Thursday 9 April 2015

Life on the Cheap in a Small Space

Cheap and cheerful living in small spaces is what many aspire to, which is quite amazing considering what's available to buy nowadays. But for frugal living, we want fun and affordable homes, like tiny houses, cabins or even caravans, camper vans or tents. Well, tomorrow is a big day for me, as I downsize to frugal summer quarters.

Paradise

As the above sign clearly says, it's only a small drive to paradise, or in our case a walk or a cycle, so bring your bikes or walking boots as well as your gloves and welly boots if you are planning a trip to help out on the 'range' that is now known as Frugaldom.

Home from home in a static caravan

This will be basecamp for the foreseeable future! It's a good bit smaller than Thrift Cottage and under 385sq feet, so I am hoping that it will prove to be a comfortable and affordable choice, not withstanding the additional benefits of it being so handy for Frugaldom. It basically means falling out of bed and walking to work in the great outdoors. Hopefully, there will be a deck built before this month ends.

View of the green

This is the view of what lies between here and there (Frugaldom) with the little patch of grass in front of the wall ear-marked to become a micro kitchen herb garden. I may even enter the site competition for best garden plot in 2015!

View towads the three lochs

This is the view from the door, looking in the direction of one of the three lochs after which the site is named. From tomorrow, this is Frugaldom home-from-home. Don't worry, there's still plenty of space for Frugaldom friends and relatives visiting and I should be able to pick up the site WiFi, so I can keep you all up to date with progress and arrange your visits. Apart from that, you should be able to get me on my mobile. (Retro, I'll text you as soon as I get there to check.)

Frugaldom project

Finally, here is the main garden and work space - from the opposite side of the river and all around the big garden shed, which is actually a rather large barn. (The corrals, new woodlands, quarry and orchard are all beyond the barn.)

As you can see, my outdoor space far, far exceeds my indoor space but this is yet another aspect of the kind of frugality many have when aiming for money saving, lifetime goals. The cost of living in a mobile home can make it a very attractive prospect, even if you choose to pay extra for the luxury of having it on a fully serviced plot with access to on site facilities, but these are all things I'll be blogging about just as soon as I get everything organised.

Moving this close to Frugaldom is one more step closer to fulfilling the dream of creating a woodland wilderness, living off the land and communing with nature. These things can easily be entwined with small space living and modern luxuries. Now to make it all affordable and learn the ropes of cooking with gas. It's a great big adventure ready to happen and I have slashed my budget accordingly.

All going to plan, I should be able to update tomorrow, when I'll be starting a brand new food store, meal planning, scheduling and getting to grips with the cost of mobile home living. I'm thinking of it as an extended vacation!

Join www.frugalforums.co.uk for all the updates and I'll see you in Frugaldom soon.

Scottish Multimedia | Life on the Cheap in a Smaller Space

4 comments:

  1. can't wait to see what's going to happen all Summer.

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    1. Thanks, Gill. It sounds crazy to some, but I really am looking forward to this next new chapter. Only problem I can envisage is where some visitors can't see working from home as 'real' work, they may see it as even less so when I am set up at the caravan. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. :)

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  2. I would imagine the cost of gas might be your biggest expense but only if it gets cold and you have to turn on the heating. Good luck!

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    Replies
    1. At a phenomenal £70 per large cylinder deliverd, it will be used sparingly. Electricity is also more expensive than normal domestic rates. It is a new challenge, indeed.

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