Admin on January 26, 2015 7 Comments Photo Credit: FairCompanies / Flickr Just because it’s a tiny house doesn’t mean building one won’t come with a considerable price tag. While they’re definitely a lot more affordable than their more sizable compatriots, tiny houses are still homes and building them is never cheap. However, if you know what you’re doing, it’s not difficult to find a number of ways you can save money building a tiny house. 1. Measure Twice, Cut Once Although the advice below will certainly help, it’s no substitute for poor planning. Building a tiny house is going to be a lot of work, meaning you want to have every step planned, in detail, long before you begin. This includes the money you’ll need, when you’ll need it by, the tools involved, the materials you’ll use and more. 2. Look for Recycled Materials Recycled materials are a great place to start when you’re looking for items to build a tiny house with. Though a green lifestyle isn’t always part of the reason people get into tiny houses, minimalism and the idea of cutting down on waste usually are. Using recycled objects, then, makes a lot of sense. On top of that, by their very nature, they don’t cost a thing. The more recycled materials you use to make your tiny house, then, the better off you’ll be as far as your budget is concerned. The other great benefit that comes with using recycled materials is that there are countless ways to find them. Common places you can find recycled materials for your tiny house include: The Habitat ReStore (run by Habitat for Humanity) Junkyards Rummage Sales Flea Markets Any Structure Due for Demolition People You Know Don’t discount this last option either. People you know may have all sorts of materials you could recycle by using them on your home. Thanks to social media, it should also be fairly easy to get a hold of friends and family all at once. 3. Try Craigslist and Freecycle Along the same lines, never forget about Craigslist. People are constantly selling everything from materials to tools to anything else you could need at far less than what they originally cost. There’s also a section on Craigslist where people are giving away items for free. The Freecycle Network functions much the same way, however everything offered on here is free. You can even put a “wanted” ad and inquire if anybody in your area has what you’re looking for, and is willing to give it away at no cost. You may need to be patient before an especially generous deal is offered, but so long as you’re planning early enough, this shouldn’t be much of an issue. Also, make sure you look for the things you need in other cities as well. Considering how much you can save, it may definitely be worth driving an hour or two in order to gain necessary materials. 4. Rent the Tools You Need Obviously, to build a tiny house, you’re going to need an assortment of tools. While it’s good to have a number on hand, in case you need to do repairs or basic maintenance in the future, many of the tools you need to build your house will become obsolete once the project is over. If this is the case for you, then you can save money by renting the ones you’ll no longer need when it’s all over. Big box stores and other operations will have everything you need and will rent them to you at a fraction of the amount it would cost to buy these soon-to-be-unnecessary items. 5. Handle the Designs on Your Own Many people have a professional design their tiny house for them. They hire an architect or someone else who has experience in this industry. However, this also means a lot of extra overhead you may not be able to afford. Fortunately, many people have built their own homes without the help of professionals. Software like Google Sketchup, ProArchitect, and others can all make the process of designing your dream tiny house extremely easy. There are also a number of online tutorials to assist you in using the software too, making the whole process easier still. After you think you’ve completed your blueprint, you can always have a professional architect look them over for you, just in case. Their expertise in this scenario will cost you far less as well. 6. Build Some of the House Yourself photo credit If you felt intimidated by the prospect of designing your own tiny house, the idea of building even part of it yourself may seem impossible. However, you wouldn’t be alone in thinking this now and then pulling it off later. In 2013, a documentary called “TINY: A Story About Living Small” followed a man named Christopher Smith as he built his own tiny house. Like many of you perhaps, Smith had never built anything in his entire life. Again, Smith is just one of a number of people who built at least part of the tiny house they now live in. Aside from saving money, taking on part of the build will also help you maintain the structure as you gain a better understanding of how it works and what certain repairs will take. While the documentary will definitely serve as inspiration, you can find workshops, meetups and all kinds of online resources dedicated to helping you gain the knowledge you’ll actually need to complete your house. There are also countless other videos and books that detail non-tiny house specifics like wiring, plumbing, installing floors, etc. 7. Shop Around Whether you’ve decided on hiring someone else for the build or you know you’ll need some help along the way, be sure you shop around for the people you hire. One of the luxuries of many tiny houses is that they sit on a trailer and are easily made mobile. If this is the kind of home you plan on owning, there’s no limit to where you could go to have yours built. Drive to wherever the most affordable builder is and have them get to work on the trailer, instead of simply assuming a local professional is your only option. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your tiny house will come with an equally tiny bill. While it will certainly save you money in the long run, you’re going to need a sizable budget to actually build the thing. However, with enough planning and the above advice, most people will be able to afford their own tiny house.
