By PAUL WHEATON
The tiny house movement is not a path for everybody. But there are a lot of individuals doing it. And some couples. And some families.
Teeny tiny houses. 100% paid for. No mortgage.
Teeny tiny houses have teeny tiny utility bills .
Teeny tiny houses have teeny tiny heating expenses .
I have read of people working an average job and retiring before the age of 30 to something like this. At first, the math didn’t quite work for me. As I read more and more about the different folks joining the tiny house movement and retiring before or after jumping on board, I am getting exposed more to their math. It does work. Some people work four hours per week. Some people have saved up enough that they don’t need to work. I suppose some people could continue to work full time and just build a big financial cushion.
But the biggest thing is the teeny tiny house. How do you fit? How small can you go? Urban? Rural? How much does the house cost?
I visited with Mike Oehler , who built a tiny house for $50. You might think that a $50 house is probably made of cardboard and won’t last a year. Mike built this house using wood from his land plus some scraps from the local lumber yard. And I took a video of the house after it was 37 years old.
The odd thing is that Mike has a house that is even smaller. And it cost a meager $15. Not a typo: FIFTEEN DOLLARS! And it was occupied by a family of three shortly before I took this video.
I visited a tiny house that was converted from some sort of storage shed to something that could stand the winter. A couple and their cat occupy this tiny home which cost a whopping $362:
And now for something much newer and still coming in at less than $2500. A cordwood structure that is also round:
A couple of years ago I was in an exceptionally damp part of Oregon and was able to visit several hand sculpted homes . Most of these cost about $200 to $1000 to build. The biggest house cost about $10,000.
And finally, out on Vashon Island just outside of Seattle, I found this interesting gem. A house made from an insulated shipping container .
Rob Roy wrote a book called “ Mortgage Free ” where the idea was that rather than get a mortgage, you saved up, bought a piece of raw land and built a tiny shack. Later you build a small home. As a family comes along, you add to your home. Thereby getting to a home the size that most Americans enjoy without ever having to deal with a mortgage.
The tiny house movement — worth looking into.
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BIO: Paul Wheaton is is the tyrannical ruler of two on-line communities. One is about permaculture
and one is about software engineering
. There is even one for Missoula
. Paul has written several permacutlure articles
starting with one on lawn care
that he presented at the MUD Project
17 years ago, including articles on raising chickens
, cast iron
and diatomaceous earth
. Paul also regularly uploads permaculture videos
and permaculture podcasts
. In his spare time, Paul has plans for world domination and is currently shopping for a hollowed out volcano in the Missoula area, with good submarine access.
See all of Paul’s contributions to MakeitMissoula on this Blog Homepage here
