as you can see, i've updated the blogs i am following, and Jonathon is now living on the west coast, although without his tiny house. I closely followed Carrie and Shane throughout their lengthy 3 week build (Shane, you are a "dragon"), and am watching Macy progress through her build. These 2 are of the most interest to me, because I also am planning to build on a gooseneck trailer. My decision for a gooseneck are for the following reasons:
less overall height, and easier towing (important for me because i plan to move at least 4 times / yr AFTER i get tired of traveling full time,)
easier access to the bedroom (i have arthritis in my back)
Both of these blogs are excellent builds, and quite different. Clothesline has opted for the private bed/bath, vs Mini-Motives has opted for the bed to be part of the living area. My real concern would be access to the bedroom, so I am hoping Macy likes her build. Hopefully I can arrange some vacation time to visit different tiny houses in progress and already built.
We are currently waiting on the contractor to come in and finish the rec room, and of course we still have a few projects to do also, and then the house goes on the market.
i ponder a lot on what life will be like once living in a tiny home. whether life will be more active, more interactive, more outdoor oriented, and as a result more community oriented? Where i will park it? How often will i have to move? How often will i want to move?
What do I do with my children, within a month of being 19 and 18? Do I leave them to fend for themselves? Force them out of the nest? Set them up with other housing? Subsidize them? (Really, does subsidizing your children ever end?) Take them with me?
Life is so interesting, so many options!
I have decided to build a RAGBRAImobile, basically a two bunk micro bedroom on a trailer. i already have a 5x10 trailer, so let the microhouse begin!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Future Plans and Current Experiences
Well, dad posted his first blog today, and as to not be outdone, I shall post mine too.
I had the idea to do a father/daughter blog a while after we started looking into tiny living, and decided to build one for ourselves. This way we can both get our opinions out there, since we are both going through the experience. This blog will probably go in a drastically different direction than what I had originally planned, mainly because I going to be going on my own separate adventure (at least for a while.)
The current plans are that once the summer is over I will travel from relative to relative across the states for a year or so. Now, I am very excited for this adventure.. but I haven't gotten to the 'asking relatives' stage yet, and being the procrastinator that I am, this is not surprising. I should get on that. If any relatives of mine are reading this.. Can I come visit for a month or so? :)
Anyway, on to the next point in our blog: Downsizing.
Downsizing so far has been an interesting experience, and even though we haven't physically downsized into a smaller dwelling yet, we have been mentally downsizing for a while. I swear we've toted twenty-five pick-up loads of junk out of the house so far (and as dad mentioned, we haven't even gotten to the garage or basement yet.) Besides getting rid of a whole bunch of useless junk, we've also been keeping the house clean and eating at home a lot (which is a big deal, considering we used to go out for practically every meal.) I will admit, dad does a better job at keeping things clean than me... but I've been helping.
On a side note, for those of you interested, since graduation my summer has been great so far. Dad has been waking me up every morning to go train for RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). Training has been going great, and I absolutely love my new bike. My mileage per day changes a lot, mainly depending on if I'm going to work or not. Work, by the way, is lovely. I've mainly been doing odd jobs, and spending a lot of time helping out Jay at the Riddell Polled Hereford farm doing paperwork and painting and whatnot. I like it.
Well, I have no idea how to end this post, so.. THE END. Dad, you're up!
I had the idea to do a father/daughter blog a while after we started looking into tiny living, and decided to build one for ourselves. This way we can both get our opinions out there, since we are both going through the experience. This blog will probably go in a drastically different direction than what I had originally planned, mainly because I going to be going on my own separate adventure (at least for a while.)
The current plans are that once the summer is over I will travel from relative to relative across the states for a year or so. Now, I am very excited for this adventure.. but I haven't gotten to the 'asking relatives' stage yet, and being the procrastinator that I am, this is not surprising. I should get on that. If any relatives of mine are reading this.. Can I come visit for a month or so? :)
Anyway, on to the next point in our blog: Downsizing.
