First of all I totally understand that Tiny Houses are not for everyone. However I strongly encourage everyone to evaluate your housing needs, expenses, and actual usage. I do not mean to be judgmental, I just want to share my observations, and feelings here.

Affordable Housing-

Boy has mortgages and costs associated with housing gone up dramatically. When I purchased my house I heard that house should be about 30-37% of your income. All this with no consideration of the actual budget long term. What a rabbit hole that lead to a lie?! It all starts with what your “approved” for, wow what a way to get into debt quick. People that are interested in tiny houses do so for many different reasons. One reason is financial. The less home, the less bills/expenses.

Becoming Minimalist-

When we think about or made the decision to go small or tiny house living there is a big elephant in the room, and that elephant is “Stuff”. What do I do with all this stuff? If the dream, manifesto, or need to go tiny living is BIG and important enough, it will and can happen. For me it was when I was down, and hit the rock bottom, when I was at the “enough is enough” stage. That is when I searched for help, but came to me in a strange way. I remember now how I came across tiny houses on the web. It started last year when I was considering painting my window trim. I searched Google images for houses with the color of my house, and that’s when image of a “Tiny House” on a trailer appeared and that’s what started it all. From there I Google searched Tiny Houses in Minnesota, then the Meetup.com group “Tiny House Minneapolis and Saint Paul” came up. Association is so powerful, I felt I needed to go tiny, and at first I felt I was alone in my thinking. With the association I felt like I was not the only one thinking this way. It was the emotional support that I needed. Most people don’t understand why are you going to small/tiny living? Or what is up with all this downsizing stuff? I am overwhelmed with JOY that I have stayed steadfast culling stuff regularly using the #MinsGame, also known as the 30 day game, from http://www.theminimalists.com/game/.  I have had some great people that have been doing the culling with me. It has helped to do the culling with others. I am going on eight months doing the game!! Less Stuff!!!!

Creating Safe Living Space-

Some people may think that tiny houses are like sheds or shanty buildings built poorly. It is very important to build with quality materials, even recycled and reusable materials can do very well. Safety is #1. Building, or buying safety has to be top of the list. Creating a safe space to live is also about feeling emotionally connected to the space. How many people have the home owning them? That was me several years ago, I absolutely was disgusted with the love/hate relationship with the house. Pride of ownership is important, but it should not cost a person their joy in life by being forced to be imprisoned by it. I have downsized and now I feel comfortable in my space. By living in a tiny space I am forced to think different, buy different, and live different. I love it! Why didn’t I do this earlier?

In July, I attended the Tumbleweed Tiny House Workshop in Minneapolis. It was two full days of tiny house discussions. Art and Guillaume hosted the workshop, and they did a great job. You can follow Guillaume on his blog http://tinyhousegiantjourney.com/.  Guillaume and Jenna are on tour now with their tiny house. The workshop was so good to hang out with like minded people. More great association!

Tiny houses are not for everyone, but the benefits of tiny living should be investigated by all!!