Our Top 5 Reasons To Go Tiny

When we were back in the beginning stages of planning our home, we had to pause and figure out WHY. Why were we willing to downsize even more from our already-small (400ish square feet) apartment? Why did we want to be potentially uncomfortable? Why not spend our money on a down payment on a normal house instead?

1. We like minimalism.

We both believe less is more when it comes to possessions. We want to own less things and appreciate what we do have. Tom is much more minimalist-minded, but I (Lindsay Anne) am getting there too! Tom always tells me that each possession should bring usefulness or beauty. I love this mindset, because sometimes our things don't fit into both categories (in a perfect world they would!). Our broom might not be the prettiest thing in our house, but I sure appreciate it when I'm sweeping up cat hair, dust, and crumbs from our kitchen floor. Our vase of dried eucalyptus may not technically be practical, but I think it is useful because it is beautiful and brings joy to our lives and variation to our home's interior landscape. Minimalism will be a challenge for me when going from 400 square feet to about 145 square feet, but I'm ready and excited!

2. Very minimal monthly payments after the initial cost.

I am a self-admitted Zillow stalker. I love watching my favorite neighborhoods in our area and around the country, flipping through photos of deeply-colored 100-year-old hardwood floors, gawking at molding over doorframes, admiring long driveways where someday our tiny home could reside...I occasionally start to wish we'd spent $25,000 on a down payment instead of a teeny tiny home. But then I quickly remember: that's IT. We'll have no mortgage and no monthly home-related payments besides a low utility fee paid to the landlords of the property we'll live on. We can save that money for traveling, giving, finishing off the last of my college debt, and maybe someday for our own slightly bigger home.

3. We can take a few years to decide where we want to live without wasting money.

Tom and I grew up in the same Baltimore suburb and have lived here for the majority of our lives. We love where we live and we love being near family, but we'd still like to explore other options before doing some "settling down" things, like buying a "normal" house and starting a family. 

4. We want to invest in our future.

While we are extremely excited to live in our tiny home, we know it won't last forever! After 2-5 years of tiny house living, we may purchase a bigger home and list our tiny home on Airbnb. We have been hosts and guests through Airbnb before, and loved the experience! We know that many other people around the world would like to try out tiny house living before making the leap like we did. This way, we'll have passive income on top of the money we'll have already saved by living in the tiny home for several years. 

5. We want to be uncomfortable. 

Wait, why? Why wouldn't we want to be comfortable? The answer for me is simple: if I'm 100% comfortable, I'm not growing. At all.

This is also why I like to travel alone, sometimes. I remember in 2015 when I left Maryland for 4 weeks of interning in Portland, Oregon. After about 4 days, I called Tom early one morning crying because my mind and body were being so shaken up by my routine being so changed. I know that I was still in America, but I went from spending every day drinking tea and working from home, playing board games with Tom every night, sleeping, and repeating. In Portland I was using 100% public transportation (which I'd never done before), going to a church that was very different than my own, and trying to not get too lonely while also having needed introvert time in the evenings. After I came home to Maryland, I saw everything differently. I had been taking home for granted.

My point is this: I want to be stretched. I know living with another human in 145 square feet won't always be easy, but I'm up for the challenge. My mind is slowly adjusting to the fact that my possessions be quartered in a few months, that we will have the ability to come and go as we please, and that our chickens' coop will be about a third the size of ours! I can't wait to see where this experience takes us.