When deciding to own a house, satisfying basic needs of family members in the living space are prioritized. This is why homeowners plan how every space of the house will be utilized. With this, a home with more space is preferrable over a smaller space as it gives more freedom on how each room will be arranged.
However, if you have a limited budget, you should reevaluate your decision to buy a large house because more lot area entails a need for increased cash flow to meet the payment deadlines of your creditor. Still, deciding to defer your goal of purchasing a large house will not happen overnight. Thus, choice is yours to make: 1) buy a smaller house or 2) continue paying rental fees until you have enough funds for your large house purchase.
Read More: The cost of your dream home: How much salary do you need to buy a house in the Philippines?
Believe it or not, a smaller home might give you a less square footage but learning to maximize such will give unexpected benefits. This will not only let homebuyers save money on due to lower floor and lot area but this is also a helpful tip for current large homeowners who are still struggling on having an enough storage space.
Read More: How to maximize small spaces
So, we have to admit that not all the material things we keep in our homes have a remaining use. These only take a huge storage space which may cause stress especially if you are running out of storage in your closet, drawers, or cabinets.
Perhaps, the easiest solution for this is to expand your house space or move in a larger home yet it is not the most practical thing to do. A quote from Marie Kondo may help you realize the importance of maximizing what you have rather than resorting to expansion in situations that space is needed.
“You must first discard those that have outlived their purpose to truly cherish the things that are important to you. Throwing away what you no longer need is neither wasteful nor shameful.”
The best and most practical solution to maximize a limited space is to let people downsize. It may be a difficult task because its mere essence is to keep only what you need in your current life. This implies that lifestyle changes must happen as you decide to downsize. Despite the difficulty of downsizing and the time spent on such, there are a lot of unexpected benefits that will be enjoyed as you become committed to this practice.
So, to convince you more that downsizing your home is one of the best lifestyle changes to make, let us uncover how should it be done and the numerous benefits that can be enjoyed from this simple lifestyle.
The Ultimate Goal of Downsizing a Home
The dictionary defines downsizing as “undergoing a reduction in size”. Applying it on home living, you discard things that do not have use or purpose in your daily living. To simplify its concept, downsizing may be comprehended as decluttering. So, the ultimate goal of downsizing is to adapt and adjust on houses with less space.
Read More: The Art of Decluttering: Why it Matters and How to Do It Right
Deciding to Start Downsizing Your Home
Downsizing is a difficult process because it involves decluttering stuff which have emotional attachment to you. However, the ultimate goal is to keep what is needed to be kept and discard everything that has no purpose in your life. Nevertheless, it is a tedious process and feels overwhelming for first timers especially when decluttering items holding a sentimental value.
Anyhow, to fully transition on downsizing, here are some useful tips to help you adapt in this new minimalistic lifestyle.
You should start as early as possible.
For sure, you will be spending a lot of time during your downsizing process. A good practice is to not speed up the process and go through each item one by one. You should be taking a lot of time to fully evaluate whether to include a stuff on the declutter bin because by the time you have discarded such, the only way to have it back is to buy a replacement. To reduce stress in downsizing, you should not do it hurriedly. Applying this will help you focus and decide better on what should be done to every item. Furthermore, it is believed that not skipping this tip helps in improving your decision-making skills.
You should start small.
To avoid getting overwhelmed and stressed from downsizing, you should start in smaller spaces or areas with little to no emotional attachment. In this way, you can accomplish something in stages. Starting in a space where you keep your old stuff which evokes emotion because of old hobbies or holiday celebrations being reminisced, you will not be able to accomplish anything due to the emotional attachment the items have in your life. Sample areas where you can start downsizing is in the kitchen or in your laundry area. Normally, these areas do not store items with great attachment to the homeowner.
Getting rid of duplicate stuff.
Due to poor organization system, buying a duplicate item is inevitable. Sometimes, we fail to remember where a particular item is stored. So, the easiest solution is to buy a replacement. For sure, by the time you decide to organize your stuff, you will be able to find the item you thought you have lost.
Additionally, we tend to be an impulsive buyer at times so when we get attracted to an item because of its appearance, we cannot help but buy it especially if it is at a cheap price. Regardless of such, we do not realize that these duplicates become clutter most of the time.
As a result, unnecessary duplicates are not present, and it must be disposed right away because having multiples of such item has no purpose. A way to get rid of such is to give it to someone who needs it, may it be to your other family members, relative or friends. If not, you may do a garage sale to lessen the costs you have incurred in purchasing these duplicate items.
