I came across this concept when I saw a YouTube video from a woman who had quit her job to be a full time homemaker and homeschool her kids, while also being a caregiver to her aging mother and mother in law.
She cooks almost all meals at home, has a productive garden and keeps chickens for eggs.
Since her kids are homeschooled, she has setup a study in her home, with bookshelves and desks, next to a cozy kitchen that is fully equipped although small in size.
She and her husband also have a trampoline in the yard for their kids physical activity and entertainment when she needs to do chores.
The notion implied is that she enjoys being home because other than above mentioned reasons, by being home often she and her family are making full use of their home mortgage.
It makes full sense doesn’t it.
A house that is fully used on weekdays and weekends, a place of shelter and comfort and more.
I mean our homes are often one of the most if not the most expensive asset one owns in their life, so shouldn’t it be used well?
A well used home would surely make the monthly mortgage payments feel more worth it.
A similar example may be to purchase an expensive high functioning iPhone for an older parent and have it used only for phone calls, Facebook, WhatsApp messaging and YouTube videos. Other inbuilt features such as advanced camera, fitness tracking, emails, internet banking, online purchasing or other apps such as ChatGPT , Maps, or tools like Google Keep Wallet or even ITunes are completely ignored.
So does it justify the high cost of the phone?
For most of us, myself included, we have busy schedules with work, children and family or social commitments. We enjoy dining out, going for date nights, bringing kids to the mall or swim, music, extra tuition classes.
Back to the topic of utilizing our home use, the thought may well be also that if we are not home often and have a lifestyle that requires travel for most days in a year, maybe a smaller home or apartment may make more sense.
As for me, below is an example of my family’s typical week.
On weekdays we typically leave the house at 6.40am in the morning with the children, and return home by 7pm at night. That’s more than 12 hours away from home.
Weekends we have language tuition classes, badminton or swim class, church and social lunches. Occasionally we bring the children to the mall for weekly shopping and they will then request for desert after which we usually indulge them, as they already have their days filled with school, study, extra curricular activities, and so on.
So do we maximize our home? Not as much.
But we do love our house, although it is further away from town.
These thought came to mind recently because I am on a 3 month maternity leave since February with our fourth child, and my husband was graciously allowed to work from home for the same period by his employer to be by my side, since we stay alone.
So for this duration I ‘felt’ we had fully utilize our house.
We were home most of the time with the baby, we cooked 80% of our meals at home, we went out less and we also brought our kids to the nearby parks and playgrounds, making it an evening walk out for better health purposes.
They still have school and their extra classes to attend to, but because we eat at home for most meals we would have talks around the dining table, catch up on what’s up in school and what they are struggling with, after meals they shower and prepare their bags for school, then read, watch tv, play with each other or play games be it MindCraft on TV or on their tablets .
Our daughter rides her bike around our house, the other started her mini play garden by plating papayas and green beans in little pots, while my oldest boy reads in the hall or in his room, or starts to chase his sisters around outside with his toy gun.
Because we go out less and are home more in this period. We saved on petrol, dining out, and time as we are not commuting around town which takes an hour round trip for us as we our house is located nearer to the suburbs.
And thus we are making the most of our mortgage, in this case.
Although we had already paid off our house a few years ago, I do think that this is a valid point with good reasons to spend more time at home.
To save money, to have more time with your kids and spouse, and now to make full use of your mortgage.
My leave will be ending soon and I will have to commute to work and back to office, but I know now the value of being at home more often.
What do you think?