I think for all of those who know me..I'm a hippie..I constantly talk myself off the ledge of driving my 1977 VW bus as a daily driver, living in a camper for the rest of my life and handmaking EVERYTHING in our lives..... soooo Bbbuuuttt if you would've asked me 5 years ago what the next 5 years looked like for me.. I don't believe it would have included being married, becoming a farmer, starting a farm, searching for livestock and deciding on Minimal and Tiny Living in a Tiny House! Houston's parents have always had the dream of living on a large piece of property where they can fully enjoy their lives with the close knit family they were creating. When Houston and I started dating in 2009 and our relationship progressed, we also took up the values of keeping our family closer than most people are even comfortable talking about. Now 5 years later with a marriage and property purchase under our belts... WE ARE CLOSER TO OUR DREAMS THAN EVER BEFORE! We are starting to look at home plans, which have lead to some pretty interesting "Lifestyle" discussions, we are looking at the type of impact we want to make on the world, the State of South Carolina, Anderson County, the city of Belton, our neighbors on Broadway School Road and most importantly our family in the making!!! At first we looked through plans and decided on an 1,800 sq ft home that was just to die for! The cabin feel... would just take your soul over as you drive down our mile long driveway, weaving in and our of the trees, down the side of the pasture. The ideas of Thanksgiving and Christmas at the "FARM" were dancing around in our heads... The big front yard, the big house, the big rooms, the big living room and big kitchen, the massive deck with the huge screened in porch..and the fireplace... Oh the fireplace that was fit for an Aspen Ski Lodge for the rich and famous. Let's face it... The picture was painted! Needless to say... We were living small and thinking massive! and those two ideals, my friends, NEVER WORK. You can try and keep up with the Jones but what most people find out is that the Jones' are broke too. This lead us to looking and deciding what direction God was calling our hearts in! That's a funny thing...once you stop babbling about your OWN plans, God speaks ...louder than ever....as clear as a bright blue sky..and HIS plans are more than you could every dream of. Shortly before getting married we started preparing for the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover that was promptly starting as soon as we said "I Do" The whole mantra of "Live like no one else so that later you can live like no one else." really resonated with us, as we were coming into our marriage with more than $70,000 in debt {a large chunk of that being student loans} and thinking that we didn't want to wait for the "golden years" to enjoy retirement living. We wanted to pay our "stupid tax", eat rice and beans, beans and rice and get the heck out of dodge to enjoy this thing called "life" with our family. Our friends. The people and relationships that matter most to us. Not wait until they are dead and gone and be "wishing" for time we can't ever get back. So deals had to be made. Compromises were set and we are officially in the midst of a growing Debt Snowball. I think the hardest thing for people is Motivation. It is so easy to continue in your 9 to 5. Make payments on a car. Autodraft the rest of your bills. No questions. No harm done. No change to suffer through. We are creatures of habit and comfort and guess what.... Satan LOVES IT!! After doing some serious soul searching, daily prayers to the good man upstairs and researching other people who were also on the same journey we were about to start We stumbled over a Netflix documentary called TINY.... and a little blog from a couple named Tico & Tina Over at their Make room for Greatness Blog. It was this particular post that stopped my search for constant affirmation that we were making the right choice, that our children wouldn't be emotionally damaged, that we could actually do this....PLEASE check it out...This post alone will put a fire in your soul and set you on the road for a completely different and ever changing lifestyle!!!! http://www.ticoandtina.com/exploring-minimalism There was a question posed that asked simply: "What needs to be streamlined in your life to uncover the greatness you were made for?" I slowly started to research heavily about other people that are making the jump to a MINIMAL lifestyle... They are VOLUNTARILY choosing LESS to ultimately have MORE of the things they really wanted in life. One way Tico and Tina describe it....is that "Minimalism challenges what you thought you knew about what you wanted in life." and that statement has been brewing in my soul ever since my eyes ran over the words. Which lead me to this question... "How would my life be different, my family's life, my husband's life.....be DIFFERENT...if we decided to cut the crap, get rid of the junk, cut ties with the materialistic ideas of society and died to ourselves daily... To FULLY live as a steward of God's plan?" This leads me to think of the countless times I have failed God by not listening to him and deciding that MY plan is better.... That, my friends, is playing with fire...and now it is a gamble we are NO LONGER willing to make. We are now on the road to paying our "stupid tax" with the goal to be COMPLETELY debt free by the time we are 30. We have already been told: "good luck {sarcasm}" "no way that will ever happen" "you really think you can do that?" "whatever...just get use to having debt" "It's not likely that will happen, but knock yourself out.." It just breaks my heart every time I hear something like that come out of another humans mouth. I don't see a skeptic...I see someone who has been financially broken for so many years... That they have NO CLUE what financial freedom looks like anymore. I see lost hope. All I have to show them is this... This exert from Tina & Tico's blog post sums the this lifestyle up Perfectly: http://www.ticoandtina.com/minimalist-lifestyle-baby-steps-simple-living-doesnt-hard/ "If the mention of minimalism causes you to picture life in a monastery, or people who have a picture inventory of everything they own (because it’s like 50 things), or the tiny house movement where people voluntarily down-size to a 130ish sq foot home, then you may have dismissed it as something for crazy hippies. But I wholeheartedly believe that minimalism is for everyone. Minimalism is not about subscribing to an extremist lifestyle. It’s also not just some ethereal way of thinking, difficult to pin down and realistically apply. Minimalism is about having the space and freedom in your life for what really matters.I bet you’re actually already a minimalist at heart. Lorilee Lippincott from Loving Simple Living says you can call yourself a minimalist if:
The Minimalists explain minimalism as: … a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives. By clearing the clutter from life’s path, we can all make room for the most important aspects of life: health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution. There are many flavors of minimalism: a 20-year-old single guy’s minimalist lifestyle looks different from a 45-year-old mother’s minimalist life. Even though everyone embraces minimalism differently, each path leads to the same place: a life with more time, more money, and more freedom to live a more meaningful life." Did you know that Scripture tells us that God gives us special gifts and talents so that we can fully live for him? Here are a few places in the bible that refer to our gifts: Romans 12:4-8 1 Corinthians 12:9-11 1 Corinthians 12: 27, 28 Ephesians 4:8 Ephesians 4:11-16 Acts 6:1-7 1 Timothy 3:1-13 1 Peter 4:10, 11 and it is such a peaceful thought to know that now I have seen the importance of living for God and that I will be able to follow through with the plan God has for my life! We are choosing a minimalist lifestyle and Tiny living to please God. Living this lifestyle will free up other earthly binders that would hold us back from the plans God has set forth for us. By that logic....Who wouldn't want a life like that? Isn't that what we modern Americans consider "The American Dream"? Interested in learning more about how to simplify and start your minimalist story? Head on over to: http://www.ticoandtina.com/exploring-minimalism/ and decide if the jump is right for you!!! As for us... we are going to hang out here and be open for questions as we put a little elbow grease and dreams into this Debt snowball. Ditchin' the plans,
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Dana Here..25. Married to my High School sweet pea, Houston. We have lived in a 216 sq ft camper working on 3 years now to become as financially free as possible while building our first home ourselves on 25 Acres in the Upstate of South Carolina. |