Raising family and tiny homes

“The moral causes of prosperity… reside in a constellation of virtues: industriousness, competence, order, honesty, initiative, frugality, thrift, spirit of service, keeping one’s word, daring – in short, love for work well done. No system or social structure can resolve, as if by magic, the problem of poverty outside of these virtues.” St. John Paul II

Interview with Talya Rose: Mother of 3, Husband of 1, and Tiny house dweller

JQ: Good day, Talya! I am excited you agreed to this interview! It is my first and second interview with a person who lives in a tiny home! So firstly, please give us a short introduction to the readers. Where are you from? Who are you? How many children do you have?

Talya: Of Course! I live in sunny southern California with my husband and my three children. My husband and I have been married nearly 8 years and we have a two year old boy, a five month old girl and an adopted seventeen year old girl. I was in school administration before I had children and I have since been blessed with the amazing opportunity to be a stay at home Wife and Mother.

JQ: So getting back to this tiny interview. Why don’t you tell us how big your home previously was? How big is the house you currently live in? How many rooms and bathrooms do you have?

Talya: When my husband I first got married we purchased a home a little over 1,700 sqft with the intention of starting and raising a family in it. It had four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a small yard. Now that our dream of having a family has become a reality we live in a home a little under 850 sqft. There are two bedrooms, one bathroom, and there is no garage. However the yard is quite a nice size.

JQ: What on earth possessed you and your husband to move into a tiny home? Are you secretly hobbits or do you live in the Shire?

Talya: Ha ha! I wish we lived in the shire and my husband is quite the opposite of hobbit size but several things motivated the downsize…  Southern California’s real estate market is tough and expensive. The larger home we originally purchased required two incomes to afford. I was just 19 years old when I married and bought the house and kids seemed like a distant dream that when reached would come at a time where my husband and I would have the earning power or savings to keep up the mortgage. This was not the case however and when I became pregnant with my Son and the adoption was being finalized for our oldest daughter, we sought out a living arrangement that would allow me to quit my job and live off of my Husband’s salary as a high school teacher.

JQ: Watching your videos, I see you are pretty happy mother. Would you say living in a small place has benefitted you and your family’s overall happiness level? If so, why?

Tayla: Absolutely! I wouldn’t even describe the home as being small because it doesn’t feel small at all. It feels cozy. My biggest apprehension was putting 3 kids in one room but it has worked out beautifully. They have all learned to be good solid sleepers in response to the close quarters. The home is actually quite a bit below our budget so the wiggle room has been a huge stress relief for us. Our priority is to raise healthy, Godly, children and finding a home that allows us to spend more time with them and less trying to earn more money has been instrumental in doing that. Had we stayed in our bigger home I would have been sacrificing creating a “home” for a stupid house.

JQ: I can imagine that a smaller home is much easier on the pocketbook. Less space means there is less places to put stuff that can get collected. What are some of the things that you miss? Have you found any gifts that you did not expect to find in this lifestyle?

Talya:  Before we moved into our smaller house my husband I sold or donated just about half of everything we owned. I thought it would be hard but it was actually quite freeing. Then when we physically moved our stuff into our home we realized that we had to purge once again and we got rid of half of everything for a second time. Fast forward to now a year and a half of living in the house and I feel like I could still get rid of more house hold items and not be short-handed. I never realized how I had let my possessions become part of my identity in a really unhealthy way so getting rid of most of it sort of shook me out of that American lifestyle of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’.  I feel so free and content and my family has experienced this as well. The only thing that I miss about our other home is the multitude of bathrooms. Having only one bathroom and multiple people sharing it has been challenging but when in an emergency there is always the great outdoors.

JQ: Being frugal is a virtue. It comes from the Latin “frugalis” which means useful, proper, temperate, economical. How does living in a tiny house require you to be frugal? Do you find being frugal is more freeing or less so?

Talya: Frugal is definitely the name of the game when living in a small house on a small budget. I find that not only has it been freeing but it has been fun as well. My husband and I look at projects like adventures and try to come up with the smartest, cheapest route. For example, our ceiling in one room is wood from our neighbor’s old fence that fell down. Not only was the project free but it actually looks really nice and it is always a favorite feature of our guests. Our house is not only small but it is 100 years old so there is always a project in the works but approaching the projects with a creative, frugal, hands on approach makes the tasks exciting instead of daunting.

JQ: I do not know if you are a personal organizer but I figure living in such a small place makes you near an expert. Do you have any tips you care to share? You know, ways of organizing that make more space?

Talya: I am actually quite terrible at organizing. My husband has helped me out a lot and I have gotten much better just from sheer necessity but I am a ‘work in process’ when it comes to organizing. The only tip I have is to pare down till you have just what you need. Then sit down, re-define ‘need’, and pare down some more. Even the best organizer can’t make ‘too’ much stuff fit in a little space so give what you don’t need away and THEN try to organize.

JQ: Talya, thank you for taking the time to give us your thoughts. Do you have any recommendations for others that may be interested in living in a small home? Books? Videos? Etc.?

It was my pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity. I don’t have any good materials to pass along but I wish everyone who might be considering living in a small home or even just living with a small budget the best of luck as you embark on the great adventure of living within your means!