Achtung! a 2 part thread.....let's discuss "stuff" and then 2017

[335clone]

4 people
2 cats
675 sq ft
2 story
9 guitars

What, exactly, did you want to know about 'tiny house living'?

 

[Tiltsta]

With my European move would come donating a lot of my accumulated stuff. Little of it plugs into a Swiss outlet, and even less of it is actually necessary. We sure will not go tiny house living, but we are looking at places smaller than where we live now. Houses there are just smaller than in the US.

 

[DdBob]

With my European move would come donating a lot of my accumulated stuff. Little of it plugs into a Swiss outlet, and even less of it is actually necessary. We sure will not go tiny house living, but we are looking at places smaller than where we live now. Houses there are just smaller than in the US.

not to go off on another tangent but we uhmerikhans are ridiculous with our oversizing....I mean look at our cars starting around 2000 or thereabout. Each year the vehicles get larger and larger, for what? So we can tow our weekend warrior ATV or boat, so we feel like we have a larger penis, ao that we can do zero to 60 in 2 seconds so that we can potentially drive 130 mph even though there is no where that is legal.....so we can carry more Big macs in the frontr seat. We are like a disease to the rest of the world because now even them Krauts and stuff make bigger machines *spits*

 

[jelloman]

not to go off on another tangent but we uhmerikhans are ridiculous with our oversizing....I mean look at our cars starting around 2000 or thereabout. Each year the vehicles get larger and larger, for what? So we can tow our weekend warrior ATV or boat, so we feel like we have a larger penis, ao that we can do zero to 60 in 2 seconds so that we can potentially drive 130 mph even though there is no where that is legal.....so we can carry more Big macs in the frontr seat. We are like a disease to the rest of the world because now even them Krauts and stuff make bigger machines *spits*

Oh yeah, that reminds me...

On the downsizing front, I traded both my car and my truck in for a small Mitsubishi Outlander Sport...

 

[Peen Simmons]

DOWNSIZE SONNY.

 

[DdBob]

Oh yeah, that reminds me...

On the downsizing front, I traded both my car and my truck in for a small Mitsubishi Outlander Sport...

I had a second vehicle for a while (my old 92 Nissan truck) but last year this time I donated it. I wasn't using it, seals started going, gas was going bad, etc It wasn't necessay so i got rid of it. Good to see there's similar like minded individuals like yourself out there. BTW your situation ISsomewhat similar to mine so i kinda feel a kinship with you now I'm 46 my mom was 81 when she passed away. My dad is now 83, his mom lived till 87 and his dad till 86 and my dad is relatively healthy. My mom was a free spender bless her heart but now my dad is paying off consolidated debt including a small bit left on the house...a house we moved into in 1979. We were never extravegant, my parents both were school teachers their whole lives and yet the house is still not "theirs" he plans to have it paid in two years i think. When and if that happens and then when he passes it will be a 50/50 split with whatever the "estate" has between me and my brother. I plan to do like you and pay off all debts first and foremost and then 'take it from there"

fwiw the pic below is my idea of Nirvana (in general...some wide open space, off grid or on the "outposts of society"...desert or even mountainish town like in Colorado, N.m. Nevada Utah or even Idaho)

 

[Tiltsta]

not to go off on another tangent but we uhmerikhans are ridiculous with our oversizing....I mean look at our cars starting around 2000 or thereabout. Each year the vehicles get larger and larger, for what? So we can tow our weekend warrior ATV or boat, so we feel like we have a larger penis, ao that we can do zero to 60 in 2 seconds so that we can potentially drive 130 mph even though there is no where that is legal.....so we can carry more Big macs in the frontr seat. We are like a disease to the rest of the world because now even them Krauts and stuff make bigger machines *spits*

We would go from two cars to none in the move. We might get a car, but it is kind of a pain to own one there, and probably cheaper to rent one when you need it over actual ownership. If we were to get a car it would be something like a Mercedes E class wagon, smaller than the wife's current Toyota Highlander, but not really a small car. Public transportation there is so good that a car isn't really necessary.

 

[DdBob]

DOWNSIZE SONNY.

I'm training Sonny to attack a gene Simmons doll which I have written PEEN across its forehead

 

[Peen Simmons]

I'm training Sonny to attack a gene Simmons doll which I have written PEEN across its forehead

Sonny won't do nothing because I'll be wearing a Joe Madden mask when I show up to dognap him.

 

[Pine Apple Slim]

I could live in a tiny house.
But I need a big studio.

 

[Pine Apple Slim]

If I'm gonna live in a tiny house, I'm taking it with me.

 

[Denverdave]

We would go from two cars to none in the move. We might get a car, but it is kind of a pain to own one there, and probably cheaper to rent one when you need it over actual ownership. If we were to get a car it would be something like a Mercedes E class wagon, smaller than the wife's current Toyota Highlander, but not really a small car. Public transportation there is so good that a car isn't really necessary.

