Having your own house is no doubt one of the greatest goals to aim for. But given today’s rates, getting your own house and property may take up years of hard work and money. Meanwhile, you have to also pay expensive rent while you do not have your own place yet.
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This is the dilemma a single mom had to face when she moved to the USA with her daughter. To afford rent, she had to work all day. This made her miss out on a lot of crucial moments in her daughter’s toddler years. This was when she decided things had to change.
Meet Lulu
Lulu is a single mom from Sonoma County, California, who decided to go for a simpler life so that she could spend more time raising her young daughter. Coming from Argentina, Lulu relocated to the USA with her daughter a few years ago to seek a better life.
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She wanted to go back to school but she kept a 9 to 5 job and she had her daughter to take care of. When Lulu moved to California, she realized that one of the biggest expenses she had to see to was housing.
She needed a change
Lulu was paying a lot of money for rent. To be able to afford it, she had to work hard and spend less time with her daughter. Lulu realized she was wasting precious time and she did not want to live her life that way.
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This was the point where she knew something had to change. She wanted to spend less time working so that she could be around to watch her daughter grow up. But how could that be possible? She could not afford to get her own house just yet.
Tiny living
Then, Lulu heard about the concept of tiny homes and living modestly. Lulu has always been interested in the concept of simple living ever since she heard about it. She got in touch with a tiny house movement group in Sonoma County in Northern California.
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Sonoma County happens to be the home of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company and they have been catering to the growing need for tiny homes in the area. But why is this type of lifestyle popular in the area?
Housing rate spike
California has been prone to wildfires – especially when the summer heat is unbearable. Just in the first half of 2018, more than 5,000 homes and structures caught on fire in Sonoma. This triggered a price increase in residential properties.
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The housing rate has not gone down from that point. Imagine how much that number has grown to this point. Because of this, most of the residents in the area are starting to shift to a more physically and financially sustainable home.
Shipping containers as homes
Lately, people are seeing the benefit of building houses from old shipping containers that are no longer in use. The containers are being used as the basis and frame for constructing the house. The trend is known to be the tiny house movement.
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The tiny house movement is a popular advocacy encouraging people to start living simpler in smaller homes. This advocacy has two significant advantages – people spend less on construction costs and it repurposes old shipping containers.
Self-made
Lulu started looking into the use of shipping containers as an alternative housing option. Then, she moved into a lot on a hill somewhere in the unincorporated area of Sonoma County. The seashore is just a few miles west of her area.
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Despite not having any building or construction experience, she was able to cut out her own windows and doors. She even was able to set up insulation and a basic kitchen. She used recycled building materials, which she got from junkyards.
Moving in
When construction was done, Lulu and her daughter moved into the 8 by 20 square foot dwelling. They were also able to put a couch, bookshelf, kitchen cupboards, and a bed into the small space. It was like a large and nice-looking shed.
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The container home has a fully functional kitchen, toilet, bathtub, sink, and even a little playroom for Lulu’s daughter. It had all the essentials that anyone would need from a house. But how was it living in a really limited space?
A huge adjustment
Despite Lulu’s interest in a simpler and more sustainable life, she admitted that living in a storage container was “a little daunting” since she was claustrophobic. It was a huge adjustment for Lulu and her daughter.
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Her daughter did not like her loft bed because she could not really stand or sit up. Even though Lulu’s daughter was not able to appreciate the benefits of their own tiny home, for now, Lulu knows that she will understand once she grows up.
Not a material girl
Keeping up with the theme of living a simpler life, Lulu also used recycled and repurposed things around the home. Lulu believes in not fixating so much on our identities in material things. Her furnishings and decor were mostly cheap and free.
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Most of Lulu’s stuff was from junkyards, flea markets, and garage sales. She was able to create a modest, functional, and comfortable home for herself and her daughter. “When you don’t have much money, you just have to get more creative.”
