Author Topic: Cutting expenses drastically and moving in with inlaws  (Read 2505 times)

CobraKreese

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Cutting expenses drastically and moving in with inlaws
« on: January 11, 2016, 09:49:15 AM »
Good day mustachians I wanted to get some thoughts on a couple financial moves I might be making.  First off my wife and I have 2 cars, one is 09 Honda Civic Hybrid with about 80K miles and around $3500 left on the loan.  It's probably worth around 7500 if i sold it outright.  Our other car is a Pontiac Bonneville that's I think an 01 but it has only 110K miles on it.  The car was my inlaws car and they never drove it.  My father has an 06 F-150 Ford truck that is planning to give us since he must have a new vehicle for work.  I work from home so my wife is the only one that commutes, our monthly payment on the car is $180 a month.  I'm considering selling the Civic to get rid of the payment and put some money into the bank.  What does everyone think?  Seems like a mustachian thing to do, I often feel like us having 2 cars has been a luxury more than need.  Sure it does make things more convenient at times but most days I don't drive unless she's back home.  Ok so that's the first major change I might be making.

Second is we tried flipping a house and it went poorly, we were doing well we had savings and no debts.  Now we have racked up a lot because of the house, it's closing soon but I can't even be certain that once it's closed that we will full pay off all debts.  Learned a lot of tough lessons but now I have to move forward and do what I can to get us back on the right path.  I've considered living with my wife's parents, they own a house about 20 minutes from us currently.  They only live there on the weekends at the moment and during the week they are in their hometown.  They have a nice place and there would be plenty of room for us, at the same time we would rent out the house we are currently in.  That would bring us up to 2 rentals, no car loans, and a much smaller rent payment (haven't determined what it would be at her parents).  It's possible that these changes could make an approx $2000 a month impact on us in a positive way.  We gross close to 100K a year together and we can afford our bills but I hate the spot I'm in right now and want to get out and back on the right path as quick as possible.  Am I crazy?  I read a thread on here before about living with parents/inlaws and it was mixed but seemed like the reasoning people used for not living with them was because they didn't like them.  If you got along with parents/inlaws would you do this to cut your costs and increase your savings?  Thanks for the time and any responses!!

Villanelle

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Re: Cutting expenses drastically and moving in with inlaws
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2016, 03:11:39 PM »
If I truly got along well with my ILs, after having spent a lot of time with them, I'd consider it on a medium term basis, especially if we only lived together on weekends.  I'd set a specific deadline, and also make sure the terms were very clear (would be be contributing anything in rent, what would we pay toward utilities, would there be any expectations of additional chores around the house, any areas off limits, etc.) just to help make sure everyone was on the same page.  And I would set a deadline to move out.  If you rent your place for a one year term, the end of the lease might make sense if you would move back to the same house.  One year with mom and dad to help get your footing again, but then you move out so it doesn't become a forever thing (unless you all find it works perfectly and you are actively contributing to the household so that it is a true win for everyone).

As for the cars, I would sell the truck if that's okay with FIL.  The Civic is going to be so much cheaper to operate.  You mentioned going to one car.  If you are considering that, of the choices I would go with the Civic.  If FIL doesn't want you to sell the truck, perhaps you could agree to split the proceeds with him if you do all the work of the sale, or something like that. 

Cassie

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Re: Cutting expenses drastically and moving in with inlaws
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2016, 03:41:45 PM »
Due to some life circumstances my adult son returned to college f.t. to finish his degree for a year so he and his wife moved in with us for 16 months.  We all knew we liked each other and it worked really well for the 4 of us.  We took more trips since we had built in doggy sitters.  I have to say that we have all grown much closer for the experience. This would only work if you all like each other.   If it is just for 2 days/week it should be easy. Talk about everything first so there are no surprises.

 

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