This past weekend, my husband and I discussed our current lifestyle and financial situation. We both agreed that we have too much stuff, too much chaos, and too much complication in our lives. We want our children to grow up without this constant need for stuff, stuff, and more stuff. In an effort to adjust our lives to a more simple way of living, we’ve made a few key decisions. This series of articles will follow our journey to a less complicated life, while providing ideas and information on how this goal is to be accomplished. After all, cutting back and changing your lifestyle so completely is not an easy task to accomplish.

Our first major adjustment will be to sell our six bedroom, three bath house and return to apartment living. We currently live in a fairly large house with a decent sized yard that required a great deal of time and effort to maintain. Our house is filled with way too much stuff and way too many people because my oldest child and her husband live with us without actually contributing to the needs of the household. We have decided that we only need three bedrooms and two bathrooms to accomodate the needs of our family. Our oldest child needs to be out on her own now, so we are pushing her out of the nest in the most loving way possible.

We have chosen apartment living over buying a smaller house for many reasons. First, apartments come with a maintenance crew. We won’t be required to fix things if they break. Second, apartments come with a landscaping crew. We won’t be required to cut grass or trim bushes or pull weeds. Third, apartments come with swimming pools, playgrounds, and other amenities that houses probably won’t have. Finally, apartments come without the stress of dealing with mortgages and resell values.

Now that we’ve made a decision, there are things that have to be done in order to make this process as smooth as possible. Moving is a fairly complicated process. Given that I have a great deal of time to prepare, approaching this process from a stress free state of mind is possible. Because I know we will not be moving for at three months, I have plenty of time to find an apartment that suits our needs and to prepare for moving. To make our moving process easier, I pack one box each day. This prevents me from being overwhelmed with the process by breaking it into smaller tasks. I am also doing some preliminary research on apartment complexes in the areas where we may choose to move. This research gives me some idea of what price ranges are available for the apartment size and style that we want. I can also make a list of acceptable complexes for us to discuss together and determine which ones we want to take the time to visit when we are ready to sign a lease. This process will ultimately save us time and energy by eliminating many of the possibilities and keying in on only those places that will provide us with all the things we want and need. I will discuss apartment hunting and moving in more detail later in this series, as there is a great deal of information and advice to cover regarding these topics.

For now I am content to know that we have made a firm decision and are taking steps to reach this new goal of living a more simple life. Over the next few weeks I will be taking steps to prepare our home and our family for this major change. Join me for this incredible journey and learn how you, too, can return to a life filled with simplicity instead of chaos.