Last month we moved out of our 4,000 sq. ft. house—it’s the quintessential “perfect” home that we forever dreamed of having. It was the home we built, and the one we never thought we’d want to move away from.

In the last three years of our life, things have changed. Ironically, that’s about how long ago I created No Sidebar. We have felt the convictions (and anxieties) of “more” and it has slowly weighed us down. We were more focused on making a living (to pay the mortgage, ya know) than making a life.

Living in a 4,000 square foot home is nice, but the reality when you own a 4,000 square foot home is that it costs money—a lot of money. When you live in Illinois, it costs even more money because of the insane property taxes.

And then with a 4,000 square foot home comes the need to fill the home—each and every room—with stuff. Like leather couches, and pool tables, and everything else you think you want, but really don’t.

We knew it was time to take matters into our own hands, and we decided to sell our home. I feared that I would feel sadness, but now we’re experiencing freedom. We are building a much smaller home, but that won’t be ready until November.

In the meantime, we are renting this pretty 1800 sq. ft. ranch, with a monthly cost 1/2 that of our previous home. I cannot tell you how good it feels to be (much) wiser with our money.

In his article, The Most Important Home Buying Advice You’ll Never Hear From A Realtor, Joshua provides one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard:

“Buy only the home you need, not the house you can afford.”

I really wish I would have heard this before we built the home we ended up selling, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20.

I love the people in my home far more than the home itself, which to me is the single most important thing. It reminds me of something Walt Whitman once said, “We were together, I forget the rest.”

We have just begun a new journey—one where we left behind something we thought we wanted, for something better. Less. And we won’t look back.

I’ve always known that I created No Sidebar for a reason, and quite honestly, I thought that reason was to give. But it grew into a symbiotic relationship—me and the community—and I have received just as much.

The community I built and hoped to inspire, inspired and built me.

I invite you to join the No Sidebar Facebook group, where over 10,000 like-minded folks are doing life and sharing their minimalism journeys together.