I would choose the second. It seems every year our house payment goes up because of taxes and even the small increases mess up the budget. I wish that we had found something a little cheaper. When we moved to Raymore there weren't as many older houses to choose from. And we were spoiled and didn't want less rooms or garage.
That makes it slightly different.
But I would still choose the second one.
By not having the freedom with money now, I could only imagine the relief and peace that could bring. Sure, you might be snug with each other, but there are places all over the world that have several families in small spaces. They make it work.
That money could go to the boys' college, or going on trips that would be life changing and culture laden for them.
I think having the money opens up more doors for a happier future than a larger house with extra elbow room.
I want to go for a house that allows our payments to be less than what we are paying in rent and sacificing space. But I am not sure if that is the best move.
#2, because though your boys will have more room with #1, with the way the market is and stuff, money is only going to get tighter so #2 is YOUR best bet :)
#2 for sure. We live in a house with lots of room and we're not strapped for cash, but if we had been a little more careful with our decision-making, we could have had room to pay off student loans a lot quicker and I certainly don't like having that debt over my head.
definitely #2! as first-time home buyers we didn't exactly think through everything and ended up choosing something that's what we wanted, size-wise, from a first house, but it needs work, and the money required for the work along with the money required to *keep* the house leaves us a bit strapped for cash most of the time. we definitely would have gone for something much smaller, but already more updated, and saved our money for a better house (and our house is by no means "nice"!) if we had had a better idea of what to expect, or had we known people we could get solid house-buying advice from. in this case, we had to live and learn, unfortunately. :) we'll know better next time...or if anybody else wants house-buying advice. :)
Well plans changed unfortunately. I won't be out there this December! I am so bummed I won't get to see you. I will let you know if we head that way anytime soon. :-)
chris and i did something in the middle of those. we could have gotten a bigger loan, and a bigger, "grander" house, but we could have spent less and gotten something smaller.
now, we dont have children, so its a little different. but we decided on what and how much space we would need, so that we would not need more. then we went on a hunt to find a house in our determined price range that had that space.
the plan is that even though we are a little tight for cash right now(mostly because i took a huge paycut to be home more), we are not going to need to move again, or to upgrade. so we wont be trading this in to keep up with the joneses or anything.
that was probably not helpful at all. sorry. :)
Ok, so I was kidnapped saturday at a wedding reception to go and cut the giant wedding cake! I now know why the place we were at charges $1.50 a slice to cut the cake! It was such a disaster!! People were lined up for slices before we even had the top layer off! BACK PEOPLE!!!! The woman with me kept saying "keep them small." It was a 7 (GIANT) layer cake! Even when you try to cut them small they are big. By the end I was just chunking the cake on to plates. I wasnt pretty! I cant believe how Crazy people get when they see cake being cut. YOu would have thought these people had never eaten before... BACK PEOPLE!!!
Next time - ask me in advance to be the cake cutter. I will be better organized.
and thanks for the reminder. Its hard to not wonder how people get so much done and then I realize I'm wasting time thinking about it! :) yes I love my sweet little boy. Although I think he's parroting some stuff he's heard daddy say!
so are you a "hands on" cake cutter? you know, the kind that gets the icing all over their fingers then hands out the piece of cake and you're left wondering what part of the cake hasn't been touched?
This post made me laugh out loud! I was asked to cut the groom's cake at a wedding once. It had purple frosting and I had purple frosting EVERYWHERE! It was all over me and the table! Hey I wanted to tell you that we will be coming to Disneyland in December. We will be there from the 10th to the 14th. It will be a graduation celebration. Will you be in town then? I was thinking maybe we could meet up!
I can tell you that I did not lick my fingers! I probably would have passed on the cake if I had seen that! :-) I am so happy you will be in town. I can talk to you closer to time so we can get it all planned. I am so excited that I might see you! :-)
I really live a very crazy life. I dont really try to. It just happens. The boys are crazy. My house at the moment is crazy! I am talking 2 and 1/2 weeks worth of kid dirt on my white tile kitchen floors... And I am out here in my front yard on the internet... I feel very irresponsible. But that is the bad choice that I have made for today. I will feel the consequence of it later. Jojo starts preschool next month. Summer Bible School(which Sean and I head up) starts the 30th. And my ladies bible class is the next week.
(btw- the book The New Eve is what I am teaching out of- it is really challenging. - for all of you who have been blogging about singles and marriage and babies... it will challenge you.)
Eli is doing better potty training and I haven't had any #2 diapers in a week!!!!! :)
I met a lady at Trader Joe's the other day who had two little boys the same age as mine and would you believe... her oldest is named Josiah and her youngest is named Elisha!!!
Anyway, despite my crazy on the go life... if anyone wants to come out and visit us... you are always welcome!
What is the book about that you are teaching from. You sound very good busy! I can live with dirty floors when I'm busy with good things like you are. Good for you on the potty training? How old is Eli? Lily is starting to pay more attention to going #2 and even told me once this week before she started going so I think we'll be getting out the potty chair for her. Fun times! :)
thanks for telling me about it. It sounds really interesting. I didn't actually take the kids with me to camp all week. We just went down Thursday afternoon and stayed until everyone had left on Friday. I couldn't take my kids either. It would be such a distraction for me and I don't think they would have fun staying there that long. They love going the short amount of time that we are there. They just get filthy! :)
My dearest Pleonast friends,
So today I was released from the hospital. I am so happy to be home!- My surgery was on Friday and lasted 12hrs. into Saturday. It was alittle more challenging of a surgery than they had anticipated. All went very well though and I am recovering very well. So it ended up they were able to repair my aorta and replace my pulmonary artery with a mosaic poricine valve(pig valve). They also bound my upper chamber with some sort of wrap and they also performed a maze procedure to help prevent atrial arrythmia. I am just so thankful to God that everything went so well! He is so awesome and mighty!
I also want to thank everyone of you for prayers on my behalf. How humbling it is, and how fantastic, that God has given us brothers and sisters who love so deeply for one another. Thank-you Thank-you Thank-you!!! You are all in my prayers! I pray that our Lord will strengthen and uplift you all! I love you so much!
Sara! I didn't know you were still on here. I'm so glad your surgery went well. Lamona wrote mom and told her all about it and we have been thinking of you these last few days. I pray your recovery goes well.
I'm so glad to hear you are doing well. Mom was here in town when the original surgery was scheduled and your grandmother called to say it was postponed...I was still thinking it hadn't happened. I hope your three boys are taking good care of you.
Hey there little Sarah! I was on Emily's page looking through her friends and the instant I saw "Mulan", I knew it was you. So sorry to hear you had to go through such a rigorous surgery, but thankful to know you're alright! Your family is beautiful just like you! I'll continue to pray for you! Where are ya'll living?
