How to Avoid the Costs of Double Downsizing

Why Not Do It Right the First Time?

By Rita Wilkins
The Downsizing Designer

Downsizing should save you money, right? For those of you who know me, the “Downsizing Designer”, that’s my mantra. Downsizing saves time, money, freedom, and energy.

If you are an empty nester…
If you want a smaller, more manageable space to live…
Or if you just want to enjoy a new lifestyle…

You can definitely save money when you downsize. But the dirty little secret is that downsizing can cost money too… especially if you have to downsize twice (double downsize). So as my dad used to say, “why not do it right the first time?”

Check out Rita’s best-selling book,

Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money, and Freedom.

These are two examples of double downsizing…

The first one is a good client and friend, Mary, is a single professional woman who downsized from a 6,000 square foot to a 3,000 square foot home, and she thought that she downsized enough. But a year later, she had a major health issue that forced her to downsize again to a 1,000 square foot first-floor living space. While she could not have predicted her health crisis, she said that in retrospect she wished that she could have planned for that possibility. She wished that she wished that she had done it right in the first place.

Her second downsizing was expensive. It cost far more because she did not consider her age when buying the 3,000 square foot home, but as she said “in retrospect, she wishes that she had done it right in the first place.”

Read more about getting your downsizing journey:

You Are Thinking About Downsizing Your Home, but You Have No Idea Where to Start

2. A second example of double downsizing, is John and Peggy. They were so excited because they moved to the perfect house, first-floor living, perfect size and a perfect neighborhood for them. The problem was though, they brought way too much of their oversized furniture from their former home. They now sooner moved in than they realized they had to downsize more of their possessions again.

Again, an added unnecessary cost they wish they haven’t had to deal with. Not only that though it cost a great deal of upset because they knew they had taken plenty of time to find the right size house, but they did not take enough time to properly plan what would fit and not fit in their new smaller home.

Don’t Let This Happen to You

When you downsize:

· Carefully plan to bring only what you need, will use, and what you love.

If you do that, likely you’re not going to have to double downsize, saving you time, expense, and frustration. If you don’t know how, get help from a professional, one who can lead to the process not and to help you anticipate how much you will have space for in your new smaller home. It will save you money in the long run.

If you want to know more about how to downsize and declutter, enjoy a simpler life with less, check out my new course.