SAVING MONEY, PLANET AMONG BENEFITS

LIEZEL Jooste says there are so many pros to their new lifestyle it is hard to mention them all. But the main ones are:

Quality of life: Living small and letting go of all the “stuff” you think you need reduces your stress levels immensely. Only once you start making the changes do you realise that you actually don’t need most of the stuff you think you do.

Saving money: The monthly expenses of being in a tiny house are a lot less than those of a traditional house.

Freedom: If your tiny house is on wheels, like ours is, you have the freedom to go anywhere anytime – and you have your house with you. No more planning for that trip down the coast – just start up your engine and off you go.

Helping the environment: By living small, you reduce your footprint. We use less power and also plan to be completely off the grid soon, so we will not use traditional power at all. You also use less water. At the moment, we use an average of only 20 litres to 25 litres of water a day in the caravan, and that includes showers for all four of us. Only the laundry uses more water. Once the final plumbing is set up in the bus, we will use even less.

Better family time: Being in a smaller space together means you get to spend quality time with your family.

Life skills and values: It teaches everyone more respect, understanding, compassion and patience for those around them. It also helps to teach children the importance of helping out and doing their part – a much-needed skill in this day and age.

We have not experienced anything that we could call a negative as yet. As long as you are open minded and willing to adapt, the things you may see as inconveniences in the beginning become part of your normal lifestyle and daily living.