12 Reasons Why You’ll Be Happier in a Smaller

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WRITTEN BY JOSHUA BECKER ·

Recently, my parents bought a smaller house. And this past week, while on
vacation in South Dakota (yeah, I vacation in South Dakota), I got to see it for
the first time. During our stay, I was surprised at how often my mother
commented that “they just love their smaller house.” I wasn’t so much
surprised that she felt that way (I am a minimalist after all), but I was surprised
at the frequency. It was a comment that she repeated over and over again during
our one-week stay.

Toward the end of the week, I sat down with my mom and asked her to list all
of the reasons why she is experiencing more happiness in her smaller house.
And this post is the result.

12 Reasons Why You’ll Be Happier in a Smaller House by Joshua and Patty

Becker (I get top billing because it is my blog).

People buy larger homes for a number of reasons:

 They “outgrow” their smaller one.

 They receive a promotion and raise at work.

 They are convinced by a realtor that they can afford it.

 They hope to impress others.

 They think a large home is the home of their dreams.

Another reason people keep buying bigger and bigger homes is because no one
tells them not to. The mantra of the culture again comes calling, “buy as much
and as big as possible.” They believe the lie and choose to buy a large home
only because that’s “what you are supposed to do” when you start making
money… you buy nice, big stuff.

Nobody ever tells them not to. Nobody gives them permission to pursue
smaller, rather than larger. Nobody gives them the reasons they may actually be
happier in a smaller house.
So, in an attempt to break the silence, consider these 12 reasons why you’ll
actually be happier in a smaller house:

1. Easier to maintain. Anyone who has owned a house knows the amount
of time, energy, and effort to maintain it. All things being equal, a smaller
home requires less of your time, energy, and effort to accomplish that
task.

2. Less time spent cleaning. And that should be reason enough…

3. Less expensive. Smaller homes are less expensive to purchase and less
expensive to keep (insurance, taxes, heating, cooling, electricity, etc.).

4. Less debt and less risk. Dozens of on-line calculators will help you
determine “how much house you can afford.” These formulas are based on
net income, savings, current debt, and monthly mortgage payments. They
are also based on the premise that we should spend “28% of our net
income on our monthly mortgage payments.” But if we can be more
financially stable and happier by only spending 15%… then why would
we ever choose to spend 28?

5. Mentally Freeing. As is the case with all of our possessions, the more
we own, the more they own us. And the more stuff we own, the more
mental energy is held hostage by them. The same is absolutely true with
our largest, most valuable asset. Buy small and free your mind.

6. Less environmental impact. A smaller home requires less resources to

build and less resources to maintain. And that benefits all of us.

7. More time. Many of the benefits above (less cleaning, less maintaining,
mental freedom) result in the freeing up of our schedule to pursue the
things in life that really matter – whatever you want that to be.

8. Encourages family bonding. A smaller home results in more social

interaction among the members of the family. And while this may be the
reason that some people purchase bigger homes, I think just the opposite
should be true.

9. Forces you to remove baggage. Moving into a smaller home forces you
to intentionally pare down your belongings.

10. Less temptation to accumulate. If you don’t have any room in your
house for that new treadmill, you’ll be less tempted to buy it in the first
place (no offense to those of you who own a treadmill… and actually use
it).
 11. Less decorating. While some people love the idea of choosing wall
color, carpet color, furniture, window treatments, decorations, and light
fixtures for dozens of rooms, I don’t.

12. Wider market to sell. By its very definition, a smaller, more affordable
house is affordable to a larger percentage of the population than a more
expensive, less affordable one.

Your home is a very personal decision that weighs in a large number of factors
that can’t possibly be summed up in one 700 word post. This post was not
written to address each of them. Only you know all the variables that come into
play when making your decision.

I just think you’ll be happier if you buy smaller—rather than the other way
around.