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> ==Live with Your Parents== > I'm serious: This is what I did! How to save money: Spend other peoples' money.

garply 16y ago
That's not really fair. My parents and my gf's parents both have houses with empty space that we could live in that's not being used. Essentially the space is being wasted. I bet many people's parents have similar available space (probably left over from when you were a child and living with your parents already). My gf, who is Chinese, would love to live with her parents (thankfully she is even cheaper than I am). She nags me constantly about the $500 we pay our landlord every month for our apartment. Unfortunately, I was raised in the US where living with your parents after you graduate from school is a social faux pas.
- anamax 16y ago
  > Essentially the space is being wasted. Would you say that an undeveloped greenbelt around a city is wasted? Empty space in a house is both an option and space. The latter is quite valuable. Also, some people value the privacy.
  - Xurinos 16y ago
    I read something from a real estate blogger that has stuck with me since: People often pay for a bunch of space they do not need, even use. The argument that the space is an option is the same argument used to justify why someone would need to keep some random piece of garbage in their garage, taking up space. "This is a potential hobby of mine, so I am keeping this around," says a guy on the "Too much clutter in your house" reality show. The disconnect here is that what people HOPE to use is not what they are using in REALITY. Buy what you expect to use immediately or in a definite foreseeable future with a timeline. Get rid of things that merely represent possibilities; in many cases, those things become obsolete anyway. You might as well try to get a return on your investments when others might find immediate value on them. When it comes to square footage, this is like any other investment on potential. If it is not exercised, then it sits there, taking the extra heating and cooling, adding to your taxes, and so forth. Buying bigger than you need has more costs than the initial sale. A good budget keeps in mind all these flows.
    - Kadin 16y ago
      A lot of people are willing to pay for 'possibilities.' In other words, they derive intangible value by keeping that possibility around, regardless of how often they may actually exercise the option it gives them, if ever. Many people have vacation homes or own boats that they rarely use, and could probably rent (on an as-needed basis) more cheaply, but the value to them is not simply in their actual use of the house/boat/whatever, but in the ownership itself. They derive value and enjoyment simply from the knowledge that they could go use the house, or take out the boat, whenever they wanted, even if they don't actually exercise that option very often. It may not be a wholly rational choice when viewed from a purely economic perspective, but that's because humans aren't anywhere close to rational economic actors if you fail to take into account intangibles.
      - Xurinos 16y ago
        Sure. These choices are part of what separate the rich from the poor (economically).
        anamax 16y ago
        Rich people are more likely to have vacation homes. It's unclear that the extra economic cost of that choice explains why they're rich.
    - anamax 16y ago
      > When it comes to square footage, this is like any other investment on potential. If it is not exercised, then it sits there, taking the extra heating and cooling, adding to your taxes, and so forth. You're ignoring the intrinsic value of space, the value of privacy, and so on. That's why I asked about a greenbelt around a city. It's land that just sits there, yet people seems to value that. I could cram all my stuff into about 1/4th the space. It would be quite busy. Space makes it tranquil.
  - dkarl 16y ago
    I'm 33 and my old room at home is still half-full of my stuff. Guests sleep there once or twice a year, but other than that, it's wasted. The only thing that would bother my parents is competition for the TV, and that could easily be fixed by another TV. Actually, my parents would probably love me to move home because I cook sometimes and because I buy better beer and coffee than they can bring themselves to pay for.

That's not really fair. My parents and my gf's parents both have houses with empty space that we could live in that's not being used. Essentially the space is being wasted. I bet many people's parents have similar available space (probably left over from when you were a child and living with your parents already). My gf, who is Chinese, would love to live with her parents (thankfully she is even cheaper than I am). She nags me constantly about the $500 we pay our landlord every month for our apartment. Unfortunately, I was raised in the US where living with your parents after you graduate from school is a social faux pas.

anamax 16y ago
> Essentially the space is being wasted. Would you say that an undeveloped greenbelt around a city is wasted? Empty space in a house is both an option and space. The latter is quite valuable. Also, some people value the privacy.
- Xurinos 16y ago
  I read something from a real estate blogger that has stuck with me since: People often pay for a bunch of space they do not need, even use. The argument that the space is an option is the same argument used to justify why someone would need to keep some random piece of garbage in their garage, taking up space. "This is a potential hobby of mine, so I am keeping this around," says a guy on the "Too much clutter in your house" reality show. The disconnect here is that what people HOPE to use is not what they are using in REALITY. Buy what you expect to use immediately or in a definite foreseeable future with a timeline. Get rid of things that merely represent possibilities; in many cases, those things become obsolete anyway. You might as well try to get a return on your investments when others might find immediate value on them. When it comes to square footage, this is like any other investment on potential. If it is not exercised, then it sits there, taking the extra heating and cooling, adding to your taxes, and so forth. Buying bigger than you need has more costs than the initial sale. A good budget keeps in mind all these flows.
  - Kadin 16y ago
    A lot of people are willing to pay for 'possibilities.' In other words, they derive intangible value by keeping that possibility around, regardless of how often they may actually exercise the option it gives them, if ever. Many people have vacation homes or own boats that they rarely use, and could probably rent (on an as-needed basis) more cheaply, but the value to them is not simply in their actual use of the house/boat/whatever, but in the ownership itself. They derive value and enjoyment simply from the knowledge that they could go use the house, or take out the boat, whenever they wanted, even if they don't actually exercise that option very often. It may not be a wholly rational choice when viewed from a purely economic perspective, but that's because humans aren't anywhere close to rational economic actors if you fail to take into account intangibles.
    - Xurinos 16y ago
      Sure. These choices are part of what separate the rich from the poor (economically).
      - anamax 16y ago
        Rich people are more likely to have vacation homes. It's unclear that the extra economic cost of that choice explains why they're rich.
  - anamax 16y ago
    > When it comes to square footage, this is like any other investment on potential. If it is not exercised, then it sits there, taking the extra heating and cooling, adding to your taxes, and so forth. You're ignoring the intrinsic value of space, the value of privacy, and so on. That's why I asked about a greenbelt around a city. It's land that just sits there, yet people seems to value that. I could cram all my stuff into about 1/4th the space. It would be quite busy. Space makes it tranquil.
- dkarl 16y ago
  I'm 33 and my old room at home is still half-full of my stuff. Guests sleep there once or twice a year, but other than that, it's wasted. The only thing that would bother my parents is competition for the TV, and that could easily be fixed by another TV. Actually, my parents would probably love me to move home because I cook sometimes and because I buy better beer and coffee than they can bring themselves to pay for.