How Living in a Smaller Home Can Make You Happier

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Living in a smaller home isn’t just a smart financial decision. It can improve your quality of life in so many ways. It makes life simpler, less stressful, and more enjoyable. And living small can make you richer, healthier, and happier, too!

American houses have grown far too big. The average size of new homes built in the United States grew 62 percent from 1,660 square feet in 1973 to 2,687 square feet in 2015, an increase of 1,027 square feet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Chances are, you are currently living in a big house, too, and it may be causing you more stress than you realize.

If your house is too big for your life, it can suck away your money, energy, time, and relationships adding only to your physical and mental clutter.

Some people decide to downsize to a smaller home once they find that there are many advantages to downsizing. A smaller home means smaller bills and a smaller set of responsibilities. But it’s not just that.

Living in a smaller home can actually make you happier by shifting your focus to the things that are truly important and meaningful.

Here are some ways how living in a smaller home (when I say “smaller”, I don’t mean a tiny home) can improve your life and increase your happiness:

Your mortgage or rent payment will be more affordable

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.

You can pay off your mortgage quicker

Living in a smaller home gives you financial freedom by reducing your mortgage that makes it a lot easier to pay it off quicker. Instead of taking 30 years, you could pay off that mortgage in 20 or 15 or 10 years saving you tens of thousands of dollars in interest.

When you will have a smaller mortgage payment than what you used to have earlier, you can add that extra money to your principal payment on the loan each month. That way, you can be debt-free a lot sooner, and be able to enjoy your financial freedom and pursue other dreams.

You will need less time for cleaning

A smaller home comes with less square footage and smaller living space. That means you will spend less time cleaning your place. 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.

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 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.

Smaller home is easier to maintain

A bigger house can make life harder with its upkeeping and maintenance. 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 your time, energy, and effort 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!

You will have more time to do the things you love

Living in a smaller home will free up your time to do the things you really 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. Downsize to a smaller home, and you will have more time to engage in the activities you are passionate about.

You will get to spend more family time

A smaller home results in more social interaction among the members of the family. 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 when everyone is thrown together into a small, cozy living area, that allows for more interaction between the family members. Thus, living in a smaller home can make you happier by strengthening your bond with the people that matter most.

You will buy less stuff and enjoy what you have

A bigger house needs more stuff to fill in. You need more furniture and a lot of decoration pieces to make your big house look warm and inviting. So, you end up buying and accumulating more and more stuff that cost you a lot of money.

Think of how much money could be saved if you had less space to fill! In a smaller home, you will find creative ways to make the most of your space and what you can accommodate there comfortably. You will also learn to appreciate and enjoy what you have.

You will have more disposable income

Living in a smaller home helps you reevaluate your priorities and focus on what truly matters. This helps you to minimize the excess and concentrate on the essential.

When you realize that you don’t need a big home with higher utility bills, higher maintenance cost, larger mortgage payment, more property tax, and bigger furniture cost, you will easily come up with the extra money for more meaningful pursuits.

Maybe spending less on your housing will free up some cash to save in your kid’s college fund, or spend on your child’s favorite extra-curricular activities, or travel more. That may also allow you some financial flexibility to contribute money to a good cause which, in turn, will boost your happiness.

Final Words

Downsizing isn’t just for empty-nesters or those who bought more house than they could afford. It’s also for those people who want to simplify their lives, shift their focus from materialism to more meaningful things, and be happier.

If you currently live in a big house, think about how living in a smaller home could improve your life, strengthen your relationships, and make you happier. A big home may still be a dream for some of you, but a smaller home can be a smarter and more flexible choice for those who want to be happier and richer by saving money and time.