This 51-year-old pays $725 a month to live in a ‘tiny home on wheels’ in someone’s backyard—take a look inside

I never pictured myself living in a tiny home, but now I can’t imagine my life without it.

In 2018, my marriage of 18 years ended. I had been living in a four-bedroom, three-bathroom, 3,000-square-foot house near Boulder, Colorado with my now ex-husband, our two kids and dogs.

I was ready for a change of scenery. But the houses for sale in my area were out of my budget, so I had to get creative. When I saw a trend of tiny houses on social media, I was immediately intrigued and decided to go for it.

Today, I live in a 520-square-foot house with a modern farmhouse interior, and I have a community of 160,000 followers on Instagram, where I share tips about the tiny house lifestyle.

How I built my tiny home on wheels

In 2019, I bought a tiny house shell from a local builder for $45,000. I paid $3,000 for a floorplan that he could work off of.

He gave me a price quote (that ended up being very unrealistic) and told me everything would be done within six to eight months. But eight months later, there was no progress. I knew it was time to move on.

So I reached out to a different builder, MitchCraft Tiny Homes, to take over the project in June 2020. Their estimate was a little higher than my budget, but they seemed knowledgeable and trustworthy.