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Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Home Sweet Home


Home Sweet Home

Do you like your home?  What is it about homes that your house is never enough?  Your friend’s house is bigger when you are a kid.  Your neighbor’s house is nicer when you are starting out on your own.  When you can afford a bigger house, you always know someone who has a pool, or a second house in the summer. 

Currently we live in a small town-house.  We have no property that is our own.  There are two neighbors attached to our unit and we hear doors closing and music paying often.  It is a nice place, just nothing special.  We do have a pool in the summer, an association community pool, but a pool nonetheless.  We don’t have to cut lawns or trim trees, that is done for us.

You know what? I like this place.  I have lived in much larger houses.  Houses in fancy neighborhoods with big lawns, or a house in the middle of a cute little town, a block from the train and a block from all the stores and restaurants.  I like this house better.  All the units in the development are pretty much the same.  All the yards are the same.  There is no competition to have the largest house or the nicest yard.  The exteriors are all the same.  When every home in your neighborhood is exactly the same, it is easier to be satisfied with your home.

Maybe it is just getting older that makes the difference.  I see a really big house and I think that is very nice, nice place to visit, but too big to live in.  We don’t throw big parties, we have a guest room and an extra bath and a half.  The kitchen is big enough to move around in and we have plenty of room to sit and eat.  Our bedroom is as large as we need and I have a basement cave to escape to.

We could use more space for storage of crap Mrs. C will never use, but cannot toss.  I can keep my Jeep in a garage so I can keep the top down in the summer, but I can’t move it out without having Mrs. C move her car because all the driveways are one lane only.  Otherwise, this place has everything I need.

Home Sweet Home is not spectacular, and at my age I am glad it is not.

20 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree more, Joe. I've had big, too, and found it to be more than I cared to deal with. More expensive payments, more expensive utilities, more expensive taxes, more expensive maintenance....yet it did NOT bring me any more enjoyment. I (we) downsized about 6 years ago, and I mean drastically downsized, and my life has only gotten better ever since. I have virtually no chores, and now my free time is truly FREE time. Now I see friends who still have big houses and instead of envying them, I pity them. Maybe it's just part of that "wisdom comes with age" thing.

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  2. I'm happy with my home but have been thinking more and more about the next phase. I'm always checking out zillow just for the heck of it. Jack isn't ready to make any drastic changes but a few more years of taking care of 6 acres and burning wood for heat will help him come into to light! Anyway, home is where the heart is so you have all you need!

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  3. I like my house, would live in town though if I could take the house with me. If I could throw away the extra baggage, we would have plenty of room. Two people don't need all that much. If we could afford help - I wouldn't mind my house with a couple of additions. (A den for him, a formal living room, and another bathroom.)

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  4. It sounds like we share a similar living situation. We live in a townhouse with wonderful landscaping and a clubhouse and pool, and I don't have to maintain any of it.

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  5. Yes I always wanted bigger and better when I was younger, now we are sitting on about three acres and it is getting hard to keep up with, your place actually sounds much better.

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  6. Your place sounds just right to me. My husband wants to stay put. He has too much stuff he can't bear to part with.

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  7. I haven't had big. I live in a townhouse less than a mile from work, and like you, I'm attached to a couple other identical units.

    I've read that younger people - younger than either of us - seem to be trending towards smaller houses. Maybe because their lives revolve around their computers. I don't know.

    But I don't want any more to care for than I have. My grandparents seemed to spend most of their time priding themselves on how much lawn they cared for. Working to make sure their landscaping was perfect.

    Values change. I don't believe younger people are less materialistic, necessarily. But more home than people can care for maybe isn't the great goal than people once thought it was.

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  8. Despite the crazy neighbors, we love our homestead. At least there are many acres between us to buffer the craziness. I can see how maintenance might become a problem in later years, though.

    I used to rent a townhouse, which had TWO parking spaces. However...my neighbors to the left always managed to take up BOTH of mine, as well as both of their own, leaving me to park along the edge of the lot when I got home late. Sheesh! It's not like they could think I moved out during the day.

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  9. We drive around and see big houses and we look at them and think (at least I do) "how much are their electric bills in the summer heat?" No matter if they have insulation, pane windows, etc., it still has to be higher than what we pay for electricity for our tiny abode. Then I also think I don't want to clean that big of a house. I can spend 20-30 minutes 5 days a week cleaning this house, doing a chore a day Manageable. I think age does have to do with it. In my youth, I might have gone for something bigger. In my advancing age, I'm content with small and easy to maintain. We can only get one car in the 2 car garage. Up until we got the new vehicle "mine" but really "ours", hubby's car was the newer one so he got delegates the garage. Now "mine" is in the garage. If he cleaned up the other half of his stuff, then both would fit (and they might one day, but probably not any time soon).

    betty

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  10. I've been at the big house stage, though never had a swimming pool. Thankfully I don't need either now. Small is beautiful, they say, and that's how I see my bungalow. Just wish I didn't have to employ a gardener to keep the huge garden under control.

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  11. I'm still at the stage of living in my 'forever dream home' that we bought 5 years ago. We love it! But I know that we were perfectly happy as newlyweds in a 300 sq ft apartment in the city. It's lucky to be able to experience different lifestyles.

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  12. I enjoy my small condo and not having to do lawn maintenance. It's big enough for me and accommodates the occasional guest.

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  13. I look around at my 1100 square feet, and smile. Life is good.

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  14. Had the big beautiful house on an acre of land overlooking Flathead Lake. Ended up hating that house because it was so much work. We never did have fun time. Now we live in a travel trailer and love it.

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  15. Simplicity is the ticket....less stuff....less work to do......We are still waiting for our little condo in the sky to come available. Then we will pare down our belongings even more. It's lovely to feel contented with less.

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  16. When I was little my Dad said, don't crave the big house, the swimming pool, the boat, the flashy car. Instead, cultivate friends who have them. That way you get to enjoy the use with none of the headaches. That kind of stuck with me and I can't remember being dissatisfied with what I had.

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  17. A bigger house just means more to clean. That's the janitor/housekeeper in me.

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  18. I've lived in so many places it's hard to remember which house had what that I liked about it. I like where I am now, at 400 square feet it's small enough to clean thoroughly in about ten minutes, but I'd like it a lot more if it had just one extra room where I could put stuff and if it had a gas stove instead of electric. I could wish for a fenced yard with my own washing line too, but it doesn't do to be greedy.

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  19. I like my house, but I'd like it just as much if it were about 1/3 smaller.

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  20. I'm sure my husband would go along with selling our fairly large house and moving to a condo like you have, but I have "Mrs. Cranky Syndrome" on an even larger scale and would be unable to re-home any of my "stuff" that fills the basement!
    Your observation about the sense of peace that comes from everyone looking the same can relate to school uniforms. I have always favored them for public schools. They remove the distraction of competition.

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