Author Topic: Case study: DINKs to SINKs trying to figure out what to do with housing  (Read 7602 times)

expectopatronum

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DINKs to SINKs: Sell or stay in house?

Life Situation: My husband and I are newly married and currently live in an urban area in a house we love, and we have no children. I am about to go back to school, graduating in mid- to end of 2018 depending on which (if any) programs I am accepted. During this time, we will be living off his income only. I calculated that we will be just above "breaking even" if everything stays the same. I save most of my total income, and he has been saving 10% of his salary in 401k, and purchasing company stocks for other savings.

FI is the ultimate goal, so we would like to be able to be as close to saving 50% as we can.


Income: Pre-tax, his salary + bonus (eligible for 20% bonus on his salary, of which he usually gets 90% or more) is just under $100K. Because I'm not sure of the exact figure, here's some supporting info to help work backwards...

Right now, he takes home (post tax) $1876 bi-weekly. This works out to $48788 of salary alone. There is also a bonus paid out in Q1. 10% of his income (bonus and salary) goes into his 401k, 10% goes towards purchasing company stock at a 7% discount (so instant profit if you buy and sell back at market price). However, these figures are with him in his current tax bracket (single). It hasn't updated withholding. Even though we are married, I am still working, so our taxes are working out to about the same. In reality, our taxes will become slightly less when I quit my job in July. No state taxes here, just USA federal tax. Also, these figures already include pre-tax deductions for HSA and what he pays for his health insurance (but not mine).

Other than retirement funds which are growing, we have no other potential income sources. We are trying to airbnb, but at best I would guess we could pull $70/nt for weekends only based on our area. I haven't even listed my income here because we are shortly going to be without it. My savings acct makes about $15/mo.

tl; dr: Assume that we are living on $49,000.


Current budget:

Mortgage & utilities, including mobile phones: $2630 (about $1500 of which is Principle, $130 is phone, $125 is mandatory HOA fees/water bill, $200 is utilities of gas/electricity/internet, and the rest is interest and misc home maintenance)

Transportation: $451 ($250 gas, $175 insurance on two cars, $26 for registration)

Food & dining: $325 ($175 groceries including household needs, $150 dining out which will take some effort - we are in the habit of going out too much)

Health & fitness: $35 (out of pocket costs, personal like haircuts, and fees for things like O-course racing. Gym membership is covered by his company)

Pet care: $40 (including supplies and vet fees - healthy young cat who hasn't been sick since he came home from the shelter two years ago. I save a bit extra for checkups and potential emergency)

Shopping: $60 (including clothing, home furnishings, and miscellaneous cash. I may be underestimating since I spend about $50/mo just on my clothing alone, pre-marriage. We shop everywhere from Goodwill on half-price clothing days to going to Express/Loft/Banana/Old Navy/Target and using coupons.)

Entertainment: $167 (including $65 per person for allowance, and $37 for entertainment - we rarely spend it all. We would count things like movies/rentals, sports, concerts, bowling, museums towards this. Personal allowances should cover birthdays/Christmas, but right now this is feeling pretty tight.)

Travel: $0 budgeted monthly, but the 2 "extra" paychecks per year will probably go towards travel. Our family is in 7 locations (3 countries), sp it is a large portion of our budget. I am quite good at point-mongering and would guess that's an extra $200/yr at least in added value, which is about half or most of a plane ticket on Southwest...

Savings goals: Next month we have $0 budgeted for things like new laptop, car replacement, extra retirement contributions.

Giving: $35

Other misc: $25 including Amazon Prime, annual credit card fees



Assets:
House is currently valued at around $450K.
His sports car is valued at around $19K.
My car is worth about $5K.
We have several retirement funds (401k and IRAs) with a total of maybe $50K.
I have money in a 529 set aside for my school which should almost entirely cover tuition & fees & books.
We have about $30K in savings accounts.
We have about $10K in our checking accounts.

Liabilities:
Mortgage has $257K remaining (30 yr) @ 3-4%(??)
No other debts.

The problem is this: we definitely want to at least be able to stay in the positive - that is, keep contributing to the 401k and don't dip into our savings at all. The house (mortgage + HOA + property tax) is a giant drain on the budget, and transportation department isn't great either. For the house, it's a 3BR, 3.5 bath which is way more space than we need - so we are trying to AirBNB the spare bedroom. We are also considering a roommate if we can find one, though we don't love this idea as newlyweds. I'm considering downsizing, but I don't know much about costs of selling a house & moving. The house has gone up in value almost $75K since he purchased it 3 years ago. With the move/sell costs, and the fact that we don't really know where I will be for school (it could be just under 60 miles away, could be close as 5 miles)....I just can't figure out how a move would really be that beneficial.

