How to Look Good, Feel Good. The Art of Ageing and Living The Good Life
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My name is Jo Castro and I've been a freelance writer for over 35 years. Ten years ago I committed to blogging, documenting my finds about fashion and travel for women, like me, over 50. On Lifestyle Fifty I share style inspiration and ways to look good, feel good, do good and have adventures. It's all about The Art of Ageing, Living the Good Life and Looking Fashionable everyday. Everything I write about comes from the desire to help as many women as possible live their best lives and look great after the age of 50. Check out more on my About Page.
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Simply awesome post.
Hi Jo, I have loved reading your post and all the comments. We are in the process of selling our beautiful home and downsizing. We are hoping to move to a completely different area, close to places we enjoy that we can walk to. We catch public transport as much as we can now, bus and train into the city during the week where we also work, and then if socialising in the city we use public transport in and Uber it home. Both daughters have moved closer to the city and I must admit that is now where we spend a lot of our social time. We also in the past have spent a lot of time in Fremantle and that can be difficult to get to and requires two trains and a bus from where we live now and it wont be any different when we move closer to the city, though we will be one less train ride away. The problem now is that if we do move down to Freo it will be further away from our daughters. PPffttttt! What will be will be. I reckon it will be the first home that fits the profile that we are after x Rae
Hi Rae, thanks for sharing your story and dilemma. When the kids grow up and move out it is nice to be close (but not too close) to them I think, and like you we are in the same boat pretty much – and always trying to second guess what the future will hold. I expect you’re sad about selling your beautiful home and trying hard to balance your ideas about where to settle in your downsizing quest. We too have endless discussions about the same dilemmas you mention. At the end of the day, something has to give and compromise has to happen because I guess if I’m truthful, I’m beginning to realise there is no utopia!
With the children gone and in their own lives, my husband and I made the monumental decision to downsize from our 2600 sqft home (5 bdrm,3 baths, 2 livingrooms, 2 kitchens…), to a 1 bath, 2 bdrm, teensy livingroom/kitchen combo, maybe 900 Sqft home on a private lake. It was scary to make the decision, but absolutely freeing to clean out and get rid of a lot of things in determining what goes to the new home. Without a huge mortgage and empty rooms, we are living life better than before with a great deal less stress. We value our family time so much more and spend quality time with each other. Oh, and we now ONLY have 1 television where before 6!
That was a momentous decision Renee, but it seems as if it worked out really well for you. I think our attitude to how we are going to spend the second half of our lives is so important. Less stress, less house and more living is the way to go for many.
I definitely am not thinking about downsizing just yet. We do have one son still living at home, but we want a guest room for when friends or family visit, a space for when our grandies sleep over, and a yard for them to run around in. I would actually like a slightly bigger house with a room that I can dedicate solely to my “stuff” and my work. And I would love a house with a bit more land around it, but that’s just a dream really. One day we will downsize but not just yet.
I think you need to upsize before you downsize Jill 🙂 There’s upsizing and upsizing though isn’t there – you want to do it for specific lifestyle reasons, not just for a bigger house per se.
We were in our early 50s and considering the future in retirement. We lived in an old weatherboard home which we loved but could see maintenance being a major financial problem in the future. We lived on a decent sized block so we had the thought to subdivide and build a new, low maintenance home in our own back yard. Never having done anything like this before, it was daunting, but gradually we worked through all the steps until building started. We had a very good builder and right on time, our new house was complete and we were ready to move in. We sold the weatherboard house at the front which paid for our new house – we were home free so to speak with no mortgage.
We now have a smaller garden which I find easy to look after, modern layout, lovely new flooring which is a breeze to keep clean and all new fixtures and fittings. However, I can’t really say we downsized. Our new home is a bit larger than the old weatherboard but since it’s so much more open, I can clean in no time at all and we can enjoy a more spacious layout especially when the family comes around. Expenses are probably much the same as before but we don’t have the worry of repairs and the old house really did need to be renovated inside and out.
We always enjoyed living where we were so this meant we weren’t actually moving away so my lovely neighbours are still my neighbours plus the fact the single lady who bought our old house is so nice and we’ve become good friends. After 21 years in the old house, I savagely decluttered and now I don’t keep anything unless I know it’s going to be used.
We feel we made a good decision those years ago and are now reaping the reward. If and when it comes time to sell up, I know that we’ll get a good price for this house. It was a really good investment and when you think of it, it only cost us the price of our old house and perhaps a few sleepless nights working through the pre-build red tape.
Hello Irene, Wow! Thank you so much for sharing your really interesting story. I love stories like this. Especially when they work out well in the end. It sounds as if you’re very happy in your home – and it was great to read about all the ins and outs and whys and wherefores. Thank you! Lots to consider for our next move too.
After living in homes ranging in size of 3500 sq. ft. to about 2500 sq. ft. – we decided that this was the right time for us to downsize. We moved back to a community that we lived in about eight years ago and bought a foreclosure (the only one in the entire area). The price was really good and we invested about $60,000 in renovations – new kitchen, new bathrooms, new family room (built an addition), new electrical, new plumbing, new garage, driveway, new flooring, new carpet – in other words, a whole new house from the outside in (and some on the outside). The house is now about 2000 sq. ft. – Our payment is less and this will be our forever home. First time in my life that I have walked through my home and said “I love my house”. This is the right place for us.
Hi Carol, thanks for sharing your story 🙂 That’s so interesting! And I’m am so glad you’ve found a forever home to love. Isn’t it great when you absolutely know for sure, ‘this is the one and it’s the right place and I love it!’ 🙂
We have talked about downsizing in the future but at the moment we are enjoying the space of having a house with a yard and back shed where we can store our caravan and boat, plus have room for the dogs to run around. We also utilise the spare rooms downstairs as Airbnb accommodation so that helps to pay for some of the utilities and maintenance on the house. I guess as we get older having a two storey home will not be practical so we will need to downsize to a single level house or unit. But at the moment we are still enjoying living in our home. 🙂
I think if there’s no pressing reason to downsize, then the time isn’t right, Kathy. Sometimes our hand is forced to make a decision, but it sounds to me as if you are happy as you are 🙂
My father was a builder and growing up we always lived in big houses. It meant a lot of cleaning and work.
Hubby on the other hand lived in the one small weatherboard house growing up.
As we’ve moved constantly since we married (22 years ago this month), finding that massive dream home hasn’t really been an option. It’s been more a case of finding what is available at the time (usually at short notice), that suits the family and is within our budget. We have a very small mortgage on the house we are about to sell in NSW. Once sold it will mean we can finally purchase our forever home here in Perth, now that hubby’s work is permanent. I’m not sure I want a huge mortgage or a massive dream home though. Especially with the girls probably leaving home in the next few years.
The thought of living within our means, with something manageable is more appealing. Not sure with all our belongings and three teens still at home, I’m completely ready to downsize though but getting close. Just so sick of moving constantly.
Hi Raych, oh I’m with you on the moves and not wanting to move house again 🙂 I’m also a big advocate of living within our means. That’s great about your house in NSW! I hope things move ahead for you now and you can purchase your forever home in Perth.