Simple Manifesto #34 – Consider a smaller home

This is part of our series on The Simple Living Manifesto. We invite you to join us on the journey.

The 34th idea in the manifesto is:

Consider a smaller home. If you rid your home of stuff, you might find you don’t need so much space. I’m not saying you should live on a boat (although I know some people who happily do so), but if you can be comfortable in a smaller home, it will not only be less expensive, but easier to maintain, and greatly simplify your life. Read about downsizing your home here.

Tumbleweed Tiny House, Sebastopol, California | Photo by nicolas.boullosa

We’re actually in the process of moving into a new home ourselves — however not to a smaller home as Leo suggests.

We’ll be going from a 3 bedroom home to a 4 bedroom home that’s roughly 500 sq. feet larger (granted we’re also adding two infants (we’re expecting twins!) to our home in another seven months or so.)

Personally, I’m huge fans of folks who are able to downsize into smaller homes or apartments. I think it makes a lot of sense.

Folks like Tumbleweed Tiny House (pictured above) and Portland Alternative Dwellings have great plans and options for downsizing.

But while it might exciting to consider cutting down the size of my house to 200 sq. feet or less (just think of the smaller electric bills!), I have to keep in mind that minimizing has different meanings and outcomes for everyone — you have to make it work for you.

And right now, downsizing our home isn’t in the cards for us.

So while we’re not minimizing in size, we’re minimizing in other areas…

Smaller yard size
Living closer to the elementary school (3 blocks away)
Taking advantage of two neighborhood parks
Living a LOT closer to family (aka babysitters)

Joshua Becker writes:

Many people that I speak with get nervous when they hear the term “minimalist.” For them, it conjures up images of destitution, barren walls, and empty cupboards. Rightly so, they decide that is no way to enjoy life.

Believe me, I agree – that is no way to enjoy life.

Maybe that is why I have been called a “rational minimalist.” I have become one of the leading proponents for “rational minimalism” and wear the label with pride. If you walked into our home today, you would not immediately deduce that a “minimalist” lives here. When you look in our living room, you would see a television, couches, books and childrens’ toys (probably some on the floor). In our coat closet you would find a variety of coats, boots, mittens, and gloves. In our toy room downstairs, you would find a video game system and probably more toys on the floor (unless we cleaned them up before you arrived, of course). Since deciding to become minimalist two years ago, we have been on a journey to define what that means for us.

We live in suburbia. We have two small children. We are active in our community. We love to entertain and show hospitality. While not exceptional, our life is not identical to anybody else. It is our life – nobody else’s. And if we were going to become minimalist, it would have to be a style of minimalism specific to us. It would require us to ask questions, to give-and-take, to identify what we most value and be humble enough to change course when necessary.

So take advantage of every opportunity you can to minimize — but remember to make it work for you.