When we decided to embark on downsizing our home, it was met with emotional challenges. Selling the house and letting go of many years’ worth of stuff, just went against the grain in many ways. We worked hard for all that stuff! Why would we just let it all go?
Even if our mortgage was paid in full, there would still be high taxes to be paid every year. As our property value would go up, so would our taxes. This would be like having a never ending mortgage in itself! There was the up keep of the property to think about and the large utility bills that would forever be on our plate on a much lower salary. We began to feel there had to be a better way for us to enjoy our retirement without worrying over mounting bills.
We began to ask ourselves many questions!
Do we wait until we are much older to downsize?
Do we leave the task of rummaging through all our possessions to the children?
Would we have spent every last dime to keep up a house that was much too big for us anyway?
We informed our adult children of our plans, and began to explain our thoughts. We would rather spend the extra money on flying to see them than sitting in a big house that would slowly suck the life out of our savings. With the family so spread out, it made since to us that we start planning a smart way for us to take care of ourselves.
In our minds, it made perfect since to make these kinds of conscious decisions NOW while we were able for our future. We felt that this would benefit us in the long run. While no one can predict the future, we did feel we had to be wise and prepare. Like most middle class Americans, we did not prepare for retirement like we should have. In all honesty, we worked hard to provide a roof and food on the table for our family. Were there things we could have done without? Yes indeed! When you are on the forefront of fifty, it just was not in our thought processes.
There are some people who are blessed to never have to worry about such things, but for most of us, we may look forward to a small pension and hopefully social security one day...if it is still around. Medical costs keep going higher and leaving many in their senior years without proper care. How is one to live comfortably on a small retirement check? We can only pray that our health holds out so that we may work as long as we are able. This is not a bad thing; in fact it is a good thing, but what if one is no longer able to work? Just a few concerns to not dismiss so quickly!
However...there was more to think about.
We know we own a large home that we really do not need and we have so much stuff that it honestly makes me ashamed to think of all the money we have spent in the past to fill it up.
Once the decision was made to sale the house and downsize, we had to come up with a plan! It was time for us to think about retirement seriously and what exactly we needed do to prepare for the days ahead.
Back Story!
Sometimes you get it right the first time and sometimes we need a do over!
Our downsizing actually started almost five years ago when we sold our large house in the country and moved into a small 1400 square foot house in town. While we never believed it to be our forever destination, we knew it was the right thing to do at the time.
We had seven more years until retirement, but we still had not got into the "retirement mode of thinking." We just knew that we were getting older and taking care of that big house and land was getting to be too much. Of course we both were working at the time, and honestly...we were just tired!
After living in the little house in town for about four years, my parents decided to sale their big home around the corner. They asked us if we were interested in buying their big home. I guess we had a brain cramp and forgot what living in a large house entailed. My parents’ house was beautiful, and it came with a fantastic view!
We decided to sale our little home. I know I know...didn't we downsize four years prior?
We told ourselves if our home sold, we would buy theirs. In our minds that would be a sign that it was meant to be! Within six days our house was sold! I would think that could have been some kind of record and a Big Sign for sure that we were moving in the right direction. Where was that small still voice when we needed it? I am NOT sure we would have not heard it as we were too far gone! We moved into a 2800 square foot home with all its bells and whistles.
For a time we were in hog heaven!
It was not long before we began to fill it up with more stuff as before. A reality check came when the yearly tax bill hit us. We began to NOT feel so good about the move anymore. While we told ourselves it was a great investment, it was evident that this house was not what we needed and surely would not be good for us when retirement came a calling.
This was the first time our residence came into the picture concerning retirement. We actually began to worry about retirement which was now even closer at hand.
We had two choices!
We could stay in this lovely home and work until we die or we could downsize, buy a smaller place that we could afford more easily.
We chose the latter of the two!
