Save Money Living in a Smaller Home

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Learn how to save money living in a smaller home. With a total of 640 square feet, the Speed family home is just right.
Learn how to save money living in a smaller home. With a total of 640 square feet, the Speed family home is just right.
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The Speeds, Ben, Sarina and Noah, live comfortably in their petite home, along with the family cat.
The Speeds, Ben, Sarina and Noah, live comfortably in their petite home, along with the family cat.
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The details are doubly important for a small home, and the Speed’s home is efficient and attractive both inside and out.
The details are doubly important for a small home, and the Speed’s home is efficient and attractive both inside and out.
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Thoughtful planning produced a design that is efficient and economical, as well as cheery and welcoming.
Thoughtful planning produced a design that is efficient and economical, as well as cheery and welcoming.
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The Speeds bought the plan for home from Tumbleweed Tiny House Co., based in Sabastopol, Calif.
The Speeds bought the plan for home from Tumbleweed Tiny House Co., based in Sabastopol, Calif.
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The walls are brightly colored, creating an airy and spacious feel to each room.
The walls are brightly colored, creating an airy and spacious feel to each room.

The best way to slash your energy bills is to save money living in a smaller home. Choose a compact, well-built home such as this sweet, neat and petite home in Franklin, Maine.

Sometimes good things do come in small packages, would you be surprised to know you can save money living in a smaller home? As the housing market in America super-sized and homeowners demanded more square footage for their new homes each year, Sarina Speed and her husband, Ben, went the opposite route: They decided to build the smallest house possible to fit their needs. Their two-story home in Franklin, Maine, clocks in at 640 square feet and stands 18-by-18 feet, smaller than some garages. The couple shares the home with their toddler, Noah, and a cat.

Quirky, small houses are a tradition in Maine. And the Speeds’ home was as carefully planned as some coastal mansions.

Sarina says it was important for her and her husband to build an environmentally friendly home that required a minimal amount of fossil fuels. The couple originally planned to build an off-the-grid home powered by solar panels, but the initial investment would’ve been too much. After months of research, the couple decided the easiest way to achieve energy efficiency was to reduce the size of the house. Their research paid off; their monthly electric bill is about $20 (they heat their home using a woodstove).

  • Published on Aug 27, 2008
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