Author Topic: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?  (Read 7501 times)

rye_machine

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Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« on: November 02, 2017, 08:43:05 PM »
Currently I'm living in a tinyhouse (56 sq ft!) that I built for $2000 a few months ago and managed to put on someone's land here in the Bay Area, for $300/month.  This helps me justify my $140/month membership to the fancy gym just down the road for easy access to bathrooms and showers, but life can still be pretty spartan for those of us who are trying to FIRE here and refuse to pay the insane market rate to rent.  I have a handful of friends/co-workers living in vans, boats, illegal warehouses and the like, many of which have advanced degrees and are otherwise well salaried working for MegaTech.

Anyone else living in unconventional housing? Tell us about it!

ixtap

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2017, 09:29:03 PM »
I live on a boat, but not illegally, so I am still paying a pretty steep rent. Slip rent plus maintenance is almost exactly what we would be paying in rent at our last apartment, but well, I am on a boat.

ysette9

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #2 on: November 02, 2017, 09:48:26 PM »
So your tiny house doesn’t have indoor plumbing?

JLee

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2017, 10:59:25 PM »
Not yet. I'd love to live out of a ~20ft travel trailer and roam around North America, but haven't found a remote job yet. One of these days...

expatartist

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #4 on: November 03, 2017, 03:42:34 AM »
I live in a 150sqf (probably illegally) subdivided flat in an ageing building in Hong Kong. It's atmospheric with loads of windows and light, on a high floor, with a tiny bit of a sea view and breeze. Like most mid-century corner buildings it was designed in a half-moon shape and has a very unique atmosphere. These kinds of places get snapped up quickly.

Many people in HK live this way, though not many foreigners do. My rent is about US$800/month, high per square foot, but about half or less of what most of my acquaintances pay in the city.

My bathroom is about a square meter in size, wet room - style, so you wear flip flops. This tiny space encourages dense, vertical living. Everything has a 'space price' as well as financial one, and makes me rethink purchases before taking anything home.

BeardedMustache

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2017, 08:59:59 AM »
56 square feet?! Don't you ever feel like sitting down?

Just kidding, whatever works for you is fine by me.

acroy

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2017, 09:18:13 AM »
Badass!
in for the stories :)

soccerluvof4

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2017, 03:36:37 AM »
56 square feet is badass. There have been articles over the years of posting living in Vans etc..with great ideas so if you searched you could probably find them. There was one guy that was living where he worked. Waited till everyone went home and set up his stuff. Evidently they had a shower and everything there as well as kitchenette. As well as people that live in storage buildings that tell you how to get around the cameras etc.. If you can think of it probably someone is doing it.

ixtap

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2017, 08:33:19 AM »
Badass!
in for the stories :)

Check out the ERE forums on housing and lifestyle. A fun binge read, indeed.

alexpkeaton

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #9 on: November 05, 2017, 09:50:34 AM »
~375 square foot apartment in NYC with a ~100 square foot terrace. We bought the place wanting some outdoor space, but it turns out it's actually way too damn hot in the summer to use the terrance in the day, though it's nice in the evening. The apartment is half a floor in a brownstone that was subdivided into 11 apartments back in the '70s I think. It went co-op in the late '80s.

Though much more space than others, I totally get the cost of space when buying items, not just the monetary cost. We don't even have a toaster because it's not worth sacrificing the counter space. Our refrigerator is probably 6' 5" tall, but only 24" wide. We have a loft over the bathroom for storage and another in the bedroom where one could sleep, though we use it for storage and sleep on the main level.

Roland of Gilead

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #10 on: November 05, 2017, 10:18:27 AM »
We bought ~30 acres of mountain timber land which is taxed yearly at $29.  We lived there in a pod we built (about 110 square feet) all spring/summer/most of fall.   The only reason we are not wintering there is we are totally off grid and have not set up enough solar (only have 1400 watts) or created any kind extra snow shed (already have 5 inches of snow up there and 10 degrees tonight).

It is quite fun though living in 110 square feet when you have 30 acres of back yard.  I made a hiking trail that entirely fits inside our property that is 3/4 mile long.