cherl roberts says June 4, 2015 at 1:12 am I have always dreamed of living in a tiny house. Even before the tiny house movement. My problem is, I live on such a small budget i can’t even save a penny after I pay my bills. So if anyone can pay it forward and get me the items i need to build my own tiny house. Also a small plot of land, so I don’t have to deal with slumlords anymore will be greatly appreciated. I have some friends who say they will build it for me in their spare time. Send me a message asap. Thanks and God Bless You Reply
Judy says August 24, 2015 at 9:43 pm Sounds like to me you don’t know how to handle your money, like they say in this article a lot of stuff can be found for free. You could at least be rounding up old boards & the wood from pallets that you can get for free look really good once sanded & varnished or painted whatever you prefer. Your big cost if to find the trailer, but an old rail car that you can get free sometimes will work great or find someone that has an old mobile home they want rid of & use it for the trailer, it already has the hookup which will really save you money. Be drawing your plans of how you want it, then have someone experienced to look over your plans & see if they’re feasible or you can buy plans or use your imagination. You can probably get your windows at those Habitat stores for practically nothing. If you will read all the classifieds you may be able to find an old house or barn someone wants torn down you can do just for the wood & probably other things. Like they say rent your tools if you don’t have them. Give up some of your luxuries & get out & go to yard sales & auctions & be accumulating stuff you will need. What you will save in heating & cooling will let your tiny house pay for itself in no time. The good part is if you live in a hurricane area or if there was a wildfire you can hook up & move it out of harm’s way. While you are planning be getting rid of stuff you don’t need, have a yard sale or donate some of your stuff & get a tax write off. Where there’s a will there’s a way so don’t be coming on here expecting someone to do it all for you unless you are disabled. As far as finding somewhere to park it I’m sure you can rent a place or ask relatives & friends that own land if you can park it there. I would want one that has a water catchment system & it be totally off grid, because our enemies could knock out our power grid if they wanted to & more ppl need to have a plan to learn to live w/out electricity. You can use propane to cook with, just one of those w/a couple of burners may be all you need, you may not believe this but a couple of candles will heat it but you need it fixed so the fumes can escape. Put solar panels on the roof & again just look around you may be able to find some for free or learn to make them. If you can afford internet then you can find all kind of ideas & clips from you tube that will show you how to do stuff you don’t know how to do, it needs to be insulated really good & get a licensed electrician to wire it up, also a licensed plumber if you don’t know how.. You can do this if you really want to. Reply
David F Rudd says January 21, 2016 at 2:15 pm The benefits of tiny homes go without saying. However, until there are opportunities to get loans to purchase them and insurance for them, this “movement” will move slowly. That is what is keeping me out of the market. I live on Maui and no bank or insurance company will touch these homes. Maybe in the future that will happen. If it does, I’ll be first in line to get one. Reply
Toni says January 23, 2016 at 2:54 pm Why wait for a bank loan or insurance company? Used to, people knew leaving parents home they would have to start small and work their way up to have the things they wanted, more of it, and bigger. Now people have in mind what they want and think that’s what they should start out with. Also, who says you have to have insurance. All insurance is is the security to build back what you lost. If you can build it up once, you can build it up again. With the money you can save living small, the money to start over can be saved up in a short time, put it away and don’t touch it and there’s your insurance to replace what was lost. As far as starting out, start with a shed shell with no down payment, only a $100 monthly rent to own fee, and no credit check. Just because this is what you start with doesn’t mean it’s what you have to end with. The real delimma is finding where to put it. Maybe family or friends backyard or property or find someone online to barter with. You can’t always have everything all at once but taking babysteps, or “one bite at a time of the elephant”, will finely get you there or since life is ever changing, a continuing path of projects and plans. After you find somewhere to put it, keep your day job to finance makung it livable, than save to buy your own land to build your tiny home on, build it, and sell the first one or maybe that was part of the barter that the property owner got to keep it afterward to rent out or whatever. Than, live happy and don’t forget to save your insurance or maybe you build your second tiny home and rent it out saving that money or using it for your income but already having your insurance ready. Sorry so lengthy. Reply
Ken says March 17, 2016 at 1:20 am I love the tiny house movement but I would think the biggest trouble would be finding places to put them or that allows them to be put. Most cities and towns frown on anything remotely small living like trailers and tiny homes Reply
