My advice is to BUY ONCE, buy quality and hang onto it.

Look on the simplicity section of this board to see how active we are decluttering. It is so fustrating. Some of the usable items that are going to the thrift store or garage sale are still being paid off on our credit cards! At some point the cycle has to stop. Yes, there are some items that we will need to get rid of even though they still have useful value. Children develop beyond toys and they grow out of clothes. Sometimes we have an activity that we no longer can participate in. Sometimes we need to declutter an item for a good reason, for instance, we started to live a healthier lifestyle so we no longer need our 'fat clothes'. Those are all great reasons to declutter. What percentage of our declutter pile fit into those categories, though? 100% of my declutter pile doesn't.

Along these lines, I am reminded that one of our biggest financial purchases in our entire lives will be a house. Obviously, because we're spending so much on this one purchase, this is an area where we can save the most. How?

1) Buy less than you can afford. Now a days, mortgage companies will qualify us for incredibly high home loans. Resist the temptation and insist on purchasing a house much LESS than we would qualify to buy. We simply don't need the financial stress AND we'll end up paying less in points and interest to the mortgage company. Additionally, real estate investors will tell us that the easiest way to make more on a house is to buy it cheaply - buy low, sell high.

2) Your house isn't an 'investment'. It is the roof over your head. Because of the way the economy has been going the last few years, people have been starting to see their house as an investment - something that has a guaranteed appreciation. It doesn't have to be that way. There are plenty of people who can tell stories of how their house went DOWN in value. My advice is to stop listening to financial experts that recommend buying and selling your house every few years so you can 'buy up'. That is wonderful for real estate agents and mortgage companies but it is poor financial advice. A house is a roof over your head, not a stock portfolio. Buy ONE HOUSE and hang onto it.

3) Buy as much land as you can afford. They aren't making any more. Given a choice, buy a smaller house with a bigger property than a bigger house on a smaller lot. You can always remodel the house but it is very difficult to add onto your land. This is especially true when considering alternative real estate solutions. Is it better to buy a great condo in an exclusive town or a single family residence in a less desirable area? Go with the single family residence.

4) Buy in the best neighborhood you can manage, preferrably within a great school district. Good neighborhoods tend to stay good neighborhoods. Houses in those neighborhoods tend to appreciate faster than the same kind of house in a less desirable neighborhood. Since you're planning on staying in your house for a long time, pick the best house you can in the best neighborhood you can afford. A good school district will also save you the expense of having to send your children to private school just so they can get a decent education.

5) Pay OFF the mortgage as soon as possible. I know mortgage interest is low and it is so tempting to tap into that equity. The reason mortgage interest is low is because that loan is guaranteed. The guarantee is you will give the bank your house if you fail to make the payments! No one needs to fear losing their roof over their head when they are already stressed with another financial crisis. If your house is paid off, life is so much easier. And the math makes sense, too. For instance, it seems no matter what we do our monthly mortgage payment is approximately $1000 to $1500 a month. Imagine if we didn't need to make that payment. It would be like winning the lottery that guaranteed an annual income of $18,000 a year. Not making a mortgage payment is like paying myself $8.65 per hour! And imagine all I could do with an extra $1000 in my pocket. Paying off my mortgage gives me room so much room in my budget I just may be tempted to turn up the furnace - a little.

__________________
"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."