Nicer house no holidays, smaller house-holidays?

[Firstshoes]

Which would you choose?

Nicer house because that's where you spend most of your time

Does it really mean no holidays or no overseas all inclusive holidays?

I have a smaller house so we can afford nice holidays and other things

It is overseas holidays. Would still be able to afford cheap UK weekends but that's about it

Unless your house is far too cramped (eg not enough rooms for DC), smaller house and holidays. We have a fairly standard house and very high holiday budget, I completely prioritize experiences.

Do you prioritise travel? If so the smaller house.

If you tend to nest in your home, the other one.

We tend to go abroad every other year and have a bigger house so could there be a compromise?

Smaller house but not because of holidays, more because I like having a lot of savings and not stress about finances.

I mean that's a totally arbitrary either/or there. The question really is should you spend more on a house or less, which will impact your disposable income and possibly your general sanity depending on the debt.
I personally think spending any sum of money on a holiday at all is a huge waste, so wouldn't care. But Cheaper House More Money option is generally sensible provided we aren't talking about a total dump under the eaves of a motorway, over Expensive House Big Mortgage.

It would depend how much smaller ? Huge house with no holidays. Or a house that is nice and perfectly acceptable and holidays?
if the smaller house is actually not that small and not cramped and nice enough I would go for the smaller house and holidays.
as we all need something we need in life to look forward to and I would imagine you’d become resentful in a big house and never be able to afford a holiday.

Nicer house

I’m constantly asking myself this!
We love travelling so spend a lot on it but the house feels cramped now, I’m constantly pissed off about how small it is but I don’t think I can give up travelling.
I’ve read a lot about happiness etc and this is what the research suggests:

” that experiences generally lead to greater happiness compared to material possessions like a big house. While buying a house can provide a sense of security and stability, the happiness derived from such purchases often diminishes over time due to the "hedonic treadmill" effect, where people quickly return to a baseline level of happiness after acquiring new possessions.

On the other hand, experiences—such as travel, concerts, or shared activities with loved ones—tend to create lasting memories and foster connections with others. These experiences are often associated with increased life satisfaction and happiness because they contribute to personal growth and social bonding.”

I really don’t know though! I think I would be very sad not being able to travel, now we travel between 4-6 times a year abroad.

Honestly nicer house and cheaper UK holidays wouldn’t be a burden for me. Go for it.

If you can afford cheap UK holidays, you can definitely afford cheap holidays to Europe.

The more I think about this post the more meaningless it is. How often are the holidays? You could save and go on a bigger holiday every 2-3 years instead of one of these "cheap" uk holidays every year.

Just get the nicer house unless it's going to utterly cripple you with debt you can't manage.

Smaller house because it sounds like nicer house will stretch you too much

Probably nicer house, in the hope that you'll get pay rises and be able to afford holidays again in a few years and still have the nicer house. If you're in the kind of jobs where you're unlikely to be promoted and your pay rises will only be in line with inflation, then the smaller house. Not so much to be able to have holidays, but more generally to have a bit of a financial buffer.

Personally, if I felt my overall financial freedom and opportunities were constrained by paying a mortgage on a bigger house I would eventually resent the house, no matter how nice it was.

Smaller house holidays. When you’re on your deathbed you’ll remember the holidays, not how many bedrooms your house ha.

would caveat that with as long as small house is still fit for purpose!

Nicer house. But I am older. I have travelled loads and it was great but I get more pleasure out of pottering about at home and living in the right area.
All depends on what the compromise looks like though. If it’s to get a pointlessly large place then no. If it’s to live in a lovely area with enough space for your family then yes. House.

Money in your pocket, always

Nicer house

The financial sacrifice wont be forever

What sq footage are you referring to as a small house? Because mine is around 900 sqft and I regularly see people referring to a 1,500 sqft house as small ha.

It depends how many kids and pets you have I think, but I like my small house. It’s less work to clean and look after. But I am thinking may need to move when my kids become teenagers as just one bathroom may be an issue.

The good thing about a small mortgage is it’s less of a commitment. You never know what’s round the corner in this job market.

If the bigger home means you have to sacrifice something as basic as a holiday per year abroad - your definitely stretching too hard. Smaller home, and the capacity to save a sensible amount is essential for peace of mind imo

This is an interesting post. I lean more towards the 'experiences' side of things whereas DH is definitely about the house, as that's where we spend the majority of time. We pushed the budget on our house and are now almost a decade on, which I've been thinking about.

If your house is too small for you, that is different from a bigger/nicer upgrade just because it is nice. In that case you may get daily advantages from the new house. For me some practical advantages include:

• enough bedrooms that we can move things around as needed practically e.g. co-sleeping in a separate room with a baby, a spare room to sleep in if someone is ill or can't sleep, children having their own room so not waking each other up
• enough space to entertain guests and have them stay if wanted. I like the freedom of people coming round and not having to go out somewhere
• enough space to allow separate activities without disturbing each other e.g. 1 parent wfh in the school holidays
• a second bathroom means when something goes wrong with the first one, we can manage for a bit and it's not an emergency
• for us upgrading meant a quieter street, less neighbour noise (previously someone living above us), more outside space and a driveway which all make life more pleasant/easier but won't apply to every move

These practical advantages remain once the 'shine' has gone. The drawbacks are that a bigger house costs more to heat and maintain,.and that should be factored in to calculations. Whether these advantages outweigh lots of holidays and experiences is a different matter though. It wasn't that black and white for us.

The key for me would be do you have breathing room in your budget to accommodate increases in the cost of living or unexpected costs. Bigger houses usually mean bigger bills too, so look at the full cost of each house rather than just the mortgage.

Personally if the bigger house meant we no longer had the room in our budget to be able to spend on holidays or other discretionary spending I would be stressed and feeling financially vulnerable to big unexpected costs.

Lots of people are in that position involuntarily and as I’m lucky not to be, I wouldn’t put myself there on purpose.

The location of the house would matter more to me.
I’d take nice location, fewer holidays. I’d be fine to sacrifice the size of the house for holidays.