truckbed full of stuff
“I hope it all blows away,” Big Country mumbled, half in his sleep as the late autumn winds raged around the tiny house and pounded the tarps holding down our worldly possessions just outside.
I smiled in the dark and imagined the sundry dishes, pots, pans, clothing, books, cloth diapers, sewing machine, skateboard, and stuffed animals we had held onto over the last year of peregrinations rolling wildly through the cow pasture.
“How are you going to fit all that stuff in your tiny house once you’re done building?” I’ve been asked. Well, we’ll see. Simplicity looks different for a family of five with diverse interests living in Colorado, and we will continue to hold onto about a dozen tubs of tools, kids’ clothes, winter clothes, canning, sewing, and the like to be stored outside. The rest does need to fit comfortably inside, or it goes!
If you’re seriously considering a simplified, downshifted, even tiny house-scaled lifestyle change in the works, the question of stuff inevitably stares you in the face. What to hold onto, and what can go? We asked ourselves the following.
What can I sell? When we knew we were moving, Big Country and I walked around the house, making a list of everything undesirable to the tiny life that we could sell on craigslist or elsewhere, researching what we could get. First we made an organized, typed list of items with prices and emailed friends, who then passed it on. This helped us easily sell about a dozen items.
Craigslist items sell well in our area if priced at 1/3 to 1/2 the retail value, in good condition, with attractive photo, and prompt, friendly responses. We sold almost everything we listed, adding up to $800 toward the build. Not bad, considering we owned mostly free-to-us, secondhand furniture and goods, and we kept the best for our future life!
What activities, memberships, subscriptions, or other financial entanglements can go to free up funds?
Do I need to sell a vehicle? This could be an extra car, boat, trailer, camper, ATV, etc., or a vehicle that could be replaced by walking, biking, bussing, or carpooling.
Based on our nearly two years of experience going carless, I would say if you’re willing to be creative, resourceful, organized, patient, accepting of friends’ offers to carpool or pick up supplies, and adept at buying nearly everything nonperishable on Amazon, then you’re able to thrive without a car, or perhaps downsize to one vehicle as a family.
1991 GMC Sierra Truck
“Thor’s Hammer” our 91 GMC Sierra, an old university facilities truck, bought on Craigslist for $2000
On the other hand, maybe you need to purchase a vehicle. Specifically if you’re building a tiny house, ask yourself a fun question:
Should I buy a truck? For us, it has been crucial to own an old but dependable work truck with a long bed for hauling lumber, plywood, siding, roof panels, appliances, tools, and hundreds of other supplies, as well as moving personal possessions several times.
And every time we do load up the truck with our stuff, full to the brim, Berkey water filter buckled into the front seat, baby highchairs strapped precariously to the top of the mound, we start singing the theme to Green Acres, because’s that’s how ridiculous we look. But really, I don’t know how we could even embark on all this moving and the build without a truck.
transport lumber in car not truck
What is this DIYer thinking?
But to temper the impulse of going out and signing up for mega payments on a new F-850, read the highly entertaining, informative What Does Your Work Truck Say About You?
Additionally, ask yourself, is it necessary to own a truck with a tow capacity big enough to tow our tiny house? Do I intend to travel extensively with my home, or would it be financially wiser to simply rent or borrow a big truck to move it when necessary?
Overall, we’ve found that the entire premise behind getting rid of stuff for a simplified life is focusing on what to keep, not what to give away. Like Jay Shafer said somewhere, it’s like packing for a long trip: that’s what you keep.
There are techniques for making a home beautifully clutter-free and techniques for discarding, but if you’re patient and honest with yourself about what you need and keep the focus on what really matters to your life to keep, it will be a freeing project that improves one’s quality of life, I’m convinced.