Check out the below video presentation by Graham Hill(profile), founder of eco-blog and vlog TreeHugger.com. In this TED video, Graham talks about how Americans have trippled their size of space usage in the past decade or so which leads to more unwanted stuff, increased carbon foot print, lot of spending which leads to more debt and finally reduced happiness.



His Mantra is to live in a space which you really need or get a space where you can put a single item for multipurpose which reduces waste, less spending, more saving and more happiness as well. I surely don’t buy it unless you are going to be bachelor all your life. I know that I shouldn’t have put this video up here in my real estate website and turning away my prospective home buyers. No, obviously thats not my intention. I decided to go ahead and share for few reasons.

Texas is big and we have big ranches and big houses coming up in all parts of Houston even at this economic crunch times. People are looking for bigger house and they upgrade when their family grows. That’s the normal trend. Is it good or bad? It all depends on individual. Take me for example, I am a content person and like to live content and only buy things only when I need them. But I have seen many people things to keep up their want list. People just buy big houses and most of the space are used may be once in a year and never get attention.

Do you really need that big house and spend lot of money by paying interest for 10-15 years. Thats my first and foremost reason. I am not saying don’t buy a house. Just don’t buy a house just for the sake of buying a big one and being proud of it. If you thing you won’t be able to make use of the full space, then don’t bother spending a lot of money even though you can afford it. That money can be put towards kids education, retirement or may be your vacation with family.

Next thing, if you buy a big house, you need foresee future expense. You to buy things to fill up the space and after few years those things get outdated and you just keep buying again and again. Do you really need this periodic spending? Some would say yes but if you think you can buy a decent place and accomodate properly and buy sustainable items with multipurpose usage, that would save money and you can get the full use of the item. Think about it.

At last, Happiness is the key for our living longer. Will you be happy with big house? Yes of course, more space for kids and family but at the same it brings more time to maintain it. It also gives less interaction among family members as per some survey. I heard many say, people live in their island/rooms and don’t bother to interact in those big houses. House is where we grow our by sharing, guiding and enriching each other as a family by mingling and interacting.

Do you think a Big place would make you Happy and at same time help save money and reduce wastage? Just give fore thought before looking for big place in Cinco Ranch or Bridgeland.

About Vijaianand Thirnageswaram

I am a Proud Realtor of Texas, trying to guide and help clients to find their dream home and educate them to buy them for right price. I am also a Candidate for CFP who has more financial knowledge which allows me share and educate clients in any financial decision making process.

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