Also neat is we have kitty cats (I think this one is about 120 pounds):


BikeFanatic

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #11 on: November 05, 2017, 11:24:36 AM »
Roland, That is an impressive picture! What do you do in the winter? Do you travel south and rent?

Rhoon

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2017, 08:29:06 PM »
Desired FIRE state is to be living on a Catamaran. 6-8 years to go and I will be living "tiny" though costly.

Roland of Gilead

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #13 on: November 05, 2017, 09:52:09 PM »
Roland, That is an impressive picture! What do you do in the winter? Do you travel south and rent?

This winter we are staying in a town in a small 1 bedroom apartment a few miles from our property.  We were going to haul everything south but then decided the $500 a month for the apartment was cheaper than the fuel and storage costs of snowbirding south.  Plus last winter we were in New Orleans and it was 86 degrees and muggy.  Not winter like at all.  I need seasons.

sequoia

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #14 on: November 05, 2017, 10:41:16 PM »
We bought ~30 acres of mountain timber land which is taxed yearly at $29.  We lived there in a pod we built (about 110 square feet) all spring/summer/most of fall.   The only reason we are not wintering there is we are totally off grid and have not set up enough solar (only have 1400 watts) or created any kind extra snow shed (already have 5 inches of snow up there and 10 degrees tonight).

It is quite fun though living in 110 square feet when you have 30 acres of back yard.  I made a hiking trail that entirely fits inside our property that is 3/4 mile long.

Also neat is we have kitty cats (I think this one is about 120 pounds):

That is a big kitty cat :D

Very cool story. My plan (not sure if I can convince DW) for FIRE is to own several acres like what you have - maybe a bit larger than 110ft though :D

Putski

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #15 on: November 08, 2017, 08:36:22 PM »
We live in a travel trailer and keep it in one spot for long periods of time. It saved us a lot of money in the original place we were living, but now it's becoming pretty expensive. We could probably rent an an apartment for less so our situation may change soon.

Dicey

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #16 on: November 09, 2017, 10:42:46 AM »
Currently living in a 2600sf clown house, because MIL w/ALZ and college student kid still live with us. We have rentals in SoCal. One of them has a 160sf Casita where we stay when down there. We adore It! Tiny living suits us fine. When DH retires and it's just the two of us, we are definitely going this route!

One shining example from journals past was dagiffy01, who lived in his Chevy Volt while working to slay his debt. He flamed out over political stuff and got his badass self banned, but I still think of him and wish him well.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2017, 09:20:22 AM by Dicey »

Cashonda

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #17 on: November 12, 2017, 02:43:40 PM »
Wow that’s super tiny, but without plumbing parts I guess you don’t need much space besides bed and chair. And in the Bay Area that’s great pricing. ⭐️

I live in a less than 300 sq ft apartment, which in the US they seem to call a micro apartment according to google. Hahaha. But I live in a crowded European city so it’s pretty normal I think. Though smaller than most of my friends.

It seems huge to me as a single person. I can only be in one space at a time anyway. The trick really is having minimal possessions because lack of storage is the one downside. Where to put ugly things like the vacuum cleaner or empty luggage is a constant annoyance.

Also I am planning to take up vanlife in a mini transit van next year so this apartment is palatial compared to that! 😁

WootWoot

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #18 on: November 12, 2017, 03:05:37 PM »
My cousin and her late husband lived on a houseboat in the Fort Myers, Fla., area for a while. I think one of the hurricanes put the kibosh on that, though. They had a store on one of the little islands there and lost it in the storm.

She loved living on the boat. She is a real free spirit!

Rylito

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #19 on: November 18, 2017, 09:44:09 PM »
Our family of 3 lives on a 36 foot boat in San Francisco Bay.  We have around 400 square feet of living space, but about 50 feet of that is the enclosed back deck that is rarely used (except for storing bikes), so really we're in more like 350 square feet.

There are a lot of things we absolutely adore about boat life, and we make it work, but I won't lie, we'd love to have more space.  As our kid is getting into the teen years, we talk a lot about moving onto land.  Our plan theoretically is to do so in 2 years, but we run through the calculus of places to live in the Bay Area that have good schools + are affordable + a reasonable distance from work almost daily it seems, and haven't come up with any solutions that we think will work.  So we may end up leaving the Bay Area for good.  Until then, we plan to enjoy amazing views and sea life, and have fun taking the boat out when we can.

