How much could you cut spending?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort I could see having a tiny vacation home like this some day. DH thinks we would get on each other's nerves if we lived in that small a space all the time.

I'll bet the trick would be to stay outside of the home most of the day every day, and just go there to sleep.

But honestly, it seems to me that there are a lot of tiny homes already in this country, built 50-150 years ago when smaller houses were the norm. If I ever wanted to live in a tiny home, I'd look into buying one of those and upgrading. That might be cheaper to do than to buy a new tiny home. Many of the new ones seem overpriced to me. At least if I looked into it, I'd get more of a handle on costs.

[eta2020]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 I agree. While I love my wife dearly, and she loves me, one of us would have to take up some outside activity and spend most of every day at it. But if I was single I would take a hard look at that type of house.

This is too small for my taste, but I think living in 800-1200 sq ft house is great.

Today's houses are huge monsters. You don't know where you kids and wife is. They provide nothing pleasurable in quality of life.

Now 700 sq ft chalet in Swiss or Austrian Alps would provide a lot in quality of life and in experiencing life.

[FIREd]

After living in spaces ranging from a sub 200 sqft studio to a 2,500 sqft house, I think that the right space for the 2 of us is around 1,000 sqft.

[Huston55]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjquantz DW and I both grew up in the Midwest and lived there for 20 years while raising our kids. DW says there are only three reasons why she won't move back: December, January and February.

Yep but, it's not like Dec-Feb is 'pleasant' in NoVa. It's more a matter of 'less miserable' than the northern Midwest.

[martyb]

We bought our retirement home about 10 months ago, and it's 1646 sq. ft. It feels a little small to me, now that we're all moved in. Believe it or not, we've had conversations about up-sizing! Not to a huge place, but I think 1800-1900 sq. ft. might be a better fit for us. Not saying we'll actually do it, but...

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyb We bought our retirement home about 10 months ago, and it's 1646 sq. ft. It feels a little small to me, now that we're all moved in. Believe it or not, we've had conversations about up-sizing! Not to a huge place, but I think 1800-1900 sq. ft. might be a better fit for us. Not saying we'll actually do it, but...

Perhaps you are trying to squeeze too much big house furniture into a smaller space. Do you really need all of it? Alternatively, are there opportunities to make more space without moving? e.g. developing the basement, adding a storage shed or building a conservatory?

[REWahoo]

Go ahead Marty, turn that basement into a man cave!

[NW-Bound]

Did you bring all the furniture from the old larger home?

I remember you shopping for a home. Wow, 10 months already.

[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I'll bet the trick would be to stay outside of the home most of the day every day, and just go there to sleep. But honestly, it seems to me that there are a lot of tiny homes already in this country, built 50-150 years ago when smaller houses were the norm. If I ever wanted to live in a tiny home, I'd look into buying one of those and upgrading. That might be cheaper to do than to buy a new tiny home. Many of the new ones seem overpriced to me. At least if I looked into it, I'd get more of a handle on costs.

A cottage would be a good idea. We used to live in a charming old house that had been converted into to two flats. We lived in the top in 800 sq ft and didn't even use the dining room.

I think we are just going to go with a condo for now. That will be a trick by itself because now we have so much stuff to get rid of just to fit in the condo.

[martyb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Go ahead Marty, turn that basement into a man cave!

Yeah, I wish I had a basement! This is NW Louisiana....houses are built mostly on concrete slabs, same as they all were when we lived near Austin. The only place I've ever had a basement was in Wisconsin.

[martyb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Perhaps you are trying to squeeze too much big house furniture into a smaller space. Do you really need all of it? Alternatively, are there opportunities to make more space without moving? e.g. developing the basement, adding a storage shed or building a conservatory?

You're partly right, we do have some too-big furniture. Still, the house just feels a little too tight. This is the smallest house we've ever lived in, so it could be we just need more time to adjust. I know for sure we need to have a big garage sale & get rid of years worth of stuff. No doubt that would make the place at least feel a little roomier.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyb Yeah, I wish I had a basement! This is NW Louisiana....houses are built mostly on concrete slabs, same as they all were when we lived near Austin. The only place I've ever had a basement was in Wisconsin.

What you need is a big shed or outbuilding in the backyard, with electricity. You could make it a combination home theater and workshop, or whatever you would like in your mancave.

[martyb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Did you bring all the furniture from the old larger home? I remember you shopping for a home. Wow, 10 months already.

