Collaborative Post
A few years back, the charity Shelter released a report on how increased housing costs were causing stress and depression for millions of people across the country. According to the research, a whopping one in three adults – around fifteen million people in the UK – said that basic housing costs were causing stress and depression in their families. Things like paying the mortgage and spending on upkeep were eating into the budgets and preventing them from building their wealth.
When they dug a little deeper into the statistics, things got even worse. Data suggested that household bills kept one in four people up and night and the same proportion said that it caused arguments with other family members, including kids.
This state of affairs got us thinking. Is living in expensive accommodation on a financial knife edge really worth it? Or should we all take a much more relaxed view of our living arrangements? After all, our kids don’t really care where they live, so long as they have the love of relaxed and available parents.
The findings of the research were, in many ways, a wake-up call for the millions of families across the country living in a chronic state of stress. The research was a reminder that seeking material gain comes with extreme psychological costs for many people, some of which can even lead to relationship breakdown.
So what can we do about this issue? How can individuals deal with rising housing costs and ditch the stress?
Here are some ideas.
Care Less About What Other People Think
Sometimes it’s worth being honest with ourselves about why we own such large houses in the first place. Is it a practical matter? Or do we care what other people think and that’s driving our decisions?
If it’s the latter, then the question you need to ask yourself is: is it worth all the stress? Probably not when you really think about it.
Visit A Financial Professional
You can also try seeing a financial professional, such as a mortgage broker, to see whether you’re paying too much to lenders.
What is a mortgage broker? Glad you asked. A mortgage broker is an independent professional who advises on which mortgage you should take out, given your circumstances. They don’t receive a commission from the lender if they’re independent, so they are usually neutral as well.
Downsize
Lastly, you might also want to consider downsizing. In life, we like to believe in making progress – always moving onto bigger and better things. But that can lead to trouble, particularly if we move too fast for our finances to keep pace.
In some cases, downsizing can be a relief. Mortgage payments and utility bills are much lower. And because you have a smaller area to manage, you spend less time cleaning as well, freeing you up to enjoy more time living leisurely.
Housing costs are rising thanks to various factors outside of the average person’s control. But that doesn’t mean that you have to put up with them.
