We are a couple that is interested in exploring our relationship with our world, and how we can minimize our commitment to our stuff while maximizing our relationship with one another and our community.
Jeff is a medical professional working at a local medical center. Margo is a Case Manager for a social services agency.
We are interested in the outdoors, adventure, traveling as often as possible, and always learning.
Below is a brief explanation of our choice to build a tiny home on wheels, borrowed from a blog post we wrote on the subject.
We are building a small home that is less than 200 square feet in size, on the foundation of a utility trailer for mobility.
This is an opportunity for us to take a very large step in the direction of simplifying our life. We want to live in a space that is only what we need, and stop living is spaces where we waste so much energy by heating and cooling spaces that we seldom use.
First of all I should say that we are not doing this because of difficult economic times--we both have great jobs and have been steadily working our way out of debt (student loans and one car payment, no credit cards) by living very frugally and making big payments on debts every month. As we've been doing this, we have begun to adopt a generally more minimalist lifestyle, and have learned that by choosing to live only with what we need, we're not so burdened down by all the "stuff which begins to own us.
We've known about the Tiny Home Movement for a few years, and have always been interested in trying such a step, but we finally made a decision in February of this year to just go for it.
This is a great choice for us at this time because we are not planning to have children for a few more years, and although we may end up moving in the next few years for Jeff's medical school, putting the home on wheels gives us mobility to continue to be homeowners wherever we are able to tow it.
We are so excited to be on this journey together, pursuing a dream for a sustainable future.
We are building our home primarily from salvaged (reused) goods, in an effort to show what a classy, well-crafted space you can create without creating new waste for the landfill.
Of course, this is a choice that works for us, and may not be right for everyone. We don't believe that everyone should make this step, only that it is the right step for us to take. We hope you'll join us on the journey as we learn how to build a home together.
-Margo and Jeff
Margo!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are extremely interested in what you're doing (we're friends with Nicole, that's how we heard). I know my husband is especially interested in your strategy for finding/using reclaimed materials. We'd love to come out sometime!
Stephanie
Me again, just wanted to let you know I referenced your project in my blog post here:http://micasamundial.blogspot.com/2012/08/tiny-houses-expose.html
ReplyDeleteLet me know if you'd like me to change anything! And I look forward to coming out :)
Hey Stephanie, glad you are excited about it! You are welcome to come out to the house anytime! One thing that isn't correct is the budget.... that hasn't been updated in 2 months or so and we are currently around $8000-8500 ish invested. But, having a house for that much is equally exciting! Let us know when you and your husband want to come check it out!
ReplyDeleteM & J
ReplyDeleteGreat project, great work, great blog. I plan on building a tiny house for guests at our Vashon Island home (mainly for kids n grand kids). This is a terrific story and you are inspirational.
Thank you so much! Glad to hear we've been an encouragement. If there's one thing we've learned from the process, it's that once you say you WILL do something, it means you CAN do it. Maybe with more sweat and tears than you expected, but you can do it nonetheless! You're more than welcome to come out and visit the Tiny for ideas or inspiration anytime--your'e just a hop skip and a jump away!
Delete-M & J