Thoughts for Tuesday

Our housing situation has been on my mind a lot these past few days. What to do? Should we move? Should we try to stay? What are the tradeoffs? Is it worth it? Can we take a few giant steps back in our housing situation? We’ve lived in a house, albeit a rental house, for the last six years. We’ve lived in our current home for a little less than a year and a half. Previous to that we lived in a much smaller, older house nearby. The house was in a great location with a nice backyard but the layout was weird. Only about 800 square feet of it were truly usable. It was also very old and nothing had been updated, and I mean nothing. We had no dishwasher and the kitchen counter space was practically non-existent. We also really had no dining room. But it was cheap. We paid there about the amount that we’re thinking we can afford in a new house. Our current house is great. More than enough room, everything is usable if a little dated and run down. The location is great. But we really can’t afford to stay here on one income.

I sent my husband out yesterday to go look at a townhouse-apartment that looked really good on paper. The only think it didn’t meet of our specifications was the washer and dryer. It is a 2 bed, 1.5 bath, 1,000 square foot two story place with a small yard. I had pretty high hopes that it might work out. It wasn’t exactly in the best location but it is near the large regional park and within walking distance of a grocery store. Last night, we talked through what he saw. He said the place is small but doable. I could tell he was hesitant. When I pushed him as to whether this is something that we should pursue or hold off, he thought we should keep looking. I think that it finally hit him that we are really about to downgrade our lifestyle. Perhaps, he hadn’t quite thought it through in as much detail as I have. It made me feel selfish. I am the one who stands to gain the most from all of this. We’ll all have to sacrifice some for this to work. Moving back into an apartment is a big step. I remember when we moved into our first house. I was so excited to finally have an address that didn’t end in an apartment number. Then, again I thought then what I really wanted was a career and the financial ease of the dual income lifestyle. I didn’t bargain back then my first daughter was only two how quickly time would fly by. How I would soon come to regret all of the time spent working instead of with my family. My husband and I have asked ourselves whether or not we should have stayed in our first little house. It had a lot of drawbacks but it also would have made moving to one income an easier thing.

For now, we need to decide whether we find a large apartment that will work for the next year or two or wait and hope that a small house comes up for rent in our price range. I don’t know what the right decision is. I’d hate to move into an apartment and then have a little house come up that we could afford. I also know that if we move into an apartment, it will be that much easier to start saving and adjust to our new lifestyle. Decisions, decisions.

The High Cost of Housing

“The rent is too damn high”, quips one of the more outrageous SNL sketch characters. I frankly have to agree. My search for a new lower cost abode has been fruitless thus far. My must haves in a new house include: approximately 1,000 square feet, two bedrooms, laundry or hookups in the unit, and located within my current area in a relatively safe, comfortable neighborhood. My wants include: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1200 or more square feet, a garage, and within walking distance to my daughter’s school and the village. I have yet to find even a single hit with the must haves within our price range.

The average two-bedroom, 1 bath 1960’s-70’s walk-up apartment with maybe a swimming pool, and coin laundry is at least $1200 per month. Yikes! The salary needed to afford that less than desirable apartment is approximately $50,000 a year. We hear a lot about lifestyle inflation. The expensive vacations, lattes, and designer clothes are supposedly keeping the two working parent family busy. Hardly. It is the necessities: housing, utilities, transportation, and food that is making mom keep 9am to 5pm and a 5pm to 11pm jobs. The latter is the “second shift” at home in case that’s not clear.

I live in the same area where my parents grew up. Just a few miles down the road is a subdivision that my grandparents bought a house in when my mom was a little girl. They bought a brand spanking new 3-bedroom, 1 bath house on my grandmother’s salary working retail at a department store and my grandfather’s off and on again jobs. Fast forward fifty years, my husband and I are priced out of that subdivision even though it has aged, and the houses need quite a bit of work. Did I mention that my husband and I both have Master’s degrees in our fields? My grandmother had a teaching degree that she never used, and my grandfather only finished some college.

Okay, so it’s clear. Housing is expensive. What are we going to do about it? Here is the kicker. I have no idea. My current options are to stay in our current house avoiding the transition costs of moving, or find something that meets our needs but is more than we want to spend, or adjust our needs. I did find a decent looking house yesterday for rent $200 cheaper per month than we are currently paying. The house appears to meet all of our needs except that it is $150 more than we were planning on spending at a new place. It also isn’t half as nice as our current place.

So I spent some time pondering this last night while searching the almighty internet for answers to my quandary, when I ran across this blog: http://www.pennilessparenting.com. This extremely frugal family moved from a “spacious” 700 square foot home to a 500 square foot home to save $100 a month. It definitely put some things in perspective for me. I still don’t think I want to live in a 700 square foot much less a 500 square foot home with my husband and two daughters. Perhaps, though, the average 2 bedroom apartment isn’t so bad after all.

Downsizing

After multiple lengthy discussions with my husband over the past couple of days, we’ve made the decision to downsize our home. We live in a great rental house. It’s over 1800 square feet with 3 bedroom, 2 full baths, and a den. It is a 1950s house and is showing its age. However, it is the nicest place we’ve ever lived. It’s in a great neighborhood. There is a million dollar home next door. It is in walking distance to my daughter’s school, shops, the library, and the park and rec center. There isn’t much I don’t like about the house except for maybe the dated kitchen. The problem is that the house will eat up almost 40% of my husband’s base take home pay after I leave my job. We have a great deal right now; the rent is under market. The big “but” is that the rent won’t be in line with our new income. My original plan had been to stay here and see how everything shakes out after I leave my job in April. We’ve decided though that it would be better to move to a cheaper place more in line with our income before I quit my job. I didn’t want to leave this house. In fact, I’m still a little sad to give up all this space. Now, that we’ve made the decision I feel relieved. If we move to a cheaper house or apartment, we’ll be very close to making ends meet. The pressure will be off for me to make a certain income each month. When I do get a part-time job that money can go to savings and for the extra little fun things. Now, it is an adventure. I am religiously skimming the craigslist ads looking for our new home. I know it will be smaller, maybe in a less desirable location, and it might even be an apartment. I also know that this is what is allowing me to downshift my life. In a way, it’s exciting. The next step in my journey home, wherever that may end up being.