My friend Jeff is in his 70’s and now lives the RV lifestyle. He and his wife sold his home, all his possessions, and now drive around in their 400 square foot house on wheels. He said something to me a long time ago which still sticks:
You spend the first third of your life wanting things. You spend the second third of your life buying those things. Then you spend the last third of your life getting rid of all the things you bought.
You’ve probably heard before about parents who send their kids off to college – Ok; it’s time to downsize!
Most of us will own a place during our lifetime. So is bigger better?
What was it like 200 years ago?
I’ll never forget my trip to the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum and see what life was like during the Revolutionary War.
The original dimensions of the house were 34 feet x 24 feet, roughly 800 square feet. That’s 74 square meters for my international friends.
The family of five slept on a single mattress.
However, the small home was situated on 1,400 acres (566 hectares), the size of a small town.
People got by. I don’t think children complained back then about not having their own bed. Life occurred in a small house, and they probably thought nothing of it.
So how did we get here?
The average size home is 1,000 SF (92 m2) larger today than it was in 1973 while at the same time family sizes are decreasing.
Do any of these sound familiar?
- We need a bigger backyard for the dog.
- The kids each need a room.
- I need a room for my office.
- We need a bigger kitchen.
- We’re too cramped in this place
- We need to live where there are good schools
They are the things we tell ourselves to justify our desires to move on up. I’ve done it too – I wanted a bigger house because I wanted a bigger house.
Katie and I bought our four bedroom house when we had no kids and had no plans on having kids. And there were times I wouldn’t step foot in some of those bedrooms for months at a time.
- I wanted a bigger backyard so I could landscape and have a garden.
- I wanted a formal office because I was tired of working out of spare bedrooms and sharing my space with – a bed!
- And yes, we even wanted to live in a good school district because the house would have a better resale value.
What did we really need?
A roof over our heads.
Everything else is a want.
