Skoolies/Schoolies/Traveling Alternative Homes

What society says these days is Consume! Consume! Consume and do it quickly! Buy as much as you can and not have a penny left over, and ontop of that i want you to have thousands of dollars in debt to look like everyone else with the nice big house, nice car and most expensive clothes.

Bills Becoming A Hinderance?

Nothing is wrong with a big house, a nice car or expensive clothes but the question is it within your means? Does your excessive bills stop you from actually living the abundant life and carrying out your dreams?

The Tiny House Movement

The Tiny House movement is more than choosing to be different and traveling. It has the potential to set you apart from the consumerism society that we live in. It gives you an open door financially to truelly pursue your dreams.

Dreams

My question is what would you be doing differently in your life if your bills were cut down to only 25% of what it is now? Would you quit your 9-5 and pursue starting your own business? Would you travel? Would you spend more time volunteering in your community? Would you spend more time with your family?

There is way more to life than what society has taught us. Most of us growing up don’t understand that life is more than the biggest and the best because you were raised a certain way, and television is all about consumerism, but you can choose to think differently than how you were raised. You can choose be in your children’s lives more if you choose to. You can live the dream that is in your heart full time without the added stress of $5,000 worth of bills every month.

We personally came from renting a house and having a truck note every month. We were told from someone that as you get older you aquire more bills because your credit becomes better. That is not true for us and doesn’t have to be true for you. We now outright own two vehicles, two tiny houses (one we are letting a couple borrow so they can get on there feet to be financially independent), a piece of land that we just setup with our utilities. We are hoping for my husband to quit his job very soon to pursue our dream of going into the Tiny House/ Skoolie building business and also teaching people about the lifestyle that we will posses. God has given us a dream. The Tiny house movement has added more value than we would have ever thought. We started from nothing! We are doing it. So can you. I believe in you. Happy traveling. ❤

When traveling in a Tiny House there are many things to consider when it comes to the build of your tiny home. How long? How tall? How big will your bed be? How many kitchen cabinets will you need? The list goes on and on but another thing that can sometimes be looked over when going tiny is: How will this space be functional for my pets?

Pets can sometimes require space. You will have to consider your space there space in alot of ways. They may not have the same setup like a whole empty room with a kennel for when you are away. It may be just a small corner of the back of your bus. Or just your pet free roaming in your bus.

Your Bed Placement

When having a dog when building a tiny home it is important that your bed be toward the back of the bus or up high out of reach of your pet. Trust me! This is important and the further away your bed is from the front door the better. As you travel you will notice different types of soil, sand and mud and having a dog tracking mud into your bed from outside is not a fun time.

Bed And Litter Box Ideas💡

In your build if your pet will need to stay regularly in a kennel consider making a built in bedroom area with a door and lock. We have done this in a section under our bed that fits a crib mattress it keeps our animals contained when we leave but also is very asteticaly pleasing. Same idea for a litter box just make sure your cat can have a door that it can get in and out of freely. Also be sure you make the door big enough where you can easily clean any messes. Also a kennel in the corner will do as well.

We have 3 inside animals. A pig, and 2 dogs. We make it work. We have lived in a 20 foot camper with the bed next to the door and now a 37 foot bus with the bed towards back of the bus. We prefer a bigger bus size because having dogs and a pig it just makes it easier to handle and messes dont look as big in a bigger space. I really dont have too much to say on this topic but please guard your bed with all diligence🤣. Anyone in a tiny house with dogs would say the same thing. Happy Traveling.❤

My husband and I have two dogs, a pig and 16 chickens. We travel with my husband’s job to different places on average every three months. Every place we stay comes with its challenges and concerns when it comes to our animals.

Aggressive Animals In The Area

The safety of my pets is a major concern coming from someone with nearly 20 animals. The laws are that dogs are supposed to stay in its own yard or leashed when out and about. Reality is that alot of people do not follow that law which is ment to protect the dog its self and other animals in the area. Or sometimes animals escape and that includes highly aggressive dogs at times. My pitbull was in a fenced in yard in the backyard of the couple that we are renting from along with my pig and chickens. I thought they were safe but another pitbull that I was unaware of jumped over the fence and attacked my dog while I was inside of my Skoolie. Thankfully someone was there to breakup the fight. My pitbull Luka was cut and bleeding. My pig and 16 chickens were also in the same yard when this incident happened. They could have easily lost there lives if my pitbull Luka wasn’t back there.

So not knowing the area is a concern while traveling even when you think everything is fine because you take necessary precautions. The neighbors ended up letting us put up a taller fence on the side that the neighbors pitbull jumped over. Recently that same pitbull got loose and attacked the neighbor’s goat across the street. That pitbull almost got shot and the owners of that dog now have a hefty fine.

Things to also consider are soil types in the area when you have pets. We also had an incident in another place where my rabbits dug got out from an outside T post fence easily because the ground was just sand. One rabbit was killed by a dog that lived on the property. The other rabbit came back days later but eventually got out again at another place we stayed and never was seen again.

