Do you know anyone who's house is so big they can't afford anything else?

[Kath2003]

No but to be honest, even when I get a place I won't be able to afford to furnish it, even though it'll be TINY. I guess I'll beg and borrow what I can from people throwing junk out.

A friend of mine slept on an inflatable bed for a year in a room full of boxes. Sometimes you gotta make do and hope you "grow into" a place...

 

[JoyG]

I have rooms with no curtains.

We all make choices and decisions based on our own unique circumstances. You have no idea why these people don't furnish their houses the way you would. For all you know, it has nothing at all to do with money.

Since you are an anonymous stranger on the DIS I can ask you, why no curtains? Do you live in a rural area where you don't have many neighbors?

My relative lives in a subdivision with houses all around. I wanted to ask why they didn't put up blinds, but I didn't want to offend them, esp. if it was due to a money issue.

But after 3 years of living there, dh and I thought they must have made a conscious decision not to get them. I checked every window, they didn't have them on any. Maybe they liked the light or something?

You're right, everyone makes different choices. I think my choice would have been to sleep on the carpeted floor and have blinds up until I could afford a bed.

 

[Daxx]

Just have to say ... if I were to buy a McMansion today (or spend the half-a-million that my cousin spent), I wouldn't be buying it in a residential area like hers. For half-a-million, I want to be on a huge piece of land where I can't see my nearest neighbor! I just don't get buying these McMansions w/your neighbor's McMansion being a few 2 yards away!

 

[KelNottAt]

We don't have curtains on our windows, just white, 2", wooden blinds. We want to get fabric treatments to go with them. (Blinds are OK, but look kinda "half done.") Alas, DH and I can't agree on styles or patterns that we both like. So, instead of wasting $$ on a compromise, we're stuck with plain white blinds.

 

[JoyG]

We don't have curtains on our windows, just white, 2", wooden blinds. We want to get fabric treatments to go with them. (Blinds are OK, but look kinda "half done.") Alas, DH and I can't agree on styles or patterns that we both like. So, instead of wasting $$ on a compromise, we're stuck with plain white blinds.

I have plain white blinds on most of my windows too (but the plastic kind). We've just started in our living room switching over to our real window treatments which are the wood blinds with colored fabric tape and a topper.

But at least the plain white blinds keep out the prying eyes of our neighbors...and when they get dirty, I throw them out and buy another pair!

 

[punkin]

honestly, I have no window treatments because DH and I can't agree on anything.

 

[MAKmom]

OP. Yes I know many people in our school district who bought during the housing boom & easy mortgage approval. They are house poor & unfortunately may not make money when they sell if things do not get better. It was their dream to have the McMansion & I do not think they regret it. My district had a projection of 200 new students EVERY YEAR over 10 years we are growing fast.

I do not think there is anything wrong with this but I would not do it if I could not vacation every year. But that is just me.

 

[Freyja]

honestly, I have no window treatments because DH and I can't agree on anything.

No window treatments at all? Do you live in a rural area or what do you do to prevent people from seeing you undress, etc.?

 

[DVC-Don]

20 years ago, my wifes manager had a huge 5000 sq ft home and a large Mercedes sedan in the driveway. Inside they had a kitchen set and no other furniture on the frist floor. Upstairs the beds were on the floor and yard sale beat up dressers.

 

[ilovejack02]

Many yrs ago I worked for a man that had a Mcmansion, right around 6,000 sq feet When I finally stopped by their house... It had SEVERAL rooms with no furniture. I knew this family could well afford anything, but they were really putting everything they had into paying the house off in 10 yrs. The house was about 700,000 and they were making TRIPLE payments every month. Eventually the house was paid off and all those empty rooms filled up with GORGEOUS some one of a kind pieces. The person you know may not have the money, but Im betting they really dont care about the window situation, because if they did they would at least hang up sheets lol.

 

[ducklite]

honestly, I have no window treatments because DH and I can't agree on anything.

Sounds like one of my girlfriends. She just can't make up her mind. She's been in her $800,000+ home for almost four years, and it's not for lack of affordability. She just is one of those people who can never make up her mind about anything, so she does nothing.

She actually couldn't make up her mind whether to go to Tahiti or Paris on vacation two years ago, and ended up not going anywhere! Her poor husband was .

She also has three bachelors degrees because she couldn't figure out what to major in or be when she grew up. Now she's a SAHM. Gotta love her. If she wasn't the sweetest woman in the world you'd want to choke her.

Anne

 

[punkin]

No window treatments at all? Do you live in a rural area or what do you do to prevent people from seeing you undress, etc.?

I live in the suburbs. The nearest neighbor is about 15 ft away. They are welcome to watch me undress anytime they like. It is not a pretty sight.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Just have to say ... if I were to buy a McMansion today (or spend the half-a-million that my cousin spent), I wouldn't be buying it in a residential area like hers. For half-a-million, I want to be on a huge piece of land where I can't see my nearest neighbor! I just don't get buying these McMansions w/your neighbor's McMansion being a few 2 yards away!

Around here a half-million dollar house will NOT buy a McMansion, nor will it buy a huge piece of land where we can't see our nearest neighbor. It would have 6-7 years ago, but that's when our house cost a lot less (and now costs over half million, even though it is NOT a McMansion). Of course that's here and in other areas housing can cost a lot less.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I live in the suburbs. The nearest neighbor is about 15 ft away. They are welcome to watch me undress anytime they like. It is not a pretty sight.

 

[punkin]

Around here a half-million dollar house will NOT buy a McMansion, nor will it buy a huge piece of land where we can't see our nearest neighbor. It would have 6-7 years ago, but that's when our house cost a lot less (and now costs over half million, even though it is NOT a McMansion). Of course that's here and in other areas housing can cost a lot less.

You know where I live. Half a million won't buy a small townhouse in bad condition around here.

 

[MrsPete]

A relative of mine is a real estate broker, and she says it's VERY COMMON for her to go into an upscale neighborhood of mini-mansions and find that the owners only have a few rooms furnished -- or, perhaps the term would be under-furnished. Because she's their realtor, she ends up getting a glimpse of their financial picture, and she says that the houses are RARELY unfurnished by choice; instead, she says that MANY of these people are living paycheck to paycheck.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

You know where I live. Half a million won't buy a small townhouse in bad condition around here.

Exactly. At least I'm upcounty so it's not quite as bad, but I do not know how people buying their first houses do it around here.

 

[punkin]

Exactly. At least I'm upcounty so it's not quite as bad, but I do not know how people buying their first houses do it around here.

Me neither. I did it because it was 4 years ago and I had equity from the house I sold on Long Island.

 

[daisyduck123]

Around here a half-million dollar house will NOT buy a McMansion, nor will it buy a huge piece of land where we can't see our nearest neighbor. It would have 6-7 years ago, but that's when our house cost a lot less (and now costs over half million, even though it is NOT a McMansion). Of course that's here and in other areas housing can cost a lot less.

I wanted to chime in that that is how it is around here also....then I looked & saw you're in Maryland too!

Yes, you can't get any kind of McMansion around here for half a million.
You can get a nice, garaged townhome for that price though.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Me neither. I did it because it was 4 years ago and I had equity from the house I sold on Long Island.

And haven't you learned anything?...you buy the curtains that you like, show them to your DH, and tell him that you do like what he picked out.