<prompt> Human: SO and I currently paying 1450mo in rent Boston for a 1 bedroom 550 sq ft apartment.We are both from a seaside town 60 miles south of the city where we found a beautiful renovated apartment that a family member owns. the place is 3 br 1200 sq ft and 1200mo in rent. They do not want any security deposit or any additional fees. Lease for that apartment starts when ours ends 10113We ran some numbers and given the utilities situation, difference in rent, car insurance, and added costs in gas, we essentially break even with the move, but it gets bit more in depth than that.While we do have the convenience of walking to work now, our weekweekends are very boring. We dont have many friends up this way and its almost as if we are only living close to be near our work.On the other hand, both of our families are rooted where were from. We both have very large families back home and it would be nice to be able to have them over for dinner on the weekends or just able to go hang out with them and friends whenever we wanted to. That and we would ultimately like to buy a house in that area within the next few years.Given the financial neutrality of it and the advantage of having cheaper and more eventful weekends being back in our hometown, what do you think about the idea of moving back to an area you love to make things work in exchange for being further away from work? My SO plans to go to law school in the next year or two in our hometown area as well. I would continue to work in the Boston area for the short term at least since I work in Software.Assistant: Sounds like you are going to move to your hometown in a year or two, so I would wait til then to move there.Commuting that far is soul-killing. You wont have much time for friends or family when you commute that far. If your main issue is weekends, drive to your hometown on weekends rather than commuting that far 5x per week.Human: Agreed. A commute every morning steals time from your life and inserts this thing that you dread, that drains emotional energy from you, every single day. In addition, Boston is an incredibly fun, walkable city. While Im not familiar with OPs specific situation, its important not to blame your problems on your surroundings. Honestly, if youre not having fun in a certain place, it probably has more to do with your own life than your actual surroundings. Maybe OP would find more friends and enjoyment with a hobby in Boston. My life in the city became way more fun and interesting when I joined a band and an improv troupe. Getting the energy to get off my butt and do those things takes a lot of effort at times, and most of the time Id prefer to do nothing. My advice to OP would be to find stuff like that in the city--if they can make the time! I say nix the commute for now and instead be very proactive about spending time with friends and family outside of the city. Dont use distance as an excuse.Assistant: We already spend about 150 in gas a month to travel home. The extra 150 -200 for gas if we commuted may not be the worst thing in that situation.I forgot to add if I lived back in my hometown, I could potentially make an extra 1000mo because of a weekend labor gig offered through a family member. Minimal time 2-4 hours per day for 150-300 dollars a pop. That is a luxury I dont have being in Boston, ultimately upping my savings by lets say, 10k, each year.  <response>: Cant you commute out of the city on the weekend? Theres much less traffic then.Personally, I would avoid a daily commute like the one youre proposing at all costs. Its just not worth it. 