

1 - Can you afford it? If no, stop, until you can. If yes go to question number 2.

2 - Do you "really" want it? If no, stop. If yes, go to question number 3.

3 - Buy it. Rinse and repeat.

I spent well over 300k last year on non discretionary "stuff" using the above. YMMV. (Would have spent a lot more but couldn't get past question 1 or 2)

You only go around once. YMWV (Your mileage won't vary).

[Fedup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayinpenn "What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness." John Steinbeck had it wrong, I just don't recall hearing a southern Californian saying "dam another day without cold and snow!" I much prefer: "Winter in New England is 9 nine months of snow followed by 3 months of incredibly bad sledding."

This Southern Californian is going to Hawaii in the winter. Even without the cold and snow, it's still too cold and depressing here in Dec and Jan.

[MRG]

Don't forget the costs of the physical move. We spent a lot more than planned.

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Mexico or Central America? May be too hot for some people.

Only on the coasts. It is dry and cooler inland. Here is a place 40 miles south of PV where our friends from Kentucky live. El Tuito Weather No ocean views.

April and May tend to be the hottest months in inland areas like San Miguel. But low humidity and sweater weather.

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer Even better if I can wear shorts to dinner. I can even remember working in Austin during the summer on a business trip and the days were hot but the summer evenings were amazing.

We can eat outdoors and only have to lower the sun shades 2 hours before sunset. Mid-day we stay in the shade.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Out of Steam OP may be comfortable living in a distant suburb in his home region around Chicago, but may find places 25-50 miles from the two North Carolina cities far less comfortable for a transplant than places closer in.

LOL. Not everybody down there loves those damn yankees?

[IMATERP]

Even as a relocated North Carolinian, I still believe that once and I fully retire, we will head South for two to three weeks each winter. Either that or take a two week cruise. Maximum cost would be 4K or 5k + we don't have to physically move, again. A two week break in the winter does the trick for us.

By the way, we really didn't have a winter, this year.

Michael

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry1 I didn't read every post, but what I did read did not mention family. I've lived north all my life. I too, hate the cold. In my younger years, I thought retirement would certainly include moving south. Then my kids grew up and one of them had kids (my grandkids). All live very close and we get to be a part of their lives.

While we don't have kids, we do have grandnieces, grandnephews and other family, and DW is very attached to them and is a very frequent presence in their lives. I also hate cold weather and initially I wanted to move to one of the Carolinas for warmer weather. But I realized that DW would be at best very unhappy missing family gatherings and didn't want to take that away from her. BTW, DW hates cold weather almost as much as I do.

I found that once retired, winters aren't as bad if I can pick and choose when to go outside. The first winter here in WV we had a well-forecast 3-foot snowfall. We had stocked up on food and movies and except for getting the mail and newspaper didn't go out of the house for a week. Some people would be climbing the walls by then but it doesn't bother us.

Oh, and we like the house warm and keep it that way. When the house was built we paid for extra insulation and house wrapping, and a major draw was that it was heated with natural gas, not commonly found in this area.

[meierlde]

It is an interesting question of how many folks children stay in the same area and how many move away. In my case my parents lived in MI, I ended up in Houston, and my sister ended up in Albuquerque. So there was nothing keeping them there so they moved to central Tx. I don't have kids, but of my sisters kids 2 live out of town and one in town. (her son lived in ABQ for a while but then got a transfer) In particular if kids go to college or grad school outside the local area, how many return? In my case MI did not have much employment in the oil business so I ended up in Houston. My parents moved 150 miles away from her parents.
But of course today staying in contact is so much cheaper and easier than in the past, both the free nature of long distance calls on cell phones, texts and messages, and various forms of social media.

[foxfirev5]

DW and I just concluded our first winter as retirees. The Michigan winter did not strike us as bad at all. After years on the road travelling to mostly the Northeast I previously considered moving South. Three years working in Florida cured me of that.
I think before we'd part with 100k I'd take the time to experience the area for an extended period.