After 3 months of lockdown, I suddenly decided I needed to “freshen up” our decorating. A new rug and lamps here, a slip cover there… I know it was a reaction to COVID. Normally, I work part time and look forward to travel. With big trips out of the question, I have amused myself with this little home freshen-up, going to the pool in the evening when it is empty, and hanging out with my college-age daughter who is also stuck at home. Sometimes I get the urge to buy and house and renovate or move, etc. but I know after COVID passes I will be very happy right where I am. My husband has been taking up new hobbies lately so I think COVID has gotten to him as well!
We did sell our big house and relocate to a nearby town 4 years ago. It really gave my husband and I a burst of energy and excitement. We love being in town, walking to shops, etc. I would recommend it.
This question intersects with our retirement plan conversations – which are now pushed back because of economic uncertainty from pandemic. But I can dream, right!
I love my work and hope to keep my job for another 8 or so years, until I get to actual retirement age. But, if I could wave a magic wand, I’d move back to NY to be close to family and friends and continue to work in my field. None of that is financially practical, however. We live comfortably in the midwest but our salaries would not (even if we could find comparable work) increase enough to support the same quality of life in NY.
I’ve certainly enjoyed living in the midwest to raise our kids. The pace is manageable, and I’ve been able to get involved in volunteer/non-profit board work in a way which would not be possible in a major metro area. But now that the kids are out of the house, it’s a quiet place to live and my extrovert self is going nuts in quarantine. The hope of some city life energy would be such a treat.
I retired from an academic job at 60, got another one for three years. Sat at home testing retirement since January. I like it and I’m busy enough, but getting a monthly salary deposit is nice…
So at 64 I have a new job, with tenure to 75, and a million bucks to buy sorghum related lab toys …
We are coming into a nice chunk of change a lot earlier than anticipated and I’ve been mulling over what, if anything, I’ll do. We’re already retired, not going to move or downsize, money was already planned and set aside for weddings, grad school.
Pre-COVID-19, I’d be thinking personal trainer, but I won’t be going to any kind of gym for a long time plus procedures I’m having done on my hands preclude me from any weight training involving them for at least 6 months. No travel for the foreseeable future.
Like @abasket wrote at the beginning, I can’t imagine the next (last?) 30-ish years of my life in this state of mind. Sigh.
ZEEBAMOM, My neighbors have a personal trainer come to their house twice a week. They work out on driveway and run on street. He has music going and they now have lots of equipment (weights, mats). He is so good I heard another talking about hiring him.
Anyway, good luck with your hands. Down the line, I’m sure you can find a trainer eager to do home visits.
And did I mention she is a widow? Had to do this on her own.
There are many challenges that can arise with plans to relocate. This was one friend’s story. And its not uncommon. Those who have a smooth experience should consider themselves lucky. Most everyone I know who has moved has not described it as a fun experience! There is the idealized plan, and then the reality of doing it!
My husband’s brother and wife are in this position. They lived in a beautiful house on a lake outside Minneapolis. Two weeks ago, they sold it for a boatload of money. They have moved into a smaller rental house. The transition has not been easy. They are just mired in indecision. On one hand, they think about moving to Vermont, because they like the Burlington area and it’s so much more economical than their city. On the other hand, two of their three kids are nearby and they want to stay close to them. But they realize those two could relocate in a heartbeat (they’re both engineers who aren’t thrilled with their current jobs, their first professional ones). My BIL is turning 60 soon and is worn out. He seems so discouraged.
Moving is a lot of work. How many times have we all moved in a lifetime? Right. We have done it before and can do it again if so driven.
I would never plan to sell and move and expect it to be a smooth process. Make the glass half full or half empty. You chose. Right now the glass feels half empty so I would be willing to work to make it half full. Half empty is no way to live.
I’ve moved 11 times. It never, ever goes smoothly. I hope to not move again for a very, very, very long time. I can see one more post retirement move to a condo so we can more easily lock up and go travel (assuming we go back to a pre-Covid world at some point but we’re 15 years away from retirement so lets hope so).
If you choose your move as part of your “fresh start”, even with the inconveniences and inevitable pitfalls, it is still exciting and a net positive. Glass MORE than half full.
