Today’s thoughts on Being Frugal center around Downsizing Your Home. This is an awkward subject, but as one of the biggest investments in people’s lives, it bears some scrutiny. Don’t get me wrong, when we talk about “Downsizing” your home, I don’t mean like corporate downsizing… though for some people, that’s exactly where it leads. There are two sides to this discussion: Cost, and living space. Let’s address each separately.
Cost. Let’s be honest, houses cost tons of money, and they continue to suck money out of our pockets for pretty much our entire lives. It goes without saying (or does it?) that you want to get a good deal on a house… but that’s not the same as getting more house for your money. Would you rather buy as much house as you can afford, or buy what you need and save the remainder of your money? More often than not, we buy the biggest house we can afford!
However, smaller houses not only cost much less to build/buy, they cost less to operate and maintain. You could end up saving more money than you know what to do with if you only buy what you need! Our modern consumerism societal norms, however, say “bigger is better” and “keep up with the Joneses” but in reality, it’s a financial waste. If you’re renting, think about it before you drop money on a house that’s bigger than you need.
Living space. The reality is, most people aren’t going to sell their house for a smaller or more affordable one. And remember, being frugal means optimizing what you already have! In my case, I can’t make my house much smaller, but there are some key areas I can look at for optimizing the space I already have. We can use shelves, cabinets, and compact storage solutions to make better use of space in the house, and I can rearrange my workshop to make it more efficient as well.
I was considering buying another workshop/shed, because I need a place to work on things, as well as a place to store bulky things like lawn equipment and bikes. Maybe instead of buying another shed, I need to minimize what I have, and see if I can make what I need fit in my existing space.
I think I’ll work on it this weekend. I’ll post pictures of my progress!




