The Tiny Home Movement

The Tiny Home Movement – Is Your McMansion Worth it?
While I think it’s unlikely that many of our members are in the market for a Tiny Home – generally agreed to be a residence of 400 ft2 or less – I do think that many of us are considering whether we could at least downsize, simplify and lead lives more aligned with a reduced carbon footprint and respect for the finite nature of water, building materials, energy as well as the impact of our consumption on so many species on our planet. In fact, our buildings in the US contribute nearly 40% of our carbon dioxide output.

Most of us spend 1/3 to ½ of our total income on our homes, with 76% of us living paycheck to paycheck…mostly to meet that burden. Consider that for a moment. It’s a good exercise to look at your monthly expenses and make the connection between them and the roof over our head. Our mortgage is just the beginning. Consider taxes, energy, maintenance, major appliances, insurance, and on and on. It’s estimated that the cost of a $290,000 home over the life of a 30-year mortgage is over $1M! It’s the biggest drain on our pocketbooks of all of life’s expenses short of, perhaps, a catastrophic health challenge, and it doesn’t just impact our financial well-being. Who hasn’t lost sleep considering the burden of a 30-year mortgage? With the recession of 2008 and the major disruption in the residential housing market, many homeowners are continuing to climb out of the devaluation of our primary residences (and only for most of us). And an equal number are considering whether our overly-large homes by most standards are worth that financial – and mental/emotional – burden.

Tiny Homes – by the numbers!
• Only 29% of traditional homeowners are mortgage free vs. 68% of tiny homeowners
• Avg. cost to build a tiny home is $23k vs. hundreds of thousands for a traditional home
• 65% of tiny homeowners have NO credit card debt
• Avg. monthly utilities cost for an avg. home is over $160 vs. $10-40 for a tiny homeowner
• Financial stress is a major contributor to many chronic health conditions – our home is our largest financial burden

Consider Some Practical Downsizing

As I noted, most of us aren’t likely to downsize to a Tiny Home anytime soon, or ever, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t consider downsizing at all. If you’re considering a change in space, consider making a conscious choice to downsize as dramatically as you are able – the planet will thank you…and you may just sleep better.