Our housing history is full of frequent moves, mistakes, and wrong thinking. When we first got married we moved into a fairly large two bedroom apartment. The price was pretty decent for the space and the area so we went for it.
The problem was we were getting married nine hours away before moving down so we had to have some friends take a look at it. They came back with a fair report of the place and we took it. Little did we know we were moving in next to a drug dealer in an apartment complex often called “sin city.”
What we learned was that sometimes the neighborhood is more important than the space.
So we made another colossal mistake, found a cheaper fairly nice apartment with 600+ square feet. It was smaller, but saved us at least $100/month. The problem was it was in another bad neighborhood – one I didn’t want to walk our newborn baby around in.
What we learned is that the neighborhood is more important than the price.
Our most recent move was from a 900 square foot duplex into a 250 square foot space. That seems extreme and impossible on paper, but let me tell you that it is doable, especially if you are willing to change your thinking in order to save some cash.
Rethinking Necessities
Over the years I have come to realize that part of the reason so many of us are financial slaves – to debt, to jobs, to bills – is because of a lack of simplicity in our lives. What I mean by that is we think we need more than we really do. Whether it is how many pairs of pants one wears in a week or how many toys our children need, we could cut way back on our financial obligations by simply saying “I don’t need that.”
That same “stuff” is what makes us think we require 1000 square feet for a family of four. If we have to basically store a whole bunch of useless clothing, toys, dishes, linens, electronics, gadgets, etc. then of course we need more space – but that space is not for us, but for our stuff.
Being Willing to Build From the Ground Up
One shock we had when we moved to our land and built our small living space is that things weren’t set up for us. We, as a society, are so used to having things in place when we move that we take them for granted and don’t realize that by building these things up ourselves we can save money, build what we only truly need, and customize aspects of basic living to our family’s own personal needs.
But it does mean you may start without a place to wash dishes, a stove to cook on, or a bathroom to use. A simple change of priorities – from comfort to bigger financial goals – is all that is necessary to overcome these obstacles.
How Much Space Is Enough?
I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all number for this question, but I do think that everyone can consider the motives behind and consequences of different living spaces.
So if our motive for a larger space is to simply be more comfortable or store non-necessities than perhaps we should reevaluate. Likewise, if having a bigger space puts us in debt or makes us a financial slave in some way then perhaps we should go back to square one and think about what we truly need and want.
Do you have any small space living advice?
I want to remind everyone to see last week’s great post by Shannon, Our Move Off-Grid and Reconsidering Our Monthly Bills. http://savingmoneyplan.com/move-offgrid-reconsidering-monthly-bills/
It’s a great background for today!
Ha-ha…my house is “small” to most people we know at 1257 sq feet for seven of us. I am so proud of you and your husband for just going for it and doing this. As for small space living advice, I’d highly recommend the blog Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. They are also expecting their 3rd child and just rented a small home after living in a motor home.
The best advice I have for living in a small space is to actively seek out items that can do double duty or not take up more space. Ottomans that open for storage, shoe hangers that can hang on the backs of doors, drawers that slide out from underneath beds are some examples of ways to make your small space big enough. And, of course, getting rid of things that you really don’t need or love!
We moved into a 850sq foot house and found out two weeks later that I was pregnant with our third child. I love our home and the life we’ve built here. It’s an old house, though, with only closet space in the bedrooms (which have slanted ceilings). Right now, I love that I can hear everything no matter what room I’m in. I love that all three boys share a tiny room and sleep in the same bed. I love that when they’re teenagers they won’t be trying to bring girls in their room.
I do, however, long for a place to store things, like my canning or sewing supplies or towels. We’d like to build two additions – one mudroom so that our kitchen floor isn’t disgusting 24/7, and a larger family/dining area because we love to entertain. But I certainly don’t want to go into debt. For right now, though, our small, cozy home is just the right size…especially to clean.
We live in a 500-square-foot, one-room cabin, as a family of four. I love, love, LOVE living in a small space. Seriously, this is the first place I’ve felt truly comfortable. I realize now, after moving at least once a year for ten years, that this is what I’ve wanted all along.
But I do struggle, like erica said, with storage for hobby materials. My partner makes beer, I make preserves, he knits, I …think about knitting someday.
