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Home > How big of a house do you need?

How big of a house do you need?

June 1st, 2008 at 03:40 pm

One of the financial books I am reading right now is "The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches" by Jeff Yeager. It's really funny and full of great advice. Kind of reminds me of the Tightwad Gazette with a redneck twist. LOL

Anyways, one of the chapters I read yesterday was about buying a home. Yeager suggests buying your starter home, and then keeping your starter home for the rest of your life. He talks about how this is what our parents or grandparents did, and it makes sense to me. Mums and Dads are in the fisrt home they every bought, 30+ years later. MY grandparents built their first home and lived there until they passed away. I realize this is not possible for everyone, if you move, or get a new job too far away, or have more kids than bedrooms, etc. But for a good majority of people, I suspect this is possible, and I think this is something I'd like to aim for (after I buy a house, of course. Smile )

Along with this, I was watching HGTV this morning (I am addicted) and a family wanted to see their house because they outgrew it. It was a HUGE 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. The family was the husbnd and wife, and a 2 year old child. Part of the problem was that the kid had his bedroom, and the extra bedroom was fied with a computer and desk for the parents and then nothing else but toys for the kid. It was crazy!
And I couldn't help but think, what a waste of money!

Not only are they going to spend more on this bigger new house, and on maintaing a bigger house, heating a bigger house, etc., but then there is all the money wasted on all those toys that the kid probably never uses. Don't get me wrong, toys and fun are important for kids, but does a toddler really need enough toys to fill 2 bedrooms??

It just reinforced Jeff Yeagers idea of buying a starter home, and making it work for you, not you working for it.

Posted in | 20 Comments »

20 Responses to “How big of a house do you need?”

  1. toyguy1963 Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 04:10 pm 1212336655
    1212336655

    I agree a lot with you on this. I bought my little house
    about 17 years ago and I'm planning on staying right here unless some major life change happens.

  2. Ima saver Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 04:27 pm 1212337663
    1212337663

    I bought my first house at age 20 for $13,000. I sold it several years later for $40,000, then built a new house. I sold that one for $80,000 when I moved here and built a new house. I sold my last home for $120,000 and built a 3200 square foot house. The house appraised for over $500,000 and like all of my houses except the first; it has no mortgage! It also helps that my current husband is a builder too!!

  3. Apprentice Fun-Frugalist Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 04:33 pm 1212338009
    1212338009

    Yep... makes perfect sense to me.... especially as a single person....

  4. monkeymama Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 04:58 pm 1212339502
    1212339502

    I don't agree, but we like our space. Wink
    I think both our parents had starter homes and moved up (they moved up very early on though - none of this move up in your 30s/40s/50s business). Our starter home was a condo. I'll live their in retirement (loved it), but I didn't want to raise kids there.

    We enjoy having our own offices and rooms for toys like dh's private theater. I am jealous of areas with basements - oh what we could do with that space!

    On the flip side, our utility bills are cheaper here (new construction/way more energy efficient) and our mortgage is smaller than it was for our condo. So it is all relative. I agree I wouldn't be in the mood to pay considerably more for more space, if it wasn't necessary. I'll give you that!

    But to pay less for it, what the heck...

    I guess I am with Ima. If done right, it doesn't have to cost considerably more.

  5. princessperky Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 08:57 pm 1212353864
    1212353864

    While I could fill a castle given all the loot in the world, I don't find we need all that much space.

    So long as I have room for the kids beds and clothes I am pretty happy.

  6. luxlivingfrugalis Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 09:15 pm 1212354922
    1212354922

    I wonder if they've done any studies on how much space a human needs before they **bonk-crazy** out?!

    If Hubster and ours second home together was in a different neighborhood, it would be great to stay in during retirement. I just don't want to live in that area anymore. Houses are very affordable there though and they are on the small size - 800-920 sq. feet.

    As I face retirement for Hubster and future old age for myself I'm wondering more and more about UPKEEP. Stairs are another issue I don't want to mess with. So, for us while we are thinking of downsizing, it's going to be about a one level, small yard if not a condo, siding or brick and an attached garage. I don't want but one extra bedroom so a 2 bedroom will work for us and that will likely be decorated as an office space.

    A condo in a gated community sounds ideal to me for retirement because I do like to travel. Just locking the door and going off for a month or two and someone else looks after things. Sounds great to me!

  7. Swimgirl Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 11:40 pm 1212363657
    1212363657

    Interesting...

    We chose to by a house in a location that would be easy to sell (should we need to) and in a town we liked. But there was really nothing on the market in our price range (over 1/2 million, so not really *cheap*) that seemed big enough (me, husband, 4 kids!)... so we bought a house with character on a great street, in the middle of town...

    It's too small. 1400 sq. ft. Think cozy cottage. Luckily we get along well, but I'd love a couple more bedrooms (we have 3, and they're small). We are fine, however. My teens' friends live in big, fancy, 3000+sq ft houses with fancy appliances and granite counters... and guess where they all hang out all the time?!

    You can do anything if you put your mind to it and do it with a positive attitude!

  8. koppur Says:
    June 2nd, 2008 at 02:30 pm 1212417011
    1212417011

    I totally understand the need for more space with 4 kids, and if you can move houses and upgrade with no mortgage and do it frugally, kudos! Mums and Dads are worried about the stairs issue, too. The bedrooms and bathroom are all on the second floor, and Mums is worried she won't be able to do stairs with her bad back. I, too, need to worry about that when I get a house (MS), but alas, that is far off... Wink

  9. snoopycool Says:
    June 2nd, 2008 at 05:44 pm 1212428684
    1212428684

    We have about 980 sq. feet for 6 of us (4 kids, DH, me). We aren't planning on "upgrading" for a very long time, if ever. It is an opportunity to get creative with space! Keeps materialism down, too, because there isn't enough room for each kid to get a million toys (or for DH or me, either).