Spartans

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #20 on: November 20, 2017, 12:26:17 PM »
We went to the tiny house & simple living jamboree in Dallas last month.  It's not for everyone but I think we could do it.  Right now we're in a 1600 sq/ft townhouse but half that space we never use.  Our FIRE plans include a tiny house, maybe 250-300 sq/ft.

LovinPSDs

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #21 on: November 27, 2017, 05:16:47 AM »
My wife and I have talked about full timing in our 5th wheel.  If we did it would likely come with a job change involving some serious big money opportunities but I'm really struggling with the balance of working my butt off and spending time with my family.  I have two little girls under 3 and simply can't stomach chasing the money 6 days a week to miss out on all that time with them.  It's been something we've really been going back and forth about right now.

Dancin'Dog

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #22 on: November 27, 2017, 06:09:17 AM »
What's the sq ft of an average jail cell?  ;)

We tried tiny for a little while, which resulted in pregnancy.  We needed more space after that.  Tiny was "fun" for a while, but got old.  It didn't take long to wonder "why are we doing this to ourselves?"

It just wasn't comfortable or practical.  We lived on 7 acres and I had construction skills, so it just didn't make sense to live in a place that was too small for normal living. 

When I hear somebody say they live in a 56 sq ft space, I have to ask where do you really "live"?  Hour many hours a day are you actually in that?  You're obviously not spending much of your waking hours there.  What fits in that space?  Is it in a tropical climate?  How long have you been doing it? 

Linea_Norway

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #23 on: November 27, 2017, 06:11:55 AM »
<...>The trick really is having minimal possessions because lack of storage is the one downside. Where to put ugly things like the vacuum cleaner or empty luggage is a constant annoyance.


Have you looked at Ikea furniture? They have a lot of stuff for vertical living with lifted up beds and such.

freya

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #24 on: November 27, 2017, 06:32:59 AM »
~375 square foot apartment in NYC with a ~100 square foot terrace. We bought the place wanting some outdoor space, but it turns out it's actually way too damn hot in the summer to use the terrance in the day, though it's nice in the evening. The apartment is half a floor in a brownstone that was subdivided into 11 apartments back in the '70s I think. It went co-op in the late '80s.

Though much more space than others, I totally get the cost of space when buying items, not just the monetary cost. We don't even have a toaster because it's not worth sacrificing the counter space. Our refrigerator is probably 6' 5" tall, but only 24" wide. We have a loft over the bathroom for storage and another in the bedroom where one could sleep, though we use it for storage and sleep on the main level.

NYC apartments are the original "tiny house", to be sure!

The only problem with tiny house living is the daily energy & time spent dealing with space limitations, not to mention the extra financial costs that incurs.  Like, if your place is too small for a full kitchen and has limited storage, you'll eat out more, won't be able to buy economically in bulk, etc.   I also found it more difficult & time consuming to clean a < 500 s.f. space than an 800 s.f..  There is a sweet spot of somewhere around 700-1000 s.f., above which you start to incur extra time/money/energy costs in maintenance, furnishing & cleaning.

Mostly when I see tiny houses below 500 s.f., it's either in a climate & setting that allows for frequent year-round use of outdoor space, or it's a second/vacation home.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #25 on: December 05, 2017, 03:42:18 PM »
~375 square foot apartment in NYC with a ~100 square foot terrace. We bought the place wanting some outdoor space, but it turns out it's actually way too damn hot in the summer to use the terrance in the day, though it's nice in the evening. The apartment is half a floor in a brownstone that was subdivided into 11 apartments back in the '70s I think. It went co-op in the late '80s.

Though much more space than others, I totally get the cost of space when buying items, not just the monetary cost. We don't even have a toaster because it's not worth sacrificing the counter space. Our refrigerator is probably 6' 5" tall, but only 24" wide. We have a loft over the bathroom for storage and another in the bedroom where one could sleep, though we use it for storage and sleep on the main level.

NYC apartments are the original "tiny house", to be sure!

