The Financial Side of Tiny Living with Laura Lynch

In today's episode Ayana sits down with Laura Lynch, a seasoned financial advisor specializing in empowering individuals to embrace minimalism and the tiny house movement. Laura delves into her transition from the corporate realm to focusing on financial guidance for those intrigued by tiny living. She expertly navigates the unique dynamics of this niche market, addressing misconceptions surrounding home equity, legal and financial considerations of tiny house ownership, strategies for financing such homes, and the necessity of meticulous planning and discipline in pursuing the minimalist lifestyle. Laura also sheds light on her tailored services for both aspiring and current minimalists, offering invaluable insights into the financial dimensions of downsizing. Tune in to gain profound understanding of the financial intricacies inherent in the journey towards a minimalist, tiny living lifestyle.

For full show notes for this episode click here!

Follow Laura's journey on Instagram at: @lesshousemoremoolapod
Listen to the Less House More Moola Podcast!
Check out Laura's website: www.thetinyhouseadviser.com

Click here and apply to be featured on the Tiny Home Tours YouTube Channel!
Click here to sign up for our Monthly Newsletter. 

Transcript

Laura Lynch Podcast

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Tiny Home Tours Podcast. The tiny house made me feel in my body this thing that I think I always understood, which is that there are no rules, like you're literally living in the moment. I know it's a cliches saying, but living this lifestyle consistently puts me in that mindset.

It's about keeping all of the things that matter to you and letting everything else go. I've been scared a lot of times. But I just, I jump anyways I guess. You have to jump. Join us each week as we share stories, wisdom, and practical tips from those who choose to have less and live more. 

Ayana: Hey everyone, this is Ayana. I'm back with another episode of the Tiny Home Tours podcast. Today, I'm joined by Laura Lynch. She hosts the Less House More Moola podcast and was a financial advisor and now spends her time helping people pivot, take control of their finances, and go tiny. [00:01:00] So I'm so excited about this conversation.

Laura, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me today. 

Laura: Yeah, I'm thrilled to be here. This is such an important topic, figuring out the money part. So super excited to dive into this today. 

Ayana: Yeah, it's something that everyone wants to know more about and is, I think, on top of mind for everyone who's considering doing this.

So before we get into too much of it, we've been starting the season out with two truths and a lie from all of our guests. So hit me with your two truths, one lie. 

Laura: And so you're going to tell me which one is the lie. Is that how this works? 

Ayana: Yeah. I'm going to guess. 

Laura: Okay, so here are my three statements.

There is a five foot jetted tub in my tiny house. Our house is legally towable on the highway. And we are still on our tiny transition journey. [00:02:00] 

Ayana: Hmm. I think the tiny transition journey never really ends, so I think that that one's true, at least in my experience. A five foot jetted tub? What a slice of luxury.

I hope that that's true, but I can't imagine it working, so I'm gonna say that. That's the lie.

Laura: So the lie is actually that our tiny house is legally towable on the highway. So when we built our tiny house, we built it to the legal limit of 13 foot six, and then we put more heavy duty thicker tires on it and then hooked it to our, to, it's a gooseneck trailer, so it sits up on the bed of the truck.

And so when we Got, you know, got ready to head off on our tow across the United States. It was 13 foot 10. So east of the Mississippi, we were too tall. [00:03:00] Oh, no, it was stressful. 

Ayana: I believe it. But everything went well. Everything was okay. 

Laura: We made it safely across the country. We lost a wheel, um, at the very.

And, uh, of course it was, you know, two axles on the trailer. So maybe we didn't really notice until we got out. We're like, huh, we've got, a wheel missing. But anyway, anytime I think you tow a tiny house, there's going to be some adventures. Um, but yeah, we did get across safely. 

Ayana: Sounds like a grand adventure.

So, let's start by having you tell us a little bit about your background, yourself, and your tiny living journey. How did this all come to be for you? 

Laura: So, the tiny living journey started as sort of, uh, a craving. I had lived out west. I was originally in the military, so I've moved around [00:04:00] a few places, and I had lived out west.

A number of years ago, I got divorced and came back east to be close to my grandparents. And then I got married again. So I got stuck in some geography that maybe wasn't as, as inspiring for me. And so I started to have this craving of being out West again, and the openness of, uh, and the BLM and sort of the exploring that I could do out there.

