Morning in the micro house.

I woke up early to the birds singing in the tree outside the big picture window.I came down out of the loft and stoked the fire in my little wood stove and set a pot of coffee on it to boil .

Rubbing my eyes to adjust to the light of the window I sat down to watch the yard waking up .The morning antics are always interesting A pair of quail chasing each other in and out of the tall grass at the edge of the yard.Robins hunting worms in the new-mown grass.Over on the honeysuckle humming birds having a buffet breakfast.

The stove is taking the chill out of the air feels good to sit by it .I see steam starting to come out of the coffee pot .I see thru the fog in the pasture a doe with her fawn in tow.

The sun is climbing over the mountain and creeping across the yard warming the air and chasing the fog away.There is a breeze in the trees moving the leaves .Lots of song birds flitting about and calling back and forth.

Bob (the cat) is watching from his perch by the window next to the door.Rocky (the chihuahua) is stretching and needs to go outside for his morning constitutional.I will need to grab my cup of joe and make the rounds.First the rabbits ,check on the mammas and their new litters of bunnies.I will need to give the pigs and their baby’s some grain and water.Last the chickens and the chicks (just hatched 7 new the other day) Now I can sneak some eggs for breakfast 😉

Speaking of breakfast I think I’ll have some bacon (courtesy of the hogs) and a couple of pancakes to go with those fresh eggs the wood stove is hot now. After breakfast I’ll take a walk with Rocky, Bob usually trails along meowing (complaining ) about the trip .Maybe we will fix a lunch  go up the mountain a ways and check out the view .I’m sure we will work up an appetite for dinner this evening and a fresh-baked rabbit pot pie is sounding really good with some veggies from the garden.

I’ll probably putter in the shop a little on some projects new pens for the rabbits ,A pair of Adirondack chairs I’m making for the patio.Then back by the wood stove to read a little before bed.Whats your day look like ? Are you doing what you like today? how about tomorrow? The tiny house life is great the freedom to choose is the reward .Living small really is living large…      

Your Micro house Mortgage free living …What will it look like? How will you pay for it? Answers here.

Hello micro housers.This post is brought to you by the PEOPLE FOR A MORTGAGE FREE AMERICA .As I wait to launch the www.kickstarter.com project I am interested in your thoughts.What elements will you include in your micro house project? Lots of windows? french doors? carpet or hardwood on the floor? what will be your color scheme? how about a main floor bedroom? There are so many choices so much fun.Is it just me or is there some real peace of mind knowing that for the price of a nice car you could own your own home free and clear ? Well if you build it yourself it could be half that price! If you could eliminate the cost of the largest  expense we have in the world  HOUSING .

What would your life be like? Fill the blank .If I had $$dollars is it $500.00 $750.00 $1000.00 or more!! (The monthly cost of housing that you now pay) left in my hand  every month for the rest of my life what would I do ? how would that change your lifestyle? $750.00 per month is $9000.00 a year or $90,000.00 every 10 years!! With interest you could be financially independent in just a few short years! $750.00 per month invested at %10 interest is almost $325,000.00 in 15 years! don’t spend it save it.

 So what is the best investment you can make? Learn how to build your own house now! It would behoove you to learn the skills nessasarry to build. Like plumbing and electrical or framing to Avoid the crushing cost of  paying rent or 30 years of house payments.It’s easyier than you think 😉 What if you had someone (An expert) that could walk you thru step by step and take the mystery out of the process?  What would that be worth? Plans for these houses regularly sell on the internet for $600.00 $700.00 and more with out any instruction ! But you could have a set of plans with a list of tools and materials so you don’t have to figure it out and a process of what board or sheet of wood to cut and where it goes and how to attach it and what to do next.Sound simple? Well there is work involved but it is a manageable process when there is a path and a plan.

  How do you finance this project? That is a good Question I offered a solution in my most popular post “Free tiny houses for everyone”  It is maybe a bit radical for some but drastic measures for drastic times!?! I don’t think it’s drastic given the outcome.Other options include selling off your no longer needed possessions the ones that wont fit in your house your building to help pay for materials .Savings you may already have .Small loans you can quickly pay back now that you don’t have a house payment.Pitch a tent at the project site once you shell in the house you can stay inside it out of the weather and finnish as you go.

What are you willing to do to stop having to pay exorbitant amounts of money for a place to live ? Make this the adventure that it is in  lifestyle design. Change the life you have if you’re not happy with it.They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.If you want a new result you have to make changes.Think of the time and freedom you will have to spend pursuing your interest in live travel, hobbys, gardening, staying fit BALANCE YOUR LIFE! don’t spend it working 40 or 50 plus hours a week till your old and grey.We only get so many days on this planet What are you doing with yours?…          

 

Needs versus wants equals freedom versus a life of debt.