The only problem with tiny house living is the daily energy & time spent dealing with space limitations, not to mention the extra financial costs that incurs.  Like, if your place is too small for a full kitchen and has limited storage, you'll eat out more, won't be able to buy economically in bulk, etc.   I also found it more difficult & time consuming to clean a < 500 s.f. space than an 800 s.f..  There is a sweet spot of somewhere around 700-1000 s.f., above which you start to incur extra time/money/energy costs in maintenance, furnishing & cleaning.

Mostly when I see tiny houses below 500 s.f., it's either in a climate & setting that allows for frequent year-round use of outdoor space, or it's a second/vacation home.
I think it depends morebon your family size and your lifestyle (lots of equipment and stuff intensive hobbies etc) more than location. For a single person who's a minimalist living in a small house or apt under 500 sf it can be plenty of space. I've been looking at small cabin in a ski town that are around 300 - 500 sf and they have tons of room with full size kitchens, laundry, living and bedroom, storage unless you have a large amount of stuff.


That is close to me if I were single.  Simple cabin in the woods near water 10 miles from a town. Use to have a family cabin we would go to and I miss it everyday. Bedroom, bath and kitchen living room combo with FP looking over water. Heaven

Zikoris

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #26 on: December 05, 2017, 04:57:50 PM »
I'd like to live in a tiny house! But so far, I haven't found a way to make it feasible for my city. So we stick with our 400 square foot studio apartment for now. If an opportunity came up, I would jump at it.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #27 on: December 05, 2017, 08:12:25 PM »
Our (SO and I) apartment is ~350-400 sq/ft.

One main room, bathroom, small bedroom.

HCOL and we pay $1,100 all inclusive. We love it and wouldn't have it any other way.

GuitarBrian

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #28 on: December 05, 2017, 10:27:44 PM »
I have spent most of my life in small living spaces. I'm currently on a 35' sailboat in Panama. I have been spending the summers traveling around the US, living in a cab-over truck camper. Also spent years living in various RVs and every winter on the boat since I was 3. We strive to never pay a mooring, dock, or RV park fee... It's been more than 20 years since the boat was at a dock. It lives here for free. (~$20 a month "navigation" permit)
In the states I didn't pay for a single night this year. Last year I stayed 2 nights at an RV park in Kansas. It was just too hot and I wanted AC.

Most of the time I don't mind the small spaces... But you are limited on what you can carry and have at your disposal. So for certain things, it ends up costing more.

56sf is crazy small. The camper we have is 68sf and that doesn't include the queen bed part... I can picture what 56sf would be like... It could have a narrow bed, a small walkway and the kitchen across from the bed/sitting space.

Cookie78

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #29 on: December 05, 2017, 10:44:03 PM »
Not currently, because cold and snow... but I have a pickup truck camping setup I'm going to test out this spring. So far I've only camped in it for 4 days at a time max. Very small sqft.... huge back yard.




soccerluvof4

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #30 on: December 06, 2017, 06:04:29 AM »
Not currently, because cold and snow... but I have a pickup truck camping setup I'm going to test out this spring. So far I've only camped in it for 4 days at a time max. Very small sqft.... huge back yard.







Awesome!  Just pick up an Army Baker tent for the winter!

drudgep

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #31 on: December 06, 2017, 03:49:15 PM »
Anyone do anything like this with kids? Seems to be singles or couples only... I know 4-5 ppl might not fit in 300-400 sq ft? But anyone try tiny living with kids?

Dancin'Dog

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #32 on: December 06, 2017, 05:20:56 PM »
Anyone do anything like this with kids? Seems to be singles or couples only... I know 4-5 ppl might not fit in 300-400 sq ft? But anyone try tiny living with kids?

That would be a good plot for a reality TV show or a comedy, but sounds miserable in real life. 
You'd definitely need a workshop, garage, treehouse, RV, or some extra "space" to chill. 

ixtap

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #33 on: December 06, 2017, 05:35:18 PM »
Anyone do anything like this with kids? Seems to be singles or couples only... I know 4-5 ppl might not fit in 300-400 sq ft? But anyone try tiny living with kids?

That would be a good plot for a reality TV show or a comedy, but sounds miserable in real life. 
You'd definitely need a workshop, garage, treehouse, RV, or some extra "space" to chill.

There are plenty of blogs out there. We had a family of four on a 33' sailboat and have a number of families living on boats less than 40'. One looks to be moving up to a 31' boat now that they have a dog in addition to the toddler (and I suspect a baby on the way).