Yep...we bought last October....time's a flyin' !

We did bring some furniture with us, but we also bought some new stuff. We definitely over-did it on the living room furniture.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd After living in spaces ranging from a sub 200 sqft studio to a 2,500 sqft house, I think that the right space for the 2 of us is around 1,000 sqft.

I imagine I would do just fine in a 500-600 sq. ft home, especially if it had a little loft. If I shared it with my SO, it wouldn't work. Presently I have around 2000 sq ft of living space and half of it is only used when I vacuum and dust. Kind of like my lawn. The only time I am on it is when I am mowing it.


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[Independent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Wow, tight budget! Good luck with that. I wish I could say that I get utility out of every dollar that I spend today, but honestly I don't. I could get rid of a lot of expenses that wouldn't affect my quality of life (my landline is next! ). I could stop shopping so much at Amazon and instead play video games or read more free Kindle books for entertainment, for example, and I would be perfectly happy. I could put off house upgrades and that wouldn't change my lifestyle either. There are so many ways in which I could cut back with minimal if any disruption of my lifestyle.

Maybe we have different definitions of "utility".

If I enjoyed free Kindle books just as much as I enjoy hard copy books that cost money, I would stop buying hard copy books.

OTOH, if I enjoy the hard copy books more than the free Kindle books, then I'm getting "utility" from the dollars I spend on hard copy books.

Sometimes my "utility" comes from reduced hassle. Maybe I could save some money by carefully watching gasoline prices at all the gas outlets I pass and being careful to pick only the cheapest. I've observed that their prices are usually extremely close, so I don't worry about the possibility of paying the extra penny and just stop where it's convenient today.

[NW-Bound]

Speaking of smaller homes, one with more windows to let you look out will feel less claustrophobic. But if a home is small already, more windows will make it even harder to place furniture.

So, as much as I find tiny homes interesting, I do not know how it would work for me. My 200-sq.ft. RV looks quite cluttered when we pack for travel, and if we live full-time in it, we would have a very tough time.

[AnIntentionalRoad]

There is a documentary on Netflicks right now called "Tiny" about a 20 something who builds a 185 sq ft home. They also interview some other tiny homers (not tiny Homer Simpsons, to be clear), some who even have a spouse and children.

When I lived on a boat, we had about 200 sq ft for 4 people to share and it was fine. But the point of boats and RVs is that they are meant to be on the move. I don't think I would want to live in a stationary tiny home for too long--maybe for a few month vacation season every year would be cool.

[jjquantz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huston55 Yep but, it's not like Dec-Feb is 'pleasant' in NoVa. It's more a matter of 'less miserable' than the northern Midwest.

Have to answer this as "True, but..." The difference between NOVA and Iowa is that there are almost always 3 or 4 days each month (sometimes more) during the winter that top out over 60 and it is EXTREMELY rare for the temps to drop below +20. Whereas in Iowa, 50 degrees is cause for celebration in the winter and prolonged periods of -10 are not unheard of. If one is retired it is possible to get out and enjoy those 60 degree days (even if they fall M-F). I'll happily bike when the outside temp is 40. This makes most days available to me in NOVA but that wasn't the case in Iowa. Some of my Iowa friends asked me what winter was like out here and I told them it was like having four months of Iowa's November.

I'm not dumping on the Midwest, there are many days when we discuss whether we should move back and take advantage of the advantages, if you will. It's just that, on the whole, NOVA seems to have squeaked out a narrow edge for us over the Midwest.

[NW-Bound]

Housing cost is one if not the major expense item for most people, so downsizing is a proper topic for spending cut discussion in this thread, I think.

If the tiny house is in a nice coastal location where one can spend time outdoors, that helps. Traveling RV'ers like ourselves only come back to the RV in the evening, so we could live with it for a couple of months. It is another matter to be cooped up inside for a couple of rainy days, or a week or two of a winter storm.

[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnIntentionalRoad There is a documentary on Netflicks right now called "Tiny" about a 20 something who builds a 185 sq ft home. They also interview some other tiny homers (not tiny Homer Simpsons, to be clear), some who even have a spouse and children. When I lived on a boat, we had about 200 sq ft for 4 people to share and it was fine. But the point of boats and RVs is that they are meant to be on the move. I don't think I would want to live in a stationary tiny home for too long--maybe for a few month vacation season every year would be cool.

The guys in this video built an amazing vacation spot just from tents:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toFBj9qBLQo