Downsizing so far has been an interesting experience, and even though we haven't physically downsized into a smaller dwelling yet, we have been mentally downsizing for a while. I swear we've toted twenty-five pick-up loads of junk out of the house so far (and as dad mentioned, we haven't even gotten to the garage or basement yet.) Besides getting rid of a whole bunch of useless junk, we've also been keeping the house clean and eating at home a lot (which is a big deal, considering we used to go out for practically every meal.) I will admit, dad does a better job at keeping things clean than me... but I've been helping.
On a side note, for those of you interested, since graduation my summer has been great so far. Dad has been waking me up every morning to go train for RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). Training has been going great, and I absolutely love my new bike. My mileage per day changes a lot, mainly depending on if I'm going to work or not. Work, by the way, is lovely. I've mainly been doing odd jobs, and spending a lot of time helping out Jay at the Riddell Polled Hereford farm doing paperwork and painting and whatnot. I like it.
Well, I have no idea how to end this post, so.. THE END. Dad, you're up!
Starting here
Thursday, April 12, 2012
I don't know how to blog, other than just putting down my thoughts:
and I probably won't do that very well, or very often, or very regularly, so don't expect much.
I am currently exploring tiny housing / frugal living? / small footprint / self sufficient living. I am not green nor a hippie, etc, and I'll tell you right now that frugal living and the rest is more of a way to cut living expenses than it is a statement of how I want to live the rest of my life. If I were to win the lottery, and have instant wealth, my future would change accordingly, I wouldn't be one of those people that could ignore the wealth in favor of their ideals, blah blah blah
However, I am 56 yrs old, and would like to retire sooner rather than later, and if i can simplify my life and my needs, then there is some possibility of my retiring in the future. My current plans are to:
Retire at age 62, last choice
Retire at age 59 1/2
Retire sooner
Goals needed to retire:
Sell house and pay off debt (steps to accomplish this goal listed below)
1. Paint house
2. Paint interior
3. Repair garage
4. Finish rec room
5. Finish small trim items
Minimize expenses (ongoing)
1. Tiny house or similar plan
2. Explore off grid possibilities
3. Explore self sufficiency (do these things have spell check?)
4. Explore frugality ( in process, have already downsized first layer )
~ went thru closets, most of kitchen, other storage, approx 3 pickup loads moved out, some to friends, some to family, some to trash
5. Only buying new products that will in some way go towards achieving goals
No longer buying into the theory that "things" will make you happy
?? Is there a way to teach this to my children, other than by example?
I learned a lot from my dad, as he led by example during the later years of his life, but I couldn't / wouldn't follow his lead until .... now? As it becomes needful in my life? Better late than never as they say
Also exploring community living, ie, sustainable and thoughtful community living, although i'm not sure if i could fit in with these groups of people ~ more thoughts on this later ~ but i am sure that they have a good idea, just not sure how "like minded" you have to be to fit in
Blogs i follow and enjoy
The Field Lab ~ John, you are amazing and I hope to be able to meet you
The Little Yellow Door ~ a great tiny build, currently in progress, entertainingly written by Ella
Holy Scrap ~ just started with this one, and like it
Life in 120 square ft
Jonathon Bellows ~ a tiny build and then living in it ~ currently waiting for J to move to Oregon (and i might follow him someday)
Ok, I never got around to posting this blog, always thought i would reread, edit, etc.
Now, however, my daughter Jenna tells me we are going to do a father daughter blog, with alternating blog posts, so I guess it is time. Jump forward to June 14, the house has been painted and the garage repaired. We have made great leaps in downsizing and have started cooking regularly at home, and keeping up with things in a "tiny house" manner (ie, not letting messes go). The entire house has been downsized, now working on 2 garages and the basement. Still more to go, but making progress every day.
