Howdy yall!!!!

[Robwen]

First wanted to say..i just joined, great place, and im a total TOTAL newbie :-? :-/ :'( Okay i got a few questions for yall if yall dont mind


Right now im living in N.E. Texas..in a few months Ill be moving to the Mena Ark Area (sooooo pretty there) anyway, ive got a whole acre for myself and no freakin way can afford to "BUY" anything to live in, and my 1986 Chevy is too small for Sara and me both hehe. Anyway Im gonna be working with a very very limited income. (around 600.00 a month to live on) So #1 is it possible to built a tiny home with that kind of money? #2 Im going to be doing it pretty much all by myself. Will I be able to? (I do have a dumb as a rock step father who may help tho)

Sorry i know yall have prolly been asked this stuff before. I just dont know where to start. I mean should i rip off my ol man before i leave him? Okay okay it was a joke!!! I swear it was....anyway thanks yalll...and nice meetin ya...

[glenn-k]

Hi Wendy--- sounds like a tall order but we will help with what we can.

I assume the land is in Mena - do you have contacts there who could look around for resources.  Sounds like it will need to be a rather quick solution.  How about seeing if they can find a small trailer or camper to use for a bit.  Building without money is not usually a fast solution - you need time to find cheap or free stuff.  Lots of work involved too.

[Robwen]

Yeah my mother knows folks out there, they live in a small community outside of Mena, will talk to her about it.

Thanks btw

[glenn-k]

My pleasure -  see you around the forum.

[n74tg]

Hi Wendy:
I'm over in Hot Springs (about 1 hour east of Mena) and building one right now.  If you want to build something, check first to see that you are out in "the county" rather than inside city limits.  Over here (Garland County), there are almost no requirements to follow if you are out in the county; in the city is a different story.  That means you can pretty much build what you want with no one to tell you that you can't.

On a really tight budget I expect you will need to look at alternative styles of construction.  There are lots of styles discussed here on the forum...start reading.

Good luck; welcome to the forum and soon to be to Arkansas.

P.S.  I'm also from Texas; Houston.  Left there 6 years ago; NO desire to go back.

[Amanda_931]

Cheap trailers really can be cheap.

In both senses of the word.  

Travel trailers tend to be sturdier than the house kind--and more expensive because of that.

I've had a couple of friends who have gotten house trailers--delivered and set up--for very very little--especially from someone who has just finished her house--then the cost of moving and setup may be all that you'd pay--still might be a couple of grand.  I think I'd rather (actually I do) live in a travel trailer if there was not much in the way of utilities available.

What's on your acre--electric power, water, septic tank/sewer, telephone?  You can live without any of those, but probably not on an acre with people surrounding you.

Bear in mind that some kind of support group is going to be very important.  We can help, but we're on-line and all over the country.  Even if you're not Christian, chuches, especially those with weekly (potluck) dinners are good.  Sometimes literally a lifesaver.

[Robwen]

Thanks for the advice yall

The land is actually next to my mothers, so my ele and water etc will be connected to hers.


I only lived her nearly 3 years im from OK oh and where ill be living is NOT in town. But will still check on codes and whatnot.

thanks yall

[mark_chenail]

If I were you, I would build a little pole shed with a raised deck floor and a metal roof.  If you really scrounged for lumber and bought the least expensive you could find and had used windows and doors, you could easily close in a 12x18 space for about $1000.  Now depending on what time of year you are doing this, you could conceivably build the shed in various stages. If its spring or summer,  you could sink the posts and put up the roof first and camp out under the roof...dirt floor and no walls but under cover and a few tarps would give some shelter.  That would cost you about 400 bucks.   When you could manage it, you could then build the deck and get off the ground.  That would be another 225 to 250 in joists and plywood. Finallyyou could frame the walls and sheath them with hardiboard for about 425.
Then you could wire and insulate and do rough paneling or drywall inside and be fairly comfortable.  There would be room for a double bed and a decent sized closet  on one end of the space.  A twelve foot run of counters and applainces on the other end would make a little primitive kitchen.  You could heat it all with a small box stove easily and still have room for  a table and chairs and Sara.s crib.  You could build the bed in and make storage drawers under it for clothes and such and some loft space for storage and the bed could double as a sofa in the daytime with lots of cushions.   I can send you a rough lumber list and a plan if you send me a pm.  Heres a little plan to give you an idea.

[Amanda_931]

That could work.

Especially if you've got your mother's place to borrow in a pinch.

[Robwen]

Thanks yall and yeah thats a cool idea.