Deborah and I enjoy watching those TV shows where people are looking for a house to buy. Their wish lists and desired house sizes are usually much bigger than their budgets. And they always turn up their noses at any bathroom that is small, especially if it only has one sink. They want a spa bathroom and think they can’t do with less. They should.

We have written before about not buying too much house. That’s the biggest mistake people make – they buy as much house as they’re qualified to borrow the money for and not what they can really afford. Then it takes them too long to pay it off.  Our rule is to buy only as much house as you can pay off in ten years, or less if at all possible!  Roger Schlesinger (The Mortgage Minute Guy) agrees and explains in the video below.

That may mean a smaller bathroom – with only one sink as well. What’s wrong with that? People think it’s impossible to share a bathroom while getting ready in the morning. Deborah and I have been sharing a small, one-sink bathroom every morning, no problem, for almost eight years. Our house has been paid off for almost two years.

So take your pick – small bathroom and affordable sized house, or spa bathroom with the big house and be slave to the bank for many years longer.