Skip to main content

Frugal Challenge - Day 3 Downsizing Your Home

Less house space = less stuff!
This little place is 107 sq. feet! People actually are living in these around the country.

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses/stamper/
Read more about the frugal challenge HERE.


Today's Daily Goal:
Given your own unique situation and based off of what you have read today…determine your own goal. How would downsizing your home assist you in living frugally?


We bought our home in 1995 during a price dip in the market. We were able to secure Cal Vet financing since my husband had military service background. It was a low enough interest rate that we could afford the payments. Mind you, this was a LARGE home, 4 bedrooms and a full bath downstairs and a master bedroom suite upstairs. It was actually known as "Brighton Place" back then. An elderly care home in a residential neighborhood. Our 4 children were between the ages of 10 and 20 and all wanted a room of their own. We had rented in this area for 13 years and watched the housing market carefully. This home is only 12 blocks from the beach. I KNOW, I was pinching myself daily because I just could not believe we could really be living here! (Can't believe I don't have a good picture of it to show you. Guess I'll be taking some of those REALLY soon!)


As my husbands income went up and our kids were getting to "moving out" age, we changed our mortgage from a 30 year loan to a 15 year load which just doubled the monthly payment. Our intention is to have the house paid off by the time my husband retires. There would be no WAY he could retire and make a house payment.

Today's goal makes me think about home downsizing. Yes, we thought about that. But here, the homes jumped in prices so even if we bought a much smaller home, it would cost more than this one! We have downsized the items we keep IN the house, making the rooms into guest rooms minimally furnished. AND now that I've had 3 of my 4 kids come home and live for a while, I'm actually glad we DIDN'T downsize. (One family moved in because they lost their home to foreclosure) And my husband and I have thought that if we really needed to some day, we could probably even either rent rooms or close off the upper story and rent it out. We're also hoping that home prices will rise and as we pay down, the home's value will go up and if need be, we could THEN sell the house and make enough to live on through our final years. We also use the backyard for fruit and vegetable gardening which saves us quite a bit on our grocery bill.
Little Girl's Guest Room
My PLANS for our last Guest Room.

Our Beach Guest Room

Do we have other "home" ideas. Of course! We have a motorhome that is a very simple one bedroom, about 270 sq. ft. place. It is in great condition and fits hubby and I perfectly, at least for a couple of weeks at a time! I can't imagine living permanently in it, but we could if we had to. Forced frugality FOR SURE! 


For now, I think we will just keep doing what we are doing. Our rooms downstairs are filled with necessities only and by the end of this year, I'm hoping we can say that about the rest of the house as well. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Baby Shower Busy-ness

Ok, you probably thought I fell off the face of the earth right? Nope, there is just alot happening around here. The next event is Beckie's Baby Shower this Sunday. Decided to make my very first Diaper Cake and these are just a few of the pictures. The first thing I did was watch about 20 YouTube videos describing how to do it. Then I bought my supplies and put it together roughly first then more refined about a day later. This is a close up of the baby sock roses with mitten leaves. Yes, that video DOES exist! Next is a close up of wrist rattles and a little caterpiller radio that makes soothing sounds for baby. Background ribbon is from WalMart and the blanket set is from the Jungle Adventure Collection at K-mart. The topper for our "Jungle" themed cake is a Silver Back Ganz Gorilla . These little links slipped easily over the ribbon and added a little extra bling to the sides of the cake. Each layer consists of diapers along with extras like washcloths, burp pads and

Norwegian Pancakes (Norska Pannekaken)

Every culture has its pancake and this is the Norwegian version, a very light, crepe-like pancake that goes with just about anything. These "pancakes" are light and eggy and go with both sweet and savory fillings. When my chickens start up laying eggs in the Spring, we LOVE to make these pancakes, freezing the excess for another day. Yes, they freeze and thaw perfectly! Most people have the simple ingredients on their shelves and in their refrigerators SO LET'S GO! Original Recipe Can Be Found on the Outside Oslo Website   Here . Norska Pannekaken 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon Scandinavian vanilla sugar* 3 eggs 1 1/2 cups whole milk 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan Mix all ingredients except butter in a medium-sized bowl using a whisk or fork until the batter is smooth and you have no lumps. Stir in butter. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the batter rest. Meanwhile, warm a

Gratitude

Looky what came yesterday! My Word of the Year Necklace created by Lisa Leonard ! As the New Year approached I decided to choose a word that would define my upcoming year and I chose Gratitude. Around Thanksgiving, I set up my new blog, " I Am Thankful For..." and started keeping a daily journal of all the things I have to be Thankful, or Grateful for. Each day I would review my day in my head and list at least 5 things I had to be Grateful For. It has changed the way I approach each day tending to look for the positive instead of the negative in what life has to offer. If you'd like to find your word of the year, visit Christine Kanes' website  and pick a word of the year for yourself. Then I'd hop on over to the Lisa Leonard site and pick a wonderful necklace stating your intention for the year!