TWO Years in the Woods

WOW!!! Our family has survived TWO YEARS in the woods! I actually love living up here and all my friends I have made. Since August is the anniversary month of giving up city life, parting with half of our crap and living 100% debt free, I thought I would go over the pros and cons of living in a tiny home.

As many of you know from reading my blog, we live in a 400sq ft house, with maybe an additional 150 sq ft sleeping loft. Our house is not on a trailer like you see on the tv shows but attached to blocks on the ground. Here is my list:

Pros:

• No mortgage! This is fantastic because it allows us to be a single income family which lets me raise my son and not a stranger at day care. This can also be annoying on days filled with melt downs but overall it's very positive.
• Less house to clean. Less junk to collect. Living in a small space makes you become a master organizer that takes advantage of your wasted vertical space and get rid of excess toys and junk way faster due to lack of space.
• Forces us outside more. When you live in a small space you become  very close as a family because you are never apart. I always know who is watching tv and who is on the computer. To have our own space we must go outside and enjoy nature in all seasons. I have even started to love winter. 
• Save money on energy. We can illuminate our house with one light because its so small. We heat with wood and its small enough to cool with a small a/c unit. I have fallen in love with going outside and splitting wood in the winter. The rhythmic motion and sound of the maul cracking the log is very relaxing. I have become stronger stacking and hauling wood into the house. There is still the first fire of the season where I pack in too much wood and get the house up to 87 degrees and have to open all the windows. The loft stays an even 60 degrees all winter which makes for perfect sleeping temps.

Cons:

• No basement. This is annoying because I have no room for a big deep freezer. We have a tiny second freezer but we could really be saving some money by buying meat in bulk or hunting more game. 
• No washer and dryer. Every Sunday I haul all the laundry to town and wash it. Its very depressing sitting at a laundromat listening to radio church service so I go to the coffee shop and I do sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. As a parent of a two year old when we moved here, I can tell you that potty training is less than enjoyable if you have to haul poop and pee soaked clothing and sheets to town.  
• Lack of storage. I do not have enough room for my pantry items. I enjoy canning veggies, jam, meat and soups. I have a terrific electric pressure canner so I put up a couple of jars of soup or meat every time I make a big batch. I store all sorts of back up food so I do not need to drive to town if I run out of salt or fish sauce. Or if we get snowed in we will be eating good for weeks. I had my husband build shelves in our loft but I keep filling them. Now I am short on space to store all my hand made soaps.
• Tiny house =tiny bathroom. The saddest part.....I had to sell my beloved claw foot tub to make room for the well tank. If we had basement it would go down there. I think my favorite hobby is sitting in the tub with LUSH bath bombs, drinking prosecco and reading horror novels.

All and all I am happy with this place and the land. (not the snakes). I enjoy living within our means even though it can be frustrating not being able to get brand new cool stuff all the time. I will say in the future I would love to add an additional room for my husband I to sleep in and a bath house or a sauna. I was thinking a traditional Finnish sauna with a woods stove. I would also like to install outdoor plumbing and really get my mushroom log set up going.