His job is currently 23 miles from the house in the suburbs. We love the house - the view of downtown, the things within walking distance, the green space, the natural light, the gas heating/stove - but we would be OK with living in the suburbs, too. However, again the problem: would it even be "worth it" to pick up and move to a cheaper place, if we're not even 100% sure where that should be?

I'm having trouble pinning down the exact benefit if we assume:

- The house sells for $450.
- We use a realtor.
- We buy a different house for, let's say, $250K
- We possibly have to move again in a year.

Bottom line:

What can we do to reduce costs, and how can we estimate the financial benefit of downsizing/moving to a different neighborhood (it is unlikely we can get a safe, in working order house in our area for $250K)? We are afraid that we would struggle to get an airbnb off the ground (though we're trying in the meantime) and that we can't find a roommate (plus, we would need to vacate the room of...stuff), otherwise those are more tempting short term solutions.

We are also thinking it's about time to sell the sports car, which gets ~60mi/day put on it and the insurance is expensive.

Thoughts? How did you convince your spouse to downsize their lifestyle? What would make a difference for us?

expectopatronum

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I'll throw this out there too, since if we want to sell a big part is picking location.

Area A (current area): 22mi from his work, 5mi from school 1, 60mi from school 2
Area B: 22mi from his work, 14mi from school 1, 50mi from school 2
Area C: 0mi from his work, 18mi from school 1, 65mi from school 2

My top choice is school 1, but I'm realistic in that I may not get to it (or either school). So that is a consideration too. If I knew right out that he was going to be supporting us + I wasn't going to start a program until 2017 then the obvious answer would be sell the house and move to area C.

little_brown_dog

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my first thought when looking at the expenses is that you have a lot of unsure estimates in there....for example $675 of interest and misc expenses. what are those misc expenses? were they 1 time issues/purchases or recurring items that should be budgeted for? same with the shopping - is it $60 a month or is that an underestimate? also look closely at the personal allowance section - do you both really need $65 each per month ontop of the $37 for entertainment, $150 for going out to eat, and the $60+ estimated for other shopping?

 Just getting really clear on how much you spend and then cutting in these categories alone could equal big savings.
 to give you an idea of a budget that might work for you, we are also switching to a 1 income lifestyle soon (baby on the way) and currently budget $50 for coffee/lunch at work between the 2 of us, a dinner out once/month ($50), plus another $50 that we rarely spend in case one of us needs a new article of clothing or we decide to do something random like a trip to the movies (we only go about twice a year).  Keeping the categories to an even $50 helps keep me on track for some reason, and after you get used to taming your bad coffee/lunch habit it definitely doesn't feel like we are deprived in any way.  as for gifts, we actually stopped purchasing birthday gifts for family a couple years ago and it has been awesomely liberating. for christmas, we still do small gifts for our parents (think a bottle of homemade wine paired with 2-3 gourmet cheeses) but we did away with gifts for the adult siblings and their partners and now instead just get together for a sibling holiday dinner/cookie bake/etc to bond.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2015, 05:25:54 PM by little_brown_dog »

Dee18

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Seems like you should wait until you know where you will be attending school so you can judge what is a good location.

kpd905

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Seems like you should wait until you know where you will be attending school so you can judge what is a good location.

+1.  I don't think you should do anything until you find out.

letired

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Seems like you should wait until you know where you will be attending school so you can judge what is a good location.

+1.  I don't think you should do anything until you find out.

+2

I think having certainty about exactly where you each need to get to will help clarify things immensely. I think there are a lot of spots in your budget you can make up commuting costs for the year, if you decide to sell and have/want to wait to sell during summer.

Re: budget. Your grad school experience will be very different from mine, but odds are good you will be too busy to spend much money. I pretty much didn't do a whole lot on a weekly basis besides go to school, come home, eat toast/similarly easy food, sleep, go back to school. I'm not saying this was a healthy schedule, but I think in some ways it will be easier than you are thinking to cut your end of the costs, especially if you manage your food costs. Hopefully you and your husband can coordinate this one to prep a lot of food over the weekend for you to take for lunch and/or have ready for dinner, because I can guarantee you do not want to have to try and make dinner after a day at school + commute + 'homework'.

