Recently, my parents downsized their home to a smaller house.
While on vacation in South Dakota (yeah, I vacation in South Dakota), I got to see it for the first time.
During our stay, I was surprised at how often my mother commented that “they just love their smaller house.” I wasn’t so much surprised that she felt that way about living small (I am a minimalist after all), but I was surprised at the frequency. It was a comment that she repeated over and over again during our one-week stay.
Toward the end of the week, I sat down with my mom and asked her to list all of the reasons why she is experiencing more happiness in her smaller house. And this post is the result.
Some people decide to start living small once they find that there are many advantages to downsizing. A smaller home means smaller bills and a smaller set of responsibilities.
People buy larger homes for a number of reasons:
- They “outgrow” their smaller home.
- They receive a promotion and raise at work.
- They are convinced by a realtor that they can afford it.
- They hope to impress others.
- They think a large home is the home of their dreams.
Another reason people keep buying bigger and bigger homes is that nobody tells them not to.
The mantra of the culture again comes calling, “buy as much and as big as possible.” They believe the lie and choose to buy a large home only because that’s “what you are supposed to do” when you start making money… you buy nice big stuff.
Nobody ever tells them not to. Nobody gives them permission to pursue smaller, rather than larger. Nobody gives them the reasons they may actually be happier if they downsize their home.
Here are 12 reasons why you may be happier if you downsized and bought a smaller house:
1. Smaller homes are easier to maintain. Anyone who has owned a house knows the amount of time, energy, and effort to maintain it. All things being equal, a smaller home requires less of your time, energy, and effort to accomplish that task.
2. You spend less time decluttering. And that should be reason enough.
3. Smaller homes are less expensive. Smaller homes are less expensive to purchase and less expensive to keep (insurance, taxes, heating, cooling, electricity, etc.)
4. Living small means you go into less debt and less risk. Dozens of on-line calculators will help you determine “how much house you can afford.” These formulas are based on net income, savings, current debt, and monthly mortgage payments. They are also based on the premise that we should spend “28% of our net income on our monthly mortgage payments.” But if we can be more financially stable and happier by only spending 15%… then why would we ever choose to spend 28?
5. Owning a smaller house is mentally freeing. As is the case with all of our possessions, the more we own, the more they own us. And the more stuff we own, the more mental energy is held hostage by them. The same is absolutely true with our largest, most valuable asset. Buy small and free your mind. That’s one of the benefits of minimalism.
6. Smaller homes have a smaller environmental impact. They require fewer resources to build and maintain. And that benefits all of us.
7. You free up more time. Many of the benefits above (less cleaning, less maintaining, mental freedom) result in the freeing up of our schedule to pursue the things in life that really matter – whatever you want that to be.
8. Smaller homes encourage family bonding. A smaller home results in more social interaction among the members of the family. And while this may be the reason that some people purchase bigger homes, I think just the opposite should be true.
9. Downsizing your home forces you to remove baggage. Moving into a smaller home forces you to intentionally pare down your belongings.
10. Smaller homes lessen the temptation to accumulate. If you don’t have any room in your house for that new treadmill, you’ll be less tempted to buy it in the first place (no offense to those of you who own a treadmill… and actually use it).
11. You’re less obligated to decorate. While some people love the idea of choosing wall color, carpet color, furniture, window treatments, decorations, and light fixtures for dozens of rooms, I don’t.
12. Smaller homes are in a wider market to sell. By its very definition, a smaller, more affordable house is affordable to a larger percentage of the population than a more expensive, less affordable one.
Downsizing your home and living small is a very personal decision that weighs in a large number of factors that can’t possibly be summed up in one 800-word post.
This post was not written to address each of them nor was it written as a “how to downsize your home” article.
Only you know all the variables that come into play when making your decision.
I just think you’ll be happier if you buy smaller—rather than the other way around.
