Modern lifestyles - progress?

[ExFlyBoy5]

One of the things I love about my 70's house is the very large two car garage. We can park both cars in there and open ALL the doors COMPLETELY! As a bonus, is part of the basement so there lots of storage for the DW's Christmas decorations. But...the living space is a tad bit more than 2000 square feet and is still too big for me.

Sent from my mobile device so please excuse grammatical errors.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We are looking forward to downsizing and I think DH and I have finally agreed on where to live. That only took 4 years. We're just waiting for the last kiddo to leave the nest for good. DH convinced me when we were raking leaves (and there were a lot) that if we lived in a townhouse or condo we'd could be going off camping in the Redwoods that afternoon instead of doing yard work.

I worked on cleaning out the garage today. It feels right getting rid of clutter.

 

[Amethyst]

Don't blame suppliers. Blame tasteless customers who only want cheap.

Amethyst

One thing that struck me when we visited relatives in Spain and Italy numerous years ago is that they didn't have as much "stuff" as we do, but what they did have was of very high quality. I think of it as Walmart and Christmas Tree Shop's fault.

 

[RetiredAndFree]

I am very proud of the fact that I have a two car garage, and I park both our cars in it. A rarity in my neighborhood.

Yep. Us too... and we're close to the only ones. Several families manage to squeeze one car in the 2 car garage... but almost no one has both cars in it.

We park in our two-cars in our two-car garage as well unless I have some building project going that I need the cover. That said, we still have a lot of "stuff".

We also park both our cars in our 2-car garage. It is curious why so many neighbors don't. The Clampetts (as I call them, to DW's partial chagrin) next door have 3 cars in the driveway, none in their 2-car garage...still packed with boxes after more than 5 years in the house.

Does it mean I win if we not only park a car, but also our travel trailer in our two car garage?

 

[JoeWras]

Funny that a travel trailer is mentioned. I think they are a great idea, but we're stepping back from it because of the "stuff effect."

It will take another parking spot. It will have to fed and cared for. Stuff to support it will be bought and stored, etc.

We like motelling it when we travel and may just stay that way. My only problem with that is bedbugs.

In any case, I admit I had an extra car until last month. A junker, if you will. Finally woke up one morning and realized this extra car was just a PITA and causing more to deal with in life. So it is gone now. Now time to get rid of some broken down furniture.

 

[RetiredAndFree]

Funny that a travel trailer is mentioned. I think they are a great idea, but we're stepping back from it because of the "stuff effect."

It will take another parking spot. It will have to fed and cared for. Stuff to support it will be bought and stored, etc.

We like motelling it when we travel and may just stay that way. My only problem with that is bedbugs.

In any case, I admit I had an extra car until last month. A junker, if you will. Finally woke up one morning and realized this extra car was just a PITA and causing more to deal with in life. So it is gone now. Now time to get rid of some broken down furniture.

I'm with you on this, trust me. We use our travel trailer about 100 days a year, so it's been fully vetted and found to be 'justifiable' both from a cost and storage impact perspective.

EDIT: I just added up our usage days for 2014 - 147 nights out. So it would appear the excess 'stuff' might actually be our home, not our travel trailer!

 

[Live And Learn]

My [-]cheapskate[/-] LBYM tendancies have kept me from "life creep" for the most part and it's one of the reasons I can even contemplate ER at age 52.

Both cars are in the garage, and always have been. I do have a dishwasher and a microwave, which we didn't have in our first home, but they both substantially save me time. Our first home was 1600 sq ft. When we moved 8 years later our second home was 1,800 sq ft. 8 years after that we moved to a 2,800 sq ft house which was way too big but still less than 1/2 what the Bank approved us for. We're now in a 1,500 sq ft home which is "just right".

And I still don't have a smartphone, but I do have a tablet (wifi only).

 

[imoldernu]

I grew up here, from 1936 til marriage in 1958. The house is 787sq. ft. Dad and mom rented the house for $7wk... 3BR, 1BA, living room. dining room, kitchen and pantry. No hot water until 1943... carried kettle from stove to 2nd floor BA on Saturday night. No phone until 1950.
One and a half miles to school... no school busses then. We walked back and forth, and came home for lunch, as there were no school lunches or cafeterias then. So 6 miles a day of exercise...Lunch break.. 20 minutes walk, 20 minutes for lunch at home, and 20 minutes walk back.
My bedroom was 2nd floor left, and my brother's on the right. Both dad and mom worked in textile mills... she a weaver, he a loomfixer who worked the night shift. 10PM to 7 AM. The textile industry was up and down, even in the war years, so layoffs were common when orders were slow. In the busy times, dad worked 60 to 70 hours a week... layoffs were usually a few weeks, and I can remember some hard times (though it didn't seem that way to me), when we had potato peel soup.

I never felt poor, though I usually had holes in the soles... with cardboard inserts that melted when it rained... Biggest disaster was the winter when my buckle galoshes leaked.