Allow a time to reminisce and think carefully whether an item still has a purpose in your life.
Trying to get rid of items with emotional attachment might be the biggest challenge in downsizing your current home. When you decide to move to a house with fewer rooms, it is impossible that you will not declutter things that have no use anymore even if it has sentimental value for you. There is nothing wrong with this. However, it is advised that you should allow yourself to process your emotions towards the item and decide whether to include it on the declutter bin or decide to keep it with you as you slowly transition to a downsized lifestyle.
Develop an organization system.
A good practice in downsizing is to develop an organization and declutter system. To simplify the system, you may try setting up a “yes” and “no” boxes wherein the yes box will only include stuff that has further use for you and the no box will include items for disposal. For items in the disposal box, you may sort it into four categories: 1) giveaways, 2) sale, 3) donations, and 4) trash. In this way, you can sell or give it to those who need such items rather than putting everything in the dump. This applies the adage that “a one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
What are the Benefits of Downsizing?
In terms of space, a smaller home is obviously inferior to a large home. However, one must realize that a smaller home means less responsibility and smaller workload on household tasks. Moreover, the smaller space it offers does not outweigh the unexpected benefits realized when downsizing a home. Aside from a fewer to do list in your home, here are other benefits that you may enjoy as you decide to downsize your home.
Better financial circumstances
Living in a smaller property can give you increased cash flow because of lower monthly dues to pay than owning a large home. If you have a large home, your tax would be higher because the payment is based on the lot and floor area of your house. Additionally, if the property is not yet fully paid, you have to include your monthly dues to your creditor on your budget. Likewise, if you have a smaller home, you have less rooms to fill as the size of your home is just enough for your needs. Thus, unnecessary duplicates on furniture will be avoided and you will choose smaller appliances for your home, and these are usually cheaper than its bigger counterparts like televisions, refrigerator, and many more.
Decluttering
We know that a part of downsizing is to declutter unnecessary items from your living space. This does not happen most of the time especially if you are a working individual. In general, decluttering must have a bigger purpose or it must be forced to someone for it to happen. So, things pile up and perhaps, your storage spaces are filled with irrelevant duplicates.
With downsizing, you are forced to get rid of things that do not serve purpose anymore. A good part of decluttering is giving away your clutters to people who find it useful to their life. Somehow, you are giving them help because they can get something they need for free or at a lower cost.
It helps you open a new chapter of your life.
Downsizing also represents a way to move on in life whatever is the reason of one’s suffering. In downsizing your home, you let go a lot of things whether it has sentimental value or none. By decluttering these, you are letting go of the emotional attachments as you get ready to start anew to live a happy life despite your experiences.
Less carbon footprint
If you decide to downsize, you will incur less energy costs. Electricity produces a lot of carbon footprint because of the energy source. If you have a bigger house, you need numerous lights to provide vision in your home. Additionally, during summer, electricity cost is higher for large homes than in smaller house because of the bigger space it needs to cool down. Furthermore, smaller homes have less appliances and often low powered, so this contributes to less energy cost.
It forces you to develop the habit of organizing your things as soon as possible.
In smaller homes, it can be overwhelming if items are not organized right away because it is easily visible in the eyes. So, to eliminate this overwhelming feeling, house members will be forced to organize it as soon as possible. Moreover, having clutters in small homes may significantly affect and compromise the living arrangement because of the limited space that is worsened by clutters.
Benefits of Downsizing: Perfect for Filipino Families
The economic circumstance of our country makes it harder for Filipino families to purchase their own property because of low wage and salary rates. However, if Filipinos set their expectations according to their means, purchasing a smaller home might be possible. Even with a small living space, convenience is significantly felt because you do not have to worry of monthly rental fees. Thus, the greatest benefit of smaller property is that you can save money or allocate the portion of your earnings to other use which may give you a more convenient life.
All in all, downsizing puts you to a better financial circumstance because of the less costs to be incurred as you decide to own a small house. Nonetheless, it may still be challenging for starters to find the best value property possible, but we’ve got you covered. Here at Bria Homes, we offer affordable house and lots with flexible payment terms. We aim to provide housing units which can be easily afforded by every Filipino. Furthermore, our units are perfect for a downsized lifestyle because it is just enough to cater the basic needs of every Filipino family.
To learn more about our offers, you may contact us through our social media accounts.
Written By Steven Hernandez
