Apparently, it's a thing
these days to trade in big houses for an insanely cheap and efficient
"Tiny Homes." At first Pinterest glance, these luxurious micro houses look tempting.
Seriously...
…who wouldn't want those cozy lofts and those sweet operating costs!
Let me tell you
something. I lived in tiny homes before they were cool. Granted, they were
never "Pinterest perfect," but they were tiny, and they were home. My
family didn't have a cute name for them though. We just called them what they
were, "storage sheds."
When I was small, I
lived in one such "tiny home" with my parents and a brother. I'm too
young to remember much. Mostly, I remember lots of mud. I remember cramped quarters
and spending a lot of time outdoors. I know my mom cooked outside, and I don’t
remember having a toilet or much light in there. Sometime after that, when
there were several more of us kids running around, we had a slightly larger
"tiny home." 8 of us lived in portion of a house we were building.
The portion we lived in was eventually supposed to be the kitchen and dining
room. Instead, with temporary plywood walls in place, it served as a fully
functional 2bed, 1bath family dwelling. It was complete with a kitchenette, and
a corner for a couch, but it eventually it did what tiny houses do.
It got crowded.
After one of my brothers
married and left it vacant, I got to move into the storage shed in the front
yard. It was insulated. It had electricity and an air conditioner in one of the
windows. Dad was (and still is) a great carpenter. So, it was very comfortable,
much more comfortable than sharing a room with my four youngest siblings. I had
just enough room for a twin bed on one side, a bookshelf on the other side, and
a tiny little rug in between them. I rigged up a curtain rod in one corner and
leaned a tall mirror up against a wall to make a “walk-in” closet. It was my
very own tiny home! I camped there until I traded it for a dorm room.
When I married, I got to
upgrade to a 1 bedroom apartment, and later to a 3 bedroom house. Goodness!
That was a wonderful change, but let me tell you the
been-there-done-that-got-the-t shirt truth. You certainly don't need much to
live well. In fact, you actually need a whole lot less than
you might be comfortable admitting. However, it's possible to go overboard
trying to prove a frugal point. You don't have to make yourself a
claustrophobic martyr to promote a spirit of gratefulness.
If you have too much
stuff, get rid of it. If your electric bill is too high, start turning off some
lights. If making changes and sacrifices for a more financially responsible
life means trading your big house for a smaller one, do it! Live frugally. Live
simply, but for your own sanity, downsize responsibly.
There is always Amish living. I like the simple life they live.
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