It was not long before we thought about putting this beautiful home on the market. The question was where would we go? We had lived in Texas the last 25 years! I honestly wanted to stay in Texas near my folks. The children and grandchildren were on my mind as well!
We have a fifth wheel which would be more than comfortable to live in, but did we want to live in it forever?
While many have embraced this lifestyle, I had my doubts. Temporary...yes I could do it, but for the rest of my days, I could not fathom doing that or could I? The thoughts and ideas began to pour in.
We began to look for land that we could place our fifth wheel on, and we even looked for land outside of Texas. We thought we could build a tiny house, while living in the fifth wheel. We began to watch YouTube videos of others who had similar ideas.
The only problem was we still had some years until retirement. Would it be smart to downsize so early? What would we do in the meantime, as we could not move right away to another state? In order to buy the land, we would have to sale our house. The land in Texas was so high and to build on top of purchasing land was too much for our budget! We did not want a mortgage hanging over us near retirement.
Could we see ourselves living in a 40 foot fifth wheel for three more years after living in a 2800 square foot house?
A few months ago we had found land in Missouri, and had thoughts of moving there for retirement. We decided that we could indeed live in our fifth wheel until retirement.
I have to tell you a lot of prayer went into thinking about moving to Missouri on my part. I loved Texas! We made the trip to look at the property with every intention of buying it. The land had two cabins and the price was unbelievable!
Deep down I still had reservations, mostly about moving so far. I could not find peace. That is always the first sign of possibly stepping in the wrong direction. My husband was so excited and I did not want to crush his dream. I prayed that God would speak to his heart where I would not have to say a word. That is exactly what happened! We got up there and within a few hours we both knew this was not the right fit for a number of reasons.
Before we left, we told ourselves if the land was not what we thought, we would still go ahead and place the house on the market and move into the fifth wheel. We would trust God with the rest. The little park down the hill had the perfect spot for our fifth wheel. We talked to the manager and he was so kind and very excited we would be there for three years plus. He reserved the perfect spot for us. We had already rented a storage unit and had begun to place some household goods in it. That part of the plan was in full motion!
After declining on the property, our conversation coming home was interesting. We began to backtrack and question our decision! By the time we hit the Texas border, we had decided to stay in our home a bit longer. We silenced the small still voice about downsizing, moving anywhere, and would just wait. Basically we changed our minds and were back to square one.
Can we say fickle?
Why did we get cold feet?
Was our plan just a silly passing thought?
We came home to only unpack, and put things up. We called the manager of the park and told him we would not be moving down the hill. We called the realtor and told her we would not be putting house on the market. I guess you can say...Our so called plans were not as solid as we had thought!
The funny thing about that small still voice is that it will not leave you alone if you are to change directions. Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out exactly what that small still voice wants you to do!
Perhaps our hearts and minds had to come together as a married couple to move forward. We had got the first part right and that was to sale the house! Somewhere between Missouri and Texas, we had talked ourselves out of moving completely!
Fear of moving and letting go of years of material possessions was just too much for us to think about. If we had somewhere to go, maybe then it would have pushed us to move forward. We unpacked, settled back in, and waited. We were not sure what we were waiting for, but it felt like we were waiting for an answer.
Then it happened! That small still voice began to call on us once more! Perhaps we were just headed in the wrong direction and God had to set the pause button for a time!
How hard it is to take those baby steps and trust God sometimes!
It was not long that we began to remember a dream we had many years ago about moving to South Texas. My parents were Winter Texans until a year ago. We had visited them many times and remarked many times how we loved it down there. Somehow those dreams got pushed aside when mom and dad sold their place and no longer went down south. We shared our thoughts with my parents and they got so excited! They offered to make a trip down south to show us around. If we would be living down there, perhaps they would think of going down once again too! We decided to take a little trip with my parents and guess what was waiting for us... The perfect little park model for a modest price in a beautiful park.
