Monday, June 25, 2012

Downsizing: The Journey Begins

This is the artist rendering of our current 3200sq ft home
It bit us. The downsizing bug. The one where you realize that things are not as important as memories and memories are not made in big houses where families are so far apart from each other that they only pass one or two times during an evening. They aren't made when mommy sits in the bedroom and daddy is in the other end of the house in the office. They are not made when having so many toys means that none are treated with respect. They aren't made by having 3200 sq ft of home that takes all day just to do a basic clean up in.

Now,  I am not saying that all families who live in big homes have these problems, but our does. Currently our lives are dominated by tasks that do not really create memorable moments but rather barely keep chaos from taking over. I spend my day fighting a losing battle cleaning house while the kids are so overwhelmed by toys that they give up trying to play with any of them. Daddy comes home and has to continue work in his office which is closed away on the other side of the house. I sit in the bedroom watching TV and the kids are now fighting because of how chaotic the upstairs is.

We decided we have had enough. We are getting rid of the chaos in our lives. We are getting rid of the obsession with things. We are downsizing.

On July 16th, 2012 (if all goes according to plan) we will pack up what we need to live, move in with my parents and put our 3200 sqft, in the city, in a manicured subdivision with an HOA, on the market. During this time we will dry in our new, in the country, on 5 acres of land, 1660 sq ft home for which we will pay cash. While we are selling our current home we will slowly work on finishing the new one doing our best not to incur any debt.

We don't know what the market will do for our current home. We have only been here just under 3 years. We may even have to take a small loss on it should it not sell for what we need it to, but even if that happens, we will be mortgage free on the new house and will be able to quickly pay off the small amount we would owe.

So here we are. At the start of a fantastic adventure. One that no doubt will have it's ups and downs. We know that we have some family and friends that will think we are nuts. Right now I am riding the wave of happiness over the thought of being mortgage free. I am sure this feeling will come and go, but we know that this is a chance to live as we believe we should, owing no man.



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6 comments:

Jenny said...

That is very exciting! Being mortgage free will be so wonderful!

Good luck on your new adventure!

Rachel E. said...

I think I needed to read your post. I was just looking around our newly bought house thinking, "We have entirely too much stuff." And! We haven't even gotten our 8000 pounds of stuff from Poland yet! Insane! We have lived here for one month and I am already dreaming of downsizing.

Good luck on your new adventure. I look forward to hearing news. God bless too!

Vickie said...

We have a larger home too and sometimes I think the same thing. But we are getting ready to add more kids to fill up the bedrooms more. All toys will be relocated to one "playroom". One day we'll be downsizing...probably when we are down to 4 kids. Then this house will be totally overwhelming...but awesome for family reunions :)

God's blessings and enjoy your new adventure.

Meg - This Big Happy said...

Congrats! We did the same in 2008, we moved out of a 3 yr old 3,400 sq ft 5/3 colonial style house into an 1800 sq ft 3/3 ranch, though we converted the office into a 4th bedroom & the ranch has a pool (yay!) I figured out that what I thought I wanted had changed dramatically. There are 7 of us at home now, but 2 are getting close to adulthood & we're looking forward to eventually downsizing into a 2br condo.

Jenn said...

Good luck Anna! Very exciting!

Take Root said...

Hard but good!... And for sure against the flow! Praying for yo and your sweet family. - Julie