Zac Ruiz
Zac and Katie Ruiz, a New Mexico-based couple, have been living in a 300-square-foot tent with their children for two years.
The tent, built in just eight weeks, features a kitchen, two beds, a dining area, and a composting toilet. The tent runs on solar power, and it has an outdoor shower.
Zac told Insider that the tent has no central heating or air, so the family has to bundle up in jackets and sweatpants full time during the colder months.
The Ruiz family also travels in a small RV for much of the year, exploring the country.
Their home was featured in Brent Heavener’s book “Tiny House.” You can read more about it on Amazon, or follow the Ruiz family on Instagram.
Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Meet Zac and Katie Ruiz, a New Mexico-based couple who have been living in a 300-square-foot tent with their young children for two years.
Zac Ruiz
Zac and Katie lived in an apartment in California during the early years of their marriage. As they started to have children, they realized they wouldn’t be able to afford the lifestyle they wanted there because of the high cost of living, as Zac told Insider.
They decided to go to Katie’s hometown in New Mexico when she became pregnant with their second child. After they’d been living in New Mexico for about a year, Katie’s mom told them Katie had an acre of land to her name.
Immediately, they wanted to move onto it so they could “break the cycle” of just working to pay for rent, Zac said.
The couple wanted to move onto the land as soon as possible, and a tent was the quickest and most affordable way to get there.
Zac Ruiz
They couldn’t afford to build or buy a home, and after doing some research, they decided a tent was the cheapest and most functional solution for their family.
“That’s $1,500 a month we don’t have to spend if we can get on this property,” Zac said of their decision to live in a tent.
They bought a cheap camper to get on the property as quickly as possible, and after they had been on the land for about four months, they moved into the tent.
The 300-square-foot tent, which features a main level and a raised loft, took about eight weeks to build.
Zac Ruiz
The space only has what the family needs. You can see the sleeping area, kitchen, and dining area when you enter.
The tent also features a four-foot by eight-foot closet on the wall near the kitchen, and a four-foot by three-foot bathroom with a composting toilet on the other side of the tent.
“We evolved our mindset of working with less,” Zac said of the minimalist approach.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
16 of the spookiest Halloween world records15 fun facts about Halloween that may surprise youTwo brothers are behind these trippy 3D animations
Read more: feedproxy.google.com
