I went looking for a new place to live today…
First, I toured a competing apartment complex nearby. The unit was very nice but the kitchen, which is probably the MOST important thing to my wife, was SO small.
Then, I looked at two different duplexes that would save us approximately $300/month in rent. They were both acceptable. However, there was a gloomy, discouraging feeling to both of them.
When I returned to our our brightly lit living room and our relatively roomy kitchen, I decided to stay put.
My family already lives with a certain amount of rootlessness where we are. That is only natural after living in the same house for 19 years.
When people ask me how I like Kansas, I am incapable of answering. I don’t know. I haven’t started working yet. I’m temporarily staying in an apartment. I have no routines. We (maybe just I) haven’t settled down and started to put down roots yet.
In considering these other places, I couldn’t escape the feeling that moving into a place that doesn’t feel good to come home to will add much more than $300/month in psychological costs. I don’t know how to quantify it but at this point, I am willing to spend the money to stay in a place that we like.
