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Post by msnoble on Mar 1, 2018 22:12:04 GMT -6
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Post by myohmy on Mar 18, 2018 19:58:57 GMT -6
Gaaaaahhhhh this tiny house shit hits so close to home for me I am almost choking on it.
I live and work in my tiny house. 1000 square feet, one bedroom, one office, galley style kitchen and bath, and L-shaped living room/dining room. Me and the bank own it. I didn't get it because it was a tiny house. I bought it because it was suitable for my needs both space and cost wise. I am betting whoever built it started with a really small hunting cabin that someone later thought to built on to sometime in the 70's or 80's. It suits me and my tiny pack of animals just fine. I'm frugal. I burn wood for heat, preserve food I grow and acquire by trade. I have had some hard times, but made it, and I am comfortable at the moment. I am completely on grid and good with that.
However, I have a son who has chosen a nomadic lifestyle. And that might not be so bad except he has a wife and three children ages six and under (and pets). His latest adventure was to go live off grid in "the mountains", in a "tiny dwelling" until he could find work, a thousand miles from home. Unfortunately they, like the Nauglers, don't plan anything out worth a shit. And their execution sucks just as bad. They left a few weeks ago with a couple thousand dollars, driving a van, pulling a 14 ft trailer, and everything they owned crammed in it and on it. After several days in a motel and their funds dwindling, they found their "tiny dwelling"- a cab over camper, in a state park, with no facilities. Did you catch the part about they own a van?
Who needs a truck for a cab over camper? Turns out that camper fits right on that trailer while they rent a storage shed to hold all their stuff. Work didn't pan out quite the way they planned, money ran out, the mountains are cold, heating fuel (even for a camper) costs money, and they are all about to kill each other cooped up in that tiny space, broke, with nowhere to go and no one they know for a thousand miles. I just wired them money this morning to make it back home. Guess whose tiny house just got smaller?
I also have friends who joined the tiny house movement. Only one, out of more than a dozen, still successfully lives "tiny" and has for several years. She was doing it before it became a movement. Her "tiny life" is a fifth wheel camper, with pullouts, all modern conveniences and a whole undercarriage of storage so she can keep all her "stuff". She travels every six to nine months for work so this is better than living out of motels. Her camper cost more than my house, albeit somewhat cheaper to maintain that a full "house". And I say somewhat because it was cheaper to replace my sewer all the way to the road than it was for her to replace the sewer line on her camper.
I know folks who went all tiny home and even "off grid". I only know one who stayed off public utilities for more than a few months.
Currently, one of those families (two adults and a teen) live in a 375 ft made over shed like the Nauglers. They have lived in this now for three years. *The first winter they almost froze to death because- no insulation. I was out there in an in an ice storm helping them cram straw bales under and around it to insulate it some. *Year two- mold problem. Everyone was sick all the time. *No Room for a real kitchen, so they cook outside- with propane. *Propane heater indoors. Woodstove is too much heat for the small space. *Solar panel they can afford runs little more than lights and a radio. A toaster or coffee pot is out of the question. *No space for anything other than a few changes of clothes and a tote full of personal belongings. So they rent a storage shed 15 miles away and drive there about ten times a week exchanging the things they need at the time. *Showers happen at work and school and sometimes the local gym. They have a real composting toilet though and actually had the health department involved in setting that all up. And that was not cheap) There is a real outhouse on the property if they get lazy. *They spend a fortune on food because they cannot store much at a time so canning and freezing are out of the question. They make a dozen trips to Walmart a week. *They buy block ice every other day to keep a cooler with milk and cheese and the likes. *They all get so stir crazy from being in such a small space all the time they end up fighting and staying with friends and relatives, living out of duffel bags for indeterminate amounts of time, so they don't kill each other.
None of that makes sense to me. They would spend less and live more comfortably in a regular home with adequate square footage. I personally do not think that living "tiny" is for anyone other than someone who is starting out with nothing, or someone who has aged and downsized for easier mobility and a smaller amount of upkeep, or maybe someone who moves around a lot.
I cannot fathom how the Nauglers do it. That many people in an average size home home would be a lot to get accustomed to. Easier for the younger kids because that's all they have ever known but it has to be hard on the older ones, and yes, even Joe and Nicole.
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