- Joined
- Jun 1, 2006
- Messages
- 22,056
- Reaction score
- 29,339
- Points
- 1,348
- Location
- Mesquite, Nevada
- Resorts Owned
- Free Agent
Has anyone successfully downsized your home in the same town? By "successfully" I mean, have you actually disposed of excess possessions, and moved to a smaller place, without filling every corner of the smaller place with new or found items you feel you MUST have, until you're up to the rafters in "stuff" again - just with fewer square feet to store it? Were/are you HAPPY that you did that?
I'm a couple of years away from retirement, (spouse is seven years younger), and I've started looking at our home, all the stuff in it, asking myself "Do I/we really need/use/want that?" I like the house, (a very nice house, bought new 14 years ago), I like the town, and I'm happy to stay here. But I'm starting to question two people living in a 2000sf 2-story 3bed/2.5bath house with a quarter acre of urban yardwork, etc. Our two small dogs and an indoor cat are about the only others who ever see the place. Seems like they'd be just as happy in a smaller location.
I recently heard that the days of "saving that for the kids" isn't all that popular anymore, as family heirlooms aren't as desirable, many millennials aren't interested in the furniture their parents or grandparents owned, and "possessions" (in whatever form) aren't generally as much in demand for the succeeding generations. They have their own stuff they're trying to get rid of. So Baby Boomers are trying to unload their stuff, but so are their kids. And the grandkids have their own stuff.
So then I think, "I should look at a two bedroom condo someplace nearby," but I find nothing affordable that I'd consider living in. So I keep coming back to staying right where I am. For the money, this seems like the best bang for the buck.
And therein lies the problem. Every time I clean the house or mow the yard, I wonder if it's all just getting to be too much. So, is it possible to successfully downsize? Are you happy for doing that, and what would you do differently? What is your story, good or bad?
Dave
I'm a couple of years away from retirement, (spouse is seven years younger), and I've started looking at our home, all the stuff in it, asking myself "Do I/we really need/use/want that?" I like the house, (a very nice house, bought new 14 years ago), I like the town, and I'm happy to stay here. But I'm starting to question two people living in a 2000sf 2-story 3bed/2.5bath house with a quarter acre of urban yardwork, etc. Our two small dogs and an indoor cat are about the only others who ever see the place. Seems like they'd be just as happy in a smaller location.
I recently heard that the days of "saving that for the kids" isn't all that popular anymore, as family heirlooms aren't as desirable, many millennials aren't interested in the furniture their parents or grandparents owned, and "possessions" (in whatever form) aren't generally as much in demand for the succeeding generations. They have their own stuff they're trying to get rid of. So Baby Boomers are trying to unload their stuff, but so are their kids. And the grandkids have their own stuff.
So then I think, "I should look at a two bedroom condo someplace nearby," but I find nothing affordable that I'd consider living in. So I keep coming back to staying right where I am. For the money, this seems like the best bang for the buck.
And therein lies the problem. Every time I clean the house or mow the yard, I wonder if it's all just getting to be too much. So, is it possible to successfully downsize? Are you happy for doing that, and what would you do differently? What is your story, good or bad?
Dave