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2 homes?
caring4kids Apr 24 2006, 09:46 AM Post #1
Have any of you houseparents kept your home? Is it possible to pay your bills
at home & at your home/job?
webmaster Apr 24 2006, 09:20 PM Post #2
My wife and I have a home. The facility that we work at does not provide a
private apartment for houseparents. When they go on relief they have to pack up
and move to the relief apartments.
We found that we didn't enjoy living out of suit cases and plastic tubs all the
time so we purchased a small fixer upper. It serves several purposes:
When we go on relief we only have to pack our daily wear clothing.
It provides therapy for me to work on when we are on relief.
It provides a sanctuary for us and our birth children away from the home and
the daily hustle and bustle of the home.
It provided a home for one of the girls that grew up at the home we work at
that aged out (She is getting her own apartment next month)
It at times seems like a burden:
Like when I have to find an afternoon sometime during my 29 day shift to get
out and mow the lawn.
When something major breaks and I have to come up with the money to fix it
(Like the $1800 I had to come up with last spring when my drain field clogged)
When I write my mortgage and tax check every month for a house I spend 6 days
out of every 5 weeks in.
The good thing is that it is a very good investment and has appreciated almost
50% in the two years we have had it because of the work we have done. And when
we retire we will have our own place, something very few long term houseparents
have at the end of their service.
As far as whether somebody else can afford to do it; I think it depends on the
facility you work at and the housing market in which you live. It's pretty easy
for me in rural Mississippi, but if I lived in San Diego, where my dad is, I
don't think I could afford a box under the overpass. Also the last facility we
worked at we never could afforded it, we just didn't make enough
caring4kids Apr 25 2006, 05:17 AM Post #3
QUOTE(webmaster @ Apr 24 2006, 11:20 PM)
My wife and I have a home. The facility that we work at does not provide a
private apartment for houseparents. When they go on relief they have to pack up
and move to the relief apartments.
We found that we didn't enjoy living out of suit cases and plastic tubs all the
time so we purchased a small fixer upper. It serves several purposes:
When we go on relief we only have to pack our daily wear clothing.
It provides therapy for me to work on when we are on relief.
It provides a sanctuary for us and our birth children away from the home and
the daily hustle and bustle of the home.
It provided a home for one of the girls that grew up at the home we work at
that aged out (She is getting her own apartment next month)
It at times seems like a burden:
Like when I have to find an afternoon sometime during my 29 day shift to get
out and mow the lawn.
When something major breaks and I have to come up with the money to fix it
(Like the $1800 I had to come up with last spring when my drain field clogged)
When I write my mortgage and tax check every month for a house I spend 6 days
out of every 5 weeks in.
The good thing is that it is a very good investment and has appreciated almost
50% in the two years we have had it because of the work we have done. And when
we retire we will have our own place, something very few long term houseparents
have at the end of their service.
As far as whether somebody else can afford to do it; I think it depends on the
facility you work at and the housing market in which you live. It's pretty easy
for me in rural Mississippi, but if I lived in San Diego, where my dad is, I
don't think I could afford a box under the overpass. Also the last facility we
worked at we never could afforded it, we just didn't make enough
We would like to keep our home in Ohio because our daughter will need somewhere
to stay while she finishes college. She can't afford rent on a part-time fast
food income. We would also like to come back "home" on our time off to be
closer to family. I always like to have backup plan--with 2 children at home,
you just have to have one!
--Vonda
momof10 Apr 28 2006, 07:01 PM Post #4
We have a home that we own and go to during our off time. We have a week
on/week off schedule so it really works for us. Sometimes though it is
aggrivating since we go out of town so much so we don't really get to have
"home" time often.
As Michael stated, it is great to have an investment. Our home has appreciated
100% (Florida) since when we bought it in 2002.
We set our water heater on vacation mode, up the air conditioning so it won't
run the whole time we are gone. Our utilities are not that bad concidering what
they used to be when we both worked "normal" 9-5 jobs.
Hope you figure things out!
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