Money Money Money

The groovy roof line=added expense.

Obviously money is a big part of any construction project.  For some projects more than others.  For us, it is where the "rubber meets the road."  I'd like to say we built a tiny house just because it was the right thing to do, but I should be clear here:  we built this house because it was all we could afford.  Even a little more than we could afford....

Hopefully I won't scare any readers away when I say the construction budget is a great metaphor for marriage.    We built our first home together when we were dating 7 years ago and felt that if we could build a house, we could build a marriage.  I don't think we were that far off.

With limited funds you must decide what your priorities are as a couple.  Sometimes you have to let go of your ideas to come up with a solution that will work for both of you.  Do I sound like a marriage counselor? We are lucky in that we agree it's worth it to put good money into stuff you can't see: tight framing, excellent insulation, ventilation, triple pane windows.  But, all this stuff adds up.  Then you get to the stuff you do see and have no money left! Which is why we've lived on plywood floors for a good part of our marriage.  Is is too much to ask for finished floors?  For siding? For a complete lighting package?  Should we take our friend Ray's advice and just pay the money and do it right?  I believe his words were: "Cry once and buy the right thing.  Don't keep crying over and over again because you have the wrong thing."

We incurred debt on this home in a sketchy real estate climate, and constantly ask ourselves, how could we have made it less expensive?  We don't want debt!  Well, we could of built a box and it would have been cheaper.   But look at that super sweet roof line!  In addition to being energy efficient, this home will be beautiful for generations.  We could of bought cheap goods at home depot and ripped them out next year when either they broke or we hated them.  But that's wasteful (and stupid).  We could be living on plywood again.  But as I know from experience: then you will always be living on plywood.   So, we tried to do it right with this one, agreeing to pay for it now, not later.