The other thing you have probably thought about, but I want to throw out there in case you haven't, is that if there is a flexible amount of time to complete your degree, make sure you estimate the 'average' time to completion and then aim for a year less than that. I did not manage this well and ended up spending 1.5 years longer than I should have to get my degree, and it was awful on multiple levels. Also, it is more time you have to live on a reduced income, which is crap. :P

goldenboy

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I also think you shouldn't plan to move until you hear about schools. That being said, unless you have followed the advice for "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up", you probably could prepare for a potential move by sorting through stuff and getting the house closer to selling condition.

I second the selling of the sports car. This definitely wouldn't work for all people, but you could create an estimate of how much money you would save per day/week/month/year by estimating the return on capital of the difference in car prices as well as the difference in insurance and gas costs.

expectopatronum

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my first thought when looking at the expenses is that you have a lot of unsure estimates in there....for example $675 of interest and misc expenses. what are those misc expenses? were they 1 time issues/purchases or recurring items that should be budgeted for? same with the shopping - is it $60 a month or is that an underestimate? also look closely at the personal allowance section - do you both really need $65 each per month ontop of the $37 for entertainment, $150 for going out to eat, and the $60+ estimated for other shopping?

 Just getting really clear on how much you spend and then cutting in these categories alone could equal big savings.
 to give you an idea of a budget that might work for you, we are also switching to a 1 income lifestyle soon (baby on the way) and currently budget $50 for coffee/lunch at work between the 2 of us, a dinner out once/month ($50), plus another $50 that we rarely spend in case one of us needs a new article of clothing or we decide to do something random like a trip to the movies (we only go about twice a year).  Keeping the categories to an even $50 helps keep me on track for some reason, and after you get used to taming your bad coffee/lunch habit it definitely doesn't feel like we are deprived in any way.  as for gifts, we actually stopped purchasing birthday gifts for family a couple years ago and it has been awesomely liberating. for christmas, we still do small gifts for our parents (think a bottle of homemade wine paired with 2-3 gourmet cheeses) but we did away with gifts for the adult siblings and their partners and now instead just get together for a sibling holiday dinner/cookie bake/etc to bond.

All the figures I put were the averages that we currently have - for example, I spent $50/mo last year on clothing. I can actually go months without buying something, and then I'll have a weak moment and spend lots at once. Entertainment is more of a guess. We normally wouldn't spend that in a whole month, probably more like once every few months. The allowances...I think that number needs to be tweaked because it's a new thing - it's more of a "guilt free" pile since I tend to be the saver and he is the spender.   

 For the home costs- I'd have to dig up our mortgage info and can't quite remember how much is principal, but the only true guess was $50 towards maintenance (we had to get the a/c fixed last year, for instance). It's probably not truly $600/yr, but the rest of the expenses are based on our actual bills. We're heading into our first jointly budgeted month so that's where some of the uncertainty lies. You're right that we should probably figure out where we have some fluff in the budget (in other words, we may not be spending $50/mo on clothing and it should just go into the bank and clothes can come out of the personal allowance).

I like the idea about birthdays. I'm stressed about Christmas because 1) it's our first Christmas married, his family lives abroad and is used to seeing him, and I'm not sure we can afford a trip this year and 2) PRESENTS. Dear God, do they give presents. And you wouldn't think a $20 gift for every person is much until there are 4-5 people and you've blown $100 mostly on little things. I would rather do a "gift exchange " (each person pick one other out of a hat and buys for them) than that. Basically- I'd love to cut back on material gifts, especially because it's so expensive to travel and be together in the first place, but it will be a big change in tradition for them.

hope2retire

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Things to remember before you take the big decision....
1. Idea of going to school full-time is commendable, but how much will it add value to your career. How much salary increase do you expect after graduating? Now you will loose on 3 yrs of income + additional school tuition fees and expenses. How long will it take to recover this money back with the increase in your expected salary with additional skill sets.
2. I am assuming you don't have kids yet and again assume that you plan to have them some time.
If so, before or after graduating. If during school time, you have to think of getting help from family for baby sitting until you are off the school. by the time you graduate, the kid will be max 2, which would be fine to leave in day care etc when you get a job.