My dad is still amazed at the price we were able to purchase it for. The whole process went on without a hitch. We fell in love with the sweet park model and the park itself. The cost of living would be so much lower and the taxes on this little place were so low, we kept asking...is that all? We knew we could make many trips down south the next three years and enjoy our little piece of heaven until retirement.
That small still voice was now silent and we knew we had found our future home! There was no reservations, no hesitations, and we had total peace.
We had found our retirement destination!
Stay tuned for Part 2.
Even if our mortgage was paid in full, there would still be high taxes to be paid every year. As our property value would go up, so would our taxes. This would be like having a never ending mortgage in itself! There was the up keep of the property to think about and the large utility bills that would forever be on our plate on a much lower salary. We began to feel there had to be a better way for us to enjoy our retirement without worrying over mounting bills.
We began to ask ourselves many questions!
Do we wait until we are much older to downsize?
Do we leave the task of rummaging through all our possessions to the children?
Would we have spent every last dime to keep up a house that was much too big for us anyway?
We informed our adult children of our plans, and began to explain our thoughts. We would rather spend the extra money on flying to see them than sitting in a big house that would slowly suck the life out of our savings. With the family so spread out, it made since to us that we start planning a smart way for us to take care of ourselves.
In our minds, it made perfect since to make these kinds of conscious decisions NOW while we were able for our future. We felt that this would benefit us in the long run. While no one can predict the future, we did feel we had to be wise and prepare. Like most middle class Americans, we did not prepare for retirement like we should have. In all honesty, we worked hard to provide a roof and food on the table for our family. Were there things we could have done without? Yes indeed! When you are on the forefront of fifty, it just was not in our thought processes.
There are some people who are blessed to never have to worry about such things, but for most of us, we may look forward to a small pension and hopefully social security one day...if it is still around. Medical costs keep going higher and leaving many in their senior years without proper care. How is one to live comfortably on a small retirement check? We can only pray that our health holds out so that we may work as long as we are able. This is not a bad thing; in fact it is a good thing, but what if one is no longer able to work? Just a few concerns to not dismiss so quickly!
However...there was more to think about.
We know we own a large home that we really do not need and we have so much stuff that it honestly makes me ashamed to think of all the money we have spent in the past to fill it up.
Once the decision was made to sale the house and downsize, we had to come up with a plan! It was time for us to think about retirement seriously and what exactly we needed do to prepare for the days ahead.
Back Story!
Sometimes you get it right the first time and sometimes we need a do over!
Our downsizing actually started almost five years ago when we sold our large house in the country and moved into a small 1400 square foot house in town. While we never believed it to be our forever destination, we knew it was the right thing to do at the time.
We had seven more years until retirement, but we still had not got into the "retirement mode of thinking." We just knew that we were getting older and taking care of that big house and land was getting to be too much. Of course we both were working at the time, and honestly...we were just tired!
After living in the little house in town for about four years, my parents decided to sale their big home around the corner. They asked us if we were interested in buying their big home. I guess we had a brain cramp and forgot what living in a large house entailed. My parents’ house was beautiful, and it came with a fantastic view!
We decided to sale our little home. I know I know...didn't we downsize four years prior?
We told ourselves if our home sold, we would buy theirs. In our minds that would be a sign that it was meant to be! Within six days our house was sold! I would think that could have been some kind of record and a Big Sign for sure that we were moving in the right direction. Where was that small still voice when we needed it? I am NOT sure we would have not heard it as we were too far gone! We moved into a 2800 square foot home with all its bells and whistles.
For a time we were in hog heaven!
It was not long before we began to fill it up with more stuff as before. A reality check came when the yearly tax bill hit us. We began to NOT feel so good about the move anymore. While we told ourselves it was a great investment, it was evident that this house was not what we needed and surely would not be good for us when retirement came a calling.
This was the first time our residence came into the picture concerning retirement. We actually began to worry about retirement which was now even closer at hand.
We had two choices!
