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:
Stephanie says
Thank you for this thoughtful post, Joshua. I agree with the premise completely. Bigger is most definitely not always better. In fact, my husband and I are gearing up to move from our 1,789 square foot house…into an RV…to travel the USA and help people…with our two little girls in tow! We can’t wait. :)
Outdoor Curtains says
Yeah. I’m totally agree with that 12 reasons why I’m much happier in a smaller house. Specially the #8. It encourages a family bonding. In our house mostly my brother and I won’t see each other because we had a big house and we had a different work schedule.
Becky says
I’m really enjoying your blog. :-)
My sister and her husband bought a very large house a few years ago. He died suddenly this winter, leaving her alone in that big house. She’s finding it difficult keeping up with all the cleaning and regular maintenance by herself, and because of the expenses, she’ll have to find a roommate in order to afford to stay there.
My husband and I live in a small 2-bedroom ranch. After watching what my sister has gone through, I’m happy to stay right here. If something happens to my husband, at least I’d be able to stay here by myself without a roommate, unless I choose to have one.
Howard Hulett says
My wife and I met this morning and we are moving foreward slowly. But the idea is so good and timely. As our economy shrinks and utilities increase we are all are going to try ways to find ways to economise. We need to learn that stuff is not only of no value it can be a negative value. Watch out for the pitch man!!
Howard Hulett says
my wife and I live in a 1400 sq foot home with a large back yard. We are just begenning to deal with the “stuff” we have accumulated over the years and we are intriegied with ” Minimalist’ we move slowly. Lets see how it works.
Mary says
We live in the midwest where housing is inexpensive compared to most of the country. Our house is 2400 sq ft with 5 bedrooms worth about $230K. Our youngest of 5 children will graduate from high school next year and we will happily sell and move to a smaller, 2 bedroom house with a tiny yard! We can hardly wait! The kids all ask where everyone will stay when they come for the holidays. I tell them to pack a sleeping bag and bring money for hotels. :)
Jenna says
I have always told my children if they truly need to come home they are more than welcome they will have to make do with the living room.
#1. Rule to guest they tend to stink after three days (grown children who need time to stand on their own two feet / guess what if you make them too comfortable they never want to leave/ so don’t ! / watch the movie failure to launch/ don’t keep spare rooms for the “what ifs” it is cheaper to rent them later and have a wonderful vacation together if need be or blow up the air mattress and let them sleep on the living room floor they will have jobs in less than 3 months! and be out and on their way.
Howard Hulett says
“My dad said whiskey is made to sell not to buy” This is true of so many things.
Femi Wuraola says
Wise saying from your Dad, never thought of it like that.
Pippi says
Ahh, so easy to say when you live in a place with affordable housing. I would LOVE more space. But then, I’m part of a family of soon-to-be 4 living in an 850 sq. ft. apartment. Possible? Absolutely. But definitely a challenge when guests come to visit, among other drawbacks. And small doesn’t equal cheap here. To buy an equivalent place we’d spend over 300,000 plus condo fees.
That said, our dream home is a three, maybe four bedroom house with a small garden and garage/storage shed (we need a place for those bikes!) that is a luxurious 1400sq.ft. I could easily have a third child with a place like that. That is my idea of big house!
Katie says
We’re in the same boat. Housing is nuts here! I have no desire to go into a half million dollars debt to buy a cardboard shack.
My dream home is a small house with a backyard for our dogs to enjoy, a vegetable garden, a shed for bikes and gardening supplies. That would be perfect.
Beth swan says
I grew up in a small house and always wanted a bit more space so we purchased a home with three bedrooms thinking we were being conservative in a land of mcmansions. Turns out that it was my thoughts that were small, not the home I grew up in. We have 1400 sq feet and two wee ones, and I am wishing for something more like 800sq feet. More time to spend with the littles and less on house maintenance, cleaning, arg… TOO BIG!
Katie says
My mother keeps nagging us to move into a bigger apartment because ours is “too small”. I always reply “it’s fine! we just have too much stuff!”
The only downside of this place, size-wise, is that there’s no storage for off-season things like camping gear, gardening supplies, skates and skis (we actually use that stuff). So we have to stash it all around the apartment in trunks and closets. I would happily live in a teeny tiny place if we had a small storage room for that kind of stuff.
Jessica says
I feel your pain with the storage problems.
My husband and I live in a 300 sq ft studio apartment.
For the most part, it fits our needs just fine. However, there are certain things like camping gear, surf boards, bikes and emergency kits that I wish could be placed in a storage area that wasn’t the main living area.
Jenna says
I found a self storage located near my home for all of these items for $25.00 per month. I have it fixed up like a room and I can easily locate what we need quickly and the $25.00 per month is a great price for this type of storage. Christmas Tree, Roasting pan for /Turkey at Thanksgiving, camping etc….
Crystal says
We had a small apartment with a new baby…although we had a very large walk in closet and our patio there was a small closet for “extra storage” we decided from day one to rent a small storage unit – $25 a month. We are both minamalists so to speak (we dont keep stuff thinking “oh maybe I can use it tomorrow”). The $25 didn’t break the bank and it was priceless to be able to keep out off season clothing, large tools, etc. in the unit and out of our apt. We are now homeowners and ended up living in the apt. for a little over 2 years and never once have we regretted having rented a storage unit. We saw it as a necessity.
l Jackson says
Have you got any family or friends that would store your stuff for a few bottles of wine or restaurant vouchers each year??
Tracey says
I moved from an 800 sq ft home to one with less than 400 sq ft. The living, dining and kitchen comprise one room of less than 100 ft. Best part is, I don’t buy stuff because it will look cute. Every purchase I make has to be carefully considered because there’s just no room.
It’ been great and the rent couldn’t be better!
Jenna says
We moved our office home and moved two people into 480 sq.ft when the recession hit. I love the size of the home for the most part although I do think 150 sq ft more to 200sqft more for two adults and an office would be ideal. What I miss most. A washer and a dryer. What I discovered is all the things listed on the above list far out weigh having a washer and dryer. Our little house is tucked away in the woods and is about 2 hours from the city and what I miss more than anything is the city. Dr’s appointments are four hours on the road. (other than that and car care we have found you can get everything online so you end up missing the city for two things healthcare and car care.
Again two things that I am okay with but I have learned to give these things of convience up for a lot more money in the bank.