Our sailboat is about 250 sq ft. It has two separate cabins. I see no reason we couldn't have a child or two. We have talked about adopting, but a boat as a home does not fit within their bureaucracy. So instead we mentor teens.

GuitarBrian

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #34 on: December 06, 2017, 06:36:23 PM »
Anyone do anything like this with kids? Seems to be singles or couples only... I know 4-5 ppl might not fit in 300-400 sq ft? But anyone try tiny living with kids?

I met many, many "kid boats" growing up. Most had 1 or 2 kids, of all ages. Some had more, I know of one catamaran that had 5 kids! When I met them, they ranged from 5 to ~14.

Some I am still friends with today, they lived on a 36' boat, and it was the parents and 3 children. They were cruising Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean for at least 7 years.

WhiteTrashCash

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #35 on: December 06, 2017, 07:08:05 PM »
I used to live in a tiny house. It was in a tiny house park and we paid rent for the lot to live there. Oh, wait. Trailer. That was a trailer.

GuitarBrian

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #36 on: December 06, 2017, 07:18:59 PM »
I used to live in a tiny house. It was in a tiny house park and we paid rent for the lot to live there. Oh, wait. Trailer. That was a trailer.

Hahahaha this is great! South Park also did a funny bit on tiny houses. It was hilarious :)

sequoia

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #37 on: December 07, 2017, 01:44:20 AM »
Anyone do anything like this with kids? Seems to be singles or couples only... I know 4-5 ppl might not fit in 300-400 sq ft? But anyone try tiny living with kids?

Our first apartment after we got married was ~ 400 sq ft with one bedroom. Most residents were single or married couple, but there were some with  1 or 2 kids. It was within the university ground, so rent is super cheap, and we were all poor college students.

Can it work? I think it can, but personally I would rather not do that.

nawhite

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #38 on: December 07, 2017, 12:38:03 PM »
My wife and I (and our giant dog) lived in an RV with ~160 sq feet for 2 years. We gutted a 1989 Class C and rebuilt the entire interior and electrical system including solar panels. We blogged about it at https://therecklesschoice.com. It was fantastic but we ended up deciding we needed more local community in our life so we moved into a 500sqft house. We could fit more stuff in the RV because it was better designed but I sure do enjoy having a full sized kitchen and a large work desk again.

For those asking about kids, check out https://www.fulltimefamilies.com/. There are families in that group with 8 kids living in an RV (3 high bunk beds on each side plus a loft for the kids plus a bedroom for mom and dad).


Rosy

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #39 on: December 14, 2017, 05:39:49 PM »
Briefly - like 3 months, 2 adults and a baby in one room. Shared kitchen and bathroom down the hall. Never again - I like space and lots of outdoor space too.
My breaking point as a single person would be between 500-600 sq ft plus a patio or balcony. We live in a small bungalow 850sqft or so, no basement-no attic, plus an acre of land and a huge shed cum studio and it works fine for the two of us. If I could add two feet extra to every room in the house, it would be perfect:)

OP - 56 sq ft - a single person who only sleeps in that tiny closet? Perhaps for a little while?, but only as long as saving money trumps all else in life...

Cashonda

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #40 on: December 18, 2017, 01:02:17 PM »


Have you looked at Ikea furniture? They have a lot of stuff for vertical living with lifted up beds and such.
[/quote]

Hi Linda, haha yeah pretty much everything in my house is from IKEA (or from the curbside) But as far as I know they dont make a bed that you can put a vacuum under - I have the highest bed they sell and I have to jump to get in :D The real reason IKEA is so great for tiny apartments is that it comes apart so you can actually get it up narrow stairs and through tiny windows and doors.

chouchouu

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Re: Anyone else living in tinyhouses, vans, or boats?
« Reply #41 on: December 22, 2017, 02:43:27 AM »
We lived in a garage in London converted into a studio, it was a single garage too. It was small but comfortable, just our bed, closet and small dining table. When we had guests over we either moved the garbage bin and clothes hamper to make room at the table or took the table outside which was gorgeous because the garage was located in leafy Dulwich. The only thing I didn't like was the tiny high up window.