When almost everybody is upsizing smartphones, cars, and apartments, it might be smart to find a good one-room apartment and simplify your life. That's right. The more you own, the more your possessions own you. There's more to keep track of, more to worry about, and perhaps most of all, more to clean. A studio apartment can make your life easier by forcing you to get rid of what you don't need. You'd be surprised how much better your life can be due to the benefits of a smaller space. Here are the top reasons why a studio apartment might be a good idea.
You'll Save on Rent
The biggest thing you'll notice is the fact that renting a studio apartment generally costs less than a one-bedroom. Because there's less space (and less real estate for your landlord or building owner), the monthly rent is typically less. This means you could save hundreds of dollars a month, amounting to thousands over the course of a year. This means that the savings is pretty much immediate. As of June of 2022, the national average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $1,876, whereas the national average for a studio was less than a thousand dollars per month. If we just use those figures to start, you can save about $10,000 per year. That's a ton of money! That equates to a lot of savings over the course of time, and it's reason alone to make the change to something smaller.
Everything is Within Reach
When your apartment is big, and you have multiple rooms to negotiate, that means not everything is easy to get to. When your kitchen, living space, and your bedroom are all in the same room, that means you can get to everything quickly, and you never have to spend a lot of time searching for things. Someone knocks on the door, and you can just turn from your desk or table and get to the door. Watch TV in the evening, and then the bathroom and your bed are just a stone's throw away. The simplicity of having a smaller space translates to the fact that you have to spend less time crossing those spaces to get to what you need. You might not realize how much that improves your quality of life just by spending less time going from room to room.
You'll Save on Utilities
Utilities are a big expense these days, especially in a time of rising costs everywhere for electricity, natural gas, and water. If you have a single-room apartment, all of that changes because there's much less space to heat and cool, so things warm up or cool off quickly, and your HVAC doesn't have to run nearly as long to get things to temp. If you have a living room, a bedroom, a hallway, and a separate kitchen, there's way more to heat and cool. You could save 50% in utilities by just reducing the amount of space you live in. Of course, you still have to make sure you're wise with how much heat and AC you use, as well as your electrical usage from TV and appliances, but overall you'll save.
You'll Buy Fewer Things
Since your place is smaller, there's a limit to how much you can own. Most likely, you'll have to get rid of a lot of things you own in order to downsize and fit into a studio apartment. What's more, you'll want to maximize the limited amount of space you have by keeping your purchases to a minimum. You may even find yourself getting smaller versions of things you already own. Take your queen mattress down to a full, get a smaller dining table, and even consider getting a smaller TV. You'll find that there's more space to walk around, and you'll even come to realize how little you can actually live with. Confess, you weren't using that big recliner or the huge bookshelf you had in your last apartment, anyway.
There's Less to Clean
There's less square footage now, fewer possessions, and not nearly as many walls to worry about cleaning. When you have a studio apartment, there's really just a single room, a small kitchen/dining area, and a bathroom to take care of. Rather than spending an entire day cleaning your place, it might only take a couple of hours which frees you up to do other productive things or enjoy more downtime for yourself. You'll also spend less money on actual cleaning supplies, and that's always a good thing. Of course, that means you might also want to get a smaller bucket, broom, mop, and vacuum cleaner so you're not storing large items in your closet.