Poisonous Plants

Poisonous plants is a concern especially for my pig. She spends hours a day outside just eating grass and weeds. She needs to do this to stay healthy. Thankfully the worste thing she has gotten into is a plant that had small razors on it but she was fine. There were horses on the property, and the place she ate that plant was an area that the horses wouldn’t eat. So I made sure to keep her confined to specific areas on a long leash.

Best Precautions To Take

When traveling with animals I would say that if you aren’t able to stay in a certain temperature in your bus you shouldn’t leave your pet inside of your home unattended in extreme temperatures either.

Its best that each pet is able to have a tag with your name and number incase they escape. Nothing would be worse having to leave an area without your pet.

When having outside animals while traveling such as chickens its best to clip wings and travel with a T Post fence to ensure there safety from any predators.

Before leaving your pets outside unattended take walks in the area. Keep an eye out for any animals that may pose a threat to your pets. Also look for any plants that may be toxic to your pets especially plants in landscape areas.

Also if possible build relationships with the people in the area. They are more likely to watch out for your animals and property when you may be away for the day.

Look At The Positives

Pets are great things to have with you. They bring alot of joy but just know that there comes a big responsibility with keeping them while traveling and some pets are easier to keep than others. Do your research to ensure that your pets will stay safe and happy. Happy Traveling ❤

Can a tiny home be too tiny? That question is a very good question to ask yourself before purchasing a tiny home. There are many different factors that need to be thought of before starting a project or purchasing your very own tiny home.

CUSTOM BUILT

The great thing about a tiny house is that many people will build their own tiny house or get someone to build a custom tiny house for them. This a good option to be sure you have enough space for all of your belongings.

TRAILER OR BUS

The base of mobile tiny homes are either some type of trailer or bus. Before purchasing a bus or a trailer you need to figure out what size is best for you. Keep in mind that if you purchase a 40 foot bus you may end up with 34 feet of living space. There are typically three types of school bus styles. Classic full nose, stubby nose, or flat nose. Flat nose will give you more living space.

YOUR BUDGET

How much money you have to work with will be a factor to take into account when purchasing or building your own tiny home. When building a tiny home on a trailer you will have to think of the actual price of the trailer that you want. A bigger trailer will typlically cost more, and also building your tiny home on a large trailer will mean more money because extra materials needed to complete the build. More insulation, more wood, more wires, more screws, more floors and many other things. Materials needed for converting a larger bus will cost you more in materials but unlike a trailer some busses are smaller but cost more because they are in higher demand than a classic large sized bus. It all depends on the seller as well. Gas or diesel also plays a part. Bigger bus or trailer equals more fuel.

FAMILY 👪

If you have a family of 4 with two dogs you maybe wouldn’t want to live in a 25 foot bus. The same as if you are a single person you may not need to get a 40 foot bus. You want to be as comfortable as possible and want to really be able to make your tiny house a home for you and your family.

TRAVEL

You may want to also consider type and size tiny house to purchase. Depending on how much you will travel. A bus is made to travel many miles, but the larger size bus or trailer could possibly hinder the places you can travel to and can be more of a load when traveling up hilly places. Smaller tiny houses or busses will be able to make it to many destinations with ease and alot more maneuverability into tighter spots.

Tools

Tools sometimes aren’t thought about but if you are going to haul around all of your tools that you built your tiny house with you will need a decent sized garage or storage area which will take away from your living space of your tiny home.

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

My husband and I currently live in a 37 foot stubby nose Skoolie with our two dogs, pig and have our 16 chickens that travel in cages in our bus while we move every few months. We are comfortable in the living space. We have a bigger garage area than normal. Our garage can fit most of our tools that we used to build our bus plus more. Our first tiny house was a converted RV tiny home that was only 20 feet long. It was what we had but longed for the day when we could move to a bigger home. When we traveled while living in our tiny house camper we uncomfortably packed everything into the camper and had to unload so many things from inside every time. We still have to unload things in our bus but alot less stressful since alot of our outside stuff stays in the back of our bus in the garage.

I hope that this can help you in your journey to living tiny. Please leave feed back and tell me some of your concerns and questions when it comes to living tiny. Happy Traveling ❤

This is just me as a fellow tiny houser here to just encourage you to just keep on going. Whatever you do just don’t give up.

Building your first and even second tiny house can be filled with challenges. My husband and I live in our Skoolie which is our second tiny home. It has been very challenging each time in different ways. We went from rebuilding a camper with no walls to building a complete skoolie ourselves from scratch.

Our camper took us 9 months to rebuild and finally live in. We had no prior building experience besides my husband built me some chicken coops. It was very discouraging because we didn’t have money and my husband didn’t have much extra time. But we did it and so that means you can too!

