Comments on: Should We Downsize?

By: dora

dora — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:58:13 +0000

My family (myself, husband, 2 year old, and 6 mo. old) are downsizing. We have lived in a 5800 sq. foot house since our children were born and now: (drumroll please), we are moving to a 1400 sq. foot house. We are making a choice to live below our means. We chose to stay in the same neighborhood, so we are not losing schools, neighbors, etc. We have some financial freedom (an 800$ mortgage will do that), so we are considering this an experiment. I would say go for it, worst that can happen is that you want to move back in a couple of years. People in large cities and even in some of the places I traveled in Europe live in smaller than 1400 sq. feet! 4000$ mortgage vs 800$, $650 gas bill vs $75, 1 AC unit to service vs 4. There are lots of benefits. Can you stay in your same neighborhood so you wouldn’t be changing things up too much?
PS I noticed that this is a posting from over a year ago, so what did you decide to do?

By: jerry

jerry — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:18:56 +0000

We downsized a lot when we moved to SE Europe, and we didn’t sell our house — we are renting it out. It’s a challenge, but we are pursuing some family aspirations together, and it leads us closer. We will cherish the time that we are spending here, even living in an apartment that is much smaller than our house in the States. We also don’t have a car over here, so we don’t have gas, insurance, or other costs to worry about. That helps a lot.
Jerry

By: Spotlight on the Festival of Frugality, #168 & #167 | Start Living Frugal

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:20:43 +0000

[...] Should We Downsize? [...]

By: Should you Downsize your House to Save Energy Costs? | Energy Tip of the Day

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:13:42 +0000

[...] the economy in rough shape right now, I’ve been hearing more talk about people downsizing their house to save money. During the boom times, a lot of people bought much larger houses than they needed. [...]

By: Book Winner, Twitter, Rate Drop and Weekend Reading | Million Dollar Journey

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:31:28 +0000

[...] My Dollar Plan has an interesting discussion with her readers in the article: Should we Downsize? [...]

By: valencio

valencio — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:34:32 +0000

I actually downsized a bit too. Virtually stopped eating out; No more Starbucks; Paid off my car and expect to use it for a few more years (its a Honda).

I was lucky to have completely paid off my CC debt last year.

By: Festival of Frugality #167: Dr. House Edition

Festival of Frugality #167: Dr. House Edition — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:11:08 +0000

[...] asks Should We Downsize? posted at My Dollar [...]

By: Moments of Fame « Funny about Money

Moments of Fame « Funny about Money — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:59:52 +0000

[...] At My Dollar Plan, Madison has generated some interesting commentary around the question of whether her family should downsize. M is for Money lists 50 ways to save on pet expenses, a topic of perennial interest in these [...]

By: » Festival #167 is in the House on the Festival of Frugality

» Festival #167 is in the House on the Festival of Frugality — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:36:59 +0000

[...] asks Should We Downsize? posted at My Dollar [...]

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:24:38 +0000

Problem is, moving’s expensive. Not only do you need to figure in the costs of Realtor’s fees, closing costs, new mortgage fees, and physically getting your junk from point A to point B, experience suggests that there’s always a slew of expensive little surprises whenever you move into another house, many of which will not be covered by the semifraudulent homebuyer’s insurance. One friend figures 3 percent of the purchase price for repairs and upgrades in the first year. Consider how much you’d actually net after selling, moving, and fixing up the house to suit your family.

That said…the same friend moved himself to a slightly smaller house in an area where taxes, insurance, and utilities are much lower, and he is very pleased. Says the smaller house is easier to keep clean, too. But: he moved from our somewhat marginal neighborhood to a solidly middle-class development with no nearby slums…in effect, he downsized himself UP, socioeconomically.

By: Small Steps to Health

Small Steps to Health — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:43:20 +0000

I had one retired friend who went house shopping with his wife. They were hoping to downsize, but they ended up with a house even bigger than the one they were living in. The prices were low and his wife fell in love with the house.

A co-worker went house shopping with his wife, looking for a rental property. He ended up purchasing a house with 6 acres. He said the deal is too good to resist.

And I just brought my first house a few weeks ago. Same thing. Had it in our heads to purchase a small house so that if one of us get laid off, we can still afford the house. We ended up with a huge house in a pricey neighbor that we would never have been able to afford a few years ago. Once you start shopping, I think it might be a little hard to resist some of the bargains on the market right now.

By: Square Foot Gardening Roundup | Frugal Dad

Square Foot Gardening Roundup | Frugal Dad — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:49:08 +0000

[...] Should We Downsize? We recently addressed this same question in a review of our 2009 goals (one of which was to downsize our house). In the end, we decided to stay put for now, but it remains a long-term goal for us to reduce our mortgage, our utilities, and our stuff. [...]

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:20:01 +0000

This reminds me of when my bf and I were shopping for a new car. At 6’4 he’s pretty tall so he won’t fit into a small car any time soon. When I purchased my car I bought the smallest car that he could fit in with 2 inches of headroom. He’s not the most comfortable, but he fits.

By: Staci

Staci — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:16:49 +0000

We are in exactly the opposite problem. We are outgrowing our two bedroom house, and are trying to decide about upgrading. We decided to wait and here’s why:
1.Mortgage is currently paid off, buying bigger would have a big impact on our cash flow
2. Our location to work. Moving to a bigger house would mean buying another car, lunch at the office
3. we love our neighbors/hood
4. we finally have our house how we want it.
5. a smaller house is cheaper to live in
6. plus we don’t have to buy stuff to fill it up.

But as our kids grow, having 3 (potentially 4) in one room may over rule all of those facts.

By: Four Pillars

Four Pillars — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:32:11 +0000

I don’t think it will be worth for you – buying a house for $100k less is not worth it – especially after all the fees/costs. You might be lowering the mortgage by $80k?

You have another kid on the way – just keep ‘em coming! That house will fill up in no time.