Family of 4 moving into Tiny House on wheels

[savory]

I have met the families that take multi month bicycle vacations with small and home schooled kids. An amazing way to bond and teach at a low cost. I personally researched cooperative living situations to not only help myself but the planet which would provide more options for your approach if you need it. And, it feels like you have great flexibility in both spending and income producing choices.

If the above is mostly true, I like your plan and attitude. I expect your updates will be sharing some issues, as we all have had, but mostly success.

Good luck!

 

[Tiny]

I have met the families that take multi month bicycle vacations with small and home schooled kids. An amazing way to bond and teach at a low cost. I personally researched cooperative living situations to not only help myself but the planet which would provide more options for your approach if you need it. And, it feels like you have great flexibility in both spending and income producing choices.

If the above is mostly true, I like your plan and attitude. I expect your updates will be sharing some issues, as we all have had, but mostly success.

Good luck!

Everything in this post is true! Thank you for the encouragement, we are really thankful to have such an accommodating and tight knit family. We plan to do the same for our kids! Very excited to spend more time learning and experiencing with them, it goes by so fast. While Tiny will stay put mostly, we have lots of camping and other trips planned for the summer and fall. Mostly focused on getting settled this year though. Cheers!

 

[Guamaniac]

Hi Tiny, it seems you are indeed in a good situation. To be able to have so much time with the kids at their age is enviable. For us the budget was very tight during those years but the memories were great.

I guess my one possible concern is your mom's situation. When you say "my mom whose mind/health is going bad" I'm assuming dementia. Having gone through my mom's dementia and now my dad I was fairly oblivious to how my life would be affected. There are expenses and demands on time that I didn't understand. Also, if she requires a facility for care/health reasons, is there one close by or would you have to travel far to see her? Could this affect where you want to live?

You seem very bright so maybe you've thought this through as well. Just wanted to add something to the thought process.

 

[Tiny]

Hi Tiny, it seems you are indeed in a good situation. To be able to have so much time with the kids at their age is enviable. For us the budget was very tight during those years but the memories were great.

I guess my one possible concern is your mom's situation. When you say "my mom whose mind/health is going bad" I'm assuming dementia. Having gone through my mom's dementia and now my dad I was fairly oblivious to how my life would be affected. There are expenses and demands on time that I didn't understand. Also, if she requires a facility for care/health reasons, is there one close by or would you have to travel far to see her? Could this affect where you want to live?

You seem very bright so maybe you've thought this through as well. Just wanted to add something to the thought process.

Thank you so much for the encouragement, and I am trying not to take it for granted our great situation. I am sorry to hear about your parents and it seems to be a path that many of us have to cross, supporting our family. Came sooner for us than we anticipated.

Money is not an issue for both sets of parents which is very fortunate, but yes, my mom’s health is not good and mind not as clear. It is one of the main drivers for us to get out there to spend as much time as we can helping, and we would prefer to be her long term care (for dad too) then put them in a “home”. Thankfully, my wife was in medicine/health, and so we are honored to do what we can to help, but I imagine it will be hard, and the next 10 years will bring some challenges that I’ve never faced. But I don’t want to waste any opportunity. That’s why I’m willing to pack up my family and I have a very minimal and alternative lifestyle to be close to them. They raised me, so I want to be there for them, and they worked hard and so they will never let us go hungry. It’s a very amiable situation, even though we would never ask of anything from them and they don’t help us financially. We will do the same for our kids, and hope they would do that for us. To be honest, once we are done helping here, it’s possible that we would do the same for my wife’s parents, and we have lots of other family, it’s kind of crazy to think about, but we want to spend the time supporting others, lots of people need help.

You should see how happy my parents are around my kids, it’s good for everyone, it’s a wonderful bond between generations, and it’s good for my kids to see us serving them and sacrificing. I would continue on living my normal city lifestyle, but this is the adventure ahead of us, and we are actually really excited.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We are concerned with the consumption culture and the corporate environment in general, so this is our chance to live more simply, and according to our values. This last couple years has definitely taught us a lot about our priorities, and we are thankful that we feel like we are in touch with what’s important to us.

