I use to dream of having a big house and a few acres. It all seemed so possible back in the 80’s. But as time went on my dreams began to diminish.. or change. By the new millennia, the dream had changed completely. I had completed high school and went off to college. I had out grown the physical labor- service industry and was ready for a non-back breaking job. In 2004, I took a job working in the schools. It was physically easier, mentally challenging and for once a respectable position. I had worked hard to secure the job, but the job was not working hard to secure its workers. The following year, my whole department was let go. We were considered expendable and the ancillary team was gone three days after New Year’s. Some how my principal found a way to profit from grant monies and getting rid of her ancillary team helped her secure the funds. Unfortunately, I thought this would be the job that I would be able to start the path towards a large house, land, starting my family and helping my parents with. The three other teachers that had been let go, also, had to let go of dreams they had put down payments on as well. The Spanish teacher had gotten the money to finally buy her house back from her ex. and had bought a used vehicle. the P.E. teacher was using his funds to pay for school. My own personal tale was more of relief than disappointment. I had put money down on an extra spacious 3 bedroom /bath modular out in the country. It sat on 1 acre of property deeded for horses and farm animals. When the bad news came, I explained to the salespeople what happened and they gladly gave back our deposit. At the time , I discovered I was pregnant. Despite our financial loss, the pregnancy was exciting and a light during that bleak time in our lives. .. and a game changer. My little bundle of joy meant that somethings would have to happen such as in a change in priorities, views and more creative ways to carry out getting our needs met. Fast forward to the present, we are glad, even if we had the money, that we did not step into the big house and acre. The taxes in that neighborhood are so high that they have pushed that area into a foreclosure cycle, the electric bills are climbing up every summer and winter, and lastly, the HOA’s seem more like ticket generating Nazi’s than empowered civic clubs. The biggest problem was many of my peers have all saw the same thing with their job markets.. the jobs that you got in your youth and reach retirement in have all but disappeared. Trying to make a 30 year mortgage is waaay more risky than what it use to be. My parents were in their last year paying on their house when the economy started to show signs of distress. They were blessed, their mortgage company was undergoing reorganization brought on by a merger and later buyout. The representatives were trying to do the best job possible and worked with them. they paid their house off just in time. The new company started foreclosing on homes as soon as the ink was dry on the mortgage company’s finalized sale. Many of our neighbors suffered losing their homes with only months left to go towards final ownership. the new neighbors complain that their monthly notes are higher than expected and unsteady employment scares them. My I realized the reality that was the 60’s- 80’s was not so in the new millennium. Having a 2000 sqft home built on a large parcel of land was cost prohibitive under the old ways of acquisition. In Texas, a 2000sqft new or old home home ran from 30-80k before the year 2000. Now old homes in crime riddled areas in side the loop go for $300k and up! While I do have an advance degree and will be able to claim a job that will afford me the mortgage on that.. I am not going to be a slave to a mortgage for the next 30 years. I’ll be 60 and too old to work if I try to do that. I’d rather take that money invest in my business and put a smaller amount on a home and gradually create the home of my family’s dreams. After all the ups and downs we have been through…we have decided to downsize our first wants and review our needs. When we first went house shopping, we wanted two living rooms, den, 2.5 bathrooms, country kitchen and dining room. But after living in 1000 sqft abodes, we realized that cozy was more important to us than size, and that an added large patio room/ yard was more of an answer to the activities our family likes to do. Keeping the house small meant less electricity use and less to keep up. We also wanted to add solar lights for outdoor lighting, pot belly stove for heating and composting toilets to ease our utility/water bills. Our families spent more money and had more stress trying to afford their homes that less time was spent raising / preparing their children for adulthood. I would like to squeeze more time in raising and preparing my family than stressing over trying to afford our cost of living.
We have joined the tiny home trend. It’s a tiny home with big potential.
SuburbanBlues 