And so I'm like. Hey eric, my new husband we're gonna go take some trips out west and explore and see if maybe we could buy some land. And so I had no idea how I was going to buy any land at that time, you know, was kind of just in a corporate world and doing sort of a normal thing. And so we took three different trips and chased around a bunch of Zillow dots and ended up buying eight acres in an online auction.

And. Uh, then we got on an airplane and we're like, what are we going to do with that eight acres that [00:05:00] we just sort of put a deposit on? And so that's when the idea of a tiny house kind of came to our minds. I'm not exactly sure where we probably first saw our first tiny house. But that was the solution to the idea around.

We want to spend some time on our place out West and we don't have the time to go build a house. So let's build a house on a trailer, AKA a tiny house, and we'll take it out there and we'll put it on the land there once we get finished. So this was back in 2016. 

Ayana: Amazing. Did you at that time run into any issues with the land that you had purchased and the uses because I know a lot of people right now, at least in the van and bus world are thinking about doing this exact thing.

I want to buy some land. I want to have a tiny house on it. And at least what Andy and I have found is that it's really hard in a lot of places to find land that you can legally park a tiny home on. [00:06:00] And so. If you don't mind sharing, like what were, what was some of that process like for you? Was there red tape that you had to go through?

How was, how was that? 

Laura: Yeah. So, um, it was a whole year of us building the house. Um, we were in Florida at the time. That's actually where I am at this moment. We built a tiny house in Florida and the whole year that we were building it, I was working on this legal thing. And so it was really complicated and frankly to this date I don't think that we're we've ever actually gotten the official stamp of approval in that way and so this is a thing about you know, the progression of this industry is that the legalization did not come before the movement.

And so the legalization is trailing the movement. And so in many cases, people are sort of skirting rules or dealing with being the ones to make the rules, which I think is a really important. [00:07:00] part of this. We have to learn to advocate for ourselves and have our own voice. And so I spent many, took many trips to the county's office.

They had a permit that at the bottom said tiny house on it, uh, but they didn't have. the mechanism whereby to approve the tiny house because back then there weren't any certifying bodies like there are today to say, yes, this can be lived in as a residence. And so we didn't have any way to sort of comply with getting a certificate of occupancy.

Whereas now we have certifying bodies that exist. that can help prove to municipalities that your home is built with construction standards that are safe and habitable. And so there is, you know, a lot of research, and I think this is one of the stumbling blocks. And I know we're going to talk about stumbling blocks in a little bit, but I think that this is one of the primary stumbling blocks that people are still dealing with is the complexity here.

And you have to be a little [00:08:00] gritty and a little determined And maybe have a little fire under you about doing this thing in order to be successful at finding a safe and legal place to park. 

Ayana: Yeah. And it is so different, right? Based on where you are. I think that's the tricky part too, is there's no one cookie cutter, cut and dry answer.

It's really like you're saying, going to the County's office, figuring out the local laws and regulations for each different municipality. And yeah, I think that can deter people enough from thinking that this is like the viable option that we feel like it is. 

Laura: Yes, well, not to get too far into, like, behavioral science, I'm a little bit, you know, nerdy in this regard.

We have this status quo bias, right? We feel most comfortable with doing what we have always done. We also have a consistency principle that we abide by. We like to be consistent with our prior behavior. [00:09:00] And to, like, take a major detour off. The sort of beaten path in front of us requires that we like really root in why we're doing it and that we'd be willing to like do things differently than we've ever done them before.

And so that's just really hard for humans. And so just acknowledging that about yourself, that this is going to be me having to change and change is uncomfortable is part of the whole, is part of the whole transition process. I would say. 

Ayana: Yeah, so let's talk about kind of that in relation to people's finances, because I'm sure that that applies to the way that people think about their money, too.

So tell us about what you do now and how you're helping people to kind of. Get control of their finances and start their own tiny living journey. 

Laura: Sure. So I didn't answer your question before, so I will back up just a second and just say , that about the same time that my tiny house, uh, was complete, I made a career [00:10:00] change and that was, I left my corporate job and became a financial advisor.

And so I spent five years in this corporate financial advisor role learning. All of the complexities of helping people, you know, create their wealth and their nest egg and their retirement plan and all of that. Um, but I was in that corporate environment when the pandemic happened. And a lot of times financial advisors pay is linked with what's going on in the stock market.