Lots can change and go wrong, but that’s the same in any lifestyle, and we are significantly lowering our environmental and financial footprint which gives us a level of flexibility that many people don’t have access to.

Excited to learn from you along the way!

We're also very into disengaging from the corporate induced consumer culture and having a low environmental footprint. It has also helped to really lower our annual run rate in retirement. Less stuff to take care of means more time for fun activities like at classes, hiking, star gazing at the planetarium and going out dancing, which puts our money into the local economy.

 

[brucethebroker]

Have you considered finding PT work, perhaps done from home, instead of completely walking away from your j*b? Your retirement next egg will go much, much further with some steady income. You can always fully retire later on if you wish.
I realize that a tiny house may not really encourage work from home, but with the pole barn option mentioned earlier, a small section of the building could be carved out for an office. Also, here in the midwest, we see many listings for small older (outdated) farmhouses on 2-10 acres-at reasonable prices. Perhaps a fixxer upper for your family.
I have personally used PT work (in my case a hobby j*b) and have spoken to a number of retirees who are either currently using PT income, or started off that way in retirement-fully retiring years later, or when SS became available, etc.
Sounds like you are continuing to think this through. Good luck with your new adventure.

 

[pjigar]

You won't know until you try! Just keep working and evaluate as you go.


We live on a sizable acreage now (2 years) and it has always been our dream. We held off on moving until our kids finished high school. The schools in rural areas tend to be sub-par compared to the suburban areas so that was our biggest hold out. We did not want to jeopardize kids' learning opportunities. YMMV.


Depending on what you plan to do with the land, "stuff" will be almost necessary for a farm life. I am talking about tools, equipment and supplies. We had to build a huge metal building to store all the stuff!


My motto is "Always try and fail/succeed rather than wonder about it for the rest of your life." You will regret the things you did not try rather than the things you did when you grow old.


Good luck.


PS: I also built a tiny house myself. But it is used a guest dwelling. We live in a modest 3 bedroom house for a family of 4.

 

[pjigar]

I read your posts about home schooling. Home schooling is great when kids are younger (we did explore this option when we were in 30s). But it gets harder when they grow older. Better socialization opportunities with the traditional schools. My 2 cents.

 

[Markola]

You won't know until you try! Just keep working and evaluate as you go.


We live on a sizable acreage now (2 years) and it has always been our dream. We held off on moving until our kids finished high school. The schools in rural areas tend to be sub-par compared to the suburban areas so that was our biggest hold out. We did not want to jeopardize kids' learning opportunities. YMMV.


Depending on what you plan to do with the land, "stuff" will be almost necessary for a farm life. I am talking about tools, equipment and supplies. We had to build a huge metal building to store all the stuff!


My motto is "Always try and fail/succeed rather than wonder about it for the rest of your life." You will regret the things you did not try rather than the things you did when you grow old.


Good luck.


PS: I also built a tiny house myself. But it is used a guest dwelling. We live in a modest 3 bedroom house for a family of 4.

I agree with this. You have a dream and a detailed plan, a long enough runway financially to try your plan, your mother needs you now, the family is on board…. You have to try it!

Just don’t burn any bridges or make “I QUIT FOREVER!!” statements on the way out, even if that’s exactly how you feel right now. Tie everything up at your job neatly and say that you like your work but “want to take a family sabbatical” or “I’m going to take some time to help my mom”. Have a story that makes sense but doesn’t needlessly reject work and coworkers. You feel one way now but you CANNOT PREDICT how you will feel two years from now. You might choose to make your sabbatical permanent, you might get interested in something else and will appreciate good work references, you might want your IT network of colleagues to send you consulting opportunities, you might even decide that you miss your full time career.

So, keep doors open and maximize your future choices and good luck!

