How To Build A Tiny House On A Budget-Is It Possible?

Is It Really Possible To Build A Tiny House And Not Break The Bank?

tiny house made from recycled material

You have seen some tiny houses on wheels and you have fallen in love. You can’t stop looking at photos. My goodness they are just so damn cute. Yes, you think, I could do that. I could live in a tiny house.

Well first of all, seeing tiny house pictures and actually living in one are two very different things. That should kind of go without saying.

So eventually the question will be asked: How the hell does one going about building a tiny house? I mean people do it right? They actually build these things.

Yes they do and you can do it as well.

I am not a builder. But my goodness I would love to build a tiny home. I am of the belief that in this day and age of Youtube and other wonderful how-to videos it is entirely possible to do this. Certainly you are going to need help and advice when it comes to certain things. Anything is possible.

Aside: I went to an open house this past weekend of a local person who is building a tiny house on wheels. This was my first time even seeing a tiny house in person! She is doing it herself. The interest in her project was huge. There were lots of tradespeople there. And guess what? They could not agree on how to do things. I find that interesting.

When researching tiny homes it is not uncommon to see prices upwards of 50000$. Now this is probably for a custom built tiny home by a builder who knows everything. That price tag can be a bit daunting for a lot of us. Hell, the average cost of a tiny house is around 25000$. Much more manageable but this too can be overwhelming for some people. The whole point of tiny house living is to save money and possibly be mortgage and debt free.

So what is your tiny house budget number? Only you can decide that based on what you want your place to be.

The more systems you have(like solar) are going to put the price up, so perhaps it is good to start with a simple design if at all possible.

Even if you are interested in how to build a tiny house on a budget you do not want to cut corners! Please follow safety precautions, and DO NOT buy things that will put you, your family or your home in harm’s way; for example, DO NOT buy a trailer to use as a foundation that has been rusted out just for the sake of saving a few hundred dollars.

Ways to bring your tiny house costs down and save serious money

Don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot build an inexpensive AND lovely tiny house

Do all of the work yourself. Labor is why things cost so much to get built so if you can learn how to do the work yourself you are going to save thousands of dollars. When it comes to things like electrical and plumbing you may want to get help.

Second hand material is where it’s at. Why buy new when used will do? Clean things up and no one will know the difference anyway.

Craigslist or Kijiji are your new best friends to help find free(yes free!) stuff. Even Facebook has local community groups where people are giving away all kinds of things. Appliances, windows, furniture. You name it and someone is giving it away.

 

Tiny House Design & Construction Guide Take the first step to achieving your dream of building and living in your very own tiny house! The Tiny House Design & Construction Guide is your road map to the entire build process. By reading the guide you’ll understand the steps that will need to be taken and know where and how to start building your own tiny house.

 

There may be a second hand hardware type store in your area or close by where you can find things for deep discounts. The Habitat for Humanity Restores are very popular for people who are doing renovations. Also ask at your local lumber store about culled lumber.

If you are serious about building a tiny house start gathering materials. Everything you see is now something you may want to use. Of course you need a place to put this stuff but that is secondary. You don’t want to be forced into buying new when you could have grabbed a kitchen sink or better yet, some windows, for free a few months ago.

Frame your tiny house to fit your windows. If you come across decent used windows, you should get them. New windows are very expensive. So since you have the windows already you will have to simply adjust your design to make them fit.

Barter everything. You have skills that you could use to get materials or labor at a discount. Start using this to your advantage.

 

So there you have a few ideas on how to save some money when building a tiny house. If you were to really go crazy and be diligent I am convinced that you could stay well under the 20000$ mark. Hell look at what Jenine Alexander achieved in the video above!

How low do you think you could go? What do you feel is a reasonable budget budget for building a tiny house?

Please be sure to share this post.

 

“Live Simply”