"When expressing concern, I have been given all sorts of opinion regarding our situation, ranging anywhere from "90,000-100,000 in the Boston area will be rough" to "you are a spoilt creature, 90,000 does not mean "struggling" anywhere".
I came here to read the whole situation after replying in your poll.
Um, reading more details worries me a bit, but overall, I think the idea to rent and try it out is not terrible. I am not sure I would move to a HCOLA for the long run, by choice. It strikes me as okay as a short-term solution. I don't think you are committing to anything, except possibly quitting your job. Even then, seems like a door is still open.
In response to your words above, I would rather earn $50k in a moderate cost area than $100k in a high cost area. I have been in both situations. $100k is not struggling by any means, of course. But it can only afford an extremely modest lifestyle (thinking food and shelter) in places like Boston. I am from San Francisco. We chose to move somewhere where only one of us had to work, and we can afford TONS more luxury on half the income. & it's not even a particularly low-cost area, that we live in now. You can only really consider the opinion of people who have lived in a high-cost area. I have tons of friends in low-cost areas who can't conceive that $100k doesn't stretch very far in an expensive area.
(At my last job we recruited tons of out-of-towners with our "high wages." They never lasted very long - they always moved back quoting, "I knew it was expensive here - but I didn't realize it was THAT expensive." Thus is life in places like Boston).
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