We moved into a townhouse, family of four with about 900 sq. ft. Just wanted to share how we tackle these issues. We’re within walking distance to the library, green market and downtown. The only thing I would love to do is tear up the cement backyard (all 16′x22′ of it), add solar panels, replace the antiquated windows and hook up a water collection system.

Laundry:
We bought a portable washer that hooks up to the sink, with two kids it is a god send. I hear ppl scoff at the idea, but when the other option is hundreds of dollars at the laundromat and lugging everyone there and back…no thanks. We hang out clothes to dry, i’d love to say outside, but in florida it is almost too humid, so they get hung around the house. I am looking into one of the fold out racks that fold out from the wall for the future, right now we use the expanding racks and hangers.

gardening:
URBAN HOMESTEADING! You can use vertical gardening to get the most out of your space. Look into squarefoot gardening as well. We devised a way to compost directly in our “garden” and we bury compostables directly into the potted plants. Plus you can look into the table top worm composters they have out.

deep freezing:
Our deep freezer is energy star, it uses 26 kwh a year. We have no room for it so it sits in the corner of the living room and the kids use it as a magnet board, a white board and a junk collector.

canning:
I’m learning! :)

storing:
We try to get rid of as much stuff as possible or it will own you.

entertaining:
Potlucks take care of the “storing entertainment cookware and servingware” issue and we have a lot of modular furniture…chairs that fold and tuck into spaces, floor pillows that hide under beds, etc. We can get 15-20 ppl comfortably in our home.

Good luck!

Yes having a home can be costly, but its $2.50 a single load at our cheapest laundromat. Even with only two loads a week, plus drying at .25/6mins we easily spend $10/week on laundry. Thats $520 a year. Without taking into account gas to get there (15mins) and detergent, etc. Forget about the weeks we do the blankets and bath rugs or extra coats.

We’re looking forward to having a garage again, not splitting bills that aren’t even half ours and other issues. We’ll be able to make a big garden (although ours is currently pretty big) and can, get a freezer and a foodsaver and break out the dehydrator. My grandparents were big preservers and I miss it with all my soul.

I rent now, after 3 houses. I lost $90,000 on the last one. Houses go down in value, too. My savings have never grown faster.

Even large (20 cu.ft.) chest freezer won’t run you more than $50/year in operating costs.

And you can store tons of food, for months, at the typical -20F temperature of a standalone freezer.

It’s amazing how much free food we get from gardeners.

A Food Saver is a must to package (shrinkwrap) food for the freezer.

About the only thing we can anymore are tomatoes.

All other food is processed for the freezer.

Freezing uses MUCH less energy than canning.

Also, food usually tastes better when it hasn’t been cooked as long as canning requires.

Ingredients:

one bar of fels-naptha soap, grated
one cup wahing soda
one cup borax

mix together and store in a jar

use 2 Tablespoons per load (add to washer before loading in the clothes)

This recipe washes 32 loads of clothes. The whole batch costs less than two bucks to make. I think that might be cheaper than most branded laundry detergents.

It may be possible to use other soaps to replace the bar of fels-naptha (which grates to about 2 cups of flakes), but I haven’t tried any other kind.

My sister sent me the recipe after clipping it out of her local newspaper.

Best wishes on finding/buying a home.

-awh

I still rent, and I always insist that where I rent includes a washer/dryer (or at least the hookup). Also, I have adequate room for the sort of entertaining I do (I have a separate dining room and a den/office). My apartment has a storage space off the patio that fits my storage needs.

Of course, the kitchen is still ridiculously small, there is no place for a deep freezer or storing canned goods, and the biggest issue is I can’t grow anything that won’t grow in containers on my patio. Of course, there is community garden space available nearby but I’ve never been THAT motivated to grow tomatoes. I’d also really like a linen closet.

Sadly, most of the homes I can afford right now are tiny too — my biggest gain might be the gardening space. But my day is coming.

Have fun in the new digs Trent!
DB

Also we just moved into a new house. I think the greatest joy in our entire house for my wife is not having to use the tiny stacked washer and dryer that was in our apartment.

You did a good job of pointing out some of the less obvious saving a home can provide.

Since it’s so cheap to make your own, and you enjoy making it, why not make extra and try to barter (or sell) it at your local farmers’ market?

One benefit you didn’t mention is having space to keep tools for repairing your home and cars. Do you plan to do much in that regard?

We have a home, but unfortunately only a crawl space instead of a real basement. It just barely has room for the furnace, washer and dryer, and a few odds and ends tucked into corners. No room for a freezer or general storage.

Good luck with the new home!