We have talked about tiny houses and how we came to the decision to build one. But I haven’t explained what living tiny and green means to us.
For us living tiny and green is a whole new lifestyle. This lifestyle comes with a lot of challenges and changes, no doubt! But we believe that it also comes with a lot of benefits and freedoms.
#1: We will own our own house!
Once the tiny house is finished we can call ourselves house owners.
How great is that? Especially in times like these where buying a house is almost impossible for most people in their 30’s in Australia. Living tiny and green will give us the freedom to do whatever we want in our own space without being restricted by Strata, agency rules and regulations.
#2: Living tiny and green won’t break the bank.
The beauty of living tiny and green is that it’s quite affordable.
Tiny houses are much smaller in size. The architecture of a tiny house is less complicated. A lot of people also use recycled and reclaimed materials to build their tiny house.
Building a tiny house will give us the freedom of not having to pay off a mortgage for the next 30 years. We’re also trying to use recycled materials where possible to make the build more sustainable.
However, the price for a tiny house still varies and depends on a lot of factors, e.g. building materials, are contractors involved, etc.
As part of living green, we want to add a permaculture garden to our tiny house. The garden will provide us with organic fresh vegetables and will reduce our weekly grocery shopping budget.
#3: We will be able to go off-grid!
The best part about living tiny and green for us is that it enables us to go fully off-grid.
We want our tiny house to run only on renewable energies. In order to achieve this, we will have solar panels on our roof to power our electric devices. We will have a rainwater and grey water collection system as well as solar hot water. In addition to that, we will have a mini biodigester to produce biogas for our kitchen stove. We will also keep our compost tumbler, however, I’m sure that the biodigester will eat most of our organic waste.
I’m looking forward to making the most of that intense Australian sun! Also, we won’t depend on electricity companies anymore. Isn’t this just the best?!
We’re really excited about the fact that living tiny and green will reduce our carbon footprint tremendously.
#4: We will build the tiny house ourselves!
Building the tiny house ourselves will give us the freedom of putting our individual taste and style into the tiny house. We’re also going to save heaps of money by doing most of the build ourselves.
Most tiny house stories I’ve seen were successful self-builds. And why not? There is certainly a lot of research involved beforehand. And yes, it doesn’t hurt to possess some building skills. But let’s be honest, it really is just a base with four walls and a roof on top.
Building a tiny house is not as complicated as building a gigantic countryside mansion. However, we will hire professionals for a few things like electricals, etc.
#5: Our tiny house will be mobile!!
We will be living in a fully functioning house and we will be able to move it whenever and wherever you want! How great is that?
Although we don’t plan on moving the house too often we still have the option to do so should the need arise or we decide to change our scenery. I love this kind of flexibility!
This also means that we have to follow the regulations of Roads & Maritime Services and make sure that our trailer is roadworthy. So, in short, we have to register our trailer and watch the weight of our tiny house.
#6 Our life will be simplified
Who needs big houses and lots of stuff? I don’t! Usually, that stuff is just piling up in messy storage rooms and garages but no one is actually using it. Living in a tiny space will give us the chance to downsize and to live with only the things we really need. I like this kind of minimalism because it’s serene. We will also spend more time outside enjoying nature. This might sound boring to some people but again this is just something we decided to do.
I’m looking forward to our new tiny and green lifestyle!