I asked some of my friends who dwell in rolling homes one question: What did you gain by going tiny?
When we tell people we are going tiny, the focus often shifts to loss. We did have to sell a lot of items to make this happen! The truth is, there is a lot to be gained by going tiny and taking up residence in a rolling home. Here are the answers I got to that question.
Rolling Home: Destoni with Slothhighfive
I have at least two..
We’ve gained more money than I ever imagined (over $2,000 so far and we’re still selling stuff)
More peace of mind.. from less decisions to make about outfits to less worries about things breaking.
Rolling Home: Ellie with Livingourbuslife
FREEDOM. Let’s just say… walking into Target is a challenge, but most of the time while out & about I’m noticing my perspective has tilted from trying to figure out all the things I want to get, to having the freedom and peace of mind knowing I have more then I need already. Freedom came in realizing owning less, actually will free us up to DO more and have more experiences & time as a family. Instead if holding onto things, I want to hold onto time spent doing things together.
Rolling Home: Brook with B.Longontheroad
My one word answer is freedom, and that happens in two parts that work together. Part 1 is financial freedom from car payments, house payments, rent, etcetera that usually tie people down monetarily. We don’t own things we can’t afford, so that we don’t get stuck. The 2nd part is movement freedom- from a big house that needs upkeep, a multitude of belongings inside said house, & a job you’re tied to for financial stability reasons. My few belongings fit in my small house or in the bed of our one vehicle, the pickup truck. We plan our life so we are able to pickup and go wherever we want/need.
Because of these things, we are able to make choices that lead to even MORE financial and personal freedom. Picking up everything and moving to take job offers would usually be a huge life altering event that would take much consideration and option weighing, but for us it’s as simple as a few stops for diesel.
Rolling Home: Emily with Kimball5Wanderlust
I’ve gained space to breathe. Space to create. Space to allow spontaneity. Space to adventure.
I can count on one hand the amount of Christmas decorations I brought into our tiny home and it is very freeing to have simplified so much, especially for Christmas. I had 5 bins {plus lights and tree so maybe more like 8?} of Christmas decorations in our sticks and bricks house and I think most of the things in those bins I didn’t even like! .
I went to Target yesterday and had a bunch of little bottle brush trees in my cart and I had to stop and ask myself if I really liked them enough to bring into our home. The answer was NO! It’s freeing to go against consumerism. It’s hard. It’s freeing. It’s worth it.
Rolling Home: Tina with WeLiveonaBus (me!)
We gained so much time when we sold everything. There are less things to repair and we no longer have a yard to mow or rake. We seem to spend less time searching for lost items, because they aren’t buried in junk drawers or under piles of other things. Even cooking takes less time because pots and pans aren’t spilling out of the cabinets. We had so much clutter before!
With less stuff, we spend more time getting out and going places together. We aren’t surrounded by distractions that keep us in our own little worlds. We aren’t in our bus yet, you can start from the beginning of our journey here.
Have you considered going tiny or living in a rolling home? What do you think you will gain?
