9 Ways Downsizing Your Home Will Improve Your Life - Life's Little Pleasures and Struggles

33 Shares

When we hear of downsizing one’s home, empty-nesters often come to our minds. We think of couples whose children have grown up and left the home, and they find the expenses and maintenance of a larger home unnecessary and too much to deal with, so they choose to move into a smaller space. But the many benefits of downsizing can be equally enjoyed by people – even with younger kids – trying to simplify their life, free up their time, and improve their finances.

Over time new single-family homes are getting bigger and more expensive everywhere. Yet many people feel that they don’t actually need all of that extra space for a comfortable living, and would rather save money on housing costs and focus more on meaningful things that add value to their lives. Some people may consider downsizing as a negative or embarrassing thing. But bigger isn’t always better and sometimes less is actually more!

In a recent survey, 60% of people who live in a house of 2,000 square feet or more said that they would prefer their next home to be smaller, according to MarketWatch.

Benefits of Downsizing Your Home:

Downsizing is growing in popularity, and it’s not surprising that downsizing has become a big trend in the USA and other Western countries in the recent years. Finally, many of us came to realize that we are simply drowning in our stuff! Any idea how much stuff? According to the LA Times, the average U.S. household contains 300,000 items! That’s crazy!

There comes a time when a big house with lots of stuff becomes too much for many, making downsizing a tempting option. Some people decide to downsize to a smaller home once they find that there are many benefits of downsizing. A smaller home means smaller bills and a smaller set of responsibilities. But it’s not just that. There are some other benefits you might not expect. What are those benefits? How can it make your life better?

This quick guide will show you how downsizing your current home can actually improve your life significantly by shifting your focus from material things to the things that are truly important and meaningful.

1. You will spend less time and energy for cleaning

A smaller home comes with less square footage and smaller living space. That means you will spend less time cleaning your place. Every square foot of downsizing that you do removes a square foot of daily or weekly dusting and cleaning. You won’t have to stress about keeping your home neat and clean. You can easily incorporate that cleaning time into your daily or weekly routine.

Also, you don’t have to hire a cleaning crew for doing that job for you either. That will not only save you time and money, but also make you happier by reducing your mental and physical stress.

2. You can easily declutter and organize your home

Living in a smaller home requires you to ruthlessly edit your possessions. That makes decluttering and organizing your stuff a lot easier. When you choose to downsize and live in a smaller house, you also choose to live with less. Less stuff means less mess and less clutter.

You carefully choose your furniture pieces and other stuff that are necessary and user-friendly, because there is not much space for unnecessary, extra stuff. Anything that doesn’t have a place or use becomes a clutter. So, you kind of get into a forced decluttering habit when you live in a smaller home. That results into a more organized home where you and your family can relax comfortably.

3. A smaller home is easier to upkeep

People who have never owned homes are often surprised by how much time, effort, and money it takes to maintain them. A bigger house can make life harder with its upkeeping and maintenance. Bigger homes with more rooms and furniture require more cleaning and upkeep, which can be time-consuming and leave you feeling preoccupied and exhausted. By downsizing your home, you reduce the amount of work you will need to do, and can enjoy a more carefree lifestyle.

Anyone who has owned a big house knows the amount of time, energy, and effort it needs to maintain it. Living in smaller home can make you happier because it requires less of those things to accomplish that task.

Also, the more space you have in your home, the more it will cost you in repairs and maintenance. And the opposite is true for a smaller home!

4. You get more freedom to do the things you love and enjoy

Downsizing to a smaller home will free up your precious time to do the things you really love and enjoy. Having a larger home means working more hours and for more years to make the mortgage repayments, keep up with the repairs, maintenance, and cleaning. The bigger it is the more time you are going to spend cleaning and organizing it. And if you are in an older house, there is an endless honey-do list.

Downsize to a smaller home, and you will have more time and money to engage in the activities you are passionate about such as traveling, enjoying new hobbies, pursuing higher studies, and volunteering for a worthy cause. More time doing the things you want to do and less time doing the things you have to do!

Downsizing will give you the chance to intentionally create new healthy habits, too, to show yourself more love. These include habits of productivity, exercise, diet, and self-care. Plus, the money you save from downsizing your home can be put into your vacation funds to explore new things and create more memories!

5. You will be able to spend more quality time with your loved ones

Have you ever noticed that people who live in smaller homes tend to spend more time with each other?

Having a large home can feel a bit isolating and disconnected. One of your family members is at one end and the other at another end of the house. You don’t get to see each other much even though you are living under the same roof!

But a smaller home results in more social interaction among the members of the family. With a limited amount of space, people are simply forced to interact more with each other. When everyone is thrown together into a small, cozy living area, that allows for more interaction between the family members. As a result, these people get to know one another much better.

Thus, downsizing your home and living in a smaller house can help you improve the quality of your life by strengthening your relationships with the people that matter most.

6. Your monthly rent or mortgage payment will be more affordable

According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, Americans spend twice as much on housing than they do on anything else. Housing expenditures average 34% of our take-home pay. And if you live in a major metro area, such as New York or Los Angeles, your percentage may be even more.

When you choose to downsize and live in a smaller home, your monthly rent or mortgage payment will become easily affordable. You will save a significant amount of money each month that you can spend on other necessities or luxuries. This can be a huge stress reliever for many people who might be working longer hours just to afford the larger mortgage payment or losing their sleep over the big house payment.

7. You can pay off your debt fast and boost your savings

If you have outstanding debt of any kind, including personal loan, student loan, or credit card debt, downsizing your home can help you pay off those debts in full – faster than you thought.

How does downsizing help?

Well, if the mortgage payments on your new, smaller home save you even a few hundred dollars per month, you can put some or all of that money toward debt payments. A few hundred dollars more per month can cut many years off of the lifetime of your debt – saving you hundreds and thousands of dollars in interest.

If you aren’t drowning in debt, or if you already have your debt payments under control, you can put the extra money toward savings. When you are trying to build a healthy emergency fund or put money into a retirement fund, the money you save from downsizing can make that a lot easier and faster.

For example, it’s often recommended by Financial Gurus that you save at least 10% to 20% of your household income in an IRA account or 401(k) retirement plan. If you can’t quite afford to save that much of your income, downsizing your home can free up a few extra percentage points of your income to save for your golden years.

8. You can live in a more expensive, beautiful neighborhood if you want to

Have you ever dreamed of living in a neighborhood that was just too expensive for you? If so, you may find that downsizing gives you the ability or the financial freedom to do so. The four-bedroom single-family home in that dream neighborhood might have been too costly, but the two-bedroom condo might not be.

Downsizing to a smaller home or moving to a less expensive neighborhood can often save you hundreds of thousands of dollars on a loan. On top of this, you will have extra money in your budget as you won’t be paying as much to maintain, to heat, or to cool your smaller home.

9. You can retire early

Have you ever thought of how much quicker you could retire after you downsize?

By downsizing to a smaller home, you could have a smaller mortgage payment, lower insurance costs, lower maintenance bills, lower utility bills, and lower taxes. Not only will you be able to increase your savings for a quicker retirement, but you also won’t need to save as much money to live comfortably in your golden years due to your reduced expenses.

Depending on the location and the size of the home, some families could save $10,000s, even $100,000s more over 15 years by downsizing and moving to a smaller home early before retirement. That’s huge!

When you deliberately downsize your home, you choose to live with less, both materially and physically. Either way it’s a choice to live intentionally – on your own term. The financial benefits of downsizing are real. Combine the money results with these unexpected benefits and you will be thrilled to leap into this!