Downsizing - Would you do that or not and why?

cattie

I'd intended to downsize to enable me to clear some sizeable debts.

However, no suitable property has turned up in my area, so I'm doing the next best thing, buying pretty much same size house but one that costs a good bit less than my current house. End result is the same, plus I retain a spare room so should I need extra cash I can rent the other bedroom out as I've done before.

poet123

Forever_Red wrote: »

After seeing a few people regretting the move abroad, I think I would get a 2/3 bed semi / terraced house (currently 4 bed det) so that if I didn't like abroad or only wanted to spend 6 months there, I had something to come back to.



I have a couple of endowments up when I'm 50, but I think that may get spent on a few birthday parties (50, 21, 18 & 16) I didn't plan that very well.:p

Alan

In my experience kids get more, not les expensive when older....your kids ages may mean Uni costs,which are currently running us at £400 per month per child!!!and they still have student debt! no chance of retiring for us.
Hope I haven't ruined your day!:T

pollyanna24

As depressing as this thread could be, as I have no chance of downsizing anytime soon (only 26), it certainly is something to look forward to!

We currently have a 3bed house near London with about £50K equity in it, so if we ever decided to move oop north, we could get ourselves a nicer, bigger house for a similar price to what we have down here. We always said that we would wait till we had enough equity in our house to buy somewhere outright, either up north or in Austria. At the moment, we need to keep our jobs in London (which I hate, btw, but hey, that's life!)

Debt_Free_Chick

I'm downsizing too - not just the house, but my whole life. I want to live a much more basic, simpler life with fewer possessions and less clutter. I have no kids, so voted "Other".

Currently have a very spacious detached house in a rural village. Looking for a former "farmworker's cottage" effectively a two up/two down - but with land. Only need essential furniture; not bothered about CH (had none for 18 months anyway); not intending to have guests stay over; not giving dinner parties or entertaining anymore.

Just want partner, dogs, chickens, vegetables etc. Hoping to downsize so I can give up work and do more voluntary/community work.

Mid-life reappraisal of values, I guess

candygirl

I will downsize when my mortgage is paid off, by buying a flat here and one in Goa.I will then spend 6 months of the year in both places like a lot of oaps are already doing now:p The thought of spending winters here when i'm old and decrepit doesn't bear thinking about:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Forever_Red

Originally Posted by Forever Red
After seeing a few people regretting the move abroad, I think I would get a 2/3 bed semi / terraced house (currently 4 bed det) so that if I didn't like abroad or only wanted to spend 6 months there, I had something to come back to.



I have a couple of endowments up when I'm 50, but I think that may get spent on a few birthday parties (50, 21, 18 & 16) I didn't plan that very well.:p

Alan

poet123 wrote: »

In my experience kids get more, not les expensive when older....your kids ages may mean Uni costs,which are currently running us at £400 per month per child!!!and they still have student debt! no chance of retiring for us.
Hope I haven't ruined your day!:T

Thanx a bunch.........that's me working till I'm 75

Debt_Free_Chick

I have money coming in so will not need to downsize

I'm a little intrigued by this option on the poll. It suggests that one MUST downsize - and my situation doesn't fit any of the options.

For me, I am taking a positive move to radically alter my lifestyle, to one that I really want.

I have enough money coming in to continue with my current lifestyle - but I don't want it. Interestingly, I also have enough savings to keep me in my current lifestyle for 7 years, with no income - or for 12 years on my preferred lifestyle (again, with no other income).

I guess I feel that downsizing is being presented as a "must do - no other option" or as some kind of panacea for some other "issue".

I'm clear - I want out of the materialistic "stuff oriented" life that I (and very many like me) lead. I blame my parents They lived a very simple, almost frugal life - but they wanted "so much more for me". Well, Mum & Dad - I have so much more ..... but I don't want it. I want to live like you did