My tiny house build

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soopernaut
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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by soopernaut »

You will need your own snow plow truck and a tractor for lawn maintenance. That is one thing I don't like about living on acreage. I have too much yard work with only a 3rd of an acre and I am trying to downsize that.

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by Hobcobble »

soopernaut wrote:You will need your own snow plow truck and a tractor for lawn maintenance. That is one thing I don't like about living on acreage. I have too much yard work with only a 3rd of an acre and I am trying to downsize that.
DSCF0502.JPG
Good point Bill. This pic is taken from in front of one of
our buildings looking about 400+ feet to the road. It gets
pretty dicey when the snow and wind kick up. We can
become "isolated" pretty quickly. :pale
John

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by facechicken »

I am lucky enough that if I become stranded at home my boss doesn't care. The area I am looking at doesn't have that much open ground to worry about, norma push mower will take care of it

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by RussRoth »

Hobcobble wrote:
soopernaut wrote:You will need your own snow plow truck and a tractor for lawn maintenance. That is one thing I don't like about living on acreage. I have too much yard work with only a 3rd of an acre and I am trying to downsize that.
DSCF0502.JPG
Good point Bill. This pic is taken from in front of one of
our buildings looking about 400+ feet to the road. It gets
pretty dicey when the snow and wind kick up. We can
become "isolated" pretty quickly. :pale
John
Now John you know that is not necessarily a bad thing as long as you are prepared. :salut :Thumbsup I lived 15 years in the OR coast range and we got two feet or more snow a couple years during that time and were without power for days. :banghead Still made it to work but took me from 11 PM one time with shift change @ 7 AM and I was still a half hour late. :pale :shame Got linked up with a gal trying to get to work @ PDX also and while I never winched myself I had to pull her 4x4 S-10 out a couple times, but we made 'er. :Thumbsup :lol: :salut I did have to finally chain about half mile from the station because a set of doubles were accordioned up and I could only get past by running one set of wheels on a steep underpass bank and I did not want to make it that far and slide my rig into one of his trailers.
RR
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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by PwrWgnDrvr »

Before committing to a potentially regretful plan, one would be wise to try it out while there is still a way out.
Simply shut and permanently lock your current house, purchase a 200 sq ft RV trailer, park it in the yard and live in it long term. See if u really like it.
In the mean time, figure out what your water supply in this future cabin will be and live on the same amount of water/day in your current house. Toilets, showers, laundry, mopping and diswashing use a hella lot more water than u think. Forget about any landscaping or vehicle washing.
Some synonyms for "drastic" are dire, extreme, harsh, desperate, radical, foolish, severe.

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by facechicken »

Terry I knew you would be the voice of reason. Believe me I have been keeping track of all my water consumption. I have even measured out how much all my future appliances will draw voltage wise. I use roughly less than 40 gallons of water a week...multiply that by 2 and its 320 gallons a month. Call it 400 for misc water use. Should be good on that front, we get plenty of rain to keep the stocks full. Honestly we are not home that much. I work 10-12 hours a day 6 days a week and she works full time. Plus with the money we will be able to save, we will be traveling more and spending a lot less time at home

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by PwrWgnDrvr »

So it only works if you're only sleeping there, not really living there.
Maybe you should get a travel trailer, place it in a long term travel park and "live" (sleep) in it, then when u want to travel, u can take home with u.
The money u save living in the cabin will be eaten up hella fast when u start "traveling more"

Does it snow/freeze there in the winter? If so, that's a whole nuther set of problems for your water supply....

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by facechicken »

No it will work living there also, I have thought of building on a trailer but anywhere I go will have to have a water supply....can't realy carry around the 1000 gallon water tank full everywhere I go. The more travel for us would be 2 or 3 places a year tops. We go somewhere about once every three years now. We don't do the tourist trap, money grab places and if we do pass through them, we don't spend money on "things". We go for the experiences and the journey. We also don't spend lots of money on hotel rooms and fancy dining. We like to eat at local establishments (non chain resteraunts) and stay in cheap places. We do plan on living in a motor home for a few months before we build our place and while we are building it. The freezing issue will be built into the system. I have thought about building the tank into a shed outside of the house. There is a lot to figure out still, for sure, that's why we are waiting for the 4-5 years and not doing it right now

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by Cris »

Howdy, we've been living in a small log cabin for over twenty years now here in Colorado . Think the Unabomber, but with satellite tv.
24 x 24 with a half loft upstairs, 12 x 24, about 720 s.f. total. Going to throw two words out here: 'fart space'.
I went from a 2300 s.f. house to this shanty (after a divorce & even living in my town wagon for a spell).

There's no place to hide in tiny spaces. I end up taking my internal moose impressions outside, no place to let loose inside.

That's all I've got to add to this one. It's a change, that's for sure (ok, that's two things).
My truck, '66 W200 Crewcab. Got any parts.?