Useful Resources:
Ali Davies says
My husband and I moved to a smaller home when we moved from the UK to live in Ireland. The result was that it gave us much more freedom on so many levels which gave us more choices in all areas of our life.
Christy Z says
Clearly even the definition of “small” is debatable – I’m seeing 1400 and 1600 sq ft houses being referred to as “small”. After coming back from Zambia, that’s still large! LOL
David Patrick says
Having recently sold my big house and downsizing… I can repeat the mantra “I love my small house” and we love our smaller place for precisely the reasons that you’ve stated. It feels so freeing! And with the extra money you can do so much more with life. It’s grand!
Anne-Marie says
Small is not for us. We rented a smaller house (1000sqft living w/laundry & workshop in unheated basement) while we away on business for a year. We were so relieved to step back into our 2500 sq ft home. We were miserable.
While I agree that people should not be buying more than they can afford, but that’s not always a size issue. Smaller homes do not help you not accumulate because that’s often a personal issue. They are not necessarily cheaper. The resale value depends on the area. Taxes are not based on size in all areas. Insurance is based on rebuilding cost & contents & location more than size. Environmental impact only applies to new homes being built, not existing homes being purchased. So, when you account for all of the unique factors in each situation, size is just a facet.
Colleen says
Hi Anne-Marie,
I can only asume from your response that you don’t heat or cool your home which has a huge effect on the environment whether your home is old or new. If that is right then you are mostly correct. Although for every family living in a home too big for there needs there is a supply and demand effect for larger families that need a bigger home. If there are no pre-existing homes available for them they have no option but to build.
If the home is small but poorly designed which sounds like the case for the one you rented then I have no doubt it would taint your view on smaller homes. Smaller home doesn’t mean too small to suit your needs it means not excessive to your requirements.
Rea says
I love this post. We live in a 1600 sq foot house w/ 2 boys and I work from home so one bedroom is my office/craft/storage room. I have never felt that it is too small for us. When we heard through the neighborhood grapevine that the couple down the street was selling because it was ‘too small’ for them and their new baby we just laughed. (And a quick click on the real estate listing had us saying ‘well of COURSE it is too small if you try to fill it with furniture made for a house twice that size.)
Although I will admit to coveting the architecture of some of the larger homes I see, I’d be just as happy with a small home bearing unique features. I am looking forward as our boys grow to adapting our space to meet our changing needs.
Arenda says
I’m not sure smaller is better when you’re already living in the tiniest house on the planet. Some people do truly outgrow their home, I for example purchased a <1000 sq ft. house with one bedroom two years ago. I have everything I need NOW and for the next year or two. But if we add kids to this equation? Sure the yard works, the rest of the house is big enough to not go crazy… but if we want any sleep and privacy we will have to upgrade to a house with more (SMALL!) bedrooms.
Susan C says
We moved to cut down our commutes. (mine is now 15 min, and hubby cycles) We looked for a smaller home but ended up only 100 sqft less. I still regret not getting smaller, 2 rooms just not used yet still need cleaning.
However we got a nice lot and grow a lot of our won food. *:)
Marcia says
Oh, and I really liked the comment that compared small houses to living on a boat. I have a friend who lives on a boat in the harbor with her husband and two kids.
Marcia says
We have a small (1146 square feet) house with 2BR, 1BA, and no garage. 3 people.
It’s really hard to hold off on the idea of moving sometimes. One friend is trading up from a 1400sf to a 2000sf house because the 3BR house is too small for 2 kids. And they decided to keep the other house because “Family needs a place to stay when they come viist.” I believe the family is actually buying their house (wow, I have a hard time conceptualizing what it would be like to have that kind of money.”
Then there’s another friend who decided to trade up to a bigger house instead of refi their 10 year ARM.
The tricky thing is that our son starts school next year, and we are in a bad school district. So many of our friends are into “trading up” right now for that reason. But we are allowed to transfer.
Of course, my kid wants a new house because he wants stairs. :(
Colleen says
Here, here! I know from experience you are right.