We could stay in this lovely home and work until we die or we could downsize, buy a smaller place that we could afford more easily.
We chose the latter of the two!
It was not long before we thought about putting this beautiful home on the market. The question was where would we go? We had lived in Texas the last 25 years! I honestly wanted to stay in Texas near my folks. The children and grandchildren were on my mind as well!
We have a fifth wheel which would be more than comfortable to live in, but did we want to live in it forever?
While many have embraced this lifestyle, I had my doubts. Temporary...yes I could do it, but for the rest of my days, I could not fathom doing that or could I? The thoughts and ideas began to pour in.
We began to look for land that we could place our fifth wheel on, and we even looked for land outside of Texas. We thought we could build a tiny house, while living in the fifth wheel. We began to watch YouTube videos of others who had similar ideas.
The only problem was we still had some years until retirement. Would it be smart to downsize so early? What would we do in the meantime, as we could not move right away to another state? In order to buy the land, we would have to sale our house. The land in Texas was so high and to build on top of purchasing land was too much for our budget! We did not want a mortgage hanging over us near retirement.
Could we see ourselves living in a 40 foot fifth wheel for three more years after living in a 2800 square foot house?
A few months ago we had found land in Missouri, and had thoughts of moving there for retirement. We decided that we could indeed live in our fifth wheel until retirement.
I have to tell you a lot of prayer went into thinking about moving to Missouri on my part. I loved Texas! We made the trip to look at the property with every intention of buying it. The land had two cabins and the price was unbelievable!
Deep down I still had reservations, mostly about moving so far. I could not find peace. That is always the first sign of possibly stepping in the wrong direction. My husband was so excited and I did not want to crush his dream. I prayed that God would speak to his heart where I would not have to say a word. That is exactly what happened! We got up there and within a few hours we both knew this was not the right fit for a number of reasons.
Before we left, we told ourselves if the land was not what we thought, we would still go ahead and place the house on the market and move into the fifth wheel. We would trust God with the rest. The little park down the hill had the perfect spot for our fifth wheel. We talked to the manager and he was so kind and very excited we would be there for three years plus. He reserved the perfect spot for us. We had already rented a storage unit and had begun to place some household goods in it. That part of the plan was in full motion!
After declining on the property, our conversation coming home was interesting. We began to backtrack and question our decision! By the time we hit the Texas border, we had decided to stay in our home a bit longer. We silenced the small still voice about downsizing, moving anywhere, and would just wait. Basically we changed our minds and were back to square one.
Can we say fickle?
Why did we get cold feet?
Was our plan just a silly passing thought?
We came home to only unpack, and put things up. We called the manager of the park and told him we would not be moving down the hill. We called the realtor and told her we would not be putting house on the market. I guess you can say...Our so called plans were not as solid as we had thought!
The funny thing about that small still voice is that it will not leave you alone if you are to change directions. Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out exactly what that small still voice wants you to do!
Perhaps our hearts and minds had to come together as a married couple to move forward. We had got the first part right and that was to sale the house! Somewhere between Missouri and Texas, we had talked ourselves out of moving completely!
Fear of moving and letting go of years of material possessions was just too much for us to think about. If we had somewhere to go, maybe then it would have pushed us to move forward. We unpacked, settled back in, and waited. We were not sure what we were waiting for, but it felt like we were waiting for an answer.
Then it happened! That small still voice began to call on us once more! Perhaps we were just headed in the wrong direction and God had to set the pause button for a time!
How hard it is to take those baby steps and trust God sometimes!
It was not long that we began to remember a dream we had many years ago about moving to South Texas. My parents were Winter Texans until a year ago. We had visited them many times and remarked many times how we loved it down there. Somehow those dreams got pushed aside when mom and dad sold their place and no longer went down south. We shared our thoughts with my parents and they got so excited! They offered to make a trip down south to show us around. If we would be living down there, perhaps they would think of going down once again too! We decided to take a little trip with my parents and guess what was waiting for us... The perfect little park model for a modest price in a beautiful park.
