I have a coworker who maintains miserly tendencies, even though he makes around the same money as everyone else in the office. His problem? He is what we would call “house poor.” Too much of him and his wife’s income go towards servicing the mortgage. But hey, at least he got in when the interest rates were low, and houses weren’t all above one million dollars around here. Imagine paying 7% on a 30-year loan! You can buy a whole other house in the midwest with the combined interest payments.
And at least the coworker has a house! I on the other hand have zero allusions about home ownership. There’s no way I can afford one on my salary, unless I meet a partner who makes vastly more than I do (and I make above the U.S. median household income already). If the potential partner makes around the same as me, we would be house poor just like my coworker and his wife. Definitely not a situation I want to dig myself into for 30 years.
For my lonesome, renting continuously is absolutely fine with me. I like the flexibility and optionality of not being tied down to the place (not that I plan to move from my current situation anytime soon). Renting prevents me from accumulating too much material things, because moving it all to the next location would be a huge chore. I’ve already made the decision to donate most of my books before I move next time. Everybody knows how much I read, no need to a have shelves full of books to show for vanity points.
While I may not be house poor, but I’m definitely car poor, and have been ever since I started making enough money to buy my own. A huge chunk of my income have always gone towards paying for and servicing the ownership of a car. But unlike my coworker who seem rather miserable in being house poor, I’m absolutely fine with spending money on cars. Because it’s the great passion of mine since I was young.
친한친구.