Bigger house or enjoying life?

[Poisongirl81]

I was always in rented large rented houses. last year I managed to buy but all I could afford with my wage at the time is a 3 bed small house...one bathroom. It's a squeeze with 4 of us. I am pleased I own and my mortgage is low so we can afford holidays...days out etc.

I miss the larger house. If I saved I would be able to buy a bit bigger but it would mean no holidays... not being able to just buy the kids things etc

What would you do ?

I too would stay put, a bigger house sounds nice but like everything you will just get used to it and then the initial joy will be replaced with the annoyance of cleaning it, higher bills and asking 'why is this place so full of crap?'

Best as everyone else says to just declutter.

I think having holidays to look forward to (and plan) provides more overall joy and memories than an extra couple of rooms.

It depends on your priorities and the level of sacrifice involved. I would rather have a comfortable house 50 weeks of the year than a fancy holiday abroad for the other two, but I would rather have a smaller house than not be able to afford small UK holidays and have to watch every penny in the supermarket.

This is a really interesting thread. We're in a house that's probably a bit big (and awkward) but we love it. Especially the location. No holidays this year though as we paid for AstroTurf. Totally worth it.

I am wondering the same. I thought the general advice was to stretch yourself with the mortgage and buy the most you can afford as it gets easier over the years. You then have more equity in your home if you want to downsize one day in the future.

I am personally not into exotic holidays, well not as a single parent, and would be quite happy to go for a short caravan holiday in this country and the dc would too.

Remember....Big houses have big mouths.

As my Dad always said!

We have a big house but it is very expensive to run and a constant money drain. All of our money is in the house.

If it wasn't so expensive to move we would probably move to something smaller and free up the cash.

Going against the grain here but I'd go for a bigger house if it will significantly improve your quality of life now. We have a big house and it is wonderful having people to stay, having space for all of us and so day to day it is worth it to us. And when all the children have left we might downsize. I think it also depends on what stage of life you're at - we are in our forties.