Downsizing to the Extreme
In a recent article, the NY Times profiled Micheal Jansen a man who is interested in downsizing his life and his home. He says what many of us think:
“I don’t want this life — the life of someone who’s working too hard to pay a large mortgage to live in this house.” The catalyst, he said, was watching the value of his home plummet with the rest of the real estate market, while the time and money required to maintain the property only increased. “The energy cost is enormous,” he said, “and the bigger your property gets, the more there is to do.”
I have a friend who recently their home and moved to another state for work. At the onset of the relocation they fully planned to buy a new house, but the hidden joys of renting have won them over. They are not sure when they will buy a house. There is no periosic maintenance associated with a rental. That is what the lanlord is for. If something breaks, like the furnace, you only need to call the landlord. Sometimes it is easy to forget that our time is a valuable commodity.
And with that in mind, Michael Jansen has become deeply interested in the small house movement. Many of us talk about downsizing, especially those of us in the cold weather states who have seen our heating costs double and triple in the past few years.
Others have also been deep into the small house movement. A small house, from all definitions I could find,is a house that is smaller than 1000 sq ft, though many of the homes that are featured are under 300 sq ft, with some not even topping 100 sq ft. That is small!
The blog Small House Style is dedicated to everything small house related. If you are looking for information on small houses it is a fabulous resource for how being small doesn’t mean compromising style.
