Almost nobody is seriously sitting here and thinking about whether they should get a gulf stream or not. At the end of the day 99.99% of people on this planet are dealing with the same shit: Time and Money.
However your list is useful.
When I left CA last time I cut most of those expenses out or substantially dropped them. What the OP simply needs to do is figure out where he can get a job and then compare the cost difference with the pay difference. Some easy examples: Syrius. I had it too since I was in my car so much. Once I left CA that expense was gone. Not that it's a lot but everything really adds up. Transportation costs were practically nill since I made it my mission to live in cities with proper mass transit. When you can eliminate your car payment, fuel costs, and insurance it's a big deal. Overall my insurance costs went down. Housing costs went down dramatically. The most expensive place I lived in Europe was less than the rent on my apt in LA and in South America it's practically free. Utility costs dropped a lot. It's pretty expensive in CA and I often rented in places that had all utilities included in the price. I like long hot showers. I never kept track of my food expenses but what did go down was my eating out expenses. I would often be so tired after work that I would not have the energy to cook. In South America eating out costs nothing so it doesn't matter. My vacation costs mostly decreased since flying to most places from CA is more expensive than say living in awesome hub cities like London, New York, or Frankfurt.
It's worth noting though that I didn't do any of this for cost reasons. I did it for quality of life reasons and because I had a business that went to shit when the economy went sour. I took my money and ran. The idea was simply to leave for the 2 or so years I expected the economy to need to recover but I ended up never going back. Good thing too since there's no way I would be able to do what I did before the economy crashed. Too much risk and not enough reward.
Anyone who feels the same as the OP should take a detailed look at their expenses like you just did. It can be quite telling when you simply cross off a whole bunch of them by moving to different parts of the country or world. It's not just about dollars and sense though. Look at time and look at your overall standard of living. If you don't like 110F weather it makes no sense to live in the Mohave does it? If you like to scuba sive and live in Kansas try applying for a job in Florida. If you like to read live in a city with great libraries. It's not always possible and obviously finding a new job and uprooting is not easy but I found it to be worth it.
Being a computer forum I would suspect that many here are programmers. You guys can get jobs ANYWHERE. You have it good. Someone who is a lawyer on the other hand would have a much harder time. If you're running a dry cleaning business you might have a harder time but if you're unhappy always consider the alternatives.
However your list is useful.
When I left CA last time I cut most of those expenses out or substantially dropped them. What the OP simply needs to do is figure out where he can get a job and then compare the cost difference with the pay difference. Some easy examples: Syrius. I had it too since I was in my car so much. Once I left CA that expense was gone. Not that it's a lot but everything really adds up. Transportation costs were practically nill since I made it my mission to live in cities with proper mass transit. When you can eliminate your car payment, fuel costs, and insurance it's a big deal. Overall my insurance costs went down. Housing costs went down dramatically. The most expensive place I lived in Europe was less than the rent on my apt in LA and in South America it's practically free. Utility costs dropped a lot. It's pretty expensive in CA and I often rented in places that had all utilities included in the price. I like long hot showers. I never kept track of my food expenses but what did go down was my eating out expenses. I would often be so tired after work that I would not have the energy to cook. In South America eating out costs nothing so it doesn't matter. My vacation costs mostly decreased since flying to most places from CA is more expensive than say living in awesome hub cities like London, New York, or Frankfurt.
It's worth noting though that I didn't do any of this for cost reasons. I did it for quality of life reasons and because I had a business that went to shit when the economy went sour. I took my money and ran. The idea was simply to leave for the 2 or so years I expected the economy to need to recover but I ended up never going back. Good thing too since there's no way I would be able to do what I did before the economy crashed. Too much risk and not enough reward.
Anyone who feels the same as the OP should take a detailed look at their expenses like you just did. It can be quite telling when you simply cross off a whole bunch of them by moving to different parts of the country or world. It's not just about dollars and sense though. Look at time and look at your overall standard of living. If you don't like 110F weather it makes no sense to live in the Mohave does it? If you like to scuba sive and live in Kansas try applying for a job in Florida. If you like to read live in a city with great libraries. It's not always possible and obviously finding a new job and uprooting is not easy but I found it to be worth it.
Being a computer forum I would suspect that many here are programmers. You guys can get jobs ANYWHERE. You have it good. Someone who is a lawyer on the other hand would have a much harder time. If you're running a dry cleaning business you might have a harder time but if you're unhappy always consider the alternatives.