Little Road Trip
Yesterday, I went to Ada, Ohio with my daughter and son-in-law to see their new house. They are renting a little place there while he attends law school at Ohio Northern University. It's too cute! It has a spacious kitchen, (but not too big to keep clean), a large living room, a laundry room, a study alcove, a HUGE bathroom, and two tiny, tiny bedrooms. They have their own yard, with a swingset for their little boy. Their apartment in Florida was bigger, but it cost more, too. My son-in-law is very excited about living there. My daughter is happy to be starting back to school herself, in the fall, and likes the ambience of the village of Ada.
I have been giving some thought to downsizing the last few weeks. In our case, downsizing doesn't necessarily mean saving money, but it would give us more leisure time together, instead of in the car. If we were to move to a place much smaller than our house in the 'burbs, but in the city, it would probably not cost a lot less than we are paying now. We would only need one car, but insurance would be a lot more. Property taxes might be less (that's a total crap-shoot in New Orleans) but we would probably have to pay for private school for the little boy, as the public schools are REALLY a crap-shoot.
If our lives are going to be centered in the city, though, it would be best to actually live there. I don't want to do anything, though, until I get my employment situation resolved. I'm going to aggressively address that when we get home.
Tying these two ideas together: my daughter's family is actually LARGER than mine (since my older son will be moving out in mid-August). Why do I need three times as much space as she does? Even with all the room I have, there's still not a place I can go sit in a chair and read a book without listening to the TV. If we're going to only use five rooms, why do we need nine?
I have been giving some thought to downsizing the last few weeks. In our case, downsizing doesn't necessarily mean saving money, but it would give us more leisure time together, instead of in the car. If we were to move to a place much smaller than our house in the 'burbs, but in the city, it would probably not cost a lot less than we are paying now. We would only need one car, but insurance would be a lot more. Property taxes might be less (that's a total crap-shoot in New Orleans) but we would probably have to pay for private school for the little boy, as the public schools are REALLY a crap-shoot.
If our lives are going to be centered in the city, though, it would be best to actually live there. I don't want to do anything, though, until I get my employment situation resolved. I'm going to aggressively address that when we get home.
Tying these two ideas together: my daughter's family is actually LARGER than mine (since my older son will be moving out in mid-August). Why do I need three times as much space as she does? Even with all the room I have, there's still not a place I can go sit in a chair and read a book without listening to the TV. If we're going to only use five rooms, why do we need nine?
1 Comments:
BE CAREFUL! I love New Orleans, but it's a major pain to actually live in the city proper with a family, unless it's in a certain school district in Algiers. Forget Uptown and Mid City, unless you don't mind living in a marginal neighborhood. However, I do know a very white LDS family that lives in one of those neighborhoods and they seem to be happy there. It's actually very close to where you attend school. Property taxes are high, the schools are a total crapshoot, and car insurance is through the roof. Moreover, shopping is a real pain in the ass, much moreso than where you live now. Unless you're in Metairie -- which is expensive -- everything is spread-out and difficult to access. There are certainly plusses, as you mention, but I just wanted to give you a caveat.
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