On the Jenna front, she graduated high school this year, and is odd jobbing the summer away ~ last week of July is reserved for RAGBRAI, a bike ride across Iowa for her, and then I have offered to support her @ $100 / wk, as she visits relatives around the country (and good friends, hello TINY HOUSERS) for up to a year. She has a new bike she received for Graduating, and that will be her transportation at each different city she decides to visit. Currently her plans are to visit Boston, upstate NY, Vermont, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, and Seattle (and maybe florida, peggy?) She will reroute as different options become available to her.
So, it looks like this will also be a travel blog, a homesick blog, an almost empty nest blog, etc.
Welcome my friends, I hope you enjoy! Jen, your turn
I don't know how to blog, other than just putting down my thoughts:
and I probably won't do that very well, or very often, or very regularly, so don't expect much.
I am currently exploring tiny housing / frugal living? / small footprint / self sufficient living. I am not green nor a hippie, etc, and I'll tell you right now that frugal living and the rest is more of a way to cut living expenses than it is a statement of how I want to live the rest of my life. If I were to win the lottery, and have instant wealth, my future would change accordingly, I wouldn't be one of those people that could ignore the wealth in favor of their ideals, blah blah blah
However, I am 56 yrs old, and would like to retire sooner rather than later, and if i can simplify my life and my needs, then there is some possibility of my retiring in the future. My current plans are to:
Retire at age 62, last choice
Retire at age 59 1/2
Retire sooner
Goals needed to retire:
Sell house and pay off debt (steps to accomplish this goal listed below)
1. Paint house
2. Paint interior
3. Repair garage
4. Finish rec room
5. Finish small trim items
Minimize expenses (ongoing)
1. Tiny house or similar plan
2. Explore off grid possibilities
3. Explore self sufficiency (do these things have spell check?)
4. Explore frugality ( in process, have already downsized first layer )
~ went thru closets, most of kitchen, other storage, approx 3 pickup loads moved out, some to friends, some to family, some to trash
5. Only buying new products that will in some way go towards achieving goals
No longer buying into the theory that "things" will make you happy
?? Is there a way to teach this to my children, other than by example?
I learned a lot from my dad, as he led by example during the later years of his life, but I couldn't / wouldn't follow his lead until .... now? As it becomes needful in my life? Better late than never as they say
Also exploring community living, ie, sustainable and thoughtful community living, although i'm not sure if i could fit in with these groups of people ~ more thoughts on this later ~ but i am sure that they have a good idea, just not sure how "like minded" you have to be to fit in
Blogs i follow and enjoy
The Field Lab ~ John, you are amazing and I hope to be able to meet you
The Little Yellow Door ~ a great tiny build, currently in progress, entertainingly written by Ella
Holy Scrap ~ just started with this one, and like it
Life in 120 square ft
Jonathon Bellows ~ a tiny build and then living in it ~ currently waiting for J to move to Oregon (and i might follow him someday)
Ok, I never got around to posting this blog, always thought i would reread, edit, etc.
Now, however, my daughter Jenna tells me we are going to do a father daughter blog, with alternating blog posts, so I guess it is time. Jump forward to June 14, the house has been painted and the garage repaired. We have made great leaps in downsizing and have started cooking regularly at home, and keeping up with things in a "tiny house" manner (ie, not letting messes go). The entire house has been downsized, now working on 2 garages and the basement. Still more to go, but making progress every day.
On the Jenna front, she graduated high school this year, and is odd jobbing the summer away ~ last week of July is reserved for RAGBRAI, a bike ride across Iowa for her, and then I have offered to support her @ $100 / wk, as she visits relatives around the country (and good friends, hello TINY HOUSERS) for up to a year. She has a new bike she received for Graduating, and that will be her transportation at each different city she decides to visit. Currently her plans are to visit Boston, upstate NY, Vermont, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, and Seattle (and maybe florida, peggy?) She will reroute as different options become available to her.
So, it looks like this will also be a travel blog, a homesick blog, an almost empty nest blog, etc.
Welcome my friends, I hope you enjoy! Jen, your turn
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