A RETIRED and widowed man decided to build a small mobile home using a truck and trailer.
He pays just $25 a month to camp in his small house and lives minimally on Social Security payments.
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Cheap RV Living (@CheapRVliving) shares YouTube videos about downsized housing and tiny homes.
A video last week explored the tiny house of Alan, a retiree who built a tiny house on wheels after the death of his wife Nancy.
“This adventure started when my wife died, actually,” began Alan.
“The first thing I did was make the decision, smart or not, to build a little house and buy a truck to pull it,” he said.
Alan has been on the road for two years and built his little house on top of a trailer made specifically for this purpose.
He lives off Social Security and does DoorDash to earn some extra money to finance his travel expenses.
The retiree makes food deliveries about 10 days a month and receives a direct deposit at the end of each shift, then has the last two to three weeks of each month to spend his time however he wants.
Alan shared that living in a tiny house means he constantly has to troubleshoot and make repairs, but he loves his lifestyle.
“I’ve never really loved a house like I love this one. Maybe because I built it, but I built it to be a house, not a trailer,” he said.
SMALL HOUSE TOUR
Although the interior space of his small house was restricted, he had everything he needed.
Its kitchen was equipped with a microwave, toaster, sink and counter that rose to reveal a refrigerator underneath.
“I have everything you could use in a kitchen,” Alan said.
He also initially owned a freezer, but decided to abandon it because he didn’t use it much.
On the other side of the kitchen was his bed, which he had reduced from a double bed to a single bed.
Alan’s small home also had a $1,500 wood-burning stove, his wife’s closet, and a bathroom equipped with a full shower, sink, and toilet.
What is a tiny house?
Technically, a tiny house is any home measuring less than 400 square feet.
Many tiny homes are built on trailers so they can be towed anywhere, and some are converted from old school buses or vans.
Each state has its own rules about tiny homes, but generally, they are not subject to the same taxes as regular homes.
However, Alaska, Iowa, Louisiana, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin and West Virginia have made tiny houses illegal as permanent housing.
The retiree explained that he took out a little insurance to pay his bills, build the small house and invest US$15,000 in his truck.
“I left my three children in South Dakota, Iowa and Indiana and I miss them terribly and my grandchildren too – but this was something I felt was important,” Alan said.
“I love the whole concept of nomadic living and would like to continue that.”
In related news, a woman built her $20,000 tiny house starting with a $700 trailer on Craigslist — people praise her “great use of space.”
Plus, a couple built their tiny house for less than $40,000 – it took 10 months and a key feature makes it possible to travel with.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