If kids after graduating and getting another job, then, you may have to stay away from work again after birth (depends on your situation and company policies, family help etc etc). I would be conservative and add a year of lost work.

So you have to think how much it will increase your pay and how long will it take for that increase to cover atleast 4 years of your pay plus school expenses. Unless you are going to school for Learning alone. then you have to ride the tide.

Other way is go school part-time, it may take longer...but eventually you can have the cake and eat it...

Good Luck on your decisions.






expectopatronum

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Very reasonable question from hope2retire.

The reason for returning is to switch careers entirely, to be a PA. The difference in salary between my current and median for a PA in my town is about $15K-$20K higher than my current. But...I make a great living, and so do PAs (generally), so it wasn't really about salary difference. It was about working in a field where I'm satisfied and happy. FI is my ultimate goal so I can control when/where/what I work on, but the idea of working 10-20 years in my current career is just not going to work. I don't think one has to love their job, but not hating it is a good goal.

I definitely wouldn't return full-time just for the added degree/salary boost for the opportunity cost you stated.

Thanks everyone for chiming in; I think we're going to see how Airbnb goes and also put up a posting for a roommate to offset costs!

We're also paring through our things and selling a bunch of it on Craigslist. I tire of stuff.

SpicyMcHaggus

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Very reasonable question from hope2retire.

The reason for returning is to switch careers entirely, to be a PA. The difference in salary between my current and median for a PA in my town is about $15K-$20K higher than my current. But...I make a great living, and so do PAs (generally), so it wasn't really about salary difference. It was about working in a field where I'm satisfied and happy. FI is my ultimate goal so I can control when/where/what I work on, but the idea of working 10-20 years in my current career is just not going to work. I don't think one has to love their job, but not hating it is a good goal.

I definitely wouldn't return full-time just for the added degree/salary boost for the opportunity cost you stated.

Thanks everyone for chiming in; I think we're going to see how Airbnb goes and also put up a posting for a roommate to offset costs!

We're also paring through our things and selling a bunch of it on Craigslist. I tire of stuff.

You'll never ERE with this mindset. You might get there sooner than your average bear, but not MMM early.

1) I am going to be critical of your job changing and spending $$$$$$ on a graduate level medical degree. There are many more costs than you are looking at. Is tuition free? is it 100% reimbursed by employer? How much would you be making in those 4-5 years that you won't be able to due to classes and practicum? Add all that up. I'm just guessing it's near half a million dollars. Instead of spending all that money (and not making 4 years of income), I would suggest you find a job with your current credentials that you like. If you had 30 years of working left, I might say it's worth doing, but 10? Absolutely not.

2) banking that 500k in an appropriate account will allow you to retire much earlier. My parents had 1.5M and live on 4% swr. 500k is 1/3rd of that (and you don't have to spend as much as my parents do).  Combine with what you have and you're probably well on your way to ER.

3) You tire of stuff? Red flags. This is a lifestyle change. Stop buying. Keep only what you need. Sell the rest.
4) House: 3br/3.5ba; I agree. probably too much house. Downsize if you can to something close to both your places of employment. Don't do this until you decide if (and where) you are going to school. You can probably survive just fine as wife, myself, and doge do in a 1100 sq ft 2br / 1ba.  Consider a duplex that will pay for itself. We have a $1400/mo mort, and the renters pay $1325 for their half of the house.
5) while you're making sacrifices, have your hubby consider selling his sportscar. I'm into cars, but they depreciate, and he can always get another one later for much less money.
6) stop being weak on spending. every $1 out is $2 that has to be earned. If you can't measure how much it will increase your happiness or utility, it's not worth buying. Same for him.

expectopatronum

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No no no, I think people aren't understanding. I'm not trying to go to med school just so I can be a doctor for 10 years, or going for an MBA for kicks - I'm going to PA school and I'm saying that I would be doing that for at LEAST 10-20 years in order to reach any kind of FI. I'm only 24, and I also don't necessarily think reaching FI would mean I quit working as a PA entirely...so yes, I think I see myself using it for 20, 25+ years (even if FI is reached earlier). I've decided that a job with my current credentials isn't going to satisfy me like being a provider working in the medical field would. I lose out on about $225K of income for the next 3-3.5 years, after which I would be practicing immediately. School is paid for (all tuition and costs of attendance ) from a 529 I never used because I went to college on scholarship.