Worst memory... I was the last kid in the school to wear knickers... It was war years and the elastic that was supposed to tighten below the knee, was artificial rubber, and it just hanged... hung?... so I pretended to myself that the knickers were pants and wore the beltline low. Finally mom bought me some regular pants at the Army-Navy store... A milestone!

That, and the fact that I inherited a violin from my 18 year old uncle who was killed when his B24 crashed over Poland in 1943. ( he was the tail gunner, and couldn't get out, though the rest of the crew parachuted to safety).... sooo I had to take violin classes. My friends played trumpet, and drums. Ya just had to be there... (was allowed to quit after two years, and had reached the 6th position).

Times were different. Learned to love horse meat fried in butter... lard when rationing coupons ran out.

Best thing... we had a car... none of my closest friends' families had a car. It was a 38 Oldsmobile and rusted out... After the war, dad and I painted the car with the then "new" latex paint... a miracle invention. It was called "powder puff" painting... We used big cloth "puffs to apply the paint.

Enough... If we had had the money then, we could have bought the house for about $7000. It sold in 2006 for $240,000, and the current Zillow price is $137,000.

Ummm...so what was the subject? Doesn't take much to set off memories.

 

[Live And Learn]

Ummm...so what was the subject? Doesn't take much to set of memories.

Lovely post - thank you for sharing your memories.

 

[HFWR]

Seems to me that microwaves and dishwashers aren't really the problem, since they're relatively inexpensive, and have only a small effect on ongoing expenses...

 

[robnplunder]

Same here, and I don't understand why. Every home in this development has at least a one car garage. Most are two car garages. We were thrilled to have it - the car and truck stay cleaner longer, they don't have the deterioration from exposure to extremes of temperature and UV rays so they last longer, no more scraping ice & snow or getting into a heat-soaked car in summer. This is the first time either of us has had that luxury.

And yet most people leave their second most valuable possession outside to store junk in the garage. I must be abnormal because I just don't get it.

Er ... I keep one car in my 2 car garage b/c DW and I have only one car.

We tend to create our own lifestyle rather than follow the latest trend. If I feel I'd need a smart phone, I will get one. I spend a lot of effort to keep my life to be simple as possible. After coming back from work, I don't need any other complication. Golf, TV, internet, and I don't need much else.

 

[travelover]

Does it mean I win if we not only park a car, but also our travel trailer in our two car garage?

That is the best hidden trailer hitch I've ever seen.

 

[Nodak]

The house I own in my home town is 1000 square feet and is plenty big enough for me. I have decided to return there the end of May. The apartment I currently rent is 850 Sq Ft. As far as I'm concerned if my dwelling is bigger than I can clean in one day it is too big.

 

[Amethyst]

I smell an oxymoron in here somewhere...

I spend a lot of effort to keep my life to be simple as possible. .

 

[Walt34]

I spend a lot of effort to keep my life to be simple as possible.

I smell an oxymoron in here somewhere...

It does sound a bit like a Ziggy cartoon.

When I first moved into my house after the divorce I had a corkboard mounted on the kitchen wall near the phone for sticking up notes, phone #'s and the like. It had Ziggy on it and in big print "Stuff I gotta remember not to forget".

Sadly DW didn't like it so now it's down in the basement.

 

[Letj]

Um, whose fault is it? Maybe look in the mirror? If people want to stop doing this over-accumulating, they should just stop doing it. It doesn't take an act of Congress not to live in a too-big house with too much junk cluttering it up.

Its conditioning from all the mind numbing commercials Americans have been exposed to from childhood.

 

[Walt34]

Its conditioning from all the mind numbing commercials Americans have been exposed to from childhood.

That's a big part of it. Just today I heard part of a radio commentary that Amazon now is working on a way to advertise its wares. While one is in the bathroom.

Great. Is there no shelter from the onslaught of advertising?

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Its conditioning from all the mind numbing commercials Americans have been exposed to from childhood.

I enjoy the Internet and forums like this as it gives me alternative ideas on how to live. Advertising is everywhere, but I had to really seek out cool ideas on how to simplify our lives and do more LBYMs.

 

[RetireAge50]

The cars are waterproof so no need to have them taking up valuable space for the motorcycles, bicycles, golf clubs, camping gear, recycle bin, etc, etc.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

I grew up here, from 1936 til marriage in 1958. The house is 787sq. ft. Dad and mom rented the house for $7wk... 3BR, 1BA, living room. dining room, kitchen and pantry. No hot water until 1943... carried kettle from stove to 2nd floor BA on Saturday night. No phone until 1950.
One and a half miles to school... no school busses then. We walked back and forth, and came home for lunch, as there were no school lunches or cafeterias then. So 6 miles a day of exercise...Lunch break.. 20 minutes walk, 20 minutes for lunch at home, and 20 minutes walk back.
My bedroom was 2nd floor left, and my brother's on the right. Both dad and mom worked in textile mills... she a weaver, he a loomfixer who worked the night shift. 10PM to 7 AM. The textile industry was up and down, even in the war years, so layoffs were common when orders were slow. In the busy times, dad worked 60 to 70 hours a week... layoffs were usually a few weeks, and I can remember some hard times (though it didn't seem that way to me), when we had potato peel soup.

