How I'm getting ready for living in 200 sq feet

Hi folks,

So it's one thing to imagine what it's like to live in a gorgeous little tiny house on wheels but it's another thing to live in one I'm sure.  In the past few months of researching this way of life I have read many people's accounts of the downsizing they had to do to comfortably live in their new dwelling and have been really inspired to channel my excitement about this new lifestyle into some downsizing of my own.  One in particular that I found really inspiring was this article here: http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/tiny-house-transition.html

As I shared in a previous post I am an avid crafter and 2nd-hand shop peruser and because of these two things (and also my absolute love of clothing and jewellery) I am constantly fighting my instincts of collecting all things that are pretty and colourful...and a bargain.  In the last year, even before we had started to think about tiny houses, I had started to throw away a lot of the unnecessary clutter that I had managed to accumulate over the last 4 years of living in Australia.  When I came to this country I arrived with a 60 litre backpack and hand luggage, I had got rid of everything else other then a box of childhood mementos in my mums farmhouse attic.  In the 4 year interim I had managed to collect an astounding amount of  clothes that I never wore, craft supplies and general bric-a-brac.  I started off going through my craft supplies a few months ago and pairing it back to what I was really excited about and didn't want to give up.  That now fits in a few small boxes and bags.  Next I moved onto my Tardis of a wardrobe and checked out everything that I hadn't worn in the last 2 years.

I got rid of a big bin bag of clothes that I had absolutely no emotional attachment to whatsoever.  A few weeks went by and then I had the drive to look through my closet again and see if anything else wasn't needed.  Dresses I love but just don't suit me, heels I've never worn and never will were finally let go of.  I now currently have 2 big bin bag's of clothes, accessories and shoes ready for a garage sale a friend and I plan on hosting!

I probably still need to cut down the amount of clothes in my closet to comfortably fit them into a tiny house but Im proud of what Ive let go of!

Another major step that I put in place 2 months ago now was to stop increasing my wardrobe at the rate I was chucking it out.  It seemed like a silly idea to chuck away all of this stuff with out addressing the reason that I got into this 'state' in the first place!  So I challenged myself, a big ol' scary challenge: to not buy any new clothes, shoes or accessories for 1 whole year.  A YEAR.

I'm now 2 months in and in that time I've learnt a real lot about myself and my buying habits.  Up until this challenge I would habitually buy things...out of boredom, to treat myself, to make myself feel better and to feel attractive.  I would buy something to celebrate a nice place I'd been or purely because I thought it looked nice on someone I saw in the street.  So many reasons to buy.  It's clear to me now that that buzz that I get from buying something new really doesn't last that long and I was spending way out of my means.  In the last 2 months of my spending ban I have set up a Buy Nothing local group in my area to help me get rid of some of my unwanted stuff and also to pick up anything that I do need.  It's been a great opportunity to let go of things and see the excitement and connection that people express when they get something useful to them without parting with any money.  It's great! If your interested in finding out more about the global Buy Nothing Project then check out this link here: http://buynothingproject.org

Over the next few months, with our upcoming move, Tom and I will surely be going through more of our stuff and downsizing, particularly our furniture and kitchen utensils etc.  Downsizing for me has become really addictive and Ive really found that, like many people share on this journey to a simplified life, I don't miss what I've given away at all.

Here is a photo of a clothes closet for a couple who currently live in a tiny house.... yeah, onwards and upwards!

Tiny house exterior inspiration!

Hi everyone,

Now for the fun stuff!  In this post I will share with you some tiny house exteriors that I just LOVE, I will cover what my idea of a perfect tiny house looks like in upcoming posts.

This is one of the reasons we are choosing to build a tiny house over van life, there is just so much more scope for creating a stunning space to live in!  And pretty much anything is possible as you will see in the following photos.  Enjoy =)

Where will we be building our Tiny House?

Hi all,

In this post I wanted to share with you a little bit about where we will be building our beautiful little home.

As I shared briefly in my previous posts Tom and I will shortly be moving to his parents property in the beautiful rural table-lands 2 hours drive north of Melbourne.  Tom and his brothers grew up on a stunning property that their parents Sharon and John created in a sleepy little farming community called Ruffy.

John and Sharon bought their little piece of paradise in the early 80's when land prices were cheap.  The land they bought had a small tin and wood country church which they expanded and updated over many years into the beautiful family home that they now live in.  In that time they also planted very productive fruit trees and organic veggie gardens were they produce a large portion of their own food.  Ruffy is a little slice of tranquil heaven (except for the exceptionally loud sulphur-crested cockatoos that have made their home in the huge elm and pine trees lining the property) and this is where we will be living on and off for the next year.

John (Tom's dad) has a fully stocked wood workshop with all the power tools we will need for our build and we have already got the go-ahead from him and Sharron that they are happy to host our build.  We are so lucky to have Ruffy as our build spot, it's just perfect!

There are some negatives of building so off the beaten track, as we will have to haul all of our materials either from reclamation and timber yards in Melbourne or Seymour.  We will have to get very organised with the materials that we will be needing thats for sure!

Below are some photos of Ruffy so you get an idea of where we will be living! <3

A look further into the finances of building a tiny house.

Hi folks,

I wanted to go a little further into one of the biggest reasons that both Tom and I are planning on building and living in a tiny 7.2m x 2.4m space.

