What Will the Neighbors Think?

I have spent many blog moments talking about pitching your crap and living with a bit less.  But if you are down to three mixing bowls instead of nine, won't your cupboards look bare?  Perhaps.  Have you thought about fewer cupboards?

I'm in Texas.  Where we do everything big.  Big ole Chevy Suburbans, big hair, and especially a whopper red brick house with rooms whose functions that are still unclear like butler's pantry (who has a butler?) and children's suite (children need a suite?).  It's a sign of your success, of course, that you can bunk three families in your home, even though only one lives there. 

I have read in many places that the average home size has almost doubled since the 1950's, although the average family size has not.   Here in Texas, the cost of living is far more affordable than the west or east coast.  Houses are large and abundant.  Does that mean you need to buy as much as the bank says you qualify for?  

I say you don't.

More house will impress your neighbors, right?  It will look good at Christmas when you pay someone to illuminate it to be even more impressive.  It will invoke envy on Facebook when you post pics of your new living room furniture (but you don't use that furniture because it's too fancy).  People are silly. 

Next to your pretty pics, post a shot of your tax assessment.  Gah!  Who knew you were paying the county $18,000 for the privilege of using its dirt and schools? Tag me in your post of your awesome water bill in the summer for keeping your lawn golf course perfect.  Man, I am jealous!  

I am sinfully throwing stones, I admit, because my house is probably 1,000 square feet more that my family requires.  The cows do provide a tax break, however.  I don't water jack squat because the weeds blow on to my lawn from the pasture, and I refuse to give them more sustenance.  

But when the nest lies empty, I will likely find a way to downsize.  I want to see way more of the planet than just my backyard and its needy grass.  If you're not supporting a house the size of a hotel in Bali, then you have more opportunity to do just that.  I am thinking a sweet Airstream or vintage Shasta, but that's another post.  

When you're pondering embracing minimalism, or just want to spend less of your income on a house burden, consider paying for less square feet.  Since you already decrapified,  a smaller house will seem huge.  

Shrink on, Minimalists, and enjoy your shrunken tax and water bills!