Downsizing...The best decision we could have made! How to Downsize..,
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For most of our married life, Tom and I have lived in big old houses with our three children. We loved each one...having all that room to roam, and rooms for office space, sewing space, music studio, etc.
Of course, the downside of this is higher utilities during our Ohio winters. But we just accepted this as a trade off for the space these old places gave us.
A couple of months ago, though, we made a decision to down-size. We only have one son living at home with us now, so we really didn't need four bedrooms anymore. Plus, with our income reduced since Tom lost his great job awhile back, the rent we paid was just more than we felt comfortable paying anymore.
So we started looking for another place--a small house, with just 2 or 3 bedrooms. Then one day I found an ad for a 1400 sq. ft. apartment here in town, renting for half of what we were paying in our home. At first, we weren't interested--we'd not lived in an apartment for over 20 years--and had no intention of going back to that.
But, then we thought we might as well check it out...you never know. Well, the apartment turned out to be only one of five units in an old red brick mansion, and was beautiful. Only four rooms--but they are huge! Seven closets(2 walk-ins), 1 1/2 bathrooms(definite plus!), 3 fireplaces(living room, kitchen, our bedroom) 14 ft. ceilings downstairs, and 12 ft. ceilings upstairs in the two bedrooms, which are covered in picture molding, dentil molding, crown molding, you name it! Oh, and all hardwood floors...just beautiful.
We didn't even have to discuss it--we just looked at each other, then told the guy we'd take it. It was everything we loved about old places, but for rent that was so reasonable that we couldn't believe it. Turns out the landlord is an old guy who's had the place forever, so it was long paid for, and he isn't looking to get rich off of his tenants...we just simply lucked out...
But then, the real work began--we had nine rooms and a 2 car garage filled with years of accumulation...have I mentioned that we're major packrats??? Plus we go to auctions on a regular basis to buy items to sell on Ebay, and we had quite a bit of inventory to deal with, also. And, although the apartment had tons of closet space, we did not have a garage, or basement for storage anymore, so we had to drastically cut back on our possessions.
First we went through and found whatever things we thought our kids would want, and let them take the stuff home.
Next, we sorted out what we would have time to sell on Ebay before we moved, and kept just a portion to list after we moved, until we settled in and could start going to auctions again. I had hundreds of books, but picked through and kept about 100 of my favorites, and sold the rest in lots on Ebay.
Then we contacted an auctioneer we knew, and made arrangements to put some of our belongings into his next consignment auction. This included the rest of the Ebay inventory, plus whatever else we knew we couldn't take with us, but could make some money on, . By the time we had everything picked out for him, we had almost filled up our two car garage! He came by and picked it up to keep in his storage building until he had the auction, since we were moving and needed to have it gone.
We also donated a lot of items to a local Veteran's Association. They come by and pick up whatever you want to give, so we made arrangements with them, and one morning, just set everything out on our front porch, and they came by and loaded it into a big truck. We plan to do this on a regular basis now, with household items we can pick up at auctions really cheap--it helps out the veterans, and makes us feel like we're helping just a little bit...
So, after weeks of paring down, we made our move. Now we wonder why we didn't do it a long time ago--we pay out half of what we did before, and we have a wonderful place that we love. We have nice neighbors, and have had very few adjustments to deal with.
Simplifying our lives this way was the best decision we've made in a long time--we don't plan to live here forever, but at this stage in our life, it is the perfect answer!
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Comments
Ivorwen--When we decided to downsize, we swore we would not "downgrade" our lifestyle, and we really feel like we didn't, making this decision...
While we might have given up some perks, we gained a beautiful place to live, and don't feel like we sacrificed a thing...
Our life is so much simpler now, and there's something to be said for that!
Our goal is to someday get our own place out in the country-and be more independent...Living here with our bills so much less might just get us to our dream place that much faster!
Good luck with your plans!
Oh gosh, this strikes a chord with me.. My (ex), me and a son lived in a 1400 sf home and after (he was gone) 12 yearssf apt..one bdrm, from 3 bdrms, 2 huge bathrooms and storage shed.. into 400 sf apt w/1 brdrm, 1 tiny bathroom. My son has the bdroom, I get the rest..till he moves out, then it's alllll mineeee! I was brutal, took 7 loads of stuff not used in the last year to the dump, or gave it to charity.. 9 boxes of books, 15 boxes of clothes and coats. It was crazy but man it felt like I'd shed a lifetime of memories and crap.. (some intertwining there).
Good for you! Do you have room for me?
We are already downsizing in preparation of a move we intend to make in 2 years when my daughter graduates from high school. It's exciting to me! I've always owned my own place, but the idea of renting an apartment and having someone else responsible for lawn upkeep and repairs is exciting.
Feels like we're always accumulating and downgrading, accumulating and downgrading. In the stuff department I mean. It's the same feeling when everything gets cleared and decluttered every so often. Good feeling. How exciting for you. So meant to be, huh?
Tammy
Glad you and Tom found the place that fits your needs. I hope it turns out to be more than what you've bargained for - in a good way of course. Ah home sweet home! :D
We are going thru something similar, wanting to get back to our roots in Oklahoma as we enter the golden years. I want to garden, have a small mini-farm, and write to my heart's content, building my website empire. Lynn will have a parttime job associated with law enforcement again, his one true love, and we'll pair down our belongings, going shabby chic. I love your ideas and know how much lighter your feel!! good luck!! =))
Tammy, it was probably the best thing to do in the current economic climate and great you got to make that decision rather than the bank making it for you!
Candie--Yeah, I guess you do know the feeling, too--it's not what I'd call fun, but it does feel good to have all that stuff gone, doesn't it?
