YES! Magazine: My Tiny, Free House

[marmar]

My Tiny, Free House
Michael Janzen had a big house and a big mortgage. Then the financial crisis hit, and he wondered just how small, and how cheap, a house could be.

by Michael Janzen
posted Aug 10, 2010


In 2008, as the value of my big house was evaporating and layoffs seemed to loom in the distance, I came to my senses.

I began to question the true value of a home—and the real risk of a mortgaged home. I was making a huge financial commitment but not buying the things that really matter, like security and more time with the people I love. A mortgage can buy a lot of instant luxury, but at a significant cost in time, money, and financial risk.

In short, I woke up to the reality that I had taken on too much risk during good times and was totally unprepared for tough times.
I had taken on too much risk during good times and was totally unprepared for tough times.

Armed with this better understanding of the financial risks I’d already committed to, I started looking for answers and found the tiny house movement, which offers a different way of thinking about housing.

The core values of the tiny house movement are that living simply in small spaces empowers us. Committing to a tiny house removes many of the burdens we accepted when we bought into the idea of a "normal" American lifestyle. Instead of focusing on how much we can afford, the tiny space forces us to consider how little we really need.

Building Tiny, for Free

I wouldn’t have believed this scale of housing was possible until I was introduced to Jay Shafer’s Tumbleweed Tiny Houses. Jay has spent years living in tiny houses smaller than 100 square feet. As I learned more about the tiny house movement and began blogging about tiny house design, I met many more people who are carving out fulfilling and happy lives through extreme downsizing. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/my-tiny-free-house

[hobbit709]

1. Works for some people

but I want to live in something bigger than a jail cell.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

2. your prison has nothing to do with the size of your house

But you keep on telling yourself you're free.

Thanks for the OP. The houses on the website look beautiful. Now if only greedy, stupid Americans who have been trained from birth to desire garbage could come around to this...but just like their Big Macs, Americans seem to like their McMansions no matter how wasteful, toxic and gross...

[hobbit709]

4. My house is just under 1000 sq ft if you include the garage.

If I cleared out the accumulated crap I could probably free up about 400 Sq ft.

I'm still sorting through Donna's dust collectors and things-she was a world class pack rat.

[a kennedy]

3. Way to small for me.....

:wow: it IS the size of a jail cell.....

[hobbit709]

5. I've BEEN in jail cells slightly larger.

[immune]

6. Another idea

http://cobprojects.info/

[izquierdista]

7. Readers should realize

That prior to the Industrial Revolution, this was standard family housing. Not just for one person, but for a man and his family. A hundred square feet is about what you get in a teepee, a yurt, a hogan, a log cabin, etc. Since the Industrial Revolution, man has been able to build larger and more spacious accommodations, until today, when the average American has 500 square feet of housing, and the average Western European has 350 square feet.

[sufrommich]

8. About three paragraphs in, the writer tells us he doesn't

actually live in the house and built it to show others how they can live. There is a happy medium between living in a box or a McMansion,most houses built before the 1980's are sized appropriately for living. Buy an old house, update the heating and cooling if necessary and leave the massive pieces of junk littering the landscape to fizzle away like a bad fad from a bygone era.

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. Or buy an older single-wide.

Just sayin'

Everyone thinks they invented frugal.