{"id":260,"date":"2024-02-12T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/invaluable-simplicity\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T18:52:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:52:13","slug":"invaluable-simplicity","status":"publish","type":"essays","link":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/essays\/invaluable-simplicity\/","title":{"rendered":"Invaluable Simplicity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last July, we moved into a new rental house, and despite our excitement about landing in NorCal, leaving Colorado was an exhausting move. By our first day in the new house, my nerves were fraying at the edges. And that\u2019s when I heard it: Beep beep beep. Beeeeeeep, beeeeep, beeeeeep<\/em>. Beep beep beep<\/em>. <\/p>\n

My husband angled his ear toward the ceiling. \u201cWait,\u201d he said, \u201cThat\u2019s morse code for SOS.\u201d (It’s at this point I learned something useful came from his months spent away at military officer training school.)<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s the old security system?\u201d I shouted back, scrolling through the PDF our landlord had sent us with the code that apparently needed to be punched in every so often when the ghost in the machine acted up. I entered the four digits into the defunct keypad by the garage door. Nothing. Beep beep beep. Beeeeeeep, beeeeep, beeeeeep<\/em>. Beep beep beep<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \u201c<\/span>A rogue fire alarm? A carbon monoxide detector alerting us to noxious fumes? Wait, am I starting to feel sleepy?\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
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Growing increasingly frazzled, we passed from room to room. A rogue fire alarm? A carbon monoxide detector alerting us to noxious fumes? Wait, am I starting to feel sleepy? <\/em>There was no obvious source. Beep beep beep. Beeeeeeep, beeeeep, beeeeeep<\/em>. Beep beep beep<\/em>. <\/p>\n

We finally zeroed in: It was coming from inside the ceiling in the lofted area of the second floor. We looked at each other, wondering how the hell we\u2019d reach\u2026whatever it was\u2026in the brains of our home. I sent a video to our landlord (filmed by pointing my phone at the nothingness of the beeping ceiling, paired with my text rendition of the pattern). <\/p>\n

One rickety ladder ascension into the attic later, we had removed the beeping leak detector from the overflow pan of the home\u2019s upstairs A\/C unit and scheduled a repairman. <\/p>\n

Something like this\u2014a rogue sound, a weird smell\u2014happens approximately once per month, and almost always in the middle of the night. Fumbling around in the dark, we try to solve the puzzle. (A recent episode: Did a skunk crawl under the chimney and die?<\/em>) Sometimes, I just have to laugh at the ways our home\u2019s inexplicable quirks reveal themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When we lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Dallas, I always figured our living situation was something we should aspire to graduate from as soon as possible. Getting into a house\u2014preferably a large one, in the ~suburbs~!\u2014seemed like the \u201cfinal destination\u201d goal, and unmistakably better<\/em> than what we had. (While previous generations tended to experience this advancement by purchasing<\/em> their first home(s), we\u2019re millennials who move every two years, so we rent ours<\/span><\/a>.)<\/p>\n

So as we got older and earned more money, we shifted into our first single-family home in Colorado, then this bigger<\/em> single-family home in Sacramento. The progression seemed natural; admirable, even. After all, most young and middle-aged adults don\u2019t intentionally downsize in square footage or quality in their living spaces as they accumulate wealth. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \u201c<\/span>I was surprised when I started to feel something akin to nostalgia for our simpler two-bedroom apartment days.\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
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But after moving into our current home\u2014objectively the nicest place I\u2019ve ever lived, as an adult or otherwise\u2014I was surprised when I started to feel something akin to nostalgia for our simpler two-bedroom apartment days.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before my landlord reads this and kicks me out for unpaid gratitude, don\u2019t get me wrong: There\u2019s a lot I love about this house. My husband and I have our own offices and studios (his for music, mine for podcasting). We have a guest room and bathroom that\u2019s made it possible for us to host comfortably. We even converted the formal living room into a home gym to make spontaneous workouts easier. (Upon seeing our behemoth of a squat rack where his loveseat used to be, the owner simply said, \u201cWow, okay.\u201d) We even have a hot tub, which makes regular afternoons feel like vacations (with a view of a small lake, no less!).<\/p>\n

