Better to leverage personal assets, or reduce monthly expenses?

[Tyler Blodgett]

I know this is more of a personal financing question, and it could go either way, but I was curious to get some thoughts on the matter.  I currently live in the crazy state of CA, and always have in the back of my mind the idea to cash out and move somewhere much more affordable.  I would use the equity I have from my house and other assets that I sell in CA, to give me a big jump start on my real estate investing career in the more affordable area.  The question I have is, would it be better to purchase with cash (from my CA asset sales) my personal house and cars in the the more affordable state which would reduce my monthly expenses, but would also take away from my available cash for my rental properties? Or is it better to get a mortgage and finance my cars in the more affordable location and have more cash available for additional rental properties?  Put another way, is my money better spent working for me in rental properties (which would ultimately help pay for my personal house and cars), or reducing my monthly expenses?  Thanks for any insight in advance.