And if anybody kind of recollects, uh, back in the early pandemic days, things were going crazy in.all ways including the stock market. So my income was plummeting at that time and we were driving back. We had been up visiting some of my family and we were driving back on the interstate and they were talking about borders closing and all of that.

And I'm like, why are we going back to the mortgage house? Why are we not going to the tiny house where we owe nobody anything and where we can just be at peace and sort of ride out this [00:11:00] uncertainty that's happening. And so it was really in that moment that I started to realize that I didn't want to continue to follow the corporate financial advisor path that was in front of me because it had a lot of uncertainty and a lot of stress.

associated with continuing to pay for the American dream house, continuing to climb the corporate ladder and all those things. And so I started to ask myself a lot of questions about what I really wanted to be doing, who I really wanted to impact, where I wanted to live. And that's how I kind of formed a pathway over quite a long time to make a.

Career change and to start this firm dedicated to my most authentic self. And that would be the one who wants to live in the tiny house, um, and be debt free. And so I said, there must be other people that I can help figure out this money part of this. And it's all tied together for me. I can't have made a change to go from a six figure salary [00:12:00] to 0 revenue without having the tiny house and being a debt free person.

And likewise, I can't help people in the tiny living community if I'm not living it. So it's all together for me. And so really what I'm doing now is helping people make that change in their life. And figure out the money part. Meanwhile, I'm volunteering with the Tiny Home Industry Association. Getting, learning more and more all the time about what's going on on the legalization front.

I built my own tiny house. I have a whole building construction training. So, I know a lot about what went on with that process too. So trying to comprehensively help people with really a lot of focus on getting the finances organized, getting the project plan, the logistics overlaid with the funding. So how do we get the money into the tiny house while we're exiting the normal life?

And so that's where I'm really working right now is helping people make that transition. [00:13:00] 

Ayana: Amazing. What an incredible, incredible resource for the community as someone who has gone through this yourself and kind of knows what some of those maybe common stumbling blocks are, you know, like you're saying, leaving the status quo bias, choosing A different kind of uncertainty, right?

Because no matter what life we're living, there's a certain amount of uncertainty that comes with it. But really choosing to kind of align with values and choose the right type of, of the right type of hard is what Glennon Doyle says. And I love that. Um, and helping people really identify that for themselves and, and make it happen.

Such, such a cool, cool thing. Um, what are, in your experience with working with people, some of the more common stumbling blocks? Like, I know we talked about just behavioral change and how tricky that can be. What are some of the other common things that you see [00:14:00] and what tips do you have to help overcome some of those?

Laura: Yeah, so I think that we have some sort of rules of thumb. Um, that we don't necessarily think very critically about and one of them is conventional wisdom that we have around home equity and sort of that, you know, I need to get into my starter home when I graduate from college or start my career or whatever.

And I need to continue to, you know, upgrade my home over the course of my life in order to build home equity. And I'm getting ready. I've, I'm working on a, uh, Podcast recording that goes into this and a lot more depth But I think it's helpful to critically think about what exactly home equity is so home equity is the difference between what you owe in a property versus What you are, what you own in a property versus what you owe.

And so over the course of say a 30 year mortgage, you progressively own more and more of your [00:15:00] home than what you owe, because over time you're paying it off. Now we have to remember that at current interest rates, what we're paying for in principle for the actual house itself is less than half of our payment because over time we're paying somebody interest to have borrowed their money.

And so there's a lot more interest paid. Then there is ownership paid in that home. And so then also home equity is expected to grow over time. And so historically speaking, back to 1968, residential real estate has grown at about 5. 4%. This varies significantly depending on where in the country you are, what metro or rural area that you're in.

And so for people to kind of think that their home is definitely going to grow in value is a risk that they're definitely not thinking about necessarily as a risk. And to put so much of our income and [00:16:00] energy and time and focus by going to work every day to pay the mortgage into that one Asset that by the way, we can't just sell off the third bedroom and cash out a portion of it, right?

So we put so much of our energy and focus in that one asset that may grow it may right? Probably will Right? But if instead we think about our home as a smaller package, a smaller price point, and then take the difference that we would have been dedicating to that home, and we put it in other things that might grow, frankly, more than real estate grows historically, then we can build a lot more flexible nest egg for ourselves, because to tap home equity as long as you own the home requires more interest and fees.

