At one point, when my husband and I were dating, we lived together in a studio apartment. It was my husband and I and our dog coexisting in 300 sq ft. It was spectacular.

Flash to five years later, and we are purchasing a 2800 sq ft house on just under an acre and a half.

It was the yard that sold me. It was a park. No seriously, this was our yard.

I felt like we deserved it. We had uprooted our lives, moved from Southern California to Omaha Nebraska, hit the ground running, and had not stopped running for three years.

We were over-worked and stressed most of the time. My solution to this was for us to buy a big lovely house with lots of space for the family we were planning on having.

Yes, that’s right, we were purchasing this park that also came with a 2800 sq ft home, for myself and my husband.

When I look back on this time, I wonder how did we get to this point. With the advantage of hindsight on my side, I can say that paradoxically, what we needed was more space.

Say what?

What we needed was more mental space.

We were always going, with no purpose or direction, just hoping that by sheer force, we would end up in the right place eventually. If any of this sounds familiar, I hate to be the one to break it to you; this never works out the way you think it will.

Effort does not equal results.

But we did not know this. We were the hardest working, fastest running hamster on a wheel.

So back to the park. We bought it.

In the beginning, I would pinch myself. It was everything I thought I wanted. It was peaceful, it was private, it was beautiful.

While the home was pretty, the yard is what everyone would comment on when they first saw the place. It was beautiful.

Here is the thing about owning a park; it is a lot of work.

The first couple of weekends that we spent working on the yard were magical. It was hard to be anything but happy surrounded by our own private estate.

As time progressed, we would be attending to one part of the yard, and realize five other things that needed attention. When you are attempting to maintain an acre of golf course quality grass and over 30 100-year-old perfectly manicured trees, it is not only time consuming; it is costly.

“The things you own end up owning you”

― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

I cannot let the yard take all of the blame. The home itself was also a lot to maintain. It was time-consuming and expensive.

It was at the very top of our budget, without accounting for maintenance.

When I pictured moving into this beautiful, quiet oasis, I envisioned it, bringing us closer together. If anything, the stress of the home (combined with some very challenging life situations) was tearing us apart.

My husband and I worked hard only to come home and feel indebted to what was supposed to be our sanctuary.

At the time my husband and I were renovating a much smaller home, we intended to rent out.

As the renovation progressed, I began to envision what it would be like to live in the space. It was very different from where we were currently living.

The funny thing is the home we were currently living in never felt like us.

It felt like we bought the big house because it was what we were supposed to do.

The home we were renovating felt like us.

One day my husband and I were having one of our many budget meetings. We were feeling overwhelmed and defeated when my husband suggested that we move into the rental. I could tell he was serious.

We began to work through how it would work and what the numbers would look like. It was the first time in a long time that we could even begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

There might actually be a way out of this.

It did not take long before we were both all in. The relief was palpable. We both knew it was the right decision.

Strangely enough, I knew the one thing I would miss most of all was the yard. Our park. Our beautiful nightmare.

It was always more about the idea of it than the actual yard itself. I had envisioned our family growing up in this beautiful utopia.

What I realized was I would rather have the time back, and spend it reveling in my family. Instead of maintaining a home.

The home we were living in was 2800 sq ft not including the finished basement. The home we moved into was just shy of 1000 sq ft and had a very scary unfinished basement.

I am tempted to say it was hard to leave the large house, or it was hard to adjust to the small house, neither of these things would be true.

If I rack my brain I cannot think of any downside that we have experienced from downsizing.

7 Reasons You Should Downsize

1. Less Stress

In the larger home, we were always stressed about money. It seemed no matter what we did and how much we budgeted we could never get ahead. This took a toll on our marriage.

It is virtually impossible to be perpetually stressed and expect two people to maintain a healthy and loving relationship.

In the smaller home, we still have financial worries but they are manageable.

2. More Mental Space

When you are constantly worried about money you never make time to stop and figure out if what you are doing is the best option. You just keep moving.

The irony is, the better things get the better decision you tend to make. It is a compounding effect.

When you are on the hamster wheel it can be soul-crushing not to mention horrendously counterproductive.

For us living small allowed us to get off of the hamster wheel and start to live again.

3. Kid-Friendly

I love the layout of our small home. Our big house was like most two-story homes. All of the living areas were on the first floor and the bedrooms and bath on the second.

After dinner, I tend to do the dishes and my husband gives the kids a bath. The way our small house is laid out, the bathroom is visible from the kitchen. I will be doing dishes and I can hear giggles or pop my head in and join the fun.

A small home is easy to baby proof. Our whole house is baby proofed. Also, there are few areas in the home they can wander off to that I can not either see or hear them.

4. Maintenance is cheaper

The home is smaller. Any repairs that pop up are cheaper because you are maintaining that much less square footage. The same idea applies to utilities as well.

5. Easier to Clean

This is an interesting one. I opted to use all the extra money we were saving to get a cleaning service. We would have never been able to afford this in the larger home. With the time we save, we spend more time together as a family.

6. You Naturally Become a Minimalist

In the big house, I was always self-conscious that we did not have enough stuff.

We did not have a lot of stuff when we moved in and we certainly could not afford to furnish this monster house. We would buy things here and there but I always had a never-ending list of what the house needed. The house was insatiable.

Now I spend most days deciding what to get rid of. The things that remain we truly love and they ad value to our lives.

7. Adaptability

Myself my husband and our two children have learned how to navigate in a small space. We are very adaptable as a family. This has been very helpful when we travel.

I love our small home. We recently went camping in a 175 sq ft trailer. When we came home our 1000 sq ft home felt like a mansion.

What about you? Are you considering downsizing? If so, what concerns do you have? What is your motivation for downsizing?

As always, I would love to hear from you!