This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Fenna Wit, a data analyst, and Jos van der Meulen, who works for the Minitopia Foundation. They both live in the foundation’s tiny home village in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Their finances have been verified by Business Insider. The piece has been edited for length and clarity.
Jos: We’re very proud to have built our tiny house for about 75,000 euros ($87,000) without borrowing any money.
With no mortgage, housing costs us about 800 euros a month, including insurance, utilities, and renting a plot from Minitopia. After covering all our living expenses, we’re able to save more than 3,000 euros on average each month from a joint monthly income of around 5,500 euros.
Saving close to 60% of our income at 29 is uncommon, especially given that we only work three days a week. Our tiny home has given us that level of financial freedom.
We wanted a cheaper alternative to renting or buying in the city
Fenna: The main reason we wanted to get on the property ladder was to keep our expenses low. Rent in the Netherlands is expensive, and buying a large home in the city is even more so. We didn’t want to stress about money or feel like we were working just to live.
Jos: Most of my friends are living with their parents, waiting until they can afford a house. Others are living paycheck to paycheck, and we didn’t want that. So we started looking for alternatives, including building our own house.
Fenna: I came across self-built tiny houses while scrolling on Instagram and immediately thought it could be perfect for us. They looked cute, seemed affordable, and we liked the idea of designing our own home.
We started researching and found tiny home villages, like Minitopia, where you can rent a plot of land and build your own house. We visited them for inspiration and became increasingly excited about the idea.
We used our savings to fund building our tiny home
Jos: When we started building the tiny house in May 2022, we moved into a large shed in my parents’ backyard to save money. We planned to live there for six months, but we ended up staying for a year and a half. Everything we earned during that time went into the build.
We didn’t find the process stressful because I knew that if we really needed to, we could have asked our parents for some money. In the end, we didn’t have to. It just took about six months longer to complete the build than planned, while we saved up.
Raising a baby in a tiny home was tough at first
Fenna: We moved into the house in May 2023, before it was completely finished, with our then seven-month-old son, Flip. Our second son, Kik, was born in October 2024, and we became a family of four.
It was tough at first because we suddenly had a lot more things to fit into the space, like the stroller, the crib, and the baby gear. As soon as Kik was old enough, we gave away what we didn’t need, and it started to feel less cramped.
Jos: We underestimated how much clutter we owned. Even now, keeping a tiny home tidy can be a real challenge, especially with two young children.
Fenna: The lack of space also makes it harder to host family gatherings. That’s a downside of living in a tiny house, though I’m not convinced it would be worth having a much bigger kitchen for the few times a year we’d host celebrations.
We work 3 days a week because our expenses are low
Fenna: One of the biggest upsides is that we can both only work three days a week. Before having kids, I worked four days a week, but with children, that felt like too much. Parenting takes a lot of energy, and we’re often tired, so it helps not having to work full-time now.
If we wanted, one of us could afford to stop working altogether. We work because we want to, not because we have to. Working only three days a week means we have a lot of time at home with the kids, which was important to me.
Another upside is knowing we’ll never be in a position where losing a job would mean losing our home. We don’t have a mortgage, and we only spend about a third of what we earn.
Jos: When your expenses are low, it takes away a lot of stress. We still budget, but not out of fear of running out. We just like to keep costs down. We never have to turn something down because we can’t afford it.
People often tell me to start putting money away for a retirement fund. I don’t want to wait until retirement age, which is 40 years away. After all, I don’t see myself working until I’m 70.
At the moment, I’m looking into using our savings to build another house and sell it. It’s a way to make money, and I enjoy the process. It gives me energy.
Fenna: We sometimes talk about moving into a bigger house. But I wouldn’t do that at the cost of working more, at least not until our kids are in school.
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