I never felt poor, though I usually had holes in the soles... with cardboard inserts that melted when it rained... Biggest disaster was the winter when my buckle galoshes leaked.

Worst memory... I was the last kid in the school to wear knickers... It was war years and the elastic that was supposed to tighten below the knee, was artificial rubber, and it just hanged... hung?... so I pretended to myself that the knickers were pants and wore the beltline low. Finally mom bought me some regular pants at the Army-Navy store... A milestone!

That, and the fact that I inherited a violin from my 18 year old uncle who was killed when his B24 crashed over Poland in 1943. ( he was the tail gunner, and couldn't get out, though the rest of the crew parachuted to safety).... sooo I had to take violin classes. My friends played trumpet, and drums. Ya just had to be there... (was allowed to quit after two years, and had reached the 6th position).

Times were different. Learned to love horse meat fried in butter... lard when rationing coupons ran out.

Best thing... we had a car... none of my closest friends' families had a car. It was a 38 Oldsmobile and rusted out... After the war, dad and I painted the car with the then "new" latex paint... a miracle invention. It was called "powder puff" painting... We used big cloth "puffs to apply the paint.

Enough... If we had had the money then, we could have bought the house for about $7000. It sold in 2006 for $240,000, and the current Zillow price is $137,000.

Ummm...so what was the subject? Doesn't take much to set off memories.

Where is this house? I seem to recall you grew up in RI, and I think there were some textile mills around Cranston, or thereabouts.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Folks, remember the economists telling us: "It's a Consumer Driven Economy".

If you aren't buying lot's of stuff that you may or may not need , you are not doing your part to keep the economy rolling.

(only halfway sarcastic )

 

[imoldernu]

Where is this house? I seem to recall you grew up in RI, and I think there were some textile mills around Cranston, or thereabouts.

We lived in Pawtucket. There were dozens of mills all through NE... DW's dad owned a warping factory in E. Providence.
The history of the New England Textile Industry is absolutely fascinating. My entire extended family (both sides) was employed in one fashion or another. Grandma was a Cluett, of Cluett & Peabody,,, manufacturer of Arrow Shirts Pic #1
My folks worked mostly at Lorraine Mills Pic #2
and we lived about a mile from
Sayles Bleacheries Pic #3

Cranston had several mills including Cranston Print Works, which lasted until 2009.
http://www.wbur.org/2009/05/28/factory-shutdown

 

[aja8888]

Speaking of old textile mills.....When I was Engineering Manager at a large, old brass mill in Ansonia, Connecticut in the mid-1970's, we had a 1000 KW operating hydro electric plant that provided some power to the powerhouse that was built on the plant site in 1911. The hydro wheel and generator were shot and I found a "sister" hydro at a shut down textile mill in Baltic Mills, CT. We pulled it out and used the parts off it to rebuilt ours. (Nothing like rebuilding a decades old hydro electric plant with no new parts available.)

That old textile mill was shut down in the 1950's or so and still had the overhead belt drives on the looming machinery on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Actually, most of the physical plant utilities and wood floors were still intact. The plant was owned by some bank in NY, and at the time,wanted us to buy the whole place, but we declined.

 

[imoldernu]

Just a wee bit more on the mills... The Sayles Bleachery not only bleached fabric, but also dyed it. The distance between the Bleachery and Lorraine mills was about 2 1/2 miles. The little stream shown in the Lorraine drawing, was the Rosebud Canal and in the early days served as a barge route between the two mills... carrying fabric back and forth. There was a trail along the canal, used by mules that towed the barges in the 1800's, then replaced by a shortline railway in the early 1900s. The canal also served to carry the "used " water from the bleachery to the blackstone river and then out to sea in Providence. The water changed color every day, depending on the dye being used. It was on the way walking to my Jr. High School and we would bet on the color of the water before we got to the bridge over the canal.

 

[imoldernu]

Speaking of old textile mills.....When I was Engineering Manager at a large, old brass mill in Ansonia, Connecticut in the mid-1970's, we had a 1000 KW operating hydro electric plant that provided some power to the powerhouse that was built on the plant site in 1911. The hydro wheel and generator were shot and I found a "sister" hydro at a shut down textile mill in Baltic Mills, CT. We pulled it out and used the parts off it to rebuilt ours. (Nothing like rebuilding a decades old hydro electric plant with no new parts available.)

That old textile mill was shut down in the 1950's or so and still had the overhead belt drives on the looming machinery on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Actually, most of the physical plant utilities and wood floors were still intact. The plant was owned by some bank in NY, and at the time,wanted us to buy the whole place, but we declined.

Wow!... My stepfather was a mechanical engineer for several different mills in the 1920's through the 1950's. He would tell me stories of the horizontal hydro turbines that powered many of the mills... not electric, but belt/mechanical power. The long forgotten canal system that went throughout RI. Mass, and Ct. was a combination of power, transportation and travel. Strange that there is very little written history of this very significant part of the industrialization of America.