Since I can remember I've always wanted a home of my own. Since I was a young child, I use to go into our shed and fantasize about making it my own little home. And since I'm now 24, and still living with my parents, my desire to own a home has grown stronger and stronger. Unfortunately, I have no true hope of owning a home anytime soon due to the economy and such. But, after today, I feel that there is a bit of hope for me yet.
Over a year ago I heard of this guy, Jay Shafer, who built tiny homes that were affordable, yet comfortable and pretty eco friendly. Well, today for some reason I started looking for him online and found his site, http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com. To put it mildly, I fell in love with his concepts and plans more that I thought possible. And after parousing his site and several other sites that specialize in small homes, I think I may have found the right home for me.
This is the Whidbey. It's a home that Jay designed. While he will not build the home for me, I can purchase the plans from him for $700.
Here is what the floor plan looks like.
OK, so you might be thinking it's pretty small, but to be honest with you, it's perfect for me! It's what I've always dreamed of owning. It's just the right amount of space. Now, I would not add the additional bedroom onto it, as I do not feel there is any need. With a full size loft I have a bedroom, making the 1st floor bedroom a computer/guest room.
Jay claims that the cost of the home ranges anywhere from $100 t0 $200 per square foot. So the house could cost anywhere from $44,400 to $88,800. There are lots of other models to choose from, you can even choose ones that are already put together and on a trailer for easy moving, but I just really like this one.
There is a smaller house on wheels I like, the Weebee.
You can leave the wheels on or are take take off and place it on a solid foundation. What I like about this house is the size, style and layout.
It's quite a bit smaller, 300 square feet smaller, but I like it. To get it already made, including stove, closets, heater, wheels, etc., it cost $46,000. But if you buy it and assemble it yourself, it cost $21,000 for everything.
Those are numbers I actually picture myself being able to afford. The problem would be to buy a piece of land and acquire the mortgage to fund the home. But I think eventually, hopefully in a few years, I'll be able to. Compared to the cost of an existing home, it seems much more affordable.
I never did like how much money people spend on homes and how much extra space most people have lying around in their homes. It seems almost wasteful and useless to me. But people are free to do what they want, I am not going to judge them for it. But on the same hand, don't call me crazy, or a hippie (dad), for wanting to build a small, eco-friendly, economical home that fits my needs and gives me exactly what I want.
As I've gotten older, (I know I'm only 24), I've learned that often, less is more, and having a small home can be much more comfortable, and easier, than owning a large, expensive home.
This is what I like and what I think suits me perfectly. As they say, home is where the heart is, and right now, my heart is in a place of conserving and using just what you need and being happy and feeling blessed that you have a place of your own to call home.
Maybe one day I'll be able to build a home like this and have a place to call my very own. I feel blessed to have shelter over my head, don't get me wrong, but being able to have my own place would be Heaven.
I can just picture being able to have my own garden in the backyard, and my own space where I can blast showtunes or Spice Girls music at 1 in the morning without waking anyone else. Now that's Heaven!
Hosted a Murder Mystery Party for my teens.
Held a photography workshop for the teens. A professional photographer came in to teach them and we had digital cameras for them to checkout and use.
Played Max for the Max and Ruby Party. (The costume was hot, smelly and the head was so big I couldn't hold it up the whole time.)
Helped to host the "New Moon Rising" party. Nearly 100 people of all ages came. It was crazy, but great.
