Downsizing Your Life May Be Hard, But It Could Save You Money

The thought of downsizing does not mesh well with a world that has evolved into a place where "I must have this" and "I really want that." Nevertheless, downsizing can be a very smart financial move. And while the process can feel like an emotional roller coaster, the act of downsizing and decluttering your home or possessions can be a very rejuvenating experience.

There are a number of reasons why downsizing your life could be the right decision, the most common being left in an empty nest in retirement. For some, it could be driven by a change in lifestyle, marital or financial status. As pointed out in this blog, it makes financial sense under such circumstances to move to a smaller home which requires less cleaning, less heating and air conditioning, less lighting and less maintenance. The problem is severing that emotional attachment to your old home as well as some possessions, because it's a simple fact that it ain't all going to fit into a smaller place.

For me, the decision to downsize was brought about by a change in lifestyle from one that was sedentary to one that involved two years of travelling. Maintaining a house and paying bills just did not make financial sense, so I moved out of my rented apartment, sold my furniture, gave my household items away to charity and friends and threw whatever was left in the dumpster. My most cherished items were placed in two suitcases to be stored with relatives while what I needed to survive was placed into a small backpack and two bike panniers.

Now my example is an extreme case - I needed to be ruthless in what I could keep - but the experience taught me a lot about downsizing. For starters, it's generally not easy to get rid of your possessions. In fact, the act of letting go can be very emotional. Some items have sentimental value, some are valuable, and others, well yes, it might be a piece of junk, but you never know, you just might need it one day.

The thing I discovered, which surprised me, was I really don't miss any of the things of got rid of. In fact, I feel better for having decluttered my life - I have fewer worries. Humans are very resilient creatures; we don't need much to survive.

Even so, downsizing is not easy. Some companies, such as Red Coats Moving Solutions specialize in helping you decide what stays and goes and then ultimately assists you with the move itself. Their website has 10 handy tips to help you downsize.

I found that downsizing my life needed to be done in stages. It would have been too much of a shock to the system if everything disappeared in one day. I set a goal about how much I could reasonably keep (only two suitcases worth) and over a number of weeks whittled my way down until I had met that goal. Sometimes I found that an item that I thought I could never part with was much easier to throw out after spending a week thinking about it. Yes, I shed a few tears and relived a few memories, but in the end it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders, allowing me to get on with the next stage of my life.