 

[SJhawkins]

Then you encounter a whole lot of little things you didn't calculate, like the inability to use the 30 amp breaker than came with your 200 amp panel because 2021 codes now require it to be a $120 GFCI breaker since one person in the last decade was electrocuted when plugging in their improperly wired dryer.

Your not going to like the NEC 2023 changes!

 

[pb4uski]

...like the inability to use the 30 amp breaker than came with your 200 amp panel because 2021 codes now require it to be a $120 GFCI breaker since one person in the last decade was electrocuted when plugging in their improperly wired dryer.

You're still hung up on that one, eh? For your own peace of mind, let it go. [emoji848]

 

[SJhawkins]

Your kids are getting to an age where sports, band, other activities, etc start to build. Been down this road with a couple of kids and all in it can get expensive.

I was not really sold on the whole sports thing, was not my gig. As the years went on it turned out to be one of the best things we encourage them to do. My spouse deserves all the credit, I would have never done it.

If they have the opportunity you may want to to budget some dollars into your plan for activities. Between 2 kids we had some years we spent $10k on activities, think gymnastics, dance, hockey, out of town meets, etc.

 

[Fermion]

You're still hung up on that one, eh? For your own peace of mind, let it go. [emoji848]

Just trying to warn potential future homebuilders who may see a panel that comes with 6 breakers. Current codes mean most or all of those six breakers will be going to the landfill.

 

[Tiny]

You won't know until you try! Just keep working and evaluate as you go.


We live on a sizable acreage now (2 years) and it has always been our dream. We held off on moving until our kids finished high school. The schools in rural areas tend to be sub-par compared to the suburban areas so that was our biggest hold out. We did not want to jeopardize kids' learning opportunities. YMMV.


Depending on what you plan to do with the land, "stuff" will be almost necessary for a farm life. I am talking about tools, equipment and supplies. We had to build a huge metal building to store all the stuff!


My motto is "Always try and fail/succeed rather than wonder about it for the rest of your life." You will regret the things you did not try rather than the things you did when you grow old.


Good luck.


PS: I also built a tiny house myself. But it is used a guest dwelling. We live in a modest 3 bedroom house for a family of 4.

Thanks for your response, and sounds like you have a really cool property. We’d like to have one like that someday too, but we don’t know which area we will end up in so we are taking it one year to time, hopefully we will end up here. From an infrastructure perspective, we are pretty well set up since the family lives next door with all the tractors, snow blowers, etc. infrastructure is there, but not the helping hands, that’s where we come in!

That’s exactly right, we won’t know until we try, and we are happy to fail as failure is pretty safe in this scenario.

Cheers

 

[Music Lover]

A couple people mentioned pole barns which are good ideas. If it was me, rather than a tiny house on wheels I'd buy a basic garage package and then build out the inside.

If you end up keeping your parent's property it can still be used as a garage, a workshop, a guest house, or as a future home for older kids. And instead of 140 sq. ft. tiny home, a double garage (24 x 24) is 576 sq ft. Even a small single garage (12 x 20) is 240 sq ft.

 

[Tiny]

So, keep doors open and maximize your future choices and good luck!

Great advice! I definitely plan to keep in touch with my net work, and as much as I don’t like social media, I will likely keep my LinkedIn active. I have a good gig right now, pretty decent balance, some weeks are stressful, but all-around pretty good for a corporate job. Hope to keep it going as long as it doesn’t interfere with our other goals, and I’m sure I can do consulting or something later as needed. Will keep all options open and connections fresh. But I’m hoping to get out of the corporate regime and focus on earning and spending money locally.

 

[Tiny]

We're also very into disengaging from the corporate induced consumer culture and having a low environmental footprint. It has also helped to really lower our annual run rate in retirement. Less stuff to take care of means more time for fun activities like at classes, hiking, star gazing at the planetarium and going out dancing, which puts our money into the local economy.

I could not agree more, great to hear your experience and best wishes. It doesn’t cost hardly anything to go swimming at the lake or cross country skiing or snow shoeing at the trailhead or fishing on the dock or working in the garden or backpacking with the kids. And some of the best memories are doing just that!