A lot of the cities and towns in Europe are laid out so that it is much easier to get around without a car. And, as you mentioned, generally the public transportation is much better. Most places I have lived in the USA have had decent public transport and it is next difficult to live without a car. Everything is laid out in a car centric manner here.

 

[DdBob]

Sonny won't do nothing because I'll be wearing a Joe Madden mask when I show up to dognap him.

well you'll probably smell like hotdogs then and sonny loves food so either way you won't have a chance...you'll be eaten one way or another then I'll be picking up pieces of PEEN in the backyard for the next week

 

[Tiltsta]

A lot of the cities and towns in Europe are laid out so that it is much easier to get around without a car. And, as you mentioned, generally the public transportation is much better. Most places I have lived in the USA have had decent public transport and it is next difficult to live without a car. Everything is laid out in a car centric manner here.

Switzerland is the size of NH and Vermont combined, and half of it is giant mountains and not accessible. The rest of the country is an insane network of trams, trains, and buses to move the 7-8 million people around. I think the tiny size makes it fairly straightforward to have a great public transit system. People mostly live in cities or town centers near cities, and even farm houses are in smallish village centers that are connected. We are looking at homes in a few smaller towns around Basel, and one can literally start at a rural farm house/villa and walk 3 minutes to a tram station and take that right into the center of the city in around 15 minutes. You can then board a train to anywhere in Europe. It is crazy to see from an American perspective. I met with several dozen senior management types at the company that is recruiting me and none of them own cars. These are guys making enough to certainly afford a car, they just never found a need for one. They rent cars, use ride share (a pay by the hour no reservation car system), or just use public transit.

 

[12Pack]

I can't wait to downsize.

Current house:

it's stupid. I'm the only one in it most of the time. My kids grew up and two in college so they only come around part time when not in school. My youngest is a junior in HS. My niece is never around as she is off working and with her BF most of the days. Once my youngest is in college I'm absolutely downsizing and moving. I've thrown out at least a dumpster worth of stuff and sold a bunch of stuff at a flea market in preparation to the big move. I can't wait to get out and have something smaller.

And this is my idea of downsizing:

 

[Denverdave]

Switzerland is the size of NH and Vermont combined, and half of it is giant mountains and not accessible. The rest of the country is an insane network of trams, trains, and buses to move the 7-8 million people around. I think the tiny size makes it fairly straightforward to have a great public transit system. People mostly live in cities or town centers near cities, and even farm houses are in smallish village centers that are connected. We are looking at homes in a few smaller towns around Basel, and one can literally start at a rural farm house/villa and walk 3 minutes to a tram station and take that right into the center of the city in around 15 minutes. You can then board a train to anywhere in Europe. It is crazy to see from an American perspective. I met with several dozen senior management types at the company that is recruiting me and none of them own cars. These are guys making enough to certainly afford a car, they just never found a need for one. They rent cars, use ride share (a pay by the hour no reservation car system), or just use public transit.

Not having a car is very appealing to me. Even though I do not have a car payment I've sunk well over $1K in repairs in the past 3 months - then add in gas and insurance.

I have been in Switzerland before. I spent a week there mostly in Interlocken. I also visited Lucerne and Geneva. Breathtakingly beautiful country.

 

[telecaster911]

4 people
2 cats
675 sq ft
2 story
9 guitars

What, exactly, did you want to know about 'tiny house living'?

I'd like to hear more about this. We are going to about 850 sq ft and the mrs is freaking out about how to do it.

Paging @335clone

 

[335clone]

It sucks, to be honest. We have decks front and back that add living space in the warmer months (we have a big glass dining table on the front deck and laundry / work out equip on back deck) but in winter it is quite cramped. When the boys were young, sharing a 10'x10' was a lot more manageable than once they hit their teens. Every horizontal surface ends up with a lot of things on it. We have very limited closet and storage space, so every time we buy something new, something old has got to go.

I have a small shed outside that holds my tools and crap, but it is packed to the gills and I have to drag half of it out to get to anything, and what usually happens is things get left out and rained on.

My suggestion is to evaluate every single thing you own, and get rid of what is not essential. Find a place for everything once you move, and don't let things get cluttered. I hope you will have a garage, but if not get the biggest shed you can find.

 

[Pine Apple Slim]

I can't wait to downsize.

Current house:

it's stupid. I'm the only one in it most of the time. My kids grew up and two in college so they only come around part time when not in school. My youngest is a junior in HS. My niece is never around as she is off working and with her BF most of the days. Once my youngest is in college I'm absolutely downsizing and moving. I've thrown out at least a dumpster worth of stuff and sold a bunch of stuff at a flea market in preparation to the big move. I can't wait to get out and have something smaller.

And this is my idea of downsizing:

That's a pretty big boat. Certainly doable.

 

[Pine Apple Slim]

Pine Apples Law of Stuff:
Stuff expands to fill whatever space available.