Would you choose to have a smaller home so you could have more experiences or holidays?

[AutumnCandle]

Just that really

It's cheaper than a large home in the same area though.

This is why we moved to a cheaper area, so we could have a larger house whilst balancing the lifestyle we want, location is another important factor when weighing up house size and lifestyle, because it has such an impact on both of those.

I wouldn't move to a house that was so expensive we couldn't have holidays or days out fairly often.

We currently live in a small three bed semi and don't have to budget much to have the extras we want (holidays, days out, eating out etc). We do plan to move to a bigger house where we will have to budget a lot more and cut down on the day to day spending to have holidays. But we wouldn't move if we had to cut everything fun out entirely.

We've done exactly that because holidays and experiences are more important to us as a family than a huge house. It just depends on what your priorities are.

No because our best family holidays are not necessarily the ones that have cost the most.

I'd pick the smallest house possible because I loathe housework, but the biggest garden possible to grow veg, keep chickens.

I'm done with travelling overseas, apart from one trip to the Artcic circle planned for next year.

Am retired so on holiday all day every day 😀

Yes have done this !
I am not a "stay at home" type of person

We chose a home with an easily manageable mortgage for the sake of flexibility and freedom elsewhere. It has been a great decision so far.

I done exactly this, I occasionally wish I had a lovely big house but I know I wouldn't be happy not going on nice holidays/meals out etc

Yes we did. It's also seen us through I'll health, mat leave and redundancy where we couldn't afford the experiences and holidays either.

No. I am big on holidays and love going a lot, but you are in your home every day, so that's more important.

Yes we did, it’s worked out well.

Yes we have a 3 bed semi for two kids. We still have enough for me to work part time which really enhances all of our lives as I have time to do the housework, nice cooking, shopping etc. Plus still have enough for lovely holidays, eating out, days out, kids activities etc.
I value all those things and experiences over having a big house. We still have a lovely home but we aren't working ourselves to the grave affording it.

No, I’m a home body. We could’ve bought a two bedroom flat but we have a large three bedroom house. I spend a lot of time there including often working from home, and I have people over for dinner often and host at Christmas, and all those things are important to me.

I am not too bothered about holidays and haven’t had one for five years.

It depends what smaller means. I wouldn't have when DC were young, but the one we have is maybe a bit bigger than average but by no means a mansion, smaller would be adequate if that all we could manage but far from ideal.

Now, I'd love to move somewhere smaller and life is much more about experiences than belongings I don't need but I need adult DC to move out first

With hindsight, I’d have chosen a cheaper home rather than going to the top end of what we can afford. Partly so we had more money for day trips and holidays.

You will get all sorts of answers on this topic, it's a very personal choice.

In short though, yes, I would. As long as small is comfortable enough to live in (like you said for example a 2 bed flat for a family of 3), I would definitely choose that and do more traveling, have more spare cash to actually live and enjoy my life rather than spend every single penny I have in mortgage repayments and in maintaining a house I can barely afford.

No. We have four children and it's better for us to have more space, given how much time we spend at home. We chose a house with 5 bedrooms and 3 reception rooms and therefore have to spend a lot of money on our house. However, I would like to downsize as soon as the kids start moving out so that we can spend more time travelling and enjoying ourselves. If we are healthy and lucky enough that is.

Yes , we have remained in a 3 bed semi. We could afford somewhere bigger, but would rather be mortgage free sooner and have enough disposable income in the meantime for other things.
I would also really resent a mortgage increase of £500 pcm due to interest rate rises, which is what some of my friends have had happen in the last 12 months or so.

No, but I'm not really someone who needs or expects a holiday, as I've always found them stressful. I love my home and my dog and that's where I'm happiest-sunny resorts without my pets bore me senseless. Each to their own and all that.

Yes. Although for us it's mostly because we want to live in a very specific location for various reasons and our budget won't stretch to anything bigger here. There will be 5 of us in a small 3 bed when DC3 eventually arrives and I can't imagine us moving for at least a decade.

Not as such. My priority is to have a house in a nice area. I'd rather have a small house in a nice area than a big house somewhere not so nice.

You can have cheapish holidays that are very enjoyable in the UK or weekends abroad.

Smaller, as in adequate for our needs, yes. Three of my friends have died in the last year (aged 48-60) and it has really showed me that living for each day is so important. They all had plans to travel in retirement 😭 and said how important it is to seize the moment.
We've travelled a fair bit, all on very budget trips and stayed in a lot of very dodgy places as it was the only way we could afford it. My dd19 told me recently how transformative that has been and she's so grateful for the opportunity.
So yes, I'd much rather have experiences over a guest bedroom.

Not for that reason specifically, but we did feel when we last moved house that we didn't actually want to go bigger. We ended up going for something almost the same size but a better layout for our needs and detached with a larger garden. The garden is brilliant for us (though a bit scruffy at the moment admittedly) as it makes us feel that we are separate from the rest of the world when we are home. Its a bit like our sanctuary.
There's a lot of emphasis on bigger/more bedrooms being the holy grail, but I don't think that is necessarily always the most important thing.

That’s exactly what we did. It’s just the two of us, so we don’t need a big house. We weren’t prepared to compromise on location, though, and we live in a modest 3 bedroom barn conversion with a very small garden in a village which estate agents describe as ‘highly sought after’. It was the right decision for us.

Yes