The supplies add up. For now it’s basically manageable, but I think about buying a pressure canner and wonder, hm, where would I put that? Sometimes it’s frustrating. But worth it!
I think it is all about the layout of the home. My family of 7(at the time it was 6) rented a 1000 sq. ft home. It was miserable for us. But the layout was bad. It was a galley kitchen and no dining space. So the table had to go in the kitchen. You had to move a chair just to open the refrigerator or oven. And we only had one tub, which at the time was okay because the kids were little. But it would be a hassle now that the kids are older. We live in a much larger home now, but want to buy land and build ourselves. We are always drawing out the specs and looking for ways to maximize the space. We want to downsize quite a bit but still have everything we need. I do not like clutter and I’m forever going through and getting rid of stuff. I know we could reduce quite a bit more though. So it is definitely do-able with a good plan and layout.
This is the exact thing I needed to read today! I have SOOOO much to learn about learning to live simply. When we were relocating our family of 6 to whole new state for the first time, we “lived” in a 12 foot trailer w/ no bathroom (we used the one at the RV park!) It was for 2 months and it was too small but we managed. If I had to to it over, I would just live in a bigger trailer.
It was not easy, but we learned to sleep very close together and learned to live outdoors more. Luckily it was in the middle of summer! before we left I tried VERY hard to get rid of things, but when we finally knew where we were moving to, all of the things I had from my 2200 square foot house showed up in a moving truck. I was so overwhelmed and am still spending soooo much time going through things that I DO NOT NEED….but have an abnormal attachment to. I have 4 young children and they need my attention. Plus I have to feed them. Several times a day even. 
Inside my house, we live with WAY fewer things than we did before, BUT my garage has boxes, and boxes of EXTRA stuff that I need to get rid of. I am way too attached to it!. There is no need for fake plants, loads of decoration and 3 weeks worth of clothing for each child. When we lived in the trailer, everyone had 8 sets each (which was still too much) and I washed 3 loads per week. Now we are back to 7 loads per week. I think I will go through their cloths again today! It has been 3 months since we have lived in a 2000 square foot house again, and it is my current goal in life to purge. We want to build our own place and use the space wisely. I am am in the beginning stages of looking for house plans that have large kitchens/laundry rooms, teensy tiny bedrooms. Wish me luck! I’ve got a lot of stuff to get rid of…still. 
Phew!
Can’t remember if I’ve commented before. I’ve been stalking the archives for a bit. (are you the one with the cow vs. goat guest-post?
Our family down-sized for land last year, and we’re living with three kids in a small-ish cabin. Not as small as yours!
My magic is having a space that is just *mine* (I’m an introvert by the M-B definition– I need to be alone to recharge). In the beginning that was only my bed (we sleep in a loft bed in the main/living room), but since cleaning out the space underneath for my “office” space, this has become my nook.
I can’t express how re-charging it is for me to have a niche of my own, well-lit, with understood boundaries (the kids have to ask before they come in). It’s my place to breathe, and so helpful.
Oops, sorry, I think I’m confusing my blogs.
Still, I appreciate reading your experience. It’s encouraging to watch other people making choices that aren’t so different from my own, especially when that doesn’t seem to be true much in real (non-internet) life.
When we moved to our farm we lived in a 32 foot travel trailer our daughter was just learning to crawl- it was like living in a hallway. Then we built a 384 square foot one room home, we moved in just when my daughter was learning to walk. It was perfect. We have since lost our farm and live with my dad in a 3400 square foot home- it is way to big, I am cleaning all the time. In our small home we had no bathroom, we took an old chicken coop that had been turned into a really nice insulated ice fishing house and turned it into our bathroom/laundry room. Underneath that was a root cellar. I stored all of my empty canning jars and lids, extra dish and laundry soap. We also bought plastic storage bins for our clothes and put whatever season we were not wearing in those bins and stored them in the cellar. We raised our bed up and made bins to put under the bed, we stored toys and clothes in there. When my daughter moved out of our bed we bought a toddler mattress for her and when she was not sleeping on it we slid it under the bed. I love reading about your move- it reminds me so much of what we did!