 

[Tiny]

I read your posts about home schooling. Home schooling is great when kids are younger (we did explore this option when we were in 30s). But it gets harder when they grow older. Better socialization opportunities with the traditional schools. My 2 cents.

In terms of education, we are a little bit more alternative, in the sense that we want our children to learn very solid reading and writing, mathematics and science, and they can take their learnings or education or career where they want to. They are very smart and driven and have their own interests, I don’t want them to be held back by any institution or program. Thankfully, there’s a good local community, so no issues with interactions and relationships, and we’ll out them to work (the best education). They will likely never have a need for money for their base expenses, although they don’t know that, so it’s more about character, values, real experience, and exploring their passions and growing their strengths.

PS - it’s been really fun to be involved in the children’s education, because I realize how little I remember, or absorbed from my own education, and probably shortcomings of the education system. My wife on the other hand had a really nice private school education, and she always beats me at Jeopardy and other things like that lol… my kids will be way smarter than me and go way farther! My kids essentially have two full-time tutors, something I wish I could’ve had!

 

[ncbill]

A couple people mentioned pole barns which are good ideas. If it was me, rather than a tiny house on wheels I'd buy a basic garage package and then build out the inside.

If you end up keeping your parent's property it can still be used as a garage, a workshop, a guest house, or as a future home for older kids. And instead of 140 sq. ft. tiny home, a double garage (24 x 24) is 576 sq ft. Even a small single garage (12 x 20) is 240 sq ft.

Pole barn garage with kitchenette/bathroom then park an RV inside for living room & bedroom also seems a popular option.

 

[FIREarly]

What are the schools like in your new area?

If either of your kids are interested in what, IMO, is a great financial move and going to a military university, e.g. USNA, USAFA, etc..., they'll get a great "FREE" education and an excellent career path with a pension after 20 years (+/-40 years old).

Mom and Dad need to be ok with it too. Again, kid(s) need to want to do it.

 

[FIREarly]

Haven't read all the posts but eco-friendly Tiny Home...

e.g. solar panels and whatever else is needed... think getting water from earth. There are ways to determine how far down water is where you live bc there is water below you, depends how far down it is.

 

[Gumby]

If either of your kids are interested in what, IMO, is a great financial move and going to a military university, e.g. USNA, USAFA, etc..., they'll get a great "FREE" education and an excellent career path with a pension after 20 years (+/-40 years old).

Mom and Dad need to be ok with it too. Again, kid(s) need to want to do it.

It is "free" in terms of money up front. But they will have to risk their lives and give up a lot of the joy of being a young adult. I did it, and it is a substantial reason I am where I am today, but there is a cost and sometimes it may be more than you care to pay.

 

[Lewis Clark]

It is "free" in terms of money up front. But they will have to risk their lives and give up a lot of the joy of being a young adult. I did it, and it is a substantial reason I am where I am today, but there is a cost and sometimes it may be more than you care to pay.

In our family the motto is: "Free" is good, but "free" usually comes with a price."

 

[savory]

I wasn't going to comment until I read all the tiny house concerns. Having grown up in a small house, I still think fondly of my contribution as a child. One example, was simply the need to get out of my kitchen chair to make room for opening the fridge door. Or having an approach to share our one bathroom among the 4 then 5 of us. It built teamwork and sometimes humor.

I think you will be building positive experiences for your kids. And even as you age, it will not be a problem as my wife and I had a 2 year experience in our 50s of living in 400 square feet. An adjustment from 2500 sq ft home but no problem.

 

[ncbill]

It is "free" in terms of money up front. But they will have to risk their lives and give up a lot of the joy of being a young adult. I did it, and it is a substantial reason I am where I am today, but there is a cost and sometimes it may be more than you care to pay.

Only a 5 year active duty commitment unless you choose something that requires a lot of additional, expensive training like pilot.

One of my kids went to the above and chose pilot so they'll likely go career but nearly everyone else I've met from the above did just their required 5 years and then separated for civilian life.