I’ll take this guy’s power bill any day!

As I sat drinking my coffee this morning I began to contemplate my plans to expand the size of my 19th century bungalow. Do I really need to heat and cool 200 more square feet of space?

The average American home size has more than doubled since the 1950s when the average was a mere 983 square feet; it now stands at 2,349 square feet. Whether it’s a McMansion in a wealthy neighborhood, or a bigger, cheaper house in the burbs, the move toward ever larger homes will likely be on the decline - going the way of the gas guzzling SUVs.

So sadly, I placed my plans in a file folder that is destined to become lost among the other folders containing big ideas that never materialized. It never hurts to dream, does it?

I read a Civil War book about a family of 10 - eight children, the parents and an aging grandfather who living in a home with less than 1,300 feet. Their worldly possessions included one black mare, a bald-faced horse, one saddle, one harness, one wagon, two shovel plows, 15 acres of corn, four acres of wheat, one cow, 11 hogs, one rifle, two hoes, an old brass kettle, one cupboard, seven chairs, a kitchen tables, 3 bedsteads, seven cooking utensils and a clock.

My gosh. They couldn’t all sit down at the same time! And if my calculations are correct three and one third people slept in each bed at night!

The grand total of their belongings was $254.87. Suddenly my little bungalow was looking wildly spacious and my collection of Tupperware almost criminal. Rather than adding to my collections, I’ll be scaling back for the rough ride ahead if you can believe the economists.

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