There are plenty of good reasons why some people choose to live in a tiny home. These homes consist of only a few rooms–usually a kitchen, living area, and bedroom. Other tiny homes are completely open, like a studio.

People are choosing this lifestyle willingly because of the many benefits it offers:

1. Less Clutter. When you have a tiny home, filling it full of “stuff” is not an option, at least not if you actually want space to move around in. When your home is small, you have to make some hard choices about what to keep, and what to get rid of. This means you can’t go out and buy frivolous items whenever you’re feeling bored or blue.

2. Less Time Spent Cleaning. Cleaning two or three small rooms takes far less time than cleaning seven or eight large ones. Cleaning also goes faster because you don’t have knickknacks and clutter to pick up or clean around.

3. More Savings. Living in a tiny home saves money in many different ways. You don’t spend as much on heating, cooling, property taxes, or home maintenance. You save money on groceries (since you have a smaller pantry and refrigerator), and you cut idle shopping almost entirely out of the picture.

4. Higher Quality of Life. Many tiny homeowners state that their quality of life and overall happiness improved when they shed their “stuff” and started living small. There are many reasons for this: They don’t feel weighed down by all the frivolous items they used to own or a huge mortgage, and they spend less time and money cleaning and maintaining their home, which allows more time and money for leisure activities.

5. Lower Carbon Footprint. Lastly, all of these benefits add up to a major benefit for the environment. Tiny homes are green homes, as they use less energy, produce less waste, and consume less resources (in the form of products that are no longer being purchased) than larger homes.