Here We Go Again, Military Moves

Moving again, I mean. Only this time we might move off post. We can live on post and that's what we did the last time we were at Fort Leavenworth. But as the Beaver said, "Do we have to live in the drafty old run-down ghost ridden 4700 square foot historic house that sits overlooking the Missouri River?" Well, no, we don't. But that means house hunting and though it is a good time to buy with interest rates so low and the $8,000 tax credit; it's kind of hard to do on the internet!

I have been trying! And when we were there last week over spring break we actually looked at a few homes. Here's the thing, Ward and I can't decide if we should go for the dream house or go more modest. I'm for going more modest and still getting a very nice home, maybe smaller than Ward would like, but I'm thinking of our future. I'm not sure we need a 4300 square foot home when in two years the Beaver will be off to school. But I do want a place where everyone can fit when they visit all at the same time. (Including grandkids, hint, hint.)

Ward may be thinking, and rightfully so, that we have sacrificed a lot over the years living in less than ideal military quarters. We were a family of five squeezed into 1200 square feet at West Point! In Korea we survived monsoons, power outages, bugs and separate quarters (Ward lived two hours away). We've rented some nice places over the years, but the Army's allowance was never enough to cover our costs so we always took a beating when we rented.

The thing is we will probably retire in the Leavenworth area, so we probably should buy to get some equity built up. I'm for the smaller home in a nice established area, and Ward's looking at the upscale, good for entertaining, eat up the budget home! There must be a compromise in here somewhere!!

Stay tuned!