#Starting the Good Life | Design Services LTD

Starting the Good Life posts by Rita Wilkins. Rita is a renowned expert in decluttering and minimalism, empowering individuals to simplify their lives through practical tips and resources, while also captivating audiences as a professional speaker and author.

How I Became a Minimalist (Why I Choose to Live with Less)
How I Became a Minimalist (Why I Choose to Live with Less)

How I Became a Minimalist (Why I Choose to Live with Less)

Growing up (or even just a few short years ago) I never, ever would have imagined writing a post about how I became a minimalist. If you’re not familiar with the term, a minimalist is, simply defined, someone who decides to be intentional about what things (possessions, people, ideas) they include in their life. Practically, [...]

By Rita Wilkins|2016-08-10T17:55:11+00:00August 10th, 2016|A Peek into Your Good Life, Baby Boomers, bucket list, downsizing, lifestyle, living in smaller spaces, minimalism, simplify your life, Start Your Good Life, Starting the Good Life, travel|Comments Off

15 Tips for Downsizing Your Living Space
15 Tips for Downsizing Your Living Space

15 Tips for Downsizing Your Living Space

A few years ago I sold my large four-bedroom home and moved into a cute but significantly smaller cottage by the sea. Downsizing had to be done, and within the two-month closing date. Yikes! Needless to say, going through the mounds of stuff that I had accumulated over the 24 years of living there was [...]

By Rita Wilkins|2016-08-10T01:43:33+00:00August 10th, 2016|A Peek into Your Good Life, Baby Boomers, community, downsizing, lifestyle, living in smaller spaces, minimalism, retirement, simplify your life, Start Your Good Life, Starting the Good Life|Comments Off

More From Less: The Benefits of Downsizing
More From Less: The Benefits of Downsizing

More From Less: The Benefits of Downsizing

As a retiree, I’m always looking for ways to cut expenses without degrading my lifestyle. I illustrated this in my Retirement Spending Plan essay a while ago. It’s a good plan, and it’s working. But it wasn’t feasible until two years ago, when Tricia and I downsized. We moved out of the house where we’d [...]

By Rita Wilkins|2016-08-08T13:04:40+00:00August 8th, 2016|A Peek into Your Good Life, Baby Boomers, bucket list, community, downsizing, lifestyle, living in smaller spaces, minimalism, retirement, simplify your life, Start Your Good Life, Starting the Good Life|Comments Off

How to Emotionally Prepare for a Move from a House to an Apartment
How to Emotionally Prepare for a Move from a House to an Apartment

How to Emotionally Prepare for a Move from a House to an Apartment

My in-laws are now at the age where they're ready to sell their large family home to purchase something smaller and are considering moving into a condo or apartment. It's tough for sure. All their memories are contained within that house and after decades of living in the same place, they've collected a lot of [...]

By Rita Wilkins|2016-08-07T01:04:55+00:00August 7th, 2016|A Peek into Your Good Life, Baby Boomers, bucket list, community, downsizing, lifestyle, living in smaller spaces, minimalism, Renting Trend, retirement, simplify your life, Start Your Good Life, Starting the Good Life|Comments Off

Decluttering: Practical Steps For Living With Less
Decluttering: Practical Steps For Living With Less

Decluttering: Practical Steps For Living With Less

Consumerism -- the concept that an ever-expanding consumption of goods is advantageous to the economy. And beneficial to the economy it is. Consumer Spending in Australia increased to $232 billion in the first quarter of 2016, up from $231 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015. Those numbers are hard to say, let alone fathom. [...]

By Rita Wilkins|2016-08-06T00:25:22+00:00August 6th, 2016|A Peek into Your Good Life, Baby Boomers, bucket list, downsizing, lifestyle, living in smaller spaces, minimalism, retirement, simplify your life, Start Your Good Life, Starting the Good Life|1 Comment

10 tips for downsizing Baby Boomers
10 tips for downsizing Baby Boomers

10 tips for downsizing Baby Boomers

Many Boomers tired of waiting for the real estate market to improve to sell their homes might want to consider making a move now. The housing market appears to be stabilizing and home sales are picking up. And, while owners may not get as much for their homes as they would have several years ago, [...]

By Rita Wilkins|2016-08-05T00:34:19+00:00August 5th, 2016|A Peek into Your Good Life, Baby Boomers, bucket list, downsizing, lifestyle, living in smaller spaces, minimalism, Renting Trend, retirement, simplify your life, Start Your Good Life, Starting the Good Life|Comments Off

Reverse Migration: How Baby Boomers Are Transforming City Living
Reverse Migration: How Baby Boomers Are Transforming City Living

Reverse Migration: How Baby Boomers Are Transforming City Living

It’s the traditional migratory circle of life: Young folks flock to the blazingly bright cities to make their careers and have their kicks; middle-aged peeps move to the burbs, buy homes, and raise their broods; older Americans search out warmer, cheaper, and more water-aerobic-centric climes to make their retirement nests. End of story, right? But hold on. Baby [...]

By Rita Wilkins|2016-08-04T00:54:02+00:00August 4th, 2016|A Peek into Your Good Life, Baby Boomers, bucket list, community, downsizing, lifestyle, living in smaller spaces, Renting Trend, retirement, simplify your life, Start Your Good Life, Starting the Good Life, travel|Comments Off

Vacations For Traveling Boomers: 10 Best Spots
Vacations For Traveling Boomers: 10 Best Spots

Vacations For Traveling Boomers: 10 Best Spots

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that today’s 50+ generation — which is notoriously outspoken and influential — likes to rewrite the book. From parenting to marriage to retirement, boomers have found and continue to find new ways of separating their values from those of their parents. One of the clearest examples of [...]

By Rita Wilkins|2016-08-03T12:59:18+00:00August 3rd, 2016|A Peek into Your Good Life, Baby Boomers, bucket list, community, lifestyle, retirement, simplify your life, Start Your Good Life, Starting the Good Life, travel|Comments Off

For Baby Boomers, Apartments are the New American Dream
For Baby Boomers, Apartments are the New American Dream

For Baby Boomers, Apartments are the New American Dream

Years ago, the so called “Baby Boomer” generation defined the American Dream as having a house with a white picket fence. But now as this generation begins to age, retire, and downsize, the American dream has changed. It is now apartments that the Baby Boomers are moving to in droves. Baby Boomers (those born between [...]

By Rita Wilkins|2016-08-03T12:42:06+00:00August 3rd, 2016|A Peek into Your Good Life, Baby Boomers, bucket list, community, downsizing, lifestyle, living in smaller spaces, minimalism, Renting Trend, retirement, simplify your life, Start Your Good Life, Starting the Good Life, travel|Comments Off

Baby Boomer Travel: Why and Where They Go
Baby Boomer Travel: Why and Where They Go

Baby Boomer Travel: Why and Where They Go

The top priority of baby boomers is traveling the world, and they’re turning traditional ideas of retirement on its head as they do so. That’s what Virtuoso Chairman and CEO Matthew Upchurch told CNBC viewers July 10, in an interview on Squawk Box focusing on baby boomer travel priorities. Baby Boomer Travel Booming “The number one [...]