The following is a guest post by Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff. Her blog covers living expenses, saving for your future, and the fun stuff along the way.
Nicole from Grumpy Rumblings of the Untenured left a comment asking if I had seen this post at a new blog, Step Away from the Mall. It boiled down to a small rant about the fact that a couple looking for a $500,000 house in Texas could possibly complain about houses that were like mansions from the point of view of a guy that recently lived in a $1700 a month, 400 sq.ft. “apartment” in NYC.
Putting aside that the cost of living between NYC and Texas is amazingly different (and I assume the salaries are as well), his description of his 400 sq.ft. space brought back my memories of dorm living and right-out-of-college housing.
The smallest space I have personally lived in was a 10 ft by 12 ft dorm room that I shared with another girl in college. We shared the tiny bathroom with the two girls in the adjoining room. In short, I had a 5 ft by 12 ft space to myself—60 square feet.
You want to know the weirdest thing? I LOVED IT! I absolutely adored dorm room living. I loved the fact that a bunk bed and an efficient use of storage could make me feel like an adult in her own digs. I also loved the fact that I could poke my head out the door at any time—day or night—and find someone else to hang out with. It was awesome.
Fast forward 3 1/2 years, and the smallest space that I ever shared with Mr. BFS was our first apartment out of college. It was technically a one-bedroom 550 sq.ft. space that really felt more like an efficiency with an extra half wall. The kitchen was too narrow to fit 2 people into at once and the only place to put the computer was next to the bed. My favorite feature was a built-in book shelf next to the red brick fire place.
I loved the cozy feeling of that apartment too, but there were several times I came close to committing homicide while Mr. BFS played computer games 2 feet away from my head in the wee hours of the morning.
Fast forward another 2 1/2 years, and we own our own 1750 sq.ft. house. I have no idea if I could live in such small spaces again and be as happy as I was those few years ago. Hubby has his own gaming area and we have an adult bedroom with actual furniture and even a Tempurpedic (non-blow up) mattress. I am spoiled to say the least but still have very fond memories of the tiny places of my past.
What are the most cramped quarters you remember? Did you like them as much as I liked mine or do you think I’m nuts?
Oh, and Step Away from the Mall, you will hate this, but that 550 sq.ft. apartment we had in late 2004- mid 2006 was $399 a month. 😛 Feel free to join us low cost of living folks whenever you wish. 🙂