But there are perks of a less palatial life that I find myself missing now that going anywhere means getting in a car and driving for at least 10 minutes. I can\u2019t pop next door for coffee anymore or walk down the block for groceries. Cleaning this place is a part-time job that takes a full workday\u2019s worth of time and energy. We pay a small fortune to heat and cool it; at this point, PG&E should begin their earnings calls by personally thanking us for our contributions to their bottom line. And sometimes, when the first of the month rolls around and I Venmo our landlord an amount of money that would make my parents blush, I think, \u201cI miss renting one-half of a two-bedroom apartment.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Life back then might\u2019ve had far fewer amenities, but it was also a hell of a lot simpler <\/em>(and, it goes without saying: cheaper). When things feel complicated or high-stakes now, that simplicity calls to me like a refuge. This is (probably) natural: My unexpected yearning for those days might speak more to the low stakes of the time period overall, rather than reflect a genuine real estate preference for sharing a sink.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \u201c<\/span>I just quietly assumed that \u2018bigger\u2019 and \u2018fancier\u2019 necessarily meant \u2018better\u2019 and \u2018happier.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
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But I never seriously considered much of this when I was house-hunting\u2014the fact that tripling my space also meant tripling my utilities bills, or that I\u2019d be unable to reasonably keep up with the cleaning myself, or that it would take an hour to locate and disarm rogue beeps. I didn\u2019t worry much about the fact that I wouldn\u2019t be able to walk to restaurants or fitness classes or even public transportation anymore. I just quietly assumed that \u201cbigger\u201d and \u201cfancier\u201d necessarily meant \u201cbetter\u201d and \u201chappier.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

That more money (and the space, access, and luxuries it can buy) offers linear growth in lifestyle and happiness is a widely held assumption<\/span><\/a>. Ramit Sethi tells a story of a woman he asked what she loved to spend money on: Top Shop<\/em>, she had responded. So he asked what would happen if she was able to 10x her fashion spending: \u201cTop Shop bags, everywhere!<\/em>\u201d she exclaimed. Even when we\u2019re dreaming<\/em>, we can\u2019t help but apply a direct 1:1 scale. <\/p>\n

Sethi\u2019s point in this exercise is to ditch the linear thinking: Spending more doesn\u2019t necessarily mean having literally<\/em> more.<\/p>\n

Despite these truths, it is<\/em> hard to shrink your lifestyle once you\u2019ve expanded it. I can imagine someone reading this and going, \u201cWhat\u2019s stopping you, Zoomer? You\u2019re a renter. Just move into a smaller place!\u201d We likely will, once we leave our duty station here in Northern California. But beyond logistics, once you get accustomed to certain luxuries like a home office and home gym (or buying new clothes every month, or going out to dinner every night, or insert lifestyle-creep of choice here<\/em>), the idea of forgoing these luxuries feels like a loss<\/span><\/a> that might even supersede the joy of gaining them in the first place\u2014even if they\u2019re not totally delivering on the happiness anticipated. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \u201c<\/span>Most upgrades operate on a power law: 20% of the enhancements will be responsible for 80% of the joy.\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
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I would never tell someone not to expand their lifestyle at all\u2014just to do so cautiously, and with approximately 50% more intention than you\u2019d assume is necessary. <\/p>\n

Am I happier now? Sometimes, when I\u2019m closing out a long day from the hot tub, I think I really might be. But am I three times<\/em> happier? Certainly not. The happiest moments in our new house have been the ones where friends or family have visited and stayed in our guest room, something we couldn\u2019t offer to loved ones in our apartment or first home. This goes to show that, yes, material improvements can<\/em> improve your quality of life, but most upgrades operate on a power law: 20% of the enhancements will be responsible for 80% of the joy, and the remaining metaphoric square footage will just leave you vacuuming extra rooms on Saturday morning and pining for your shoebox of vinyl flooring and vibes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last July, we moved into a new rental house, and despite our excitement about landing in NorCal, leaving Colorado was an exhausting move. By our first day in the new house, my nerves were fraying at the edges. And that\u2019s when I heard it: Beep beep beep. Beeeeeeep, beeeeep, beeeeeep. Beep beep beep.  My husband […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2493,"template":"","meta":[],"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260","essays","type-essays","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money-psychology"],"yoast_head":"\nInvaluable Simplicity - Money with Katie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/essays\/invaluable-simplicity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Invaluable Simplicity - Money with Katie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last July, we moved into a new rental house, and despite our excitement about landing in NorCal, leaving Colorado was an exhausting move. By our first day in the new house, my nerves were fraying at the edges. 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