So anytime you get an offer from your mortgage company, which I'm getting a ton of right now, saying cash out your equity. What they want me to do is cash out at [00:17:00] current interest rates, which are twice as high as my current mortgage and increase the loan by the amount that I would cash out because they're just not going to give me a hundred thousand dollars of my equity for.

free. So therefore, people who live on this notion that home equity is creating financial security for themselves, that financial security comes with a cost of more interest and fees up until the moment when you sell your home and you buy down for cash. And then at that point, you have cashed out your equity and you can do with it as you please.

And it doesn't come with more interest and fees. So I'm Taking a deep dive in this on a podcast episode coming up. And I write about this quite a bit on LinkedIn. So if you need more details, um, those are up and coming, but I think that doing those calculations and just thinking critically about home equity, what it can and cannot do for you and what it has done traditionally is, is a really important [00:18:00] stumbling block to overcome.

I think it's also important to understand that what is going on with the legal complexity is changing over time and so there is likelihood that over time tiny houses become more and more like You know, regular residences from an appreciation standpoint, we have a supply and demand problem when it comes to housing.

We don't have enough housing. Tiny houses have become a lot more popular and acceptable broadly. So I think that if we just think about what the future looks like, that maybe There won't be that much difference from an appreciation standpoint between, um, you know, the 430, 000 home and the 100, 000 or 150, 000 tiny home.

So, that's a big stumbling block. Um, the legal complexity we talked about, uh, there are some resources there and determination is needed. Um, [00:19:00] what do you think? Is that a good kind of summary of stumbling blocks? 

Ayana: Yeah, I think so. I think that hits on a lot of the practical things. And I think for me, the one that I'm most drawn to is more around the behavioral side of things for people.

And I, and I, because it's just fascinating to me, like, how do we Live in one particular pond for so long and that's the water that we're swimming in and that's How we see the world and then at some point say wow, this is really not for me Like I didn't choose this. I'm born and bred in this but I didn't choose this And so now I'm making a more active decision and I think Like you were talking about the uncertainty that comes with life And no matter what path you take, I think it's really important to make sure that the risks that you're taking align with something deeper inside of you than just saying, well, I guess these are the [00:20:00] risks that I've been taught that were acceptable to take, right?

I. e. buy the house. You know, gain equity over years or that, that's the way that you're going to grow your wealth. Um, and I think there's also a piece when speaking about that, that it, it feels like a very set it and forget it for me. Like if you buy your first home and then you could just sit on it for 20 years and then maybe you cash out and buy down, there's a part of it that requires.

No additional, thought process or worrying, right? When I think about investing in maybe a business that I'm starting or investing in other, like, the flexible nest egg that you're speaking of, there's a piece of it for me, and I can feel it coming up even for myself that makes me anxious. Of like, whoa, wait, am I really going to take that risk on myself?

Am I responsible enough with my money to say what I would have been paying in a mortgage I'm going to put towards these other things that may grow more for me. [00:21:00] It requires a level, I think, of attention that a lot of us are not used to paying around money that comes in and money that goes out. 

Laura: Yeah, I think that's a good point. You're totally right. Having a mortgage is like a forced saving strategy, right? Because you are going to legally probably pay that thing before you pay anything else. And so for people who maybe don't have as much discipline around savings, who, if they had a bunch of income extra leftover because they didn't have the big mortgage, they wouldn't save.

And if they know that about themselves and they're not willing to work on that at all, right, then maybe it is best to like, take the plunge and, and put yourself inside of the. The the mortgage framework, right? Because that does provide a disciplined savings strategy, even though it may not be the most efficient way to create security for yourselves.

Another, you know, option is to have like an [00:22:00] automatic withdrawal, come out and go into your like, you can set up the logistical details to force yourself to save. You can even have money. If you get a regular paycheck, you can even have money diverted over to a savings. account or whatever before it ever lands in your spending account.

So there's ways to structurally set that up. But for sure, when we talk about, you know, phrases that we hear like, you know, the home has been the traditional way that Americans have built their wealth. Um, first of all, I think it's. I think it's worthwhile to acknowledge that before 1978, there were no 401ks.

So when we think about traditional, we're not talking about very long history, right? Um, but in any case, I think that just acknowledging, hey, yes, Mortgage may have worked for me in the past from the standpoint of it forces me to pay something where I at least build some equity is fine, but [00:23:00] it also acknowledges that there are other paths that you can choose if you're willing to kind of figure out how to make that work for you.

