Posted by Phil on May 24, 2008 – 6:20 am
Good things do come to those who wait. It’s a very unpopular concept, especially in our commercial driven culture that screams-out for us to constantly spend now and pay later. As a culture we have grown so accustomed to living in debt that it seems normal. In fact, prior to World War II, only 2 percent of Americans had a house mortgage and now it’s the opposite with only 2 percent of homeowners not having a mortgage.
In September I wrote the post, "Delayed Purchases Pay Huge Dividends". It featured a lovely picture of my dog laying on a concrete floor in my living room. I decided that living on concrete was better than our old dirty carpet that was a little past due for replacement. The idea was to save-up and wait until we had cash in-hand to have tile laid in our house.
The day finally came, after painting, replacing hardware and other upgrades, we had the funds available to pay for the materials and labor. Having freshly laid floors is like living in a new house and we are enjoying it very much. Best of all is that every single tile is ours paid-in-full. We don’t owe the bank or the legalized mafia, the credit card companies a nickel for them.
Posted by Phil on March 9, 2008 – 9:10 pm
With our oldest nearing official teen-hood, we debated whether to do some remodeling in our current location or relocate. Living in a house that is only a little over 1,200 square feet for five people, it’s tempting to think bigger would be better. After researching other options for residence in the area we’ve come back around to staying put in our current location with a few modifications to maximize our space.
Two primary factors driving our decision to stay put: a) we really love our location and overall design of the house and b) we really don’t relish the idea of incurring significantly greater debt, taxes, utilities and other costs associated with a larger house.
Some Simple Space Saving Ideas Completed
- Make the master bedroom multi-purpose. Our bedroom houses guitars hung on the wall, a second computer in a compact desk, an exercise machine and a TV for entertainment.
- Add an additional flat screen TV in one of the girls room. Even with a small house there are now three locations for watching movies.
- Hang new light fixtures. This isn’t a space-saving feature per say, but it does add a nice touch in the overall style of the house.
On the Horizon
- Re-surface all floors except bedrooms with tile. Visually this ties the rooms together and is a nice touch to get away from living on wall-to-wall carpet.
- Add some storage buildings in the yard. This is a relatively inexpensive way to offset the need for storage in the house and garage.
- Convert the garage to a 400 square foot dance studio/multi-media room for the girls. By insulating, heating and cooling, and finishing-out the garage the girls will have the space they need.
- Add a covered porch to the back of the house. With the weather in Texas being so mild most of the year an outdoor living area is a very economical way to add living space.
The temptation is strong to continue to upgrade or move to a larger house that we will fill with more stuff. At what point do we hold ourselves accountable to push against the intense pull of consumerism. A friend of mine once said, "Consumerism consumes consumers." What steps are you taking to push against the pull to consume?
Posted by Phil on February 10, 2007 – 3:45 pm
The "greening of America" is a popular topic in the media. Constant barrage by folks like Al Gore present an "Inconvenient Truth". Well, here’s an inconvenient truth for you: Al Gore doesn’t practice what he preaches. (See "How Green is He?" for more info). But not to just pick on poor Al alone, the American public shows no real movement towards conservative lifestyles, which is the root of environmental conservation.
According to motherjones.com, "Since 1950, the average new house has increased by 1,247 sq. ft. Meanwhile, the average household has shrunk by 1 person." According to the 2005 census (see Table Average 1), the mean household is 2.57. Heritage.org reports, "At present, Americans have an average of 718 square feet of living space per person." This is the mean for all households in America. In my household, the square foot per person is 306. What’s yours?
Initiatives like recycling both business and residential is promoted as a way to be environmentally conscious. Recycling is at best, slowing the consumption of our resources. Which is better, recycling cans or not purchasing the six-packs of soda and beer to disgard once the product is consumed? Environmentalism is a popular topic in the media as long as you don’t talk about smaller houses and fiscal conservation (both commercial and personal). Yes, I believe that is the real "inconvenient truth."