why live in a smaller home

WHY LIVE IN A SMALLER HOME

this is a picture above of a representative of the condos that are in our complex
there are 50 of them
the condo complex next to us has another 50
the condo complex a couple of blocks away has another 50
they are at the smallest about 1000 square feet

when we lived at the country n we lived in an approximately 3000 square foot house with a detached garage that was about 400 square feet
our barn was 1200 square feet

yes all that space was filled with stuff

we had 10 acres which 9 acres were left to nature
i planted several trees on those 9 acres of the property and a lot of native grasses
the house sat on 1 acre with a 7 foot fence around it

inside that 1 acre i planted a lot of trees and a lot of native perennials
ok it was 100+ of them
what grass was exposed was mainly whatever was there when we moved in
i also planted several fruit trees

i did all the maintenance on the property doing things like replacing the barn roof rebuilding the garage redoing some of the walls inside the house putting in a 30000 gallon rainwater system

i did all the yard maintenance
i had a 1000 square foot garden of raised beds
we had a large chicken coop with usually around 15 chickens

it took a lot of work to maintain it
all of which i enjoyed doing

today i saw this posting on facebook of a lone small house on a large lot
here is the writing underneath it
thanks to kz

small homes make
wallets fatter
material possessions fewer
relationships stronger
conversations easier
laughing times louder
cleaning times shorter
and 
fun times longer

yep 
i said
thats the things we thought about when we decided to move to santa barbara

we decided to make our move while we were both healthy 
knowing what would happen to me in some unknown time in the future

we notified our kids and family that they needed to come get anything that was theirs or that they wanted
they did and what they didnt want was unloaded

friends and neighbors wanted some of our stuff 
we had a large moving sale and unloaded what was left
then
what was left after that got donated

we left our country n with only our two cars full of what we thought was important
i did bring my 30 yr old multiplying onions and a couple of small malabar  spinach sprouts i had for 15 years in a ziplock bag and a small branch off a cactus plant my wife gave me 30 years ago
all of them are now growing here in santa barbara

it was interesting what we considered important

then
we moved eventually into this 1 bedroom condo that is about 1000 square foot 
we filled with it with good furniture over a period of a few months using the monies from our moving sale

its easy to keep clean
we can talk to each other from one end to the other but we can get privacy for oneself easily
we had to get use to the different noises here
we were use to birds and coyotes and frogs
but
we can walk to our doctor and dental appointments the pharmacy the hospital the grocery store and to restaurants

sometimes we even walk to the downtown area and the farmers market
should we ever need to the bus stop is 1 block away

my wife shes mom lives about a quarter mile away well within walking distance
our grandkids are about 2 miles away and about an hour away

we are about a mile and a half from the beach and a couple of miles to the foothills and mountains

i dont mow grass or water the lawn or trim hedges or do any gardening outside our condo
i do no outside repairs
inside i do some maintenance but leave the electric stuff to a electrician and the more complicated plumbing to the plumber
i use a handy man to do some of the inside repairs that i cant do or dont wont to do anymore

almost everyday i am out the door early to work in my garden plot or i volunteer in our 3 acre community garden doing whatever needs to be done

most of my volunteer work is with the community garden now 
i moved my volunteer hours there during the pandemic since it felt safer

i go to ucla for my infusions once a month 
that trip takes up about 8-10 hours
some months i have to go extra days for mri scans or amyloid pet scans or tau pet scans or memory testing and labs

we usually use those trips to also see our grandkids who leave near ucla

my wife she stays busy grandkidding which she loves to do
she is a known thrifter which she enjoys doing with her mom
she also gets to spend a lot of time with her mom which she has enjoyed since living here

we have not done any trips since the pandemic but we have managed to be busy everyday

we are glad we downsized and prioritized how we are spending our time
we do what we both enjoy doing

sometimes i believe we would all be better off if we all lived in a smaller home

the organicgreen doctor