Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash — Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Yes, I do realize that if I build a tiny house I will be the tiny woman in the tiny house, but I DO NOT CARE. It will be worth the irony, and the endless stream of jokes that I will inevitably be forced to hear over and over again. Why before 30? I don't know. I'm turning 27 this year. 30's the next big milestone and 3 years seems solid, reasonable goalpost. Woo! Now onto the why a tiny house...

Turn my Monthly Payments to Landlords into Monthly Payments to Landownership
I only recently learned the meaning of the word, “mortgage.” I never really understood it and rarely thought about it. Then, I learned that it was basically the same thing as rent, except paying off a loan for a property you will eventually own, instead of just a temporary place to stay until you find another temporary place to stay.

The other day I looked at myself into the mirror, a lightbulb clicked on over my head and I said, “Self?” “Yeah self?” “So that $XXX you pay each month… what’s that really doing for you long-term?” The idea of going from rent to mortgage feels really good to me.

It’s the Kind of Major Investment that Fits my Life Direction
Once I graduated college a lot of people asked me, “Aren’t you going to grad school?” I understood where they were coming from, but I couldn’t tie grad school directly to any of my future goals. If anything, I would have gone back for graphic design but I felt that would position me for agency employment, which isn’t my end goal. So, because grad school requires such a great time and financial investment, I just didn’t feel like it was relevant enough to my future goals for me to do it.

So what do I want? I want a simple, sustainable, low-cost life. I want to continue working for myself, to be able to cover my living costs and save a little too for the future. I don’t want to be limited by money in who I offer my time and services too.

I want to be able to say, “Yes! I can afford to do this work for you for a discounted rate because I care about you/your organization and not worry about how I’m going to pay for healthcare!” I want to be able to donate when folks post about the situations they have going on that they’re inviting people to contribute to. And YES, I also want to be able to wake up one morning and say, “I think I could benefit from a massage or some acupuncture this month, so I’m going to get a massage or some acupuncture this month.”

So, this whole tiny house concept though is a different story. The small size and simplicity of a tiny house supports the way I want my life to be. I want my belongings to be less and my lifestyle to have more space to flourish. And considering tiny houses can cost $25K while the average student debt in the U.S. is also around $25K… yeah… I’ll choose the tiny house investment.

Simplicity
I mean this is pretty self-explanatory, right? Less space, less stuff, simpler. When I walk around Target, I want to be able to say to myself, "I don't actually have space for another piece of clothing in my closet." Or at least, I want to be forced to have to donate something if I get a new thing, lol. Cause let's be real... Target's gonna be Target. And at least a handful of times a year... I will be seduced by it's clearance rack.

I'm also really intrigued to learn about how I could invest in other simple things like solar power and compost toilets (???). Will I start a garden because of my simple tiny house life? Maybe?? My current houseplants are all alive (much thanks to my amazing plantmom of a roommate though, lol).

I Can See Myself in a Tiny House
White painted walls with pops of teal or seafoamy blue-green and lots of medium wood tones. Mmmm. My designer’s heart is happy just thinking of the hypothetical color scheme. I can see myself carrying in groceries, making food, watching tv on Netflix, writing blogposts just like this, getting ready in the morning and dancing around to Spotify — all within this little bit of space. I mean, that was basically my life in college. I didn’t have much room, but it didn’t bother me.

I have a car; I can go somewhere else if I’d like to pretty much anytime. Home doesn’t have to be so much.

To Stick It to The Man and Invest in the Community
Apparently in 2015, only about 62% of Americans owned their homes — 46% among African-Americans. I don’t know much in detail about the politics of homeownership, but I know enough about history and politics generally to say that I’d be pretty pleased to pie to be a Black woman in Richmond, VA who owns her tiny little plot of land and house. And I hope that if I have that kind of opportunity, I’ll be able to do some meaningful things because of it, that maybe other folks wouldn’t think to do — not because they’re awful or anything, but just because they’ve had a different history and life experience, and have different ambitions.

• • • • • • • • •

Could you see yourself in a tiny house? Do you know anyone I should know or talk to about tiny house living? Hit me up in the comments below!