It seems in this day and age and in our culture we have a difficult time distinguishing between needs and wants.I hear people saying” I’m broke” or” I can’t make it from payday to payday”.I hear “I need a raise” On friday’s people are running to the bank to deposit their checks so they can by grocerys and get gas.It disturbs me that upon closer investigation these same people are paying $80-$100 or more for satellite T.V. $80-$100 or more for a smart phone plan $50 -$80 for internet and have a subscription for a movie plan.$10 dollars a month.The same people regularly go out to eat$10 t0 $20 buy coffee drinks$3 or $4 and cocktails at a club on the weekends$4 or $5 .Some smoke $5 a pack.

Now the problem is that the thinking is I need all this. It is the bare minimum to live life!   People that are on public assistants are paying for these things let alone the working people.It isnt just those WANTS that they are paying for it’s the car payment and the credit cards and the high rent or house payment too.We are out of balance .We think we NEED  all this when really we WANT it .Did you know that at the turn of the century the wealthiest people in the world (I’m talking about multimillionaires when a million dollars was a lot of money) did not have any of this! Today poor people quote unquote have more luxury than that.People at or below the poverty line enjoy a higher standard of living that the wealthy did then .They have running water flush toilets ,cell phones,heat and air conditioning,cars,electricity higher life spans (double) access to health care and more.

What we really have here is a money management problem and a perspective that we need all the luxury and really we just want it.

But the bigger issue is we trade our biggest most precious and valuable possession for all of these things with reckless abandon.Our TIME.We have a finite amount of TIME on this planet and we waste a tremendous amount of it in the pursuit of wants disguised as needs.We even trade our second most precious possession our HEALTH .It gets damaged by our lifestyle and eating habits that we create in the pursuit of  needs that are only wants. we work too much and sit too much then we eat too much and trade our health as a result of it .

So what is the solution to all this sobering and depressing conversation anyway.  Well for starters a good hard look at wants vs needs and getting present to what they are costing you in terms of your real quality of life.Become present and mindful of daily life and what really makes you happy .Get out of and stay out of debt! cook from scratch .It is healthier and less expensive than packaged and processed food. take a walk it is good excercise that costs nothing and gives you time to think about whats important.less cost of living means less need to work and more time to spend as you wish.Cut your cost housing ,transportation the two biggest and really look at wants and get that that is just what they are .The only things you really need are food clothing and shelter every thing else is luxury and vanity.At what cost are they really acquired ?

The backup plan .What if plan A isn’t panning out?

So you finished school and went out into the world to work your butt off and create health ,wealth and happiness for yourself. The american dream …get a job start a career and a family.Buy a house and a car or two and start putting money away for the future.Well fast forward a couple of decades and maybe things aren’t where you thought they would be.Maybe it just isn’t looking like you saw it in your head.

Here is where we are today people are trying to retire and worked the last 30 plus years to put away enough to enjoy the( golden years ) They keep telling you about.Now this could be for a lot of reasons layoffs ,cutbacks,divorce,health issues or an accident.Maybe your investments went bust or your house values crashed. Sound  familiar?

So what are you going to do ? maybe you see the writing on the wall down the line a few years for your self and you are looking to course correct now . Sorry if I come off all doom and gloomy but there is an alternative.

Plan B the back up plan .The what if the SHTF ( shit hits the fan) sorry if that offends anyone it is a broad and encompassing phrase that covers a multitude of scenarios from the minor lost my job to the end of the world and every thing in between.So what if? Well you need a fallback plan something that you can count on come what may.

What is that ? What does that look like ? How does that work? I’m glad you asked.;) It looks like a way to live without needing a bunch of money and infrastructure and still keep a standard of living you can be happy with no matter what happens .Some thing you can put in place now so you have the peace of mind that your covered for the future.

What does that take ?well I see the big costs of living today Housing is number one.How much money do you need to live if housing is no longer an issue? the second seems to be transportation gas prices are not going down that is for sure.Then food and healthcare.

Well lets solve the big one housing .Having a micro house built and setting in the back yard is a major piece of insurance in my opinion .It’s the fall back the escape pod the backup plan for the SHTF possibility of the unknown future .What if the power fails or there’s an earthquake or hurricane a blizzard and so on and basic services are interrupted wouldn’t it be nice to go over and get inside your micro house and fire up the heat and lights and be able to cook a meal and not just survive but thrive .

Lets talk about location.Micro houses can be placed in locations that would otherwise be prohibitive to live in either by price or the inability to build in an environment .So you can put it in a backyard or beach front on a lake river ocean pond ect… but the view or amenities are to die for.Who can afford a (million dollar view ) but you can barrow it for little or nothing ;).

You could live in walking distance or biking distance of all your shopping and business needs minimising or eliminating the need for a car.if you park your micro house in an area that has space for a garden then you can produce some of your own food cutting expenses further.

Lastly your health is very important and I want to touch on or bring full circle the backup plan living more simply and deliberately gives you time.Time to prepare your own food from scratch .Time to walk or bike to where you want to go .Time to be outside in the garden working in the fresh air and sunshine.Time to spend with family and a great place to live for a fraction of the cost of traditional lifestyle we have now .All we have is time health and family all we need is food shelter and clothing .If we have these we have more than the majority of the people on the planet . After that everything else is excess and luxury.    This lifestyle by design If you choose it