My dad is still amazed at the price we were able to purchase it for. The whole process went on without a hitch. We fell in love with the sweet park model and the park itself. The cost of living would be so much lower and the taxes on this little place were so low, we kept asking...is that all? We knew we could make many trips down south the next three years and enjoy our little piece of heaven until retirement.
That small still voice was now silent and we knew we had found our future home! There was no reservations, no hesitations, and we had total peace.
We had found our retirement destination!
Stay tuned for Part 2.
The Boxes of Pictures and Little Mementoes

Like many, we also had many boxes of albums and pictures in the shed.
Some pictures were passed down to us from three generations back.
My husband and I began to take the pictures out of the albums and we kept only a few of distant relatives.
We had acquired years of the children's pictures. I found myself breaking down in tears many times as I reminisced through the pictures. We had so many beautiful memories. There was no way I could let go of all these pictures!
We placed one large tub for each of us to fill up with special pictures that we knew we could not part with. It included our wedding album, and many other fond memories. We then made a box for each adult child and began to place the other pictures in their boxes with the intention of giving them those pictures now. We also have the intention of scanning many so that we will not have to store too many.
We went through the house and began to text the children about certain items to see if they wanted them. We have one daughter who will take anything and one daughter who does not want anything, she is our minimalist! Our son is getting many tools that he is happy to acquire.
Some pictures were passed down to us from three generations back.
My husband and I began to take the pictures out of the albums and we kept only a few of distant relatives.
We had acquired years of the children's pictures. I found myself breaking down in tears many times as I reminisced through the pictures. We had so many beautiful memories. There was no way I could let go of all these pictures!
We placed one large tub for each of us to fill up with special pictures that we knew we could not part with. It included our wedding album, and many other fond memories. We then made a box for each adult child and began to place the other pictures in their boxes with the intention of giving them those pictures now. We also have the intention of scanning many so that we will not have to store too many.
We went through the house and began to text the children about certain items to see if they wanted them. We have one daughter who will take anything and one daughter who does not want anything, she is our minimalist! Our son is getting many tools that he is happy to acquire.
Getting Rid of the Stuff: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!
I would love to share that my husband and I always see eye to eye and we have just taken on this "downsizing" without incident!
However...we are two very different people in personality and believe me when I say...when two different people get together to accomplish a huge task, there may be a little causalities here and there!
My husband is laid back and takes things a bit slower. I call him my happy Turtle! Here are a few of his thoughts!
Why hurry?
Give me some time to sort through this stuff!
Quit hurrying me!
Why do we need such a short timeline?
I work you know!
Maybe I will need that later!
Yes I need that!
Don't bother...I will get to it!
Me...I am type A all the way! I have to say I am a very patient Type A! At least I try to be one. That being said...I hold a lot in, hold my breath, but all the while I am feeling my insides wanting to explode any minute. I would call myself the Roadrunner, as I am hurrying here or there, just beeping away!
Here is my contribution to the downsizing timeline.
Honey I have this calendar timeline here!
By May 1st we should have this done!
You don't really need that do you?
Maybe we can move up the dates just a bit!
You know you have to have your office cleaned by?
Did I tell you I have this calendar timeline here?
When I see this on the page, I have to admit I may want to shred my calendar timeline myself! I want to be done with this process yesterday! I have lists and calendars to get things accomplished in a timely manner. I want to get it all done so we can relax...
Oh shoot who am I kidding! You can bet I will have another project sitting in the wings! Any way...
My husband, the happy turtle, keeps me grounded and I love him for it! He takes my hand and makes me sit when I am running around doing God knows what acting like a crazy roadrunner!
The bottom line is we both have to give a little to get this done, while we acknowledge each others differences and feelings!
Our Personal Rules for This Process!
Should we get into a disagreement during our downsizing process, we will not divorce!