KCC--Tom LOVES the idea of no more lawn to mow, and no repairs--you should've seen how happy he was to give our lawnmower away, lol...
Frieda--We really do feel it was meant to be--it's nice to have that kind of peace!
Cris--Well, Tom was more than I bargained for, and he turned out pretty fantastic, so maybe this place will be the same, haha!:)
marisue--That sounds wonderful for you-good luck with your dream, too! You'll love shabby chic--it's the way we've decorated for over 20 years--and NOT by choice, lol!!
cindyvine--Actually, we had the bank make that decision for us awhile back--when Tom lost his job...we lost our home that we'd owned for about 7 years...that's why we're renting at this point in our lives. But, it's turned out to be okay, doing this--we love our new place!
Its a good idea - very practical. You also have more money and you could maybe go on more holidays or maybe save up and buy a holiday home somewhere exotic. Mmmmh.
Lady--Thanks! Yes, it would be really nice to have a vacation...Tom and I have never had one in all of our years of being married!:)
cool.
Sounds amazing! Congrats to you both.
Gotta love the the moving part tho, now just gotta wait to do it again....lol
lol, Thanks raiderfan!
AIdy?--Thanks--it really is a great place, and a perfect solution for us!
Dustin(Deece, sorry)--Without you, it would have been so much harder--thank you! And yes, we WILL wait awhile before doing it again, haha!
We are in the process of doing just that for our retirement. Heading back to Maine to be closer to family. A little bit at a time goes. We use FREE CYCLE for a lot of things. It helps others and gets rid of things that are of use to others.
GiftedGrandma--Thanks for your comment! Life can be so much simpler when you downsize, can't it? Thanks for the idea for Free Cycle--I'll have to check into it! Good luck with your move!
Sorry to hear that this decision was forced upon you, but it sounds as though you lucked out with a gorgeous apartment that many people would want if they could find such a one. We have also shed much in the way of possessions over the years and it is actually a freeing type of feeling. Makes one wonder why we get so bogged down with things!
Peggy--Isn't that the truth? We never realized how much "stuff" we'd accumulated until we started clearing it all out...it was ridiculous, lol..
And now, as we walk through our place, we know that our closets aren't stuffed full, and there are no more rooms of "storage", and it's a great feeling!!
And living here has been so nice--the financial pressure has eased, so it's worth every moment of being in a smaller(as far as no. of rooms) home. But also, as long as we're together, we're fine--it doesn't matter where we live!
Thanks for your comment!
You've got all the important things that truly matter!
Thank you Peggy--we really, really do, and I'm so very grateful for that!
I put off coming to your hub just as long as I could because I just knew if I did I would end up becoming a fan of yet another member of your family and end up with more stuff to read and enjoy and I was right, I think there is just one more member to go now. You all write so well and it is a real joy to read your hubs, we had to down size when we left the UK to live in Spain I loved giving stuff away but occasionally I still find myself looking for something I use to own.
Aw, thank you maggs! All I have to do is convince our daughter to join, and our hub family will be complete, lol...
Blame it on Tom--he's the one who got the ball rolling on here, and talked me into joining. Dustin(Deece) joined after Tom started writing the Grave Robbers chapters--just so he could comment, then before long, he started writing, too...Same goes for our younger son, Larkin--he doesn't write as much, but when he does, it blows you away...he is only 19, but he writes like someone much, much older!
And oh, I know what you mean--Tom and I still find ourselves searching for things and wondering why we didn't keep them, haha!
I can so relate to being a packrat. I too, had to move and downsize. I hated it and still do. I miss my old house, but that's why I had to go, I could no longer afford the upkeep. The house was over 80 years old and needed too many repairs. I miss it terribly, however.
So, even though I got rid of a lot of things, I was still in collecting mode, so that my now smaller quarters are bursting at the seams. I'm often tempted to call one of those tv shows to come give me a clean sweep LOL. Maybe one day!
trish--I know--sometimes we have to do things we don't really want to do...it stinks, but what can you do? We do have a great place here, though, and really like it--tons of space, just reduced down to four rooms, lol...
We're trying really hard to not keep hoarding, but it's hard! Years of packrat-itis--it's tough to get away from!
Ohhhh, I've seen those shows--like Clean House? I don't think I could do that--they'd want to get rid of all of our goodies, hahaha!
Oh, I hear that! Every time I imagine myself parting with things, I immediately think, oh no, not that! I need it, or, it's sentimentat, or, it's worth money. Right. Hah! Who am I kidding anyway?
Yes, I just discovered Clean House. On the TLC channel, they used to do Clean Sweep. When I see the end result on those shows, I am jealous, and think, gee, how nice would that be? To just be able to come home from work and kick off the shoes, walk into my clean kitchen and prepare a lovely meal and then sit at a table whose top I could see, sigh. :)
Too bad I couldn't just close my eyes, twitch my nose, and voila! A clean house.
trish, I think we are kindred souls, lol...I have to admit, though, it's much easier for me to keep this place nice, since we cleared out so many things...I didn't realize how good it would feel, haha.
But! I couldn't have had strangers come in--no way! We knew what was most important to us, and we kept those things--they might be junk to someone else, though, hahaha!!!
Thanks so much for your comments!
Just going through th same stage and it feels good. Hard at first to let go but the end result is freedom!
And freedom is such a wonderful thing, isn't it?lol
It is hard at first--you're right, but it's so worth it in the long run!:)
Ivorwen says:
6 months ago
Your new homes sounds fabulous. I'd love to have an old home, even if it meant cutting back... if fact, I'd love to cut back and go off grid.