  10. Caoineag Says:
    June 3rd, 2008 at 02:40 pm 1212504009
    1212504009

    We actually need very little space which is why we are going for smaller homes. However, I do draw the line at anything under 700 sq ft ( I think 1000 sq ft is ideal). The only reason the 2 of us draw the line there is because we do need some storage space and a large kitchen. Our current kitchen is a turn around space which is not large enough for 2 from scratch cooks to work with. You generally don't get that with smaller homes. That said, if someone had a smaller well designed house, I would still consider it. Less space, less room to attract clutter, lol.

  11. ceejay74 Says:
    June 3rd, 2008 at 03:24 pm 1212506666
    1212506666

    Part of me dreams of a big roomy house, but the practical part of me knows A) I don't need that big of a footprint and B) it'd be a pain to maintain. Right now we've got 950 square feet which is very nice for 3 people. We'll be able to have 2 kids there, I think, but we'll want another bedroom when the kids get big enough to want their own space. Like koppur, I'm thinking YEARS in the future, of course! However, I love urban living and we want to live in UK (expensive!), so even if we get another bedroom in our next home, I doubt our square footage will increase (though our mortgage probably will).

  12. Cassandra Says:
    June 5th, 2008 at 01:24 am 1212629047
    1212629047

    We used to live in a 7200 sq ft. house (there was 4 of us). It had it's pros- able to escape from annoying family members, peace and quiet when I needed to study, but it's upkeep was too much. It definitely convinced me to have a small house when I'm older.

    My apartment is about 1000 sqft and I'm surprisingly comfortable in such a small amount of space (compared to what I'm used to).

  13. miclason Says:
    June 7th, 2008 at 12:49 am 1212799774
    1212799774

    when ex-hubby and I got married, we bought a tiny apartment - 50 square meters....perfect for 2!

  14. asmom Says:
    June 7th, 2008 at 11:55 am 1212839754
    1212839754

    Personally I like a lot of space so I enjoy a bigger house. It's not a waste of money if it makes me happy and comfortable. Another reason people move now is because neighborhoods tend to change. If you're lucky, the neighborhood you live in will always have young families moving in and out, improving the place and keeping it nice. But sometimes, you're not so lucky and that drives a lot of people to move.

  15. fern Says:
    June 7th, 2008 at 12:30 pm 1212841813
    1212841813

    I totally agree that a smaller home is best, and i do believe i saw something in the news about the reversal of the longstanding trend toward "McMansions" and ever-increasing square footage.

    I'm single and live in a 1650 sf house and i think it's much more space than i need, but i actually found it hard to find a small house when i was looking. It really is true that you only live in a few rooms of the house; in my case, that's the kitchen, bedroom, office and 1 bathroom. The dining room, living room, family room and 3rd bedroom are either "walk-thrus" or just not used much.

    However: I love this house for many reasons. It's a quirky old house that i've put a lot of "me" into over these past 13 years. The property is absolutely beauitful and that for me counts even more than the house. However, i realize, if i continue to be single, there will be a point when i can't and won't want to physically handle the demands of such a large property. But i think i'll stick it out at least another 5 years or so now.

    It's very interesting to see what different people here think is comfortable in terms of square footage. For me (again, just 1 person), i would say about 1300 sf would be just fine.

  16. koppur Says:
    June 7th, 2008 at 05:35 pm 1212860125
    1212860125

    I actually like the cozy feel of small places. However, like Caoineag, I need the storage space. I've gotten much better about matieral possessions, but with the number of books I own, I not only need a room for floor to ceiling bookcases, but a place the store all the extra books that don't fit in the bookcases. I really like having one spare bedroom where we have our libraries, office space, and I can do my magick. But then a spare guest bedroom for when my sis stays over would be nice, too.... Smile But like I said, I like the cozy warm feeling of small places, as long as they aren't over crowded with stuff.

  17. terri77 Says:
    June 8th, 2008 at 06:01 am 1212904885
    1212904885

    I like space. Not an obscene amount, but just enought that all inhabitants have their own space. Right now I live alone in my townhome and it over 1400 sq. ft. I could go smaller, this is manageable for me. I wouldn't want much more living by myself.

  18. gamecock43 Says:
    June 12th, 2008 at 12:36 am 1213230987
    1213230987

    I agree. Just the other day I realized how kids dont share bedrooms anymore. When did that stop happening? Especially on HGTV, each kid has to get their own room.

  19. koppur Says:
    June 13th, 2008 at 08:50 pm 1213390239
    1213390239

    I know. I watch HGTV and these people have 3,000 sq feet houses with kids in their own bedroom, plus playrooms...As kids my sis and I were lucky enough to have our own rooms, but mine was so tiny I either played on the bed or in the living room (no floor space).

  20. klbb90 Says:
    June 14th, 2008 at 03:41 am 1213414895
    1213414895

    Tiny house with parents + us 4 kids. Moved to huge house that worked great with parents/3 teenagers. Soon as teens left parents felt burdened by large house - utilities, cleaning, lawn care, etc so they sold it. Depends on goals, size of family and personal space needs. I prefer a small well planned place.

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