A family abode
We found it, our new home! After searching for a new apartment for over a month, we found a place we could call home. We visited about eight different places in the Santa Clara area, each with positive and negative attributes. Some places were more affordable, others were more community based, a few had great onsite facilities, and a few were conveniently located near stores or parks for the kids.
After a lot of deliberation (and I mean A LOT), we chose Avalon Morrison as our home. They offered us all the things were looking for. It was the largest of the apartments we toured at about 970 sqft. Although that doesn’t seem like much space for a family of four, there was a cathedral ceiling in one bedroom which included a loft space we could use for storage and was townhouse style apartment which helped make the place feel bigger. So we have two floors, two bedrooms, and 2.5 bathrooms. Not too shabby. It definitely is an adjustment from our previous 1200 sqft multi-family apartment, but it’s a good move for us.
One of our goals in moving out to California was to achieve minimalism. We had watched the Netflix documentary Minimalism and listened to the audiobook Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Millburn and Nichodemus about a year ago. We made the conscious decision then to live life with more meaning and less “stuff”. These were some takeaways for us on how we could be more minimalistic:
Digitize physical items.
This included physical photos, old notebooks, DVDs and CDs, and purchasing things that were digital, like an iTunes movie or ebook.
Keep only the things that serve a purpose or bring you joy.
This one was tough, but for me; books and art bring me joy so those were the things I held onto most. Just about everything else we were able to purge.
Focus more on experiences and less on material possessions.
This wasn’t a difficult change for me. I’ve always enjoyed experiences more than material items. Each year for my birthday, I usually asked to go somewhere rather than get something. I want to raise my kids to value experiences that help me develop and grow.
Quality over quantity.
Ok, so let’s be real, I get a high off of finding a good deal. I literally cannot pass a good deal up and often buy more than I actually need just because it’s “on sale”. This was hard to change. I had to get out of the mindset that I needed to get it because it was such a good price. If I don’t need it now, don’t buy it.