Reduce Housing Expenses!

Save Money on Your Biggest Monthly Expense

Reduce Housing Expenses.

So, now that you have decided if you need to rent or own, your home, its time to find out ways to reduce your housing expenses!



Do you really need what you have?
The easiest way to reduce housing expenses is to downsize.

--Are you living in a neighborhood above your means?
--Can you find the same space in a less expensive neighborhood, without sacrificing your safety?
--Is your home too big for you?
--Can some of your children share rooms?
--Do you need an extra guest bedroom or craft room?
--Wouldn’t it be nice to have less space to clean every day?

Moving to a smaller location can save you hundreds of dollars a month, and will allow you to reduce housing expenses.

Even if you currently own your own home, it might be worth it to consider the possibility of selling the home, moving to a smaller, less expensive home, and using the extra funds to pay off debt, put into your savings account, or reduce your mortgage on the new home.

Other Ways to Reduce Housing Expenses

Family and Friends
Have you considered moving in with friends or family?

If the option is there, sometimes it’s not a bad idea to share housing with extended family members, parents, siblings, or even friends.

That might not sound like a particularly appealing idea, but even Robert Kiyosaki, author of the series,Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!



admits to being “homeless” while living in a friend’s basement. He was doing this to reduce housing expenses in order to avoid having to get a job while he worked on a business idea, but it could work for you, trying to save money to stay home with your kids, in the right situation.


Rent Out Extra Space
In some situations, an extra room or mother-in-laws apartment can be rented out to add income.

Just be careful with children in the house as to whom you rent. Only rent to people you know well, or do background checks. This could work well if you live near a college or university. You could advertise in the campus newsletter for a female boarder.




Living Quarters
Did you know that some jobs will provide you with living quarters?

For instance, storage facilities often house their managers on site, to make sure they are available if a problem should arise. Other places like campgrounds, Dude Ranches, Hotels, and Apartment Complexes include living quarters as part of their compensation package. Often, these positions will allow you to bring your children. This is a terrific way to reduce housing expenses!

The following resources occasionally list positions such as those mentioned:

The Caretaker Gazette
The Caretaker Gazetter is a monthly publication that mainly lists house sitting assignments and house swaps (where you trade a house with someone else in the world for vacation).

Workamper
Workamper is a publication that services the full time RV industry, and while most of their assignments offer RV hookups, I have seen several positions which include lodging over the years.


Full Time RVing
If you live in a southern state, an option you may never have heard of is Full-Time RV living.

Full-Time RVing. Sounds off the wall, right? Crazy even?

Well, our family has been living full-time in an RV for the past three years.

I got the idea while reading a book called Educational Travel on a Shoestring: Frugal Family Fun and Learning Away from Home.



I figured, if they can live out of an RV while traveling, why can’t I live out of one in one spot! The ultimate way to reduce housing expenses.

I started researching the lifestyle, and what I found was that my idea was not original.

Many families, mostly retired couples, live in an RV permanently.

The more I looked into it, the more it seemed less-strange.

The fees for living in a campsite for one month were about $700 less than our rental price on a two bedroom apartment. Our electricity costs were less than half what we were currently paying.

Shoot, the campsites usually offered cable and wireless internet service free!

The amount of monetary savings every month was astronomical. It is a terrific way to reduce housing expenses!

My husband and I discussed it, and after much consideration, we decided that this was the right path for us.

As I told our friends about it, expecting censure and ridicule, I was pleasantly surprised at their reactions. After they thought about it for a few minutes, they agreed that it was a good idea! Not for them, but a worthwhile solution nonetheless.

So we did research on the different RV models, and set about looking for a travel trailer with a bunkhouse for the kids. At the time, they were 3 and 5 years old.

We sold all our furniture and excess personal belongings on ebay used the funds to purchase our first RV. It was a small, 10 year old, 28 foot travel trailer with no “bump-outs”. It was 8 feet wide.

It had a front bedroom with a short queen sized bed, closet, and little computer table. The middle of the RV had a sofa that pulled out to make another bed, an entertainment center large enough to hold our 32” TV, a dinette set, and a kitchen that consisted of a double sink, stovetop, fridge, and small oven.

There was no counter space.

The dinette set table was the only counter space. The back of the RV contained a bunk bed set and a small bathroom. There was a sink, a toilet, and a bathtub that was too small to take a shower in, let alone sit down in for a soak.

But it worked for us.

We parked our RV at a campsite for around $300 a month, used their shower facilities to bathe in and their laundry mat to wash our clothes. There was cable TV, wireless internet, and even a pool.

We lived in that small RV for two years until we finally upgraded to our current model. Honestly, the small RV was too small for us. So we sold it (yes, on eBay), and purchased our current home.

The RV we have now (pictured) is a brand new, 38 foot model. It has two complete bedrooms. A queen sized bedroom for my husband and I, and a bunk bed room for the kids, with a closet and even a small table for them to do homework on.

The kitchen is larger, there is counter space, plenty of storage, a bigger dinette, and a slide out for the living room.

The best part: the large bathroom has a big (for an RV) bathtub that is actually usable!

We estimate that we save about $1000 a month living in the RV.

We’ve used this extra money to pay off old debts and contribute to our savings (which before did not exist).

This one single thing, reducing our housing expenses, has gone further to helping me stay home than anything else.

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