Wabi-sabi lifestyle
Lulu draws inspiration from a Japanese aesthetic called Wabi-sabi. Wabi-sabi is all about the acceptance of transience and flaws and finding the beauty in the temporary. Lulu believes she has created a home that reflects the temporary nature of life.
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Although she is living a now simpler life with lesser things, there are some things that Lulu does not compromise on. She still wants to drink high-end tea and she also had a large bathtub installed so she could still soak and relax. Because of this, Lulu’s brother joked that she had an “elegant poor” life.
She had everything she needed
Lulu’s home is currently set up in someone’s backyard. She pays the owner a small rental fee for water and electricity. Other than that, her only expense for her home is her butane tanks. From where her home stands, she is surrounded by a great view of green hills.
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Before, container homes were considered to be a quick solution for those who needed temporary dwellings. But the truth is, they can actually stand as permanent homes. Lulu has found that she can get everything she needed in her container home.
Downsizing as a solution
The tiny house movement is focused on simplicity, conservation, and self-sufficiency. Smaller homes are cheaper when it comes to construction, taxes, heating, maintenance, and repair costs.
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People are now downsizing not only their homes but also their lifestyle. The tiny house movement compliments the minimalist theme. Minimalism is all about downsizing one’s lifestyle and one’s need for possessions.
Benefits of living in a shipping container
One of the benefits of having a shipping container home is its mobility. When Lulu saves enough money and buys her own property, she can simply ship it anywhere. If you plan it out, you can travel the world and bring your own home with you!
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Plus, it also has the added benefit of durability and toughness. Shipping containers are created to carry valuable cargo through any kind of weather. This makes them a suitable material for constructing homes.
Affordable option
Shipping containers are not hard to find. You can find one no matter where you live. You can go to docking areas and some can even be found in junk yards. Any country that has a port will surely have some lying around.
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Shipping containers – especially the old ones – are incredibly cheap and some of them are even given away for free. But if you want a shipping container in as good as new condition, you have to pay the price for it.
Environment-friendly
Another advantage of using shipping containers is that you are helping out the environment. Reusing an old shipping container means you are saving them from being junk. Although these containers are recyclable, it takes a lot of money and energy to process the steel in a usable form again.
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When you use shipping containers for your home, you take them as is. There is no need to process the steel anymore. So, you actually help save up a lot of time, money, and energy. At the same time, you also get to save up your own money because of the lesser construction cost.
Your home says a lot about you
According to environmental psychologists, homes have a great impact on the emotional state of those who live in them. The values and characteristics of the homeowner are easily reflected in the way the home is designed and personalized.
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With this in mind, they believe that the motives behind living in a smaller home are more about a desire for a simpler life and conserving resources. And Lulu has managed to accomplish this. She was able to spend less money on rent and resources.
Extending her home
With fewer expenses on her plate and now that her daughter is growing up, Lulu has decided to expand her container home with a flatbed trailer. The expansion houses a new bedroom so that she and her daughter can eventually have their own private space.
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This is when she appreciated how easy it is to attach additions to a container home. Just because you have a container home does not mean you are limited to a small space. You can always expand if you want. In fact, there are bigger constructions made out of shipping containers around these days.
Mission accomplished
Now that she has her own space and she does not have to worry about paying expensive rent, Lulu was able to work less and spend more time with her daughter. It was a huge adjustment but she really is proud of her decision and her home.
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“I am also aware that we have spent way more hours together than I would have if I had to pay rent,” Lulu shared in an interview with faircompanies.com. “This came down to a choice about how many hours we have in our life, and how I want to spend those hours.”
A simpler and happier life
Lulu transformed a shipping container and a flatbed trailer into a place that she and her daughter can call home. All in all, the whole thing just cost her $4,000 and everything was done in a month! Can you believe it?
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Compare that to the average price and time it takes to build a standard house. Lulu looks at her house now with pride and gratitude. This was a home that she built herself and it allows her to live a life that she loves.