Benefits of Living in Our Small Cabin

March 12, 2018

8 Benefits of Living in our 12 x 12 Cabin

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In recent years, there are many people who have become discontented with their lives. The 2008 financial crash caused many to lose jobs and retirement savings. College debt has also sky rocketed in recent years. The tiny house movement has made serious traction as a result.

I think it is terrific for those that have chosen to live in a tiny house permanently. It definitely has it benefits. It takes determination and courage to think outside the box and downsize your life. Downsizing is not easy in a culture that promotes excess and your need for the next great gadget. I am as guilty as anyone for falling into this trap. I had a serious Kirkland’s addiction!

Downsizing your home by necessity means downsizing your life! After all, “the next great gadget” has to have a place to live. Clothes and shoes that we never wear fill our closets. Unfortunately, we never use and sometimes forget drawers and attics stuffed with “things” we own. Dealing with all this stuff is the first step in downsizing. Then, you can downsize your home in order to have a downsized life!

Home sizes continue to increase.

The average size of a home built in 1978 was 1,780 square feet and in 2013 it was 2,662 square feet. In contrast, the pioneers that moved west in the 1800’s built a small, one-room cabin.

These ranged in size from 10 x 12 to 18 X 20. Our one room 12 x 12 is reminiscent of those pioneer days! It definitely takes a pioneer spirit to live in one!

Cabin living will be just for a season of time until our house is completed. In this area, there are two types of rentals – vacation rentals and run down, long term rental properties. The best choice was our cabin which was already constructed and paid for. We initially decided to build a 12 x 12 building due to code restrictions. Permitting was required on anything larger. Because of that, keeping things simple and getting it built quickly was our goal.

8 big benefits we have found by living in a 12×12

Constructing a square building saves time and money

Square buildings with even number dimensions have less wasted lumber which saves you money. Floor sheeting and wood siding sheeting have 4’x8′ dimensions. Therefore, building a square building with even dimensions results in less time cutting lumber which is a tremendous time saver. Consequently, you don’t spend as much time picking up wood scraps and disposing of them.

Savings of rent money

This was the main factor in deciding to live in our 12 x 12. A $1200 monthly rent payment adds up to $14,400 a year. We spent around $6,000 constructing our building. That’s a savings of $8,400 in one year just on rent! That amount of savings climbs the longer we live in the building. The sacrifice is well worth the benefit!

Security

This is such an important issue. Unfortunately, a lot of theft occurs on building sites as we have found out! Therefore, there is no greater peace of mind than actually living on your building site if possible. The first thing we did when we purchased the land was to install posted signs, security signs and security cameras. Trail cameras have worked great for us because we can’t always be there. One of my favorite security signs is, “Smile, you’re on camera.” These are inexpensive ways to deter would be thieves…most of the time.

One holiday weekend someone opened our gate and drove up our driveway. The two men disregarded a closed gate (which we normally leave locked) with a no trespassing sign on it. Maybe they thought our sign was a bluff. It was evident from their demeanor they were surprised that we were here. They claimed to have lost a dog. Our “gate camera” captured pictures of them opening the gate and driving in. We confirmed with a Sheriff’s Deputy that our suspicions were correct. The driver was identified as someone who had a criminal record with a history of theft. Thankfully, living onsite, we were spared a theft that day! One of the great things about having security cameras is that someone, or something is always watching the property. High quality, colored pictures are good evidence in court if needed!

Save travel time and fuel

We save time and fuel by not traveling back and forth from a rental to our property. It takes a lot of time and effort getting tools and materials out to work with. It took us two hours to put things back up and to turn on all the cameras when we were ready to leave. Consequently, that’s 18 hours a week when it takes nearly 3 hours to setup and break down everyday! That’s a loss of 2 work days every week! You can’t afford that kind of loss when building a house. This is one of the benefits my Ambitious Feller really loves!

Less space to keep clean

One of my favorite benefits is less space to keep clean! My previous home took all day Saturday to clean. I had always loved plantation shutters and had them installed on every window in our former house. Although I love their look and function, they are terrible magnets for dust. It has been a nice break cleaning a small space. As a result, it takes less than an hour to clean and I have more free time to do other things I enjoy. I don’t miss all the cleaning or dusting the plantation shutters!

No monthly utilities

Can you imagine not having those bills every month! We had an initial one time expense of a small solar power kit, batteries, generator and propane cook top. Propane use is minimal in the summer with cooking. In the winter we heat the building with a small propane heater. However, it doesn’t take much to heat a small cabin.

Spending more time outdoors

Living in a tiny space means you are going to spend much more time outside. Whether it is cooking or going to the building site, the benefit is one I am enjoying. Unfortunately, living in a blacktop world caused me to miss many beautiful sights and sounds. I spent too much time indoors! I have really enjoyed watching the harvest moon rising over the mountain and the numerous rainbows we have seen. Our view on this mountain changes daily depending on current weather conditions. I’m so blessed to have a front row seat to so much beauty and splendor!

We’ll have a multi-purpose building

Finally, family and friends have asked us why we chose a storage building over a camper. The main reason is our steep driveway. It would take a bulldozer to get a camper to the building site! It’s very expensive just to get one to our property. The bulldozer would be needed to get it up to the building site and to take it down upon completion of the house.

Consequently, we settled on a cabin instead of buying a camper that will become a multi-purpose building once our house is finished. Livestock feed, gardening supplies or just tools can be stored here later. Worst case scenario, it can become an in-law suite!