In some cases, less really is more. According to a recent poll of baby boomers born between the mid-1940s and the mid-1960s, approximately half the respondents indicated that they planned on downsizing. Similarly, members of the silent generation are also downsizing in large numbers.
Understandably, downsizing can be an emotionally and mentally taxing process. Leaving the family home can be challenging, as can editing your belongings to fit in the new home. But bidding goodbye to your big home and the lifetime of items populating it can be a liberating experience – both financially and emotionally.
If you’re on the fence about moving to a smaller home, here are a few upsides to downsizing. Consider these before making your decision.
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A Chance to Save Money
The first, perhaps most obvious, upside of downsizing is that it can save money. Reducing your belongings means you can reduce your required square footage; reducing your required square footage reduces your monthly mortgage. Expressed a different way, you are actually paying a premium every month to store your excess belongings. “Trimming the fat,” so to speak, can help put that money back in your pocket.
Additionally, moving to a smaller home saves you money on utilities. After all, the larger a home is, the more energy it demands to heat and cool.
Fewer Home Responsibilities
Cleaning a three-story house made a lot more sense when you had a herd of kids at home. Now, moving up and down the stairs, vacuuming thousands of square feet in floors, dusting cabinetry that stores items you no longer use and weeding a garden no one plays in – it’s not the best use of your precious time.
With a smaller home, you have fewer responsibilities. You can get the cleaning and maintenance done in a fraction of the time, leaving you a wide-open schedule to enjoy retirement or free time from work.
Help Throughout the Process
One sticking point you often hear from those thinking of downsizing (but who haven’t made a final decision) is that the process seems laborious. Granted, it is laborious – if you do it alone.
Luckily, you don’t have to downsize on your own. Find a quality company that offers downsizing services for seniors who can help you sort through your belongings and coordinate moving. A compassionate, professional downsizing service will work with you to edit your belongings and stage your home for sale. They can also manage every step of the move, from packing, unpacking, coordinating movers and setting up your new home.
An Opportunity to Live Freer
Without the weight of all that clutter, you can breathe easier, live happier and greet the next chapter of your life without feeling tied down. Without those overwhelming responsibilities, you can travel more, relax more or make more time for socializing (depending on your personality). And the extra money you save moving to a smaller home allows you to spoil yourself on occasion. Isn’t that what getting older is all about? You worked hard all your life – now it’s time to reap the benefits!