Ayana: Mhm. And the flip side too, right, is, which we've talked about when Andy and I did the podcast with you, the flip side of doing the tiny thing is that you don't need to create as much income to support your lifestyle. So then the possibility of what you can do for a living opens up in a way that would never be possible if you decide to jump into the traditional mortgage kind of realm of things.

Laura: Oh, a hundred percent like I've written chapters and chapters for the book that I'm working on just about the why right about all the different ways to think about wealth because we get really stuck in thinking about wealth only from a numbers in a bank account or you know on a home equity statement somewhere and we don't Think about the wealth of having flexibility, time autonomy, having time to actually [00:24:00] take up a new project and being able to execute on that.

A lot of people have great ideas, but they're never able to do them because their lives are so consumed with living the American dream and, 60 hours a week, whatever it is. And they never get a chance to, like, be their fullest self or have their best idea because they're giving all of that away to their employer to collect a paycheck to pay the mortgage.

I would never have been able to launch this firm, my podcast, that are Super, like, filling me up right now if I had stayed committed to the long term plan of the next 25 years that I have in the mortgage that I, you know, the house that I currently have for sale. So, it's all about, you know, making choices and for some people, you know, they just want to do the thing that they were told to do, but for other people, they ask questions and they have, you know, brighter ideas that they'd like to execute on.

Ayana: Totally. Totally. I think for many people. [00:25:00] And it's come up in this conversation to the ideal scenario, right? Is that you can downsize and pay with cash for a tiny home. And I think, especially for folks who in general are like a little bit older. And so buying a house was possible when they were first kind of coming into that phase of their lives.

It's, it seems more attainable to me. Like I can think about like my mom selling her house and downsizing to go tiny. For me, when I think about. Like my generation or the people who are living nomadically in their, I don't know, mid twenties to mid thirties or forty. That has never been a reality for us, right?

We built the bus and the reason that we did that was exactly what we're talking about because we could pay cash for everything. But now, living in the bus, we are saving a little bit of money, but we're not [00:26:00] saving enough money to where We could buy a, you know, 30, 000 to 100, 000 tiny home because they can range quite a bit in price these days.

What kind of tips do you have for folks who don't have the cash right now to buy outright a tiny home but are looking to do this? Do you have financing tips, any, anything kind of around this? 

Laura: Sure. Well, getting financing for a tiny home is very similar to getting financing for a mortgage. And that is you need to have, you know, two years of income history for a lender to look at.

Um, this was the case when my husband and I bought our first house. We had to, I was in a period of unemployment. I had been laid off and he was self employed. And so putting together a package that looked attractive to a lender, um, It involves, [00:27:00] you know, first of all, a lot of paperwork and hassle, but secondly, they do want to see that you have the ability to put together that income.

Now, it's interesting because most of the loans that are available out there for, you know, tiny homes are a lot shorter than a 30 year mortgage. So, I think that that's, you know, an interesting element, um. I'm not sure because I'm still learning about whether or not the lenders are looking and expecting you to have a 30 year payoff trajectory when it's only a four year loan, right?

Um, so There are package. There are lenders out there. I've become aware of three specific lenders that one of the home builders that I have talked to recently works with. Um, I'm also learning about things like personal loans, like light stream loans that, you know, do a personal unsecured line of credit.

Now, these are much higher interest rate, right? Then even the conventional mortgages that are available right now. [00:28:00] So you have to kind of put that into the calculation, but you're paying for it for a much shorter period of time, right? So there's not as much interest to be compounded over the years when there's a much shorter period of years, depending on, um, income, of course you have to have income, right?

To, to make the purchase. And so, you know, building up your income streams and. You know, capabilities, maybe you have to take that job for, you know, a couple of years to get yourself some stable income and pay off your tiny house. And then you can pivot back to your self employment and creative, um, pursuits or what have you, once you kind of secure that, but at least you're not chained for 30 years, right?

To that lifestyle. Um, so everything is a balance in life, obviously. And then, you know, there's a huge wealth transfer happening. Um, I have never been and will never be fortunate to inherit anything, but there are a lot of people that are, and I think sometimes it's worth having a [00:29:00] conversation with family members, if you are expecting to inherit to say, you know, Hey, maybe it would be okay for me to for you to, you know, pass along some of that during your lifetime. And that would help get me set up with, you know, long term, you know, roof over my head. Um, There isn't any generally speaking because the inheritance cap is so high from a tax perspective.