Our Skoolie had its own set of challenges. We had more finances saved and also time because my husband was layed off. But it was like building your own house from scratch but with no straight lines. Which makes measuring everything complicated.

I’m not going to list all of the grouling details because this is ment to encourage. We are nothing but a couple in there 20s that had a dream from God to be completely self sufficient financially. Our hearts don’t beat for Tiny houses but it beats for freedom from the system and freedom to enjoy life by doing what God has us for us to do and not living to pay bills. Tiny houses are getting us to that place where we want to be.

Don’t just have a Tiny house to just have one. Have a reason and a plan. Ask God what he has for you. Is your reason to become financially independent? To travel and impact lives through the freedom you find? Is it to be a missionary? Is it to escape? Is it to live minimalistic or to have what you can afford?

I’m saying all of this so you can think about your end goals and plans when it gets hard, because it will get hard! Stay motivated, watch tiny house videos of homes that look similar to your own that you will complete some day. Pray and ask God to give you strength. Don’t put off work but take breaks. Stay consistent and it will pay off in the end. Whatever your goal is. I can say if you dont give up it will be worth it in the end. Happy traveling.❤

Feel free to share with all who are struggling.

Tiny houses are not for a specific type of person. Its not just for your average free spirit that would like to travel the world. Its also for those with families. Its also for those that have big goals to reach, such as building their own family home in the future or saving money to have a homestead. Its for those that like to live a glamorous lifestyle to those that have no money to their names.

HOUSE NOTE OR RENT

People in tiny homes are typically able to save more money a month than your average person renting a home or with a house note. Sometimes it may mean an extra $1000 to $2000 a month between having no monthly house rent or very little house note.

UTILITY BILL

Living in a tiny house will help you to maybe cut utilities in half just because of living in a smaller space which means less air conditioning or heating needed.

TOTAL SAVINGS

Total savings can add up to $12,000 to $24,000 a year. Yes that is a crazy amount! You can save for 5 to 10 years and build your own home in cash. Saving you thousands and thousands of dollars in interest. An extra $40,000 in some cases. Nobody has time for that much loss.

There are many different reasons to go tiny. Having a tiny house on wheels can also save you on hotels and air b n b costs. Tiny houses are a great avenue to bigger things. I honestly love my Skoolie but I dont want to live in it forever. I am in love of the places that my skoolie is bringing me in being financially independent. Happy traveling.

My name is Gabby and my husbands name is Ramsey. We live in Texas. We have a pig, two dogs and 16 chickens. Almost three months ago we started living in our Skoolie that we converted ourselves. Before we lived in our Skoolie we lived in our converted tiny house camper.

WHAT STARTED IT ALL

My husband worked a job that required him to travel alot. He would be gone for days at a time and even sometimes a week or two. I hated it. We were just starting in our marriage. I thought what is the point in being married if I’m not able to see my husband on a regular basis. I prayed to God that my husband would be able to come home to me every night. I was lonely. We had plans to get out of renting the house that we were staying in. We had picked out a piece of land and a very nice new trailer. We had to pay $500 to get people to out to survey the land and get it ready. We ended up canceling our plans so ended up losing the $500 that we couldn’t afford to lose. We just didn’t feel right about it and started looking into tiny house videos.

THE PURCHASE THAT CHANGED OUR LIVES

So a while after we lost our $500 dollars my husband had been looking for a camper online. He came across a $400, 20 foot,1990 something, fifth wheel camper that was partially done. It was an old man’s project that he wasn’t able to finish. It was a lot of work being that most of the outer walls were torn off. The bedroom was completely missing. There was only a platform that remained. It was a real project. We were broke because my husband had a job where it rained alot and because of it they weren’t able to work but were stuck out of town in a hotel not being payed. Every moment he was home, he would build the camper and we would dumpster dive for materials. It took us 9 months to complete the project. Since then we have never been apart for more than a day. I travel with him with his newer job that pays alot better. God had answered our prayers.

God Has Other Plans In The Midst Of All Of This.

We realized the freedom we were able to have not having to pay $800 rent on a house. We realized that we can even save money now to buy everything out in cash. Since making this switch we have bought a car, a truck, a bus, and everything inside of it to make it into a home. We were freed up so much financially. We don’t struggle anymore unless we make an unwise financial decision which we sometimes do. We also bought a small piece of land that God blessed us with. Hopefully we can live there soon so we dont have to pay to rent a spot to park our bus. Also we will save for solar and grow our own food so we can live truelly free.

Financial Independence

That is our true desire through all of this. Do we want to live in a bus forever? No! We are satisfied in where the bus is taking us. We will one day build our own unique home. Maybe a shipping container next. I just want to say that there is no feeling better than knowing that the place where you lay your head every night and plan on keeping doesn’t depend on if whether you go to the 40 hour job every week for the next 30 years. I want my motivation for working to be because I want to and that I love what I do. Even if it brings in only $200 a week. Happy Traveling. ❤