Is Smaller Better???

Have you watched HGTV recently? They have a show called Tiny House Hunters (spoiler alert – it’s not about termites looking for a new place to destroy) where people are on the hunt for ultra small houses. Most of the houses showcased are less than 200 square feet. That is smaller than the average US standard hotel room. I watched each episode with wonder, trying to imagine living in such a miniscule space.

A few buyers wanted to be free to move around. These tiny houses allowed their owners to move anywhere a truck could haul it. Others wanted to live more eco-friendly and have a small carbon footprint.

But the episode that really grabbed my attention was about a single woman who wanted to simplify her life and retire early. She figured out that she could afford to live in her dream location as long as she kept her housing costs under $60,000. So she quit her job, sold her lovely house in Colorado and set her sights on a tiny house on Hawaii’s Big Island.

So is this just a fad? While it is extreme, there is a definite movement towards smaller houses. Per this article, the National Association of Home Builders states that the average house size has shrunk from over 2,500 sq ft in 2007 to 2,152 in 2015. After decades of expanding house sizes, it looks like the days of the McMansion are waning.

What’s driving this trend? More Americans have decided that working 12 hour days plus an hour commute just to afford their big house isn’t worth the trade offs. Then there are the Baby Boomers – a large population of empty-nesters who don’t want the expensive and time-consuming maintenance required for their big houses and big yards. Lastly, millennials are demanding smaller, more eco-friendly homes in the urban areas. Home builders are listening and are building new single family houses that are smaller.

While I doubt I could live in a house smaller than the average dorm room, I am in the process of downsizing my life. My children are in college at Ohio State University so I sold the big suburban family home and bought a smaller single family house in the city. It’s large enough to comfortably accommodate them when they visit for the holidays but too big for just me.

A short term goal is to downsize even more in four years to a place with two bedrooms and water views and use the proceeds plus my savings to help fund my retirement. Every year, I check my plan with this retirement calculator to make sure I’m on track. Of course, life can throw curve balls but hopefully my plan to cut expenses now and even more in the future can help me dodge most problems.

I don’t know what drove the lady in Tiny House Hunters to retire in her mid-50s and pursue her dream of living in Hawaii. She bucked society’s norm by giving up her big house and fancy job to do something as radical as living in a tiny house. Extreme? Yes, but I admire her courage and dedication.

 

 

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