February 2019 Links We Love

We've scoured the Internet to bring you the February edition of #smallhomefamilylife tips, tricks, and stories. You're welcome.

Thinking of downsizing? Read about these families who have made it happen:

• This family of four went from 2500 square feet to less than 200 square feet. They built their own tiny house in three months and have since turned to building tiny homes for others, too.

• This couple successfully applied for a variance so they can live in their tiny house legally with their young child. Read more about their process here.

• The Cyr Family recently embraced tiny house living for a year-long journey to visit each of the national parks in the lower forty-eight states.

Let's get real: tiny house living isn't always awesome. Here's the scoop on what to expect and maybe even a few tips on how to make it work:

• Skoolie life one year in: Misty Jame (a.k.a. Boondock Bus Babe) dishes on what it's really like to live in a converted school bus with her husband and two small children.

• Heather Shearer has done her research. Literally. She writes here about the things she learned while interviewing people who live in tiny houses down under: the good and the bad. 

• On the other side of the world, Katie lives with her husband and young child in a tiny house in Alaska. She shares her tips for keeping marriage strong while going tiny. (We think her advice is pretty great no matter what size your house is!) 

What happens after the tiny-house experience has ended? These families are considering what's next, and it's not always by choice:

• This family in Oregon has been evicted from their tiny home after four years. What comes next? They're not really sure.

• The Kasl family was featured on Tiny House Nation back in its first season in 2014. Their two kids have grown quite a bit since then, and they've decided that it's time to leave tiny living behind--for now.

• After three years in their tiny house, Robert and Samantha of Shedsistence are moving out! Visit their blog where they talk about why they're moving on and what their plans are moving forward.

Affordable Housing

• Could retired school buses be part of the solution for helping homeless families get back on their feet? The nonprofit group Vehicles for Change is making it happen.

Let's talk Finances. Is there a right way to do things, and is it possible that the current mainstream advice is wrong?

• Why do we give financial advice as if people lived in a vacuum? (Hint: they don't.) What if we tailored our financial decisions to better match our own individual goals and weaknesses instead?

• Downsizing could be the best financial decision you'll ever make. At least, this is the case G.E. Miller makes over on 20 Something Finance. Do you agree?

And now that we've come full circle, that's a wrap! If this is a feature you would like to see continue or if there are topics you would like to read more about here in the future, please comment below or email us at diane@smallhomefamily.com.