What you pay EACH DAY to live in your house? Housing costs reality check.

A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair the rest of his life.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


I get antsy to get out of my house...often. I have a lovely home, a large garden, and televisions in each room, but still wanderlust hits me most days.

And yet, I like most people pay or did pay, close to $77 a day for the privilege of living here. And with rent rates like that, I really feel I ought to be here more.

At the most basic, to live here, I pay electric, gas, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and until recently, a mortgage. In order of costs, it breaks down like this.

Our mortgage, when we had one, cost roughly $1200 per month. That breaks down to about $40.00 per day.

Our real estate taxes are $6000 a year, or a bit over $16.00 per day (you better believe our kids are going to public school;-).

Our electric bill averages $162 per month or $5.42 a day.

Our gas bill, averaged over the year is $4.50 per day.

Our house insurance is about $1.83 per day. .

Add to that, maintenance costs, which are suggested at 1% per year. http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=25490855
That means with inflation, your maintenance costs will continue to go up.  Our house is valued at $250,000 so according to that estimate, we will pay $2500 per year maintaining it - that includes roof, windows, furnace, hot water heater, etc.  And that would be minimum.  My guess is ours is higher.  But at that figure, we spend another $208 a month or $6.94 per day on maintenance.

As I mentioned, we are lucky to have paid off our mortgage, but still, that leaves almost $37 a day to be here. So what are the options?

We love our home and neighborhood so have no intention of moving, certainly not "buying up".  At the same time, it does leave me pondering how to reduce the cost per day.  At $37 a day, divided into six main rooms, we spend $6 per day, per room to live here.

Without a mortgage, we still pay $1110 a month or $13,320 a year for housing costs. 

Tomorrow, before I hit the open road for some coffee house to settle into for a few hours of work, I will see if my own home may suit me as well. :-)

Knowledge + Action = Financial Independence!

Now You

Take fifteen minutes and add up the costs of your monthly mortgage, real estate taxes, electric, gas, and insurance and divide by 30. Now you know what your digs cost you each day. Maybe it's time to downsize, or simply stay in a bit more and enjoy those accommodations