August 2006 Weddings
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Speaking of houses, this seems nuts
Did anyone see the segment on the Today Show about the movement toward buying extremely small homes in order to save money? I suppose it's tied to the whole "simple living" concept as well. Though they aren't financially forced to do so, these folks are willingly moving into tiny little spaces (500 sq. ft. in the example given on the show).
Anyone else think this is wacky? I sure as heck couldn't do it.
EDITED so as not to imply that people living in small houses are automatically poor.
Re: Speaking of houses, this seems nuts
My first home was 888sq ft. I hated it but that's beside the point. I don't think living in a 500 sq ft home compared to a 1,000 sq ft home would save that much money. Living in a LCOL area would save that much money, but shrinking the home size to that of an apartment wouldn't drastically reduce costs. It still takes cleaning supplies, lawncare supplies, trash pickup etc. When I moved to a 1800 sq ft house (more than doubling) the only thing that went way up was my mortgage. The utilities went up a little - like $25/month, but didn't double.
I'm all for people living within their means and saving money though!
I've seen it from a more simplicity/environmental POV. I've seen ones in the 200sf range, as small as 84sf. We live in under 600sf right now, which is probably radical to some. It's only the two of us, but it's not as bad as you'd think. The more freaked out I get about buying a house, the less trouble it seems. We've been here for 4.5 years.
There was a nestie on MM awhile back who was building a tiny house (in the 200s) on some land they owned. In preparation, she and her H and his daughter, along with their pets, were living in one bedroom in their current house (they also used the kitchen and bathroom, of course). She had a blog about this experiment that really focused on how living sustainably doesn't have to cost more, it should actually save you money because it should be about buying and using less.
It was a fantabulous blog and really inspired me to make huge changes. She ended up posting some real life figures about how much $ they live on, got shredded to bits, quit the blog and deleted it. Such a shame, I keep looking for something else like it.
I'd struggle with it. I like my own space too much and enjoy having a living room to escape to while DH plays video games, for instance. (XBox Live has a lot to answer for!) I lived in a tiny studio apt for a year after college and while furnishing it was cheap I couldn't embrace that lifestyle permanently. I don't live in a HCOL area now, though. Maybe if I did I'd feel differently.
I could happily live in a small one bedroom apartment if I were still single. Lord knows I lived in several. However I appreciate having multiple rooms now that I am married.
I imagine I am also influenced by the fact that I have never lived in a very metropolitan area. I would probably be more willing to sacrifice space if it involved living in a small apartment in a fabulous city, such as New York.
Our studio in the city is probably around 350 sf. It's plenty of space for one person. It gets a little crazy with 2 people (both working at home) and 3 cats, which is what we did for a few years. Soon we will have a baby there at times. That will be interesting! Yeah, it saves money because you can only buy so much stuff; space runs out very quickly.?
Our house is about 1100 sf. plus a garage/basement and I think it's a perfect size for growing into. We have our own workspaces, room for a kid ?and even have room for guests. 500 seems borderline to me, for a family. We looked at a 600 sf. studio once and I couldn't imagine it being much better than the 350 sf. we already had: lack of closet space, lack of walls/rooms for separate workspace, etc. Layout comes into play almost as much as sf. I think.
I have no concept of space/numbers so I had to look up some examples of how big that would be.
H and I downgraded from a large 2 bedroom, 2 bath that spanned two floors to a 1 br, 1 bath on 1 floor in a nicer area with a yard.
I have to say I like the smaller space better. Plenty of room for us, less to clean, less space to fill with crap.
We live in a ~400 sq ft apartment (roughly 20'x20'), and my city friends think it's spacious.
It's definitely enough space for us for now, but I dream of the following traits in a future home:
I'll be fine if I never have those things; there are more important things in life. But man, that would be sweet.
A 'frienemy' of mine had a studio on East 51st st (great neighborhood) for $1300/month. I'd say it was about 200 sq ft. Big enough for her bed, a bookshelf, and a couch. The kitchen part was open, and there was an island, which was also the dining room table/bar. Definitely do-able for one or two. Not sure how it'd work for a family, though.
I grew up in an 815 sf house and it never bothered me. In fact, I think it has made me aware that you do not need that much space in a house. My parents electric bills ect. are much cheaper becuase of it, and simple maitance/cleaning is much cheaper. (Carpet cleaning, floor installation ect)
I actually wish they made smaller homes in my area. The area I live in is mostly newer developments and the homes are all HUGE. There are very very few starter homes and that makes renting/buying a house in this area very hard. I wouldnt want a 500 sf house, but i would be fine with 800-1000sf.
My mom grew up in a family of 8 (sometimes 9) in a house currently listed at 2125sf (it also says it was built in 1997, so it's been significantly remodeled and almost certainly expanded, but I'm not sure by how much). Three boys shared a room, two girls shared, and my aunt had her own.
It obviously wasn't 500sf, but I think the "need" for larger houses (and their accompanying higher price tags, higher utility bills, more furniture, etc.) are a contributing factor to the middle class squeeze these days.
Call me selfish but I need my space!
I guess I grew up in houses bigger than what we needed and am use to having spare rooms to use for a home office and guest room etc. I also have to have a formal dining room even though I never use it. Where else would I keep all my junk but on the dining room table?!!!
DH wants to downsize in a few years. We currently have 2400 sq ft not including the detached garage for more stuff! He thinks 1000 sq ft will be fine and I am like heck no. I figured it out & I will need a minimum of 1800 sq ft to be comfortable in my golden years!
I am laughing Beavis and Butthead style at the expression "extra-long pooping."