Tiny House...Tiny Budget

There is a lot of talk going around about cost of a tiny house....well the reality is that it costs more than the tv shows say it does. Especially if you can't build it yourself like us. 

Here is what we have been discussing about costs

• There are upfront costs more so than a house but no mortgage
• We could buy a small junky house on our budget in a junky neighborhood or we can spend the money now and have a brand new custom home that fits are needs for the long haul.
• We could build it ourselves and save a ton but this would mean we wouldn't be living it for another 10 years (we have zero building experience)
• Being environmentally friendly costs a lot up front but no monthly costs that would come with a home
• We will need to rent or buy land but still cheaper than a mortgage 
• With less cleaning and maintenance I have time to be more thoughtful and efficient with food purchases. 
• When you need to update a 2,000 square foot home you are looking at a huge cost. For example our home would have benefited from new carpet and a new upstairs bathroom. The roof needed to be done and we needed a new septic. Together those would have costed more than our tiny house! You can remodel a tiny house quickly and cheaply.
• We wanted our budget to be 60,000 but of course once adding solar (5,000) the trailer (8,000) and paying our amazing contractor we will be well over this price, but again you have to think long term. Yes it costs a lot now, but not paying a mortgage, water, utilities and home insurance we will be in a great place financially within a year. (Still looking into insurance for tiny house)