Author Topic: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?  (Read 3081 times)

paradiseb

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My wife and I came across an article about two couples that decided to live together:  https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/07/two-couples-one-mortgage/374102/

Are there any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?  If so, can you share your experience, financial savings, issues and how you found your housemates?

Thanks!

seattlecyclone

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2018, 10:54:18 AM »
We briefly discussed it a couple of times, but never pulled the trigger. Turns out that a huge house often costs much less than two houses half the size.

terran

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2018, 10:57:46 AM »
Interesting, but yikes, I don't think I could do that. I need my alone time.

I could totally see a less complete version. I'd love to live in a place with a group of people sharing something like a workshop. It would also be great to have a large dining room and kitchen. I could even see having a "mini" kitchen with a convection oven/microwave and a hot plate in each apartment as we really don't do major cooking more than once a week. Basically, there are some "large house" amenities that I would like to have access to, but I just have a hard time justifying them for the amount of use they would get with just my wife and me.

nemesis

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2018, 04:15:43 PM »
I'm thinking of having our sick in-laws move in with us.  It'll be a huge adjustment but it'll be good for the grand kids as well.

I don't know I could live with another random couple... we'd have to be awfully close!!

bowg

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2018, 04:17:18 PM »
Not even dating at the moment, but I dream about this a lot...hopefully someday I can convince my SO how fun and frugal it would be to live with another family, or even two or three in a mansion, why not? My best friend is one of eight kids, and it was always loads of fun at her house. I'd love for my kids to always have half a dozen other kids around for playing sports/board games, but I wouldn't be environmentally comfortable having so many myself! But with another family, the kids get all the fun, and the parents could share in the cooking, yard work, etc. Even beyond the monetary savings, it just seems like a common sense good idea, if only there were more Mustachians in the world...

Imma

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2018, 09:34:47 AM »
As a kid, I used to live in a town with a few very large monasteries. They were all half empty. I used to fantasize about living in a huge ancient building like that with lots of families. I'd still love to experience that type of living where people have small, sober personal spaces and communal kitchens and recreation rooms. I think living in such a beautiful building must be very inspiring in itself.

kimmarg

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2018, 09:46:44 AM »
There are a number o f "Cohousing" communities across the US. Check out this website for more information. http://www.cohousing.org/

BookLoverL

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2018, 10:36:07 AM »
I'm not doing this right now, since I'm single and childless (though I am living with my parents and my similar-age-to-me brother - much cheaper than renting or buying my own place), but I've thought about this before, and, in the future, if I acquire a partner and/or kids, or if for some reason I can't live with my parents any more, I'd definitely consider doing this. I think I'd prefer it to be somebody I'd at least met before rather than somebody random, but I think it's definitely a good idea if done right. The biggest issue in shared houses such as ones at university is normally cleaning, so try to find a family that prefers a similar level of cleaning to you.

bowg

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2018, 10:57:58 AM »
Ohh, a monastery, that would be the coolest thing ever!

Nice to see a website like that already exists, hopefully the movement gets some traction. I'm not sure I'd want to do cohousing with strangers though, probably only with either my close friends' or sisters' future families...

As for cleaning, I could see how that would be an issue, but luckily for me, I could probably be a good housemate in that regard because personally, the cost of cleaning feels exactly equal to the benefits. I've had roommates across the spectrum and I'm totally comfortable in messy environments (dirty laundry on the floor, dishes piling up in the sink) and appreciate having more free time. I'm also totally fine with cleaning the bathroom and making beds daily and enjoy the cleanliness!

wenchsenior

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2018, 11:10:27 AM »
Having lived for periods of weeks to years with very close friends and relatives and in other cases with total strangers in field locations, I think it would be extremely difficult for someone of my introverted inclinations to do this again long term.  Hell, I get extremely irritated sharing our kitchen space with anyone but my spouse (and sometimes even sharing it with him), so the idea of people 'hanging out in a common kitchen' gives me hives.  The majority of my space would need to be completely mine (or mine and DH's, or mine and maybe one of the tiny number of other people that I have enjoyed living with long term).  I could adjust to a common space for socializing, and maybe for dining.  But bathrooms, bedrooms, general intimate living space?  No way no how not until I'm forced to resort to a nursing home.  But, essentially, this is more or less what upscale apt complexes and condo communities already have (clubhouse, pool, gym).  So if I want to live like that, I'll just move to one of those.  In the meantime, I like to do my socializing on neutral ground, away from peoples' personal space.

ETA: A monastery or convent might be an exception to this for me; that does hold some appeal, partly because people are quiet and minding their own business or engaging in quiet activities most of the time.  My atheism might be a problem, though LOL.

Also, I wish I didn't have this strong dislike for sharing intimate space, because it would make planning for later life less difficult.  And I guess it could save money under some circumstances, so I salute those that can tolerate it.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2018, 11:13:56 AM by wenchsenior »

Syonyk

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2018, 12:48:46 PM »
In general, unless you're family or of the same religion, this is highly unlikely to work for long.  I've known people who do it, but they're from the same church.

Look at the 60s/70s commune history to figure out how well groups of unrelated people living substantially together work.  Hint: It doesn't.  Not for long.

NV Teacher

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Re: Any Mustachian families out there co-housing with another family?
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2018, 03:31:31 PM »
I worked with a women several year ago that did a house share thing.  I didn't get lots of the details but essentially there were three couples with 1-2 kids each. They went in together and bought a nine bed / six bath house.  The house was set up in three sections with each section having three bedrooms and two bathrooms.  Each family got one section and they shared the common living space.  The women that I worked with said that they used one bedroom as a family room for her family with tv, small fridge, microwave, etc and the other two rooms as bedrooms.  They lived in a really upscale affluent part of town and her kids went to a great school.  I don't know what happened long term with them.