Most people are giving away when they pass down wealth, wealth that is well below the taxable cap. So you can give away, you know, baby boomers can give away money in their lifetime without it being a real hit to them or to their heirs later on. So I think that that is something to, you know, keep in mind if that's your situation, not mine, but is for a lot of people.

Um, obviously there's a lot of different [00:30:00] ways to make money these days, a lot of different, you know, income streams out there. Um, being a little bit, you know, creative with that, I think can help, you know, build savings over time. Nobody builds up. You know, 100, 000 overnight generally, and so having realistic expectations about how long it might take you to accomplish your goal, I'm on a two and a half year project plan, right?

I put up that calendar on the kitchen wall and start putting little sticky notes of milestones two years ago for this transition. And you know, you just go month by month and you just keep working and chopping away at it. And you over time see that momentum build. And then one day, all of a sudden, you're four months out from your, you know, thing that you're trying to achieve.

And you go, Wow, this, you know, went by really fast. So just You know, give yourself some compassion, have an understanding that everything takes time and that it's okay to set a goal, you know, [00:31:00] two, three, four years in the future. And, you know, just start moving in that direction and thinking about the little tiny things that you can do to start, you know, turning your course in life.

And I think that that's, you know, just a good way to view life in general. We're so focused on instantaneous gratification and quick wins. Um, and yet life is a journey and everything is going to, you know, go by really fast. So stay present. 

Ayana: Yeah, I appreciate you touching on all of that, and especially that idea.

I think it's hard for Andy or I to imagine going back to, like, a job. Like you were saying, like, maybe you work a job for two years to save up that money. And I just appreciate that frame of reference, because it can feel so hard in my mind to think about, Are we really gonna, really gonna, like, give this up and go back to that?

But like you're saying, if [00:32:00] If the goal is there and the why for what you're doing is there, and it is serving a much longer term purpose to create, you know, a more permanent home that we love and have paid off, it's so worth it to take some of those kind of little sacrifices and little hits maybe in the moment to really be able to achieve those more long term goals.

Laura: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it takes discipline, right? To accomplish big things and that, you know, 20 month plan that I've been on. I haven't taken, you know, we haven't taken any vacations. I am always on a list of what's the next project we need to do to improve this house to get it ready for sale. What's the the you know, I'm in this iterative packing and downsizing process.

And if there's space in my life, I'm like, how can I make the gate look a little bit more like, you know, attractive to a buyer who wants to buy this house so I can move on with my life? And it's just, you know, it's just [00:33:00] discipline, right? If you just keep, it's like my, building of the tiny house process. It was every spare moment we had was focused on that.

And you know, you just did really small little actions and really small little actions over a period of time turn into big changes. 

Ayana: Yeah, that's exactly right. And I think sustainable big changes, right? Because that's the other thing. It's if you're slowly, slowly turning course, then the whole ship is going in that direction and it doesn't feel like all of a sudden you've just like turned the wheel so fast and now everything is kind of capsizing, you know, it's a much more gradual and long lasting way to make life change.

At least it has been for me, for sure. 

Laura: Yeah, and it'll be less shocking right for the people around you too Um, and I think that that i'm a i'm a change person. I love you know change I love the idea of you know, you don't know what's around the corner And I have a very idealistic sort [00:34:00] of outlook on you know What the future might hold my husband on the other hand is a Slow ship, slow ship, and so every time I have, you know, taken us through these major changes in life, I have learned to be even slower with the changes so that he can get on board.

And so when we have, you know, family that might be closely tied to us or friends that we rely on, you know, helping them understand our change. Slow way, um, helps us to look more consistent and there's a lot behind consistency of behavior and trust that we have kind of built into our relationships. So you know, taking some time to understand the process of change and to get everybody comfortable with it will also yield results.

Ayana: Yeah, that's exactly right.

If you were going to give some practical [00:35:00] tips to folks listening to this podcast, who are maybe thinking about doing this or dreaming about doing this, what? And I know we've talked about a few of them or kind of like touched on a few of them, but what very practical tips would you give to our listeners?

Laura: Yes. So from my nerdy self, I would say that finances and money comes with so many complexities and so much baggage. And The whole entire money industry has made it really complex so that you will hire, you know, professionals to help you with it. Right. And so kind of grabbing your money and getting charge of it is really difficult to get started with because it can seem very complex.

