Spending' That Money, Honey!

Oh, how easy it is to spend money on “home improvement” items. Way too easy. Everywhere I go I’m looking for good deals and reusable, recycled materials - but when I want something, it sure is difficult to be patient and wait for a better price to come along!

We found some beautiful pine over in Andover, NH at the Pine Outlet. Mike and Mary were very good to me and delivered it all to Gilmanton for an awesome price!

These 8”-wide boards are going to be the interior finish for the ceiling and the walls. Mike and Mary had a nice showroom set up and recommended the Sherwin Williams pine finish (shown above) to finish and protect the pine boards, as they had done.

I splurged and purchased this Kimberly Stove from Unforgettable Fire because of its low clearances, small flue, high btu output, and ability to cook on the top. This was one of the higher price tags on my list thus far, but I can’t wait to stick some kindling in there and fire her up!

It soon became evident that we would need a separate space for material storage that we could have control over. My father is ambitious and has numerous projects going in his house, in the barn, and on the property, where we are building. Instead of encroaching on his precious sheltered space, we considered building a shed that we could move later along with the tiny house when we move on. After giving it some thought, I decided to buy an enclosed trailer large enough to also haul our motorcycles when the time comes.

After looking at numerous used trailers through multiple selling platforms, we came to the conclusion that buying brand new would not be all that more expensive than buying used. Another benefit to this decision is that we would then have a warranty on the purchase.

I ended up buying this 2017 Covered Wagon, 7’x14’ dual-axle box trailer from a local shop in Manchester. Ain’t she a beaut?

This trailer works well for storing materials out of the rain and out of the way! The ZIP System plywood boards were purchased from Home Depot, the Jeld Wen double outswing French door is from Lowe’s, the Fakro skylights and flashing kits were purchased from Amazon, and that cute little 26”-wide front door with 6 lites was a $75 steal from Big Jim’s Home Center in Concord!

I also found these Andersen Silverline windows for a steal at Big Jim’s! In this pile are the larger, double-hung windows for the front entrance, kitchen and living room. The smaller slider window is for the window is for the bathroom. Some time afterward, we purchased two more small sliders for the bedroom, 4 fixed transom windows for underneath the dormers, and a half-moon window with a sunburst grille pattern for the very end of the house (in the bedroom, over the gooseneck of the trailer).

Our collection of trailers grows!