I definitely agree that cutting spending and downsizing is the rest of the answer.

mm1970

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No no no, I think people aren't understanding. I'm not trying to go to med school just so I can be a doctor for 10 years, or going for an MBA for kicks - I'm going to PA school and I'm saying that I would be doing that for at LEAST 10-20 years in order to reach any kind of FI. I'm only 24, and I also don't necessarily think reaching FI would mean I quit working as a PA entirely...so yes, I think I see myself using it for 20, 25+ years (even if FI is reached earlier). I've decided that a job with my current credentials isn't going to satisfy me like being a provider working in the medical field would. I lose out on about $225K of income for the next 3-3.5 years, after which I would be practicing immediately. School is paid for (all tuition and costs of attendance ) from a 529 I never used because I went to college on scholarship.

I definitely agree that cutting spending and downsizing is the rest of the answer.
At your age, and considering the 529, I think PA school is not a bad idea at all.  I know a few PA's.  I would have considered it myself if I'd known anything about it.

SpicyMcHaggus

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No no no, I think people aren't understanding. I'm not trying to go to med school just so I can be a doctor for 10 years, or going for an MBA for kicks - I'm going to PA school and I'm saying that I would be doing that for at LEAST 10-20 years in order to reach any kind of FI. I'm only 24, and I also don't necessarily think reaching FI would mean I quit working as a PA entirely...so yes, I think I see myself using it for 20, 25+ years (even if FI is reached earlier). I've decided that a job with my current credentials isn't going to satisfy me like being a provider working in the medical field would. I lose out on about $225K of income for the next 3-3.5 years, after which I would be practicing immediately. School is paid for (all tuition and costs of attendance ) from a 529 I never used because I went to college on scholarship.

I definitely agree that cutting spending and downsizing is the rest of the answer.

Hah! Thought you were like 45 and only had 20 yrs of work left. You're 24? Plenty of time to recoup the expense of PA school then. Would still recommend some cutting of costs by asking if you can transfer in credits from a lower cost institution, take summer courses, etc.

thedayisbrave

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I would also wait on the moving front.  No need to rush into buying or selling.  But a roommate would help tremendously in your situation.  You and hubby don't need 3 bedrooms.  Rent the extra for $500/mo - that's an extra $6k/year for some minor inconvenience.  Also, even though you might live with a roommate fo a year, or two, or three, doesn't mean you have to have a roommate forever!

expectopatronum

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Quote

Hah! Thought you were like 45 and only had 20 yrs of work left. You're 24? Plenty of time to recoup the expense of PA school then. Would still recommend some cutting of costs by asking if you can transfer in credits from a lower cost institution, take summer courses, etc.

Oh, I guess I sound sort of old : ) I recently scored a major find by figuring I can take classes at community college this fall to complete the rest of my 19 hrs prereqs (which seems pretty ridiculous considering my undergrad degree was biomed engr...but I digress). I just paid $1400 for like 19 hours of classes, crazy. The programs themselves are pretty set, unlike getting an undergrad degree. You can't really sub/summer classes, but that's OK.

I would also wait on the moving front.  No need to rush into buying or selling.  But a roommate would help tremendously in your situation.  You and hubby don't need 3 bedrooms.  Rent the extra for $500/mo - that's an extra $6k/year for some minor inconvenience.  Also, even though you might live with a roommate fo a year, or two, or three, doesn't mean you have to have a roommate forever!

ALSO!!! We considered having a roommate, but we actually decided to rent the whole house out for $3K - $3.1K/mo and move to a place near his work for about $1200-1300/mo. Even if we rent a storage unit for $70/mo and sell off or donate the rest of our stuff the math comes out in our favor (accounting for vacancies, too) AND we get to live closer to work by 20miles. We get added flexibility of - if we have to move in a year to be in between his work and my program - we can do that.

I can even take half my prereq classes in the fall nearby. The other half I would drive in, 2 days/wk. But it cuts down the commute from 5 days @ 20mi to 2 days@20mi, and he'll be biking into work. In the spring we will face the possibility of going car-free for days on end!!! This makes me stache-happy. Also it's just a way for us to have less stuff. It's too easy when you're living in a place that's too big to accumulate stuff...and I think he'll see once we move that we really don't need it all.

