Downsizing To Go Tiny

A tiny home gives the resident(s) the ability to spend less time and money on the structure in order to enjoy a better quality of life gardening, preserving food, enjoying hobbies, and visiting with loved ones. The idea is that when we can keep our expenses down, we can afford to work less and live more.

I have long thought I wanted a tiny house on wheels but couldn’t picture myself living that lifestyle for more than three months or so at a time. My reason for choosing a tiny conventional cottage was that it is the best of both worlds: compact, efficient, affordable price and low taxes, a basement for tornado safety, and a big lot for a garden all within a municipality that offers amenities to enhance my lifestyle.

How does a mature adult with still way too much physical stuff comfortably move into 560 square foot cottage with a basement but no garage or storage shed?! DOWNSIZING on a countdown!

I moved from Illinois to Oregon in December 2018 and over three back-and-forth flights, each with two pieces of luggage—free, thanks to Southwest Airlines—after several months of downsizing. For three years prior, I had lived in a different tiny cottage, one that was smaller—400 square feet—with only one bedroom, but it had a basement and a big garage, which I had filled with my typical American clutter.

It was, however, actually six years earlier that I had planned to teach English in China for a year. In preparation for that later-canceled adventure, I donated a truckload of furniture, so it’s been fully ten years since I started downsizing. In the next three weeks, I’ll move back to Illinois in much the same way as I moved to Oregon except that I have accumulated more stuff in the three-and-a-half years while here.

Now, it’s time for me to give away everything I have here in Oregon that can be replaced for less than the cost of moving it to Illinois!

I had thought I would buy a minivan and haul my stuff to Illinois. When I calculated the cost of fuel to drive a vehicle for the 2000-miles trip, I quickly realized that drastic downsizing was necessary. Then I can ship the few things I am willing to pay to move (mostly books), which would be the more economical and lower-stress way to move 2/3 of the way across the country while also facilitating an easier move into the tiny cottage. Once again, I’ll have two pieces of luggage with me when I fly Southwest to my new home in Illinois.

—

The photo on this post is The Green Street Tiny Cottage “before” picture. 

This is how I am facilitating an easier move into the tiny cottage.

This is how I am facilitating an easier move into the tiny cottage.