Author Bio
By day I’m a professional web designer . By night I’m an aspiring writer and tiny house designer and builder. But my personal story is one of climbing to the top of the hill only to realize that success and happiness are really defined by how you choose to spend your time on earth and who you choose to spend it with.
During college I studied art and architecture but ended up with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Ceramics. I spent my 20’s as a starving artist (potter) living in a 450 square foot cabin in Mendocino County, California. In my 30’s my interest in web design led to a successful career in web technology where I ended up leading web design and web usability research teams in the corporate world.
In 2003 my wife and I bought a home in Sacramento, California. In the summer of 2007 I became keenly aware that our economy was in trouble as the value of my own home began to decline. As the economy continued to slide and the value of my home evaporated I decided that instead of choking on sour lemons I’d better begin to make lemonade and look for solutions.
I expect my 40′s to be spent eliminating debt lowering living costs by choosing frugality over wastefulness. Downsizing and becoming more self-sufficient will also be a big part of the solution.
Goals that drive me forward every day.
- Increase personal freedom through simplification and down-sizing.
- Increase financial freedom by eliminating debt and reducing dependency on a single source of income.
- Increase self-sufficiency by reducing reliance on external factors.
My Blogs:
- tinyhousedesign.com – My busiest blog where I focus on tiny house design and construction.
- tinyfreehouse.com – A blog dedicated to a tiny house I’m building without spending a dime.
- michaeljanzen.com – My personal blog, where I post my two cents.
P.S. Just in case you were wondering. My views are not necessarily those of my employer. They are mine alone.
Hi there-
Thanks very much for doing what you do, and especially for sharing. Very encouraging. I was wondering what your thoughts are on defending freedom and that which we can truly call our own. How do you feel about firearms?
Thanks,
Ash
Thanks Ashley.
Firearms are a tricky topic because the answers are different for everyone and it really depends what you expect the future to hold.
In terms of freedom I think we must have the right to bear arms and would like to see less gun control but more firearm education. That isn’t to say that I want nanny putting up too many obstacles but at the same time there seem to be a lot of dangerous people (and I’m not talking about criminals) with guns.
But in the end I’m not sure guns buy anyone freedom. It buys a big responsibility because it gives you the burden of choosing to kill or not kill. This may save your life someday but it also comes at a fairly large cost.
-Michael