Living tiny is really only 10% the actual tiny house itself and 90% the attitude of the people going to live there. There are many people who have their mentality backward – they say, “Living tiny will allow me to do these things,” when they need to start living tiny well before they even get there. If you wait to start living tiny, you are going to be in for a heck of a shock when moving in day comes. So if you want to be ready, or even just see if you are able to start living tiny, here are some radical ways to start living tiny right now!
Get Rid Of EVERYTHING
Ok, let’s be fair here. No one can get rid of everything. But you have to be honest with yourself. When you cut down your home from 2400 sq. ft. to 240 sq. ft., you are downsizing 90 percent. That means that you have to get rid of about 90 percent of everything you have. Now, obviously you don’t want your home to look bare until you actually go tiny, but know EXACTLY what you are keeping and what is being sent to the garage-sale/donated/thrown out/taken with you. Especially your clothes. Choose one rack in your closet and put everything that you are going to wear on it and no venturing away from it. I will bet you can do it and not even realize it. These are tough decisions and it is going to be really easy to say, “I will cross that bridge when we come to it.” You have to push through. This may seem radical, but that is what we are doing here! READ MORE: Downsize and Simplify by Going Digital
Move Into Your Kitchen
You read that correctly. Move into your kitchen. You don’t need to sleep there or go to the bathroom there, but everything else you need to do happens in there. Cooking, eating, watching television, hanging out, etc. Living in a tiny house is about combining and eliminating wasted space. Your dining room is used for dining and your living room is used for lounging. Now you have to do that all in the same space as you cooking your dinner. This is a brilliant test to see if you are in your spouse’s/family’s hair and how neat and clean you are. Because trust me, when you have to live in the same place where you cook and eat, you will be cleaning up daily. You want the bonus points on this one? Invite friends over for dinner and game night and keep the same rule! Now that is radical!
Shop Every Day
In addition to having less space for clothes and belongings, you are going to have less space to store food. Now folks who live in a major city are already used to this, for those of you that have a gigantic fridge that can store a whole frozen cow, you are going to freak. Not only do I want you to only use 10% of your cabinet space, but also 25% of your fridge and freezer. This means that you are going to have to stop shopping at Costco (That in itself is radical enough for some people), but you are going to only be able to keep staples in the house and then go and get the proteins and specialty foods the day of. So make sure you have left yourself the extra time to do so. And the extra money, because you can no longer buy things in bulk.
Stop Doing So Much of the Things You Hate
This is the easiest and the hardest of all of the Radical ways to start living tiny right now. You hate cleaning? Well now you are only cleaning one bathroom, one bedroom and the kitchen. Bet you bang that out in one-tenth the time. Do you hate doing laundry? Well now you only have one load between the two of you! Grocery shopping and menu planning probably took you more time than you needed. Don’t think of all of the above as being bad. Think of the benefits here: you can live more spontaneous and decide dinner on the way home instead of five days earlier. You are sharing one small bathroom now, so you have to be quicker with your makeup/manscaping. You will get ready quicker than you ever have which might even allow you to have extra time to sleep more! If you do get stir crazy or on each other’s nerves, head outside. The fresh air will help you clear your head and breathe easier. See? Radical ways are just what you needed. Do you think you need these radical ways right now to live tiny? Do you think it would help you? Let me know in the comments below.