Of course, there are a multitude of reasons that may prompt you to move to a smaller location. Have your needs changed in recent years? Have your grown-up children left the family nest? Do you want to simplify your lifestyle? Do you live several months a year outside the country?
Whether you are moving into a smaller house, a condo or even a tiny house , there are undeniably several advantages to reducing the square meters of your new home. However, to be able to settle into your new home without any worries, you will have to prepare wisely.
Smaller spaces: the advantages of moving there
If many people choose to move into a smaller home, there are many advantages to doing so. Let’s see a few.
1. Reevaluate your priorities
When you make the decision to move to a smaller place, it’s also the perfect opportunity to rethink what’s important to you. In our high-speed society, it can be complex to stop long enough to assess our priorities. When you are looking for your future home, now is the time to do it.
When moving to a smaller place, you will, no doubt, have to make choices. If you realize that what makes you happy is spending the majority of your time outdoors in your garden, you might choose a small house with a nice yard. If, on the contrary, you want more time for yourself in the warm comfort of your home, condo living may be for you.
2. Reduce your expenses
Moving to a smaller location can help cut down on some of your expenses . Although many costs such as your Internet, television and telephone plans will remain the same, others such as your energy bills or your maintenance costs will be reduced.
Indeed, some of your expenses could be reduced, but you may have to add others to your budget. This could be the case if you are moving into a condo. Some condominium fees may be added to your expenses. Please note, therefore, that if you are moving to a smaller space just to save money, it may be that with the cost of selling and buying your property, moving costs, etc. it is not necessarily profitable.
3. Spend less time on cleaning and maintenance
A smaller square footage, less bulky furniture, fewer items to pick up, that means more free time for you. Indeed, by moving into a smaller space, the time you spend cleaning and maintaining your old home could be reduced.
In addition, since you are moving your many personal effects into a smaller space, you will need to have a better organization system in order to have space to store everything you want to keep. Better organization therefore automatically means that your home will be easier to keep in order day after day.
4. Control your unnecessary expenses
With this move in sight, you will need to learn how to make wise choices. With the internet, Amazon and one-click online shopping, it’s a little too easy to get bogged down in over-consumption habits. With less space, you may be less inclined to buy all the new kitchen appliances recently marketed or to buy multiple copies, of different colors, of the same sweater.
5. Have a lower impact on the environment
By reducing your energy consumption, by reducing your overconsumption, by reassessing your priorities, you will have a less considerable environmental impact. By simplifying your lifestyle, you contribute, in your own way, to a greener future
Don’t forget that your environmental impact begins, first of all, when preparing for your move. To do this, see our article 5 tips for an ecological move .
Have you found the perfect little corner of paradise for you? When preparing for your move, you will need to be organized and structured so that the arrival in your new home is logistically possible. Let’s see some tips that could help you prepare for the D-Day.
It is rather easy, year after year, to accumulate many objects which quietly succumb to oblivion in boxes, bottoms of cupboards, the attic or the corners of the garage. You will therefore have to empty these spaces in order to observe what you really possess.
After taking a brief inventory of what you have, sort it out. You will need to decide what you want to keep, sell, give away, and throw away . Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you make those choices:
For example, if you currently have a garage and are moving into a condo soon, you may no longer need your gardening and earthmoving tools. Do you have a family member who would like them? If the answer is no, opt for organizing a garage sale.
Storage bins and baskets, drawers under the bed, multifunctional furniture… You will need to find innovative solutions to organize and store the objects you are furnishing in your new space. You don’t have to part with anything that you don’t use daily or that only has sentimental value, you just have to find a way to organize it and keep it safe.
Not sure where to start for efficient organization of your new home? Consult our article 12 tips to optimize the storage of your home .
Having trouble deciding between a smaller or larger space? Check out our article Home: Should You Buy Bigger or Smaller? to help you make this decision.
