Home buyers are trending towards smaller homes and down-sizing their personal fleet of vehicles from four to two.  More and more realtors are blogging about these exact trends.  Builders are re-thinking their futures and moving towards building 2,000 square feet homes, as opposed to 5,000 square feet.

It is true that a larger home means a larger mortgage payment, larger tax bill, higher utility costs, and so on–not to mention extra maintenance and up-keep.  Remember, the more money a person spends now means the less they will have for retirement (which means the more years a person will have to work).  When someone works feverishly to earn 10k per month but then spends 10k plus another $1.00, what is the point? What if that 10k per-month job disappears?  Then what?

Most of us consume far beyond our means.   What is it going to take to reverse this way of living?  Unfortunately, many people are being forced to do it now due to job loss and foreclosures.   Painful lifestyle adjustments need to be made and a new mindset of spending less has to be learned and passed on to our children.  These types of “life lessons” are priceless.

If you have questions about your mortgage, give Craig Ballhagen at MyFirstBoiseHome.com. Tell him you read it here at The Shopping Nazi.