Should my happy turtle become a snapping turtle, I will know I have pushed him a bit too much and I need to slow my roll!
He will acknowledge that his "roadrunner wife" will need him to speed up just a bit at times. so that she will not have coronary!
Never go to bed angry...its just downsizing not life or death!
The Process!
We began the process by making piles of items. One pile for a yard sale which we placed in the garage. Should the items not sale, they will be donated.
We have a pile that is our "keep" items that we will haul down south.
We have a pile for the RV of items that we will need during our three year stay.
I am sure we will still have to tweak this process many times before we are completely purged and ready to go.
We have been placing items on EBay and have also listed items on the online yard sales sites. This has proved to be a great way to sale.
We are thinking it will take us a good three months to get it all done! We hope to have the house on the market by July 1st!
I would love to share that my husband and I always see eye to eye and we have just taken on this "downsizing" without incident!
However...we are two very different people in personality and believe me when I say...when two different people get together to accomplish a huge task, there may be a little causalities here and there!
My husband is laid back and takes things a bit slower. I call him my happy Turtle! Here are a few of his thoughts!
Why hurry?
Give me some time to sort through this stuff!
Quit hurrying me!
Why do we need such a short timeline?
I work you know!
Maybe I will need that later!
Yes I need that!
Don't bother...I will get to it!
Me...I am type A all the way! I have to say I am a very patient Type A! At least I try to be one. That being said...I hold a lot in, hold my breath, but all the while I am feeling my insides wanting to explode any minute. I would call myself the Roadrunner, as I am hurrying here or there, just beeping away!
Here is my contribution to the downsizing timeline.
Honey I have this calendar timeline here!
By May 1st we should have this done!
You don't really need that do you?
Maybe we can move up the dates just a bit!
You know you have to have your office cleaned by?
Did I tell you I have this calendar timeline here?
When I see this on the page, I have to admit I may want to shred my calendar timeline myself! I want to be done with this process yesterday! I have lists and calendars to get things accomplished in a timely manner. I want to get it all done so we can relax...
Oh shoot who am I kidding! You can bet I will have another project sitting in the wings! Any way...
My husband, the happy turtle, keeps me grounded and I love him for it! He takes my hand and makes me sit when I am running around doing God knows what acting like a crazy roadrunner!
The bottom line is we both have to give a little to get this done, while we acknowledge each others differences and feelings!
Our Personal Rules for This Process!
Should we get into a disagreement during our downsizing process, we will not divorce!
Should my happy turtle become a snapping turtle, I will know I have pushed him a bit too much and I need to slow my roll!
He will acknowledge that his "roadrunner wife" will need him to speed up just a bit at times. so that she will not have coronary!
Never go to bed angry...its just downsizing not life or death!
The Process!
We began the process by making piles of items. One pile for a yard sale which we placed in the garage. Should the items not sale, they will be donated.
We have a pile that is our "keep" items that we will haul down south.
We have a pile for the RV of items that we will need during our three year stay.
I am sure we will still have to tweak this process many times before we are completely purged and ready to go.
We have been placing items on EBay and have also listed items on the online yard sales sites. This has proved to be a great way to sale.
We are thinking it will take us a good three months to get it all done! We hope to have the house on the market by July 1st!
It is my hope that each post will encourage others who are thinking of embarking on this very journey. Changing seasons in our lives is not always easy. Letting go is scary!
It can be a joyous time, in that we are embarking on a new life, and a new beginning!
Thankfully...the Father knew just what we needed way before we did. I am thankful His still small voice continues to lead us where we need to be, but in His perfect time.
Until next time...I wish for you God's love and peace on your journey.
It can be a joyous time, in that we are embarking on a new life, and a new beginning!
Thankfully...the Father knew just what we needed way before we did. I am thankful His still small voice continues to lead us where we need to be, but in His perfect time.
Until next time...I wish for you God's love and peace on your journey.