Overwhelming comes with a lot of, you know, sort of complexity. Yeah. Tide connotations. [00:36:00] I grew up with a, you know, the root of all evil, right. Kind of, uh, you know, mantra in my world. Um, a lot of scarcity feelings growing up. Um, we all have emotions that we're attaching to it. It impacts our, you know, close relationships significantly.

So money has, is an. easy thing to avoid. And yet at the same time, it is the fuel for the things that we want to accomplish on this earth. And so thinking about our money as fuel, how do we manage that in our tank? And how do we make sure that we are moving in the direction and working with our money to make it help us?

Over time, accomplish what we want means we have to just really understand it. And so, um, also we're in a world that's really determined to take our money as quickly out of our bank accounts as it goes in. And we are [00:37:00] constantly inundated with messages around. It is our job. To buy all the things that, you know, befits the American consumer.

And so I think it's really important to understand that we get to make choices about that and how we choose to spend our money should. start to over time align with what is most important to us, what our deepest values are. And so my tips are just, you've got to get in there and you've got to like kind of take charge of something that you may be avoiding.

Dig into the nitty gritty, learn a little bit, and then you'll feel more competent to learn some more and that'll start to empower you to set some goals for yourself and start to move in the direction that you want to go. Um, That would be my, my nerdy practical tip with a little slice of, you know, psychology.[00:38:00] 

Ayana: Yeah, I love it. All of it fits for me. I think that, like you were saying, money is such a complex thing, and we have such, such variable relationships with it, what it means to have it, what it means to not have it, you know, what we think of people who have it, what we think of people who don't have it, when you start to it.

Diving into how you really think and feel about money. It is wild what you can uncover. And then, yeah, it is, it is like its own relationship, you know, it's like this entity that you have a relationship with and maybe you're avoidant, maybe you're attached, you know, what kind of attachment style do you have to money?

It really does, like this whole other thing. So, yeah. I like that. I like that nerdy practical tip with a slice of psychology that that scratches all of the itches that I have for sure. Um, let us know [00:39:00] about where we can find you online. Tell us about what your current offerings are and more about the podcast if you want to share that.

Yeah, anything you have going on. 

Laura: Sure. So my website is the tiny house advisor.com. So the tiny house advisor advisor is spelled A-D-V-I-S-E-R, and uh, my podcast is Less house, more Moula, M-O-O-L-A. Uh, so you can check that out. Pretty easy to find that on all the platforms. I am currently offering project planning in a flat.

The sort of manner based on complexity to help people make that transition. So again, matching up the money with the logistics of going tiny. Um, I also do provide ongoing planning for, in a more traditional way for people that are already living tiny, who might be interested in figuring out their longterm financial security in that lifestyle and [00:40:00] coming soon, I'm going to be launching sort of.

This is my working title, like a money cleanse, which is, you know, kind of an opportunity to, uh, learn a little bit about your financial situation, not by filling out spreadsheets, but by aggre using an aggregation tool in a software that I have access to, where you kind of link all of your accounts. We'll have a look at what's going on with your income and expenses and your net worth.

What the heck is that? And really understanding kind of what are three things maybe you could do in the short term to start moving your ship. You know, gently in the direction that you would like to go. So, I'm working on that, which will be a course. It'll be a, you know, one flat price point. Um, easy access to that and it also comes with a consult session with me where we go through all the numbers and talk about a couple of quick things that you [00:41:00] could work on in order to move in that direction.

So, trying to provide people with more competency um, and fluency with their financial skills. situation and start moving in their desired direction. 

Ayana: Amazing, amazing resources. We will of course, be sure to link all of those below and in the show notes. Um, and anytime the course is available or any additional articles you ever want to share with us, you'd be happy to add them because.

These are resources that people are really hungry for, especially in this community. And so thank you for creating them and for taking the time to share them with us today. Um, yeah, I'm really inspired by. The niche that you've found yourself in and what an incredible service that is to, to this community.

So thank you. 

Laura: Well, thank you for having me. I, it's been such a fun conversation. Ayana. 

Ayana: Yeah. All right, everyone. We'll see you [00:42:00] back next week with another episode of the podcast. Have a good one.

Outro: This is a Tiny Home Tours production. Thank you so much for listening. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe for all future episodes. We'll see you next week.