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.
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About Joshua Becker
I truly understand how downsizing can be beneficial. I sold a large ( large by UK standards ) 4 bed home, to buy a smaller bungalow. Health wise I could no longer manage stairs…. and I’ve found most points made about the benefits of smaller homes to be totally true. That said, I suspect its also a matter of ‘ what you mean by small’. Homes in UK are incredibly small by comparison to the US to start with. Land is more expensive & in short supply. Our smaller home, whilst fine by our standards may well be compared to a large wardrobe… in the US. Whilst expectations and cultural differences are important, there is no denying I love my smaller home…. and highly recommend it.
I’m planning to invest my savings into buying a house, that’s why I’m currently looking for a real estate company that can help me out. I guess you have a point that smaller homes require less time, energy and effort when it comes to its maintenance. Also, I agree with you that with smaller homes, I wouldn’t be obligated to choose too many decorations such as carpet, wall color and window treatments for five bedrooms.
I found it interesting when you said that you get more time to yourself and less time taking care of your home if it is a small house. I hate cleaning and doing chores. I would love to have a small home that I can clean easily and then do whatever I want for the rest of the day.
We have 4 kids, and I don’t want a larger home, but more land to grow and live on. However, I can’t find a home that has enough space (bedroom, even sharing can be difficult if the room isn’t configured correctly) for 4 kids and 2 adults and more land. I’m tired of city life, but I don’t want to buy BIG just to have more land. What would you say to this situation? Thanks.
You made a great point that with a smaller house, there is less cleaning to do and one will be less tempted to accumulate unwanted things. My parents still live in the big house my siblings and I grew up in, and we were trying to talk them into buying a smaller house. I know your benefits will convince them, so we will share the information with them.
I loved hearing of all the benefits of a small home. My family is moving from a large home to a small modest one. We are just starting the purging process and I am feeling overwhelmed by all of our stuff. I know this will be a drastic change but am hopeful we will just love our new space and the time we will have to just be together.
I was quite confused about home size should I look for. The budget was never a constraint and I can easily purchase a large home. But I gave a thought over it and while exploring on the same I came across this great piece. Now I am definitely going for the smaller home. Thanks for sharing!!
I’ve been used to living with my parents’ home which is rather large, but I find that it’s hard to pay for the bills because it needs so much maintenance, and my utility bills are too high for me to pay with this type of house. I think I’ll buy a single-family home if there’s one for sale that’s being offered by a good professional since it’s smaller than the one I currently have. As you’ve mentioned, I can free up my schedule better because there will be less cleaning to do, so this convinces me to move into a smaller home.
We got caught up in the bigger house movement 20 years ago when we moved to the U.S. from the U.K. (where small houses are the norm). After buying a too big for us house, complete with five acres, we sold it after five years and moved back into a smaller house. People in our small midwestern town thought we were either crazy or had become destitute. We have never regretted our downsizing. We raised two children in our small house, became the hang out spot for all the teens, and hosted many parties. Family realizes we are not a hotel and we’ve become inventive with sleeping arrangements. Everyone always has a comfy bed. My now grown daughter brings her boyfriend to stay and my son frequently brings college friends home for the weekend. No one cares if our house is big or small. Friends and family come to see us.
it is too bad there are not more smaller homes on the market. I found out a lot of land CCRs require a bigger home ! this is one reason affordable housing is scarce. RE agents discourage people from building houses smaller than 3 bed, 2 bath . It is an uphill battle from now on. The demands going to exceed the supply imho
We have two kids in middle school, a kid in elementary school, a dog and a bunny. We moved into a bigger house because we felt we needed the space. My concern about downsizing after they move out (which I absolutely want to do), is how to host them when they come visit, especially once they’re married and have their own families. My mom lives in a small house and it’s challenging for us to visit her. Thoughts?
Downsize to where you have a spare bedroom and maybe a sofa bed. If that’s not enough, family can stay at an airbnb.
I downsized from a 3 bedroom to a 1 bedroom with a little study nook. Love that it’s forcing me to get rid of stuff that I haven’t used in years. Bit of initial pain as I didn’t get rid of it before I moved but gradually selling it all so making a bit of extra cash whilst paying significantly less cash on rent. For how often I have visitors stay having a whole extra bedroom makes zero sense too.
Plus, small homes are more aesthetically pleasing.
My mom has been thinking of selling the house to move to a smaller house. It was awesome you elaborated that small houses don’t require much maintenance, and they cost less. With that set, we will reacj¿h out to a real estate agent so my mom can find a small house that suits her needs.