Tag Archives: children

Taking Minimalism Too Far

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Simpler Living Tagged , , , , ,

While everyone can benefit from an uncluttered home, I have to question this woman’s decluttering effort. Scroll down to the photo of the child’s room with just a few items on the shelves. There’s hardly anything there for the poor child to play with!

It’s one thing for the woman to pare down her own possessions, but making her child live a minimalist lifestyle is unfair. Kids learn so much from books and toys; in a world where smartphones are sucking up their free time, they need plenty of good books and high-quality toys to stimulate their brains.

Since they outgrow these items quickly, an astute parent will allow them to own a wide variety of books and toys that can regularly be thinned out as they are outgrown. This will limit clutter while allowing their children to develop properly, feeding their brains and growing their imaginations.

Minimalism is fine for adults without children, but those with children need to rethink the concept, especially when it comes to their children’s bedrooms.

Six Reasons Why a Young Family Might Want a Tiny House

By Claire Posted in Debt-Free, downsizing, Simpler Living, Small-House Living Tagged , , , , , , ,

Many of the commenters on this article wonder why a family would want to live in a tiny house. I can think of several reasons why; they all hinge on the fact that doing so would not be on a whim, but because it makes the most financial sense for a family that’s trying to stay afloat financially in an environment where many jobs are disappearing:

  1. Children need stability. If you have to keep moving to find work, it will be stressful on your children. But if you can take your house with you, as you can with a tiny house, they’ll always be able to sleep in their own beds at night.
  2. Living in a tiny house may be too much togetherness for some, but it beats having one parent with a job living in one state while the rest of the family lives in another. This is an increasingly common scenario and means kids only see one parent on the weekends. But a tiny house can be moved near the parent’s job so that the kids see both parents on a daily basis.
  3. Financially strapped families looking to lower their expenses dramatically (to get in balance with lower incomes) find that their expenses are slashed by moving into a tiny house. No more five-figure property taxes, no more high utility bills, no more expensive home maintenance; it makes a huge difference in your bottom line.
  4. A tiny house can be parked on land owned by relatives or friends; if the family pays a little rent for use of the land, they’ll provide extra income for the landowner. If the family can’t pay rent due to job loss, the landowner can help out the family by letting them live on his/her property until they find work again.
  5. As rent prices go up (an ongoing trend), a family with a declining income must struggle to keep a roof over their heads. But the family that buys a tiny home will never have that problem.
  6. The young couple that wants to start a family but can’t afford a mortgage will find that investing $30,000 in a tiny house (less if they do the work themselves) allows them to get started on raising a family when they want to, instead of waiting who-knows-how-long until they can afford a house.

Some commenters ask why the family doesn’t just buy a used R.V. Yes, used R.V.s can be cheaper, but a well-built tiny house will last far longer than an old R.V. that likely has (or will soon develop) a leaky roof, mildew, or cracked water or waste tanks.

Many of the commenters seem to think that moving to a tiny house is something a family would do for the novelty. But a tiny house is a great alternative for anyone who is struggling with unemployment, underemployment or a dying business. It can dramatically reduce shelter expenses until the breadwinner(s) can get back on their feet again. And it sure beats maxing out your credit cards so the whole family can eat on a regular basis!