The following I published exactly nine years ago! We still live in this home that we moved into in 1994. It is 2020 now. So, more than nine years ago we were already contemplating a move to somewhere else. Here is what I published in 2011, November 08:
https://auntyuta.com/2011/11/08/our-dream-home/
When we saw the ad in the brochure, we thought immediately, that this could be our dream home. It was rather low priced. It was close to Goulburn Railway Station. It was also near a shopping centre with an ALDI store close by. What more could we want?
This could be our Dream Home! It was as simple as selling our present dwelling, buy the new place and end up with something like fifty thousand Dollars saved in the bank! People told us, but Goulburn, it is a bit out of the way, isn’t it?
No, we said, not at all. There’s the Railway Station close by. We hop on the train and are in Sydney in no time. The pensioner excursion trip to Sydney still costs only two Dollars and fifty cents! We can even go from Goulburn to Newcastle for our two Dollars fifty!
But you cannot do such a long trip that often, was the objection. We were asked, how often we were then going to see our children. How often do we see them now? We asked back. We pointed out, that we more or less only saw them for birthdays and Christmas anyway. We could still see them on those occasions, when we lived in Goulburn.
So we were all set to make the move to Goulburn, when it suddenly dawned on us, that the new place would need some renovations first. Renovations? At our age? Much too difficult! If we paid someone to renovate for us, we’d probably end up with no money left in the bank.
This is the end of the story. We are not going to sell our home and we are not going to move to another place.
POSTSCRIPT
I wrote the above exactly three years ago. In the meantime we’ve become more and more aware that our present home does need renovating. Somehow we just keep putting it off. In another three years we are going to be in our eighties. Maybe if we just put our time and energy into this home we are in now, we can keep living here even in our eighties. If we don’t come up with some major health issues, then maybe we do not need to go to a Retirement Village, even though living in a Retirement Village at an advanced age would make living a lot more comfortable for us.
In our area to buy a place in a Retirement Village costs about twice as much as what we’d be able to pay if we sold our present home, which just isn’t worth that much on the market. So a Retirement place in our area is out of the question.
Then about a year ago we came up with a new idea. That is, we found out that in a place about half way between Sydney and Melbourne we could buy a Retirement place for less than half the price which it would cost here in our coastal area. This place would be further away from Sydney than Goulburn but it would be closer to Melbourne where our son lives. And this place has a railway station, the same as Goulburn! But of course the trips would cost a bit more than two Dollars and fifty cents.
It would be good, if one way or another we could make up our minds about were we want to spend the last years of our lives. It looks to me, we’ll probably leave everything the way it is. For the time being anyway. Maybe we already live in our Dream Home! When we moved in here, the place was brand new and just perfect for us. We’ve been very happy here for the last seventeen years.
TaggedAlbury /WodongaAustraliaHealth aspectsLife in AustraliaOld AgeRailway StationsRenovationsshopping centresSydney
- Hello, Auntie Uta. How are you? As they always say, “Home is where the heart is.” So true in your situation. As we all get older, familiar surroundings become more and more important. Your home might need some work here and there but I’m sure it’s filled with memories—every inch of space inside and around it. How can one begin to part with such a place? I’m with you there.
Now that we’re empty-nesters and our daughter has decided to live in the city, our house seemed too big for us. We thought about moving. We thought about “down-sizing.” We searched for an alternative place to call our own. In the end, we chose to stay. We enjoy our home and our yard. We still like our neighborhood. We like the place where we buy meat, produce, and any comforts. We like going to the farmer’s market once a week. Or even eat at the burgeoning restaurant selection in our little downtown.
And so stay we shall!Reply auntyutaEditHi MOL!I agree with you: Home is where the heart is. As always you make me open my eyes to a lot of things. Your comments are very stimulating. Thank you so much for stopping by!In our case it’s probably time to give away a few things which we collected over the years. We accumulated too much stuff, that’s very obvious. Don’t they say: Less is more?In September 1964 when I had just turned thirty, we moved into our first home. It was a very small cottage, newly built on our block of land. We felt we were in heaven! It was a fantastic experience for us to move into our own brand new home. We stayed in this place for the best part of thirty years. On my sixtieth birthday we moved into our present home. It is a bit larger than our first home was. We love it very much. You’re right: ‘How can one begin to part with such a place?’Now, I ask myself, how on earth can we achieve to live in a less cluttered place? When our youngest daughter has a bit of spare time, she sometimes sets herself the task to unclutter a few cupboards for us. Actually she started on that a few times. Would you believe, it never takes very long for some more clutter to take up all the empty spaces! For instance, we keep most of our old video-tapes, including an old video-player. All this takes up unnecessary room. Why is it so hard to throw the old stuff out? Most of the videos we haven’t watched for ages. Are we ever going to watch them again? Probably not. So why do we keep them?Reply
MuniraEditMay you be followed by good health, wherever you decide to go Reply
Kate KresseEditWe are going through some of the same decision processes…trying to decide whether to get a much smaller house to try to save $$. trying to downsize possessions. also trying to help my mom do the same thing when i go visit her. i can part with things a bit easier than she can. but oh my i find it almost impossible to get rid of books! I use a lot of different books with my tutoring—i have an entire shelf full of math textbooks so that I can show my students various examples and provide them with a lot of quiz and test questions. May you and your husband keep your health so that you can enjoy wherever you live.Reply
AuntyUta 
Just stopping in to see how Peter is doing…and how are you doing, Uta?
(((HUGS))) for both of you ❤
Every day is a bonus, Carolyn. The doctor advised Peter today to take stronger painkillers when the pain gets just too bad. When every movement hurts, it is best to take stronger painkillers. He should keep moving a bit for as long as possible. This is better than just sitting in a chair all the time.
Hugs from both of us! 🙂
Thank you for letting me know how you are both doing.
You lovingly remain in my thoughts, heart, and best wishes.
(((HUGS))) ❤
Thanks, Carolyn! 🙂