---
title: Why You Should Buy the Biggest House in the Neighborhood
description: Teresa Ghilarducci shares her advice about debt and spending. She also suggests that you buy the biggest house in your neighborhood.
authors:
  - name: oliviajeannine8
    url: https://money.com/author/oliviajeannine8/
    at_money_since: 2015
    articles: 2
    covers:
      - Housing
      - Mortgages
    former_staff: true
published: '2015-11-16T18:36:14.000Z'
modified: '2024-04-16T07:30:26.000Z'
section: Housing
tags:
  - Debt
  - economists
  - financial advice
  - real estate
  - Saving
  - Spending
  - video
  - Wealth
word_count: 134
canonical: https://money.com/buy-biggest-house-economist-advice/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

> **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/).

![Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 5.28.32 PM](https://img.money.com/2015/11/screen-shot-2015-11-09-at-5-28-32-pm.png)

Labor economist [Teresa Ghilarducci](https://money.com/retirement-crisis-teresa-ghilarducci/) shares some of the best financial advice she's received, and the best advice she gives. Some of that is about debt and interest; some of it is about how you should pick your friends and your neighborhood.

Early in her career, Ghilarducci asked a colleague whether or not she should buy a car. He reminded her that there are two kinds of interest, one you pay and one that you receive. From that point on, she minimized debt by always paying off her credit cards or having the shortest-term mortgages. She also learned to be mindful of those who make more money than she, because it could lead to jealousy and therefore the feeling of need to spend more money than necessary.

***Read next: [How to Solve America’s Retirement Crisis](https://money.com/retirement-crisis-teresa-ghilarducci/)***

<!-- omitted unsupported block: embed-playbuzz -->

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
      "@id": "https://money.com/buy-biggest-house-economist-advice/#breadcrumb",
      "itemListElement": [
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Home",
          "item": "https://money.com"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Housing",
          "item": "https://money.com/housing/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Home Buying",
          "item": "https://money.com/home-buying/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "Why You Should Buy the Biggest House in the Neighborhood"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "@id": "https://money.com/#website",
      "url": "https://money.com",
      "name": "Money",
      "publisher": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#organization"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://money.com/buy-biggest-house-economist-advice/#webpage",
      "url": "https://money.com/buy-biggest-house-economist-advice/",
      "name": "Why You Should Buy the Biggest House in the Neighborhood",
      "isPartOf": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#website"
      },
      "datePublished": "2015-11-16T18:36:14.000Z",
      "mainEntity": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/buy-biggest-house-economist-advice/"
      },
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "breadcrumb": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/buy-biggest-house-economist-advice/#breadcrumb"
      },
      "dateModified": "2024-04-16T07:30:26.000Z"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Article",
      "headline": "Why You Should Buy the Biggest House in the Neighborhood",
      "articleSection": "Housing",
      "image": [
        {
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/11/screen-shot-2015-11-09-at-5-28-32-pm.png",
          "width": 1145,
          "height": 646,
          "caption": "Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 5.28.32 PM"
        }
      ],
      "author": [
        {
          "@type": "Person",
          "name": "oliviajeannine8",
          "url": "https://money.com/author/oliviajeannine8/",
          "@id": "https://money.com/author/oliviajeannine8/#author"
        }
      ],
      "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization",
      "datePublished": "2015-11-16T18:36:14.000Z",
      "description": "Teresa Ghilarducci shares her advice about debt and spending. She also suggests that you buy the biggest house in your neighborhood.",
      "abstract": "Teresa Ghilarducci shares her advice about debt and spending. She also suggests that you buy the biggest house in your neighborhood.",
      "@id": "https://money.com/buy-biggest-house-economist-advice/",
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "dateModified": "2024-04-16T07:30:26.000Z",
      "wordCount": 134,
      "keywords": [
        "Debt",
        "economists",
        "financial advice",
        "real estate",
        "Saving",
        "Spending",
        "video",
        "Wealth"
      ],
      "about": [
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Housing in the United States",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_the_United_States"
          ]
        },
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Real estate",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```