I mentioned that my husband is eager to buy a house. Much of that eagerness comes from the fact that we are currently living in his parents’ basement. This isn’t the classic deadbeat-adult-son-living-in-his-parents’-basement scenario. This is the attorney-and-his-wife-and-three-kids-living-in-the-parents’-basement version. (Update: We have four kids now.)
It’s not as bad is it sounds, though (and that says a lot coming from the daughter-in-law).
The basement is really almost its own apartment. We have our own entrance, kitchen, bathroom, living room, and two bedrooms. The upstairs and downstairs share laundry facilities, and some storage, so there is cross-traffic, but his parents knock before coming down and we knock before going up.
Now it’s nothing pretty. The floors are cement with a motley assortment of secondhand rugs. The walls are concrete or unfinished drywall. There aren’t closets, so our storage (and we’ve got lots) is out in the open. Every candid photo I take of my kids has a cluttered background even when the house is “clean.”
But, the price is right. After all, I’ve said many times that “free” is my favorite price.
The other downside is that the house is an hour from the office. Right now we spend about $500 per month in gas, but considering we don’t have any rent or utility bills, it comes with free babysitting (we are careful not to abuse this though), an enormous garden, and other perks, it is well-worth the expense.
In the year that we have lived in the basement, we have yet to have a conflict or disagreement with his parents. They are good, practical, generous people. We feel very blessed by their kindness and sacrifice. Our relationship has only improved since moving in.
Have you ever lived with family to save money? Though it won’t work for everyone, for us it cuts out one of the largest monthly expenses we would otherwise face. If you’re living with serious debt, living at home is a seriously effective option to consider.
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I just stumbled on to your blog. I am really enjoying it. I graduated in August 2014 with a doctorate degree and I am chipping away at my $170,000 in student loan debt. My boyfriend has $20,000 in student loans. Student loans are our only debt-thank goodness! We are planning to get married, but have decided to wait until our debt is a little more under control to start a family. We were living in my parents partially finished basement for 6 months to save money. This month we moved into his grandparents house for 6 months while they winter in Florida. The office for their construction business is in the house, so we share with a few office workers coming in and out, but it’s always during the day while we are at work. In 6 months we will either move back into my parents basement or purchase a fixer upper home to live in, if the price is right. I look forward to reading more of you blog.
^^^ I forgot to mention the company covers the utility bills and it’s 30 minutes closer to work for my SO!
I am so glad we are not the only ones doing this!!! We live in the in-laws suite next to my husbands parents house. We have since 2011 while my husband is going to nursing school. When he graduates we will be living with my family to pay off our debt. It’s not always easy (6 people and 2 bedrooms) but we make it work!
You’re definitely not alone! In two months there will be 6 of us in two bedrooms! For us, it’s definitely worth the savings! In the long run, the sacrifice will be worth being debt-free!
It sounds like you have wonderful in-laws!
How long have you been living there? How soon do you expect to pay off your debt? I take it that’s really all of your debt…
Bear in mind that if house prices are low, or a rise becomes imminent, you might want to consider buying a house. Once you do, you’ll have debt again, I presume (mortgage). You might also start saving a little for a down payment so you’re ready.
However, I can see how the complete focus on debt repayment is a great motivator!!!!
I do have wonderful in-laws. It really helps that we have our own private space so we don’t get in each other’s way.
We do plan to stay until we have paid off our student loans (which is the only debt we have). The plan is to be done in the next two years, even though we still have a long way to go. We are not even tempting ourselves by looking at real estate right now. We decided not to put aside anything for a house right now until we pay off the debt, otherwise we wouldn’t make very quick progress.
My husband is in a work-apprenticeship situation where he has 2 more years of working with a company that is over an hour away, one way. We used to spend close to $500 on gas every month too, but since he switched to a 2004 Honda Civic (manual transmission) we have been able to cut down to a little over $200 a month for gas. Have you guys considered that?
That’s great that you were able to start saving $200 per month on gas Georgia! That really adds up. I didn’t realize that a manual transmission gets so much better mileage. My husband has a Camry that gets 30 mpg and my mini van gets about 21. They both have around 200,000 and we’ll probably run them into the ground. That’s a good thing to think about for future car purchases though. Thanks for sharing your experience.
My three kids and I have been living with my mother for the past nine months. Following my divorce, I stayed in my house, not wanting to disrupt my kids by having them suffer another loss. But the reality was that they “lost” me because I had so much to manage, between a full time job, maintaining a house, and raising them. I live in the basement just like you and it’s not that bad! They have rooms upstairs, so the basement has my space and a living area. I was worried that the kids would be embarrassed and sometimes my 10 year old is, but they call it home now and I’m convinced I made the right choice. By selling my house, I was able to pay off over $47,000 in debt. I’m putting over $2,000 toward my car loan every month, and then I’ll start saving for our own home. For now, it’s only partially about the money. It’s also about being able to spend more time with my kids and giving them the opportunity to be closer to their grandmother. I have even dated again and no guy has questioned it. My ex boyfriend liked having “teenage date night” in the basement while the kids were at their dad’s house! Overall, I’m happy to know I’m not alone! Keep up the great blogging!
Thank you for your comment Rebecca. You’ve got a great attitude and I think that makes all the difference.
Living in the basement looks like it has been a great financial move. Great job paying off that debt with the money from your house! We would have a really hard time making financial progress without this “unusual” living situation. It’s definitely worth it for us.
Like you said, there are some other great benefits too! 🙂