This student's small home helped save up to $ 8,000 on college housing costs.

Posted by wevikoh on October 19th, 2019

When thinking about college, would you recall about staying in a dormitory with a stranger and sharing a bathroom with more than 20 friends? Perhaps not.

Joel Weber refused to place a traditional dormitory and saved a lot of money doing it. Instead of living in a dormitory, a 145-square-foot small home owned by the University of Texas at Austin, Jr. (age 25)

Housed in an 18-foot flatbed trailer, the house is equipped with two lofts, plumbing, electricity, a shower and a propane stove. It took me a year to build a cozy house.
How can I make an entire small house cheaper than renting a dormitory? We did math to find out.For more information click here.

How much did his small house cost?
Many media sources quoted his home at about $ 20,000, but Weber said he paid less.
The media estimate is "the cost of making a similar brand," he said.
Instead, the total construction cost is between $ 13,000 and $ 16,000. (He's still adding up the final receipt).

How could you keep the cost low? And how can you build a smaller house? Weber's advice is
Buy everything for sale
Weber bought as much material as possible when getting permission.

Payment for small house

Everyone spends a lot of time saving $ 13,000 to $ 16,000. How did a college student save enough cash to make her dream of a small home come true?
Weber had a savings account for this project. Spent as much time as possible to fund his small housing fund.

"I was a full-time student and worked as much as possible while commuting between work and school for four hours every weekend."
Weber also received donations from friends, neighbors, family, and the people he met along the way. He also created a Go Fund Me account for those wishing to make an online donation.
Finally, Weber built a relationship with local salespeople who donated technology to the project.
He kept his cost of living low.

"So far, I've saved an incredible amount because I've been couch surfed through barters working for the first year while building a house," Joel said. "We are currently free of charge until we move to Austin," he added.

Small house costs after you build it
After you build a small house, you have to keep paying for it.
One of the main costs is where the house is. In general, if you own property, you will have to pay rent or mortgage along with property taxes and other fees. You will also have to pay for the utility.

Weber pays about $ 300 per month rent plus utilities. He said it was half of Austin's average rent payment. And in the summer, I was able to park a small house in Dallas for free before bringing it to Austin for school.
He uses Energy Star appliances and LED lights to reduce utility costs. Additional costs include water and propane for stoves and water heaters.