# Down sizing. Any regrets? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 7, 2026, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446 "2026-01-07T21:36:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446/61 "2026-01-12T13:49:22Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > plus: if you do it too late, you might be cognitively and intelectually infirm enough that “outside help” might take advantage of you … This is also one of the reasons we moved. We used to live pretty remote. It was a task to get any help. And the snow was feaking ridiculous I had to plow it myself. When I had my hip replaced, I hired someone to plow for us. This dude got stuck 4 times. I had to use my plow truck to pull him out. What a mess. He did not ask to renew the contract, he was in way over his head. Now, at the new place, I have a connected 4 car heated garage. My tools aren’t all crammed into a 10’x12’ shed 100’ feet from the house. This is luxury. Yes I’m bragging about it. But it’s just great. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446/62 "2026-01-12T15:12:50Z")
I’ve thought of that, but we’re really limited in our space. It would take a major remodel. I think at that point, it would be time to move. We have 3 young-ish, big dogs now and as much as I love dogs, I’ve announced that when these boys are gone, no more dogs. Well, maybe a small dog. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446/63 "2026-01-12T15:17:09Z")
With our current situation (3 large dogs), there could not and will not be any moving/down-sizing. But even without the dogs, I would need outdoor space. I don’t want to have to drive somewhere to enjoy the out of doors. I love summers on my deck/patio. I’m rarely in the house during the summer. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446/64 "2026-01-12T15:27:46Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > I love summers on my deck/patio. I’m rarely in the house during the summer. Yup. I bought a marble chess set for our rear porch. Marble because it is sort of immue to weather and heavy enough that the pieces don’t blow down. When you drop one, they can break but I have a special glue that fixes them right up. We just leave the chess set out all set up. We are outside a lot. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446/65 "2026-01-13T05:39:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’ve downsized in 5 stages spread over 11 years from a 4K square foot McMansion with all the trimmings to now a 1-1/2 bedroom 1 bath 990SF apartment. > > I am vastly happier with no house, no condo, zero maintenance, nil extra expenses, and very few personal possessions, almost none of which are older than 1-1/2 years. It is remarkably freeing. > > Do it. I’ve also read your many words of wisdom following this. I completely agree with you and I admire your ability to downsize like this. I simply cannot do it. I’m obsessed with sentimentality and that makes me a pack rat. Here, let me take youi down into my basement, in a house that is about 10x larger than I actually need. Here you will find, among a bazillion other things, a 1940s era console radio with scratches on the bottom panel made by my first dog when he was a pup, and on which I remember, as a very young pup myself, listening to a Jack Benny radio show. Wouldn’t give that up for the world. Then dressers, couches, and credenzas that used to belong to my parents. Silverware and chinaware that actually has value, but that I never use and don’t need. It goes on and on. Put all this useless but sentimental stuff on a scale and it would weigh tons. Being burdened by tons of sentimentality seems to be my lot in life. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446/66 "2026-01-13T14:08:09Z")
I also recognize the wisdom of moving to a smaller place, probably an apartment, but I dread doing it. I want a _home_, and have worked for fifty years to gain one. We paid off this place two years ago and achieved my lifelong dream, home ownership. An apartment would feel to me like trying to live in a temporary hole in the air (to quote Clarence Day), with noisy neighbors above, below, and on both sides of me. And we would probably be on top of each other in a smaller place, which would be awful. We can probably install a stair lift in our current place when the time comes. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446/67 "2026-01-13T15:27:54Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Then dressers, couches, and credenzas that used to belong to my parents. I wonder if they would want that for you, to be burdened throughout your life with things they don’t need anymore. The radio with dog scratches I kind of get, but trips down memory lane tend to make me sad, so I avoid them. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446/68 "2026-01-13T20:46:30Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I wonder if they would want that for you, to be burdened throughout your life with things they don’t need anymore. > > The radio with dog scratches I kind of get, but trips down memory lane tend to make me sad, so I avoid them. The stuff I kept from my moms house are absolutely beautiful and a perfect fit. We bought a bunch of new stuff. and almost have all the artwork on the walls. Most of the art is our choosing. But a few are my parents creations. Our gifts to each other on our aniversery was a piece of art. We got over loaded. My wife want’s a map of the world of where we have been. It’s not gonna be terribly Impressive, but ok. It’s someting you just stick different colored magnets too. We divy up jobs I’ll let her find that, I’ll hang it. It’s gonna be big. I was a GIS pro so maps are my thing. They where my life. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446/69 "2026-01-14T15:39:24Z")
Where my life? There my life! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/down-sizing-any-regrets/1026446.md?page=3)