How to Downsize Without Moving
Do you feel like you need to downsize, but you don’t want to move? There are ways you can downsize without selling your house or moving to a smaller place.
First of all, why would anyone want to downsize anyways? Well, there are a few reasons.
First and foremost the driving force behind any kind of downsizing is often less expenses. Maybe you’ve struggled to live within your means. Maybe you are tired of paying so much for things you don’t use as much as you thought you would. Maybe you want to save more money because you have other goals, like travelling, saving for retirement, or more.
Another reason people like to downsize is because they are tired of spending so much time taking care of things they don’t really use. Whether we use the space or things we have or not, they still need maintenance and cleaning, even if they just sit there. I know way better things I can be doing on the weekend that don’t involve cleaning and organizing my things.
The above reason also helps with those of us who maybe struggle with housekeeping. ( hand raised right here!) Less stuff or less space equals less to keep in order. It means we can stay on top of our housekeeping a little easier.
Sometimes people want to downsize their life, but they aren’t in a place where they want to or can move. Does that mean you can’t downsize at all? Absolutely not. You can downsize other things in your life without downsizing your house.
So, what can you downsize without moving? Let’s talk about it!
HOW TO DOWNSIZE WITHOUT MOVING
Here are some things you can downsize that don’t involve leaving your home:
Your vehicle.
Maybe you drive a vehicle that is known for not being so easy on gas. Maybe you can sell it and purchase a vehicle that is excellent on gas. The other option is going from two vehicles to one if you are a two vehicle household. This isn’t always fun, but we did it for 13 years of our 17 year marriage so far and we survived.
While we have two vehicles right now (mainly because we are hitting the teen and pre-teen years and I need to be able to drive kids to various places while my husband uses the other car for work) I imagine at some point we will go back to one again when the time is right.
Furniture.
For some reason people seem to collect furniture and have an increasingly difficult time getting rid of it. It could be someone gave it to them or it could be passed down through the family. But if you notice you aren’t really using that piece of furniture, and it’s really just sitting there wasting space, it might be time to let it go.
I remember we downsized our clothes at one point. I realized we didn’t need as many dressers as we had. So we got rid of one. When we did this someone said to me, “I don’t know how you manage to have the need to get rid of a dresser. Kind of seems like a necessity to me.”
It’s only necessary if you actively use it. Once we downsized our clothes we had one dresser too many!
Clothes.
Which leads me to my next point. Clothes. Do you ever feel like you are doing mountains of laundry? Cutting back on clothes may be the answer.
Now, obviously you still have the same amount of dirty clothes, but do you ever notice when there is more clothing we put off doing laundry longer and before we know it the molehill is a mountain? Then we are stuck spending the whole day trying to catch up on laundry.
Plus, let’s not forget the clothes we hang on to in case we fit into it again “one day.” Look – if it’s been sitting in your closet for years, it’s time to let it go. If you need smaller clothes at a later point you can always buy more.
Things in storage.
Okay, I’m going to say something that may get me in trouble, but I honestly think very few people need to rent a storage unit. There are a few reasons that come to mind. If you are moving and in between houses (like we had to do once), if you live in an exceptionally small place but are planning on a bigger place in the near future, or if you are cleaning out a family member’s house.
But if you have a rental unit just to hold stuff because you can’t fit it into your home, it may be time to go through it because you can be saving that monthly rental fee you are paying. Aside from that, it’s a good idea to go through any storage in your own home as well – closets, garages, basements, etc.
Subscriptions.
Why, oh why is everything a subscription these days? Either way, chances are you have one too many. How many movie streaming services do you have? How many online subscriptions to various services do you have? And while not as popular anymore, how many magazine subscriptions do you have?
Take an inventory of what is going on and let some of them go. Decide to only keep a few subscriptions total. You will be so happy with how much money you save!
Electronics.
Can I ask, why do we have such a hard time getting rid of old electronics? We get a new phone, we keep the old one. We get a new computer, we keep the old one. Usually it’s because we have files and pictures on it we want. Take off the files you need and get rid of the electronics. It’s time to let them go.
ANOTHER PERK OF DOWNSIZING YOUR STUFF
If you’ve lived in the same residence for years on end, there is a chance you haven’t spent a lot of time downsizing your stuff. Then one day, when you go to move you have an enormous amount of stuff to go through. Years and years worth.
The other issue that can arise is that if something was to happen to you, your children may be responsible for going through all your items and deciding what to do with them.
I think most people would agree that they don’t want to leave that on their children as it would be an enormous job for them, on top of their own responsibilities. I know for me, my children are younger still but I don’t want to put that expectation on them one day. That’s why I like to “downsize” my stuff regularly.
So, you see, it doesn’t take a move to motivate you to downsize your stuff.