I guess I inadvertently got my fresh start in 2006 when we left Dallas to move to TN for a job for me. We never expected to leave Dallas, and had retirement plans (complete with property) for Colorado. We took a big leap leaving my husband’s lifetime home state and mine of 30 years, and the move and adjustment certainly had some challenges. The kids were mainly out of the house (college) but we were still leaving their “home”. We feel so grateful and blessed that we wound up where we are, though. I think I would feel a lot more dissatisfaction if we were still in Dallas- and I sure wouldn’t still be working!
This. No one is disputing that having a new home can be fun and exciting. And sure, its fun to dream about a new place. But the reality of preparing a house for sale, dealing with the sale/closing of both one’s current and new home, packing, getting rid of stuff, etc. is anything but fun and exciting. And for me, it sounds like a PITA. If someone else thinks its fun and exciting, that’s great- for them. Maybe if someone enjoys redecorating they can look into becoming a house stager or a decorator. That sounds like a bit more fun. It comes with different set of potential hassles, though.
Other than perhaps the military and very high level execs, mostly gone are the days when some outside company handles the sale, the packing, the move, etc.
There are still some companies that are kind and generous with relo assistance, but its not like it was.
ACTUALLY, cleaning/discarding/sorting through my house would make me so happy! ACTUALLY, redecorating a home for ME is personal and something I’d get great pleasure out of - not doing it for someone else.
I have never had a moving company. I have never had a cleaning person. We are largely DIY’ers. We have survived! And enjoyed a few "fresh starts’ along the way in life. I’m ready for another one! I’m willing and accept to shed some blood, swear and tears along the way!
Its great that we can all discuss what brings us joy, what we each like and dislike. That is what makes life interesting. I am speaking for myself and in generalities, not about any one other person’s personal choices. Hope that is coming through clearly.
Moving (locally) is a lot easier when you can afford to own both properties at the same tine and do it gradually, taking the time to sort and toss what is not needed. This is what we did locally. We hauled all of our stuff piece by piece, just me and my husband - in our cars and pickup truck. No movers (our young friends helped us with a couple of heavy pieces), no moving vans. So far, three years later, no regrets. It was not a piece of cake move, but it was not back breaking either, and we sort of enjoyed the teamwork.
We did a huge downsize from the house in which we raised our family to move to another state. Huge, huge clean out. Then we lived in a rental for 18 months (with the majority of our possessions in storage) while I supervised the first stage of restoration and building of an addition to our present home: a pristine & untouched antique, in the middle of nowhere, abandoned for 50 years and considered unsalvageable by many. It wasn’t even for sale.
The project began with jacking it up and replacing one of the sills. It included dismantling the falling down chimneys, keeping the original bricks, finding matching bricks (had to be local to match, because local clay) and having chimneys rebuilt to match early photos of the house. with period mortar. which required special permission from the state. We bought a same period, already almost completely tumbled down house a few miles away to salvage matching woodwork, floors, doors for our addition. on & on & on
It was my fantasy bucket list dream project since childhood, and I am very happy how it turned out, love living here, but the process was not enjoyable. I had to fire folks. It took too long. When I got to more than twice my original budget, I just quit keeping track. It’s going to be a millstone around the kids ’ necks when we are gone, because no one else will want it, and they’ve already been warned they are just going to have to be satisfied selling it for the acreage, because there really isn’t a market for mid 19th c living. Some visitors have refused to believe the kitchen/bathroom addition isn’t more than 150 years old. Someone actually argued with me. I guess they thought I was lying??
Since this wasn’t my first old house restoration, I understood it always makes more financial sense to buy someone else’s project than undertake your own. However, I probably would have always regretted not doing an untouched property, even if it took a few years off my life. On the plus side, it did keep me way too busy to obsess over and nag my young adult offspring during those years. And it’s pandemic paradise…
We have done a fair amount of redecorating/updating over the years. Yes ultimately its enjoyable but during the process there are fun times and headaches.
As for cleaning/throwing away, someone posted on facebook several months back a cute meme. It was something like “I always said when I had the time I’d clean out my closets and cabinets> I have discovered that time is not the problem”.
My sil had to help her parents clean out their home and move to a condo. I’d like to think that I can get ahead of de-cluttering before it’s a huge project for my children. I try not to get too attached to “things” or material objects.
I think that moving or not moving is a very personal choice. And if it’s something you want, you will figure out a way.
But most of all, don’t wait until it’s too late and you are too old to make a change. I don’t want to waste my prime retirement years waiting for the day when I’ll feel ready to make that change. Because that day may never come.