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by facechicken »

Its a change we both want to make. We both know there will be an adjustment period and hardships and what not but that's half the fun of trying new things. My wife can quit her job if she wanted to and we would still be able to put a lot of money into savings each year due to no mortgage or monthly bills or frivilous spending on stuff we truely don't need. I would rather go places and see sites than have "things" I don't need or use. I am totally against buying "stuff" just so people can come to my "big house" and look at all my "fancy stuff" so they can think better of me and think that I am a sucess or something of that nature. I could give 2shits about what people think of me or my "stuff". I just don't get the whole "work a job you hate, to spend money you don't have, to impress people you don't like" way the world works

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by slick »

I love the plan. I think about doing the same when I retire all the time. Just simplifying life and getting away from all the technology and chaos of society.. :salut
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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by PwrWgnDrvr »

facechicken wrote:........... I just don't get the whole "work a job you hate, to spend money you don't have, to impress people you don't like" way the world works
What's that got to do with living in a fart filled shoe box, crapping in a chemical toilet and sponge bathing with a Qt of water?

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by facechicken »

truth be told Terry, I was fairly tired last night when i wrote that.....it kinda got outta hand quickly......but the basics is if you can live like i plan to (tiny house, not needing "things") you can work any job you want and not have to have a good paying job that you hate going to everyday so you can afford to buy things you dont need and you can work a job you enjoy working at for way less (maybe even part time so you have more time to do things).....but if your job you love pays well (which i love mine and it doesnt pay too bad), then you can really save up the money for adventures and what you really want to do and see in life, instead of buying things and having a mortgage you dont need that sucks all your money away.

A mortgage is a gigantic waste of money....i understand thats the only way some people can afford to live in a house, but if they didnt need 5000 sq ft and 3 bathrooms and 6 bedrooms with granite coutnertops, new cabinets, 3 car garage, and so on they could spend their hard earned money on things they like. Which is a moot point if that kind of house is what they like i guess.

No this post is getting out of hand :lol:

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by PwrWgnDrvr »

facechicken wrote:.... 5000 sq ft and 3 bathrooms and 6 bedrooms with granite coutnertops, new cabinets, 3 car garage, and so on:lol:
Of course, comparing 5000 sq ft to 200 sq ft is a dramatic difference. But that's probably not what u live in now, so its a moot comparable.
Compare 200 sq ft of miserable living to the simple comfort of 1000 sq ft and the cost savings is not worth the suffering. As far as "buying things u dont need" is concerned, u can do/not do that no matter what size house u live in.

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by facechicken »

The house I live in now is 1008 sq ft. Moving to the new house will save us $1000 a month at minimum. That includes mortgage, water, power and those sorts of things. $1000 a month is a decent chunk of change to be just throwing at bills that I don't need to have. Not to mention we will both be moving closer to work by 20 miles each a day. She drives 4 times a week and I work 6 days a week. So that's 1600 miles worth of fuel we will be not spending money on each month. Now granted this setup isn't ideal for everyone or even wanting to be done by everyone, but in my situation its a great idea. Not trying to make you want to do this terry, just explaining all my thoughts and situations leading up to it. I do appreciate your point of view on the topic and the points you bring up :Thumbsup

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by Hobcobble »

facechicken wrote: Not trying to make you want to do this terry, just explaining all my thoughts and situations leading up to it.
Hmmm..... :thinking I don't know Keith.... :thinking I think you've almost convinced Terry to
vacate his palatial estate in Walnut Creek and move into a Buster Brown shoe box.... :dance :lol: :lol:
John

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by Cris »

My pal Tim O'Brien of the bluegrass band Hot Rize & solo fame too wrote this song, "small up & simple down".

https://youtu.be/FdfGc-NCyCY
Recorded with good food, tequila (& washboard Chaz).


Was trying to just find the lyrics, no joy.

Cris
My truck, '66 W200 Crewcab. Got any parts.?

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by facechicken »

Well my plans kinda switched up a little...the land i was gonna buy (roughly 2 acres) by law doesn't have enough sq ft to build a lagoon on site, and it turns out the county wont let me dig my own.....lagoon has to be professionally dug by a licensed person and i have to have at least 3 acres to dig it on.....which is weird because i can dig it right next to the house by law but i have to have at least 3 acres of land (connected) or i cant have one at all.....

So, the small town i grew up in, a farm town, is unincorporated and has no zoning laws.......just had a small house torn down on a lot and a half and they want to sell me the land. It wont be out in the country like i want but this town is basically living in the country. The lot is actually on the very northwest corner and my back yard would be a nice tree row right before a huge field. At this point its too good to pass up. All the water sewage and electricity is right there ready to go...no hook up fees or anything like that....i really wanted to do the rain water and solar setup, but for what the monthly minimums are for water, sewer, and electric (and the convenience) I cant NOT go that route. Water will be $18 a month, electric is minimum $22 (which i will be using less than the minimum) and sewer is $50 a year! Not to mention that the price for this section of land is about 1/5 of what i would have had to pay for the 3 acres needed amd i wont have to pay someone thousands of dollars to dig me a lagoon


I will have to bring in some dirt to level out the land and let it settle for awhile but the paperwork for the land will be finalized late this week or early next week and i can get started.... :dance I already have all the dirt i need for free from my grandmas farm and my uncles have bulldozers and dump trucks for me to use.

I will be posting pics as i go :Thumbsup

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by facechicken »

Well i got the land all purchased and finalized today. Next weekend we are doing the dirt work :dance

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Re: So in 4 years i am gonna make a drastic change....

Post by pismopowerwagon »

:clap

Good for you
Andy

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