Sibley

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Quote
ALSO!!! We considered having a roommate, but we actually decided to rent the whole house out for $3K - $3.1K/mo and move to a place near his work for about $1200-1300/mo. Even if we rent a storage unit for $70/mo and sell off or donate the rest of our stuff the math comes out in our favor (accounting for vacancies, too) AND we get to live closer to work by 20miles. We get added flexibility of - if we have to move in a year to be in between his work and my program - we can do that.

I can even take half my prereq classes in the fall nearby. The other half I would drive in, 2 days/wk. But it cuts down the commute from 5 days @ 20mi to 2 days@20mi, and he'll be biking into work. In the spring we will face the possibility of going car-free for days on end!!! This makes me stache-happy. Also it's just a way for us to have less stuff. It's too easy when you're living in a place that's too big to accumulate stuff...and I think he'll see once we move that we really don't need it all.

Like this renting out and moving to a smaller space closer to work. Good plan!

BUT - No storage units allowed. If you don't have room for it, then you need to get rid of more stuff. You can get a storage unit for a month while you sort things out if you need, but no more.

Go find this book at the library (don't buy it): http://www.amazon.com/The-Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering/dp/1607747308

Give it a shot. Store things on ebay or craigslist as well - sell/donate items, and if you find you need it later you can rebuy or borrow. There are some things that you really only need once a year, so why not borrow from a friend?

expectopatronum

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I am personally all for less stuff. When I moved in, it only took me 3-4 hours to clean, pack, move, and move in all my things (i got my move-out date wrong with my apt by a week and therefore everything was still in the lived-in state and a mess...), I had so little. I just don't know if I can immediately convince my husband to part with some of the things I am worried will take lots of space, like the dining room table from his grandparents. He's incredibly sentimental about things. The smaller stuff we may have some success with (like stacks of old magazines...old Pinewood derby cars...sigh).

Basically I used the point about "even if we DID have a storage unit we'd be better off" to refute the "but we have too much stuff so we can't move". Maybe, though, he will see that he really doesn't miss the things once they're out of sight for that first month, and we'll be able to garage-sale them this summer. I can sympathize because when I moved off to college, my mom went on a stuff-purging spree, and I begged for her to hold onto some things because I just wasn't ready to part with them and...thought I needed them? I dunno. Now years later I feel differently. I'm ready to go back through my room and toss all but a cardboard box of childhood items.

We're already selling things off. We've made $110 this week alone! Yay.

That looks like a really great book though. Will see if it's available on my library's ebooks!

norabird

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I really recommend you to look hard at that clothing amount. I used to buy clothes every month (every week maybe!), often used or on sale but it just added up,. Cutting it out has been great--I realized it was a 'gazingus pin' in YOMYL parlance, subbing in when I was bored, sad, needed a lift or distraction. And then I realized wow, I have too many clothes anyway! Look at Project 333 to try and change your mindset (I am above this number, but it helps me to mostly not bring in new purchases).

Sibley

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I am personally all for less stuff. When I moved in, it only took me 3-4 hours to clean, pack, move, and move in all my things (i got my move-out date wrong with my apt by a week and therefore everything was still in the lived-in state and a mess...), I had so little. I just don't know if I can immediately convince my husband to part with some of the things I am worried will take lots of space, like the dining room table from his grandparents. He's incredibly sentimental about things. The smaller stuff we may have some success with (like stacks of old magazines...old Pinewood derby cars...sigh).

Basically I used the point about "even if we DID have a storage unit we'd be better off" to refute the "but we have too much stuff so we can't move". Maybe, though, he will see that he really doesn't miss the things once they're out of sight for that first month, and we'll be able to garage-sale them this summer. I can sympathize because when I moved off to college, my mom went on a stuff-purging spree, and I begged for her to hold onto some things because I just wasn't ready to part with them and...thought I needed them? I dunno. Now years later I feel differently. I'm ready to go back through my room and toss all but a cardboard box of childhood items.

We're already selling things off. We've made $110 this week alone! Yay.

That looks like a really great book though. Will see if it's available on my library's ebooks!

Oh, I know what you mean. I spent a few hours going through my parent's attic recently, and my sister and I are fully aware that 95% of what's up there we don't want and will be disposed of in one way or another. But mom won't part with the stuff! Clearly, I don't have the solution. Some of it is being emotionally "ready" to let items go. At least minimize as much as you can.

Jeremy E.

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  • Posts: 1946
  • Location: Lewiston, ID
You don't have to buy another house immediately after you sell that one, you can rent.