I sat down a few weeks ago and worked out that in an average year Tom and I spent $11,000 minimum EACH on rent and basic house bills.  Thats $22,000 a year between us that we are never going to see again.  We are not living anywhere palatial either, this estimate is based on our rent and bills for living in a (pretty ugly) 1960's 5 bedroom unit in Brunswick, Melbourne shared with 2 other people.  When I saw that figure, my heart and mind were made up, especially when I compared it to the average figure of approximately $20,000 that people spend when building their own tiny homes.

To think that we could basically pay back our original costs for the build in one year is quite incredible.  That means that every year that we spend living in out little home will essentially be ''free'' and the hefty weight of rental costs will be lifted.  We also have to take into consideration that there will be some ongoing costs of living in the tiny house, markedly depending on where we end up 'mooring' our home may involve some land rental costs,  as well as the small ongoing costs of gas and electricity.

Financially it just makes complete sense.  That's a no brainer.  So you may ask, where are you both planning on getting $20,000 from to build your tiny house and also how will you support yourselves whilst you're building?  Well we certainly don't have the money lying around in a trust fund anywhere that's for sure, so we are setting about planning a strategy for earning all the money we need this year.  In 3 months Tom and I will be leaving our rental property here in Melbourne, putting the majority of our stuff in storage and moving up to Tom's parents small holding in Ruffy, Victoria.  Here we will spend the next 3 months working ridiculously hard for a local cherry farm in their packing shed.  This will be the 3rd season that Tom has helped run their computer and grading software for the harvest and I have also helped out during the last 3 seasons as well.  It's a very fast (and exhausting) way of getting savings quickly, as the days are long and living with family our expenses will be very minimal.

We are estimating that we will be able to save approx $15,000 between us between November 2015 and January 2016.  After this we will be travelling to India, for a mindfulness practice that I take part in most years and will also be visiting my family briefly in the UK.  This will burn through some of our savings from the cherries, however Tom has also been offered work during the Canadian cherry season through his contacts in the industry (around June 2016) and I intend to go over and work the season too).  With both of these harvest seasons combined we should be able to come back with plenty of money to complete our build.  If more money is needed there is also the option of the following local cherry harvest season (nov 2016-onwards)  thought the thought of 3 harvest seasons almost back to back gives me the shivers.  This is our plan to come up with the funds, it's going to be hard work but hard work is always more enjoyable when you have an awesome goal at the end of it all to focus on.

My absolute perfect scenario would be to to have enough money after the Canadian cherry season to have our build in progress in August/September 2016.  This way we could have the build completed in the beautiful spring Australian weather and be moved in before the local cherry season starts in November 2016 so that we can replenish our savings post build.  I have read many accounts of couples completing their own tiny houses in approximately 800 work hours, so working full time on the build together we should be able to complete our home in 2-3 months easily.

All of this is tentative planning but it's in action.  We will be moving out of the home that I am sitting writing this in, in about 8 weeks.  CRAZY!

Yay for adventures,
Bex

                    (me in the organic gardens in Ruffy in the gorgeous Aussie summertime)

The very beginning and why on earth we're doing this.

Hi all,

Welcome to the beginning of our adventure.  My name is Bex (Rebekah) and my partner's name is Tom.  We are an English/Australian couple living in Melbourne Australia.

This blog is documenting from the very beginning of our journey to build and live in our very own Tiny House.  If you don't know what a tiny house is, well, it's basically the creation of a small house generally on wheels, that fits within the RV weight and dimension restrictions.  It's towable, moveable and liveable!

So a little about us: I moved across the world from my home in Bristol, England, almost 4 years ago.  Im currently 27 years old and am working in the centre of Melbourne in a gorgeous little craft store.  My passions involve every kind of craft imaginable, and second hand shopping (I'm constantly fighting my hoarding impulses).  Tom was born here in Victoria, Australia and is 26 years old.  He was unschooled with his 2 brothers in a beautiful little country town called Ruffy up high in the Murrindindi table-lands 2 hours out of Melbourne.  Ruffy is a beautiful place, full of fields with huge boulders and lots of wild life.  You will get to see more of Ruffy as our journey progresses.  Tom and I met whilst working for a travelling festival tent in England and have been together for over 4 years.

So why would you want to make and build your own tiny house you may ask? Well, I can only speak for myself but for me personally there are SO many reasons that I get butterflies in my stomach every times I see a photo of a tiny house.  Firstly I have always wanted to build my own house, growing up I avidly watched Grand Designs on the telly and particularly loved the cob houses or wooden houses made by their owner's hands.  I have seen through others how peaceful and satisfying it can be living in a home that is build completely for your needs, this is not something that I have experienced in my 7 years of living in rental accommodation, i can assure you!

Another major reason is for financial independence, I am certainly not one of those people who love to work and get a real thrill out of working the 9-5.  For me work has always been a bit of a drag and the less time spent earning my money, well, the better! Building a tiny house is an attainable way of building our own home, without having to have a mortgage or owning our own land.  Both Tom and I do not have any savings and do not earn any where near enough to be considered for a mortgage even if we did want to tie ourselves down to that kind of a debt for the rest of our lives (we don't).

I will be documenting our journey to creating our tiny home via this platform, with the hope of connecting with other like minded tiny house dreamers and dwellers and to share any knowledge that we accumulate along the way.  Tiny house building is certainly more common in the USA then it is here in Australia, so as we weave our way through this adventure we hope to support other Aussie folks to consider this way of life!

Until then,
Bex