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New to the downsizing idea

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  1. Miki
    Member

    I have just seen Jay Schafer's tiny house and was impressed. I was wondering how did everyone prepare to live in smaller living spaces. I love the idea of the simpler life style, and less cleaning. I seem to have a problem with emotional attachment to things. How do you get rid of that so you can down size your life?

    Posted 1 month ago #

  2. Dana
    Member

    Hi Miki,
    I just saw the video with Jay on Yahoo. Like you, I'm impressed (and intrigued).
    I could totally do this...my question is this:

    What do you do in bad storms (ie high winds) ?

    Posted 1 month ago #

  3. Miki
    Member

    Dana,
    I never thought about that;good question.

    Posted 1 month ago #

  4. Jean
    Member

    My husband is in the process of building one of these for us now. It is the size of a park model home basically. These could be tied down just as a mobile home would be. Because of the size of ours we will have tie down straps that he will add.
    We are also new to the downsizing and are 50 yrs old, we are just beginning to rid ourselves of the things we no longer feel are necessary. Wish us luck! LOL

    Posted 1 month ago #

  5. Miki
    Member

    Jean ,
    Good luck to you both. Keep us posted.

    Posted 1 month ago #

  6. anne
    Member

    Hi Miki. :)

    I was just talking to someone else about this exact same issue. This is what I told him:

    <i>I'm not a particularly sentimental person, but I think that's because I write in livejournal so often. I don't need stuff to remind me of important memories because I have it all written down. If I'm having a difficult time letting go of a specific item, I'll take a picture of it and write about how it makes me feel. It's easier to let go after that.</i>

    Once I move into my new home in three months, it'll be 11% of the space I was accustomed to having in my house. I think the first round of purging is the most difficult, but once you get started it feels so good to clear everything out. The challenge of getting rid of it takes the place of the challenge of keeping it, giving you something new and exciting to strive for.

    Also, sometimes the sheer quantity of it can be overwhelming and lead to procrastination. Breaking it down into a more manageable size by setting specific goals certainly helps. For example, you could empty out one room at a time or narrow your purging into categories. One weekend, I sorted through all our music equipment, picked only a few things to keep and took photos of the rest to sell on craigslist. That wasn't as stressful as imagining selling everything I own at once and not even knowing what I have.

    Why do you want to downsize?

    Posted 1 month ago #

  7. Miki
    Member

    Anne,

    I have to be honest with you I want to downsize or at the very least go thru a DEEP DEEP cleaning. I am sick of the clutter/ unorganization. Your right it will be easier in small steps over whelming as well which why it is hard to get started. It hard when it's not just you but your spouse as well.

    Posted 1 month ago #

  8. ryan112ryan
    Member

    First off, welcome everyone, I am glad you have joined us! I write a blog about tiny houses, check it out: TheTinyLife.com

    I would ask this. If your house was on fire and you knew you were the only one home (no people or pets in the house) What would you grab on the way out of the door?

    This should bring some perspective to everything. It the end the most valuable things are your life and the relationships with friends, family and significant others you have. Two non tangible things.

    There is also things that you can do to slim down.

    I went to a craft store and bought 4 scrap books (one each for childhood, middle school, high school, college). I then went through the lengthy task of consolidating all the pictures, memorable pieces of paper (tickets to my prom, invitation to my graduations etc), letters/notes etc. I then dropped these into the scrap book in order. The rest of the photos I digitized and put in three places (my computer, my back hard drive in a fire safe, and on cd & hard drive in a safety deposit box.

    Once I did this, there wasn't much left and the stuff now occupied 10 inches on my shelf. The experience was a lot of fun, focused the memories in one place neatly and I now am able to enjoy them more often.

    I have a few post on The Tiny Life (at thetinylife.com) about more tips.

    Organizing small spaces: 10 tips to make the most out of your space:
    http://www.thetinylife.com/organizing-small-spaces-10-tips-to-make-the-most-out-of-your-space/

    Practical Tips For Downsizing….Everything Part 1:
    http://www.thetinylife.com/practical-tips-for-downsizing-everything-part-1/

    Posted 1 month ago #

  9. nwpsych
    Member

    I too was impressed with the idea of living in a tiny house, but one thing that I am curious about is pets. I have two indoor only cats, and was curious how others accommodated their pets into their tiny houses. I live in a one bedroom apartment now, so I don't think downsizing for me would be that hard.

    Posted 1 month ago #

  10. Miki
    Member

    Well I just have to share this with someone. I have been forced to start my down sizeing before being ready. AAARRRGGGHHH my basement flooded with unclean water so I have had a mess to clean and tones of things to throw out. It is a blessing and a curse; however its only things I, will get through it. This is just a start I still have work ahead of me once the basement has fully been cleaned.

    To nwpsych: I would think that your cats would adapt well. I think when you live in a 100 sq. ft. of space you would just have to be smart and not have large animals in a small space. Just my humble opinion.

    Posted 1 month ago #

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