Wednesday 31 August 2016

The Silly Things We Do

It’s funny, here I am in the midst of the dying days of summer, a treasured treat here on the prairies to be sure and I am thinking of fall and beyond that to winter.

I am going through my mental checklist of things that I will need to be sure to do or have before the cold winter hits. 

I am also taking time to appreciate the little things that I will miss once fall hits and even further, when winter hits.

Little things like: running water, having a shower in my bathroom. Not worrying about water freezing overnight. 

Lounging around in my shorts with the door and windows open, that light breeze floating through the house. 

Then on to being able to still be able to use my sink to wash my hands and yes use my toilet.

It is part of the mourning process of loosing these little pleasures and knowing that the hard times of the cold season will soon be upon me.

What sparked my thoughts on such a path? Well, they say that the winter this year will be colder and much harsher than last year.

I have been through this before and I will be okay, I know that. I have been down to -30C in my trailer and survived.

I know that I could pack it in or go rent a space somewhere to weather winter in a warm and cosy fashion. 

I know, however that this would mean that I would not be able to meet my target of total debt freedom by Total Debt Freedom Day.

It is just funny how when we are enjoying something nice and cosy that we tend to think about the hard times to come. Perhaps it is prudence perhaps it is worry, or perhaps it is self-sabotage.

It is just interesting, that’s all, but whatever it is, it will not dissuade me.

As always: Keep your head up your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Tuesday 30 August 2016

Doldrums Dashing

It happens, we all get to a point where our frustrations fester and nurture negativity and it drags us down, slowly at first until, before we know it, we are in the doldrums.

I have let my mood slip and my outlook to be frustrated and negative, I admit it. There comes a time when you need to stop, look at yourself and say “I am as far down as I am willing to go.”

This is not a major depression or anything like that, don’t me wrong, I’ve been there, and don’t intend to go back anytime soon. 

No, this is just a mild case of the downers, with a downward slide. It could, however get worse if left unchecked, and that is what I am doing now.

The next natural question is how do you pull yourself out of them. I suppose the exact answer is different for each one of us but for me this is what works.

The first step is to recognize what is happening, check! After that, you need to identify what it is that is dragging you down. 

For me that is the frustration of juxtaposing my current situation with where I want to be. In essence, my progress is not fast enough, part of me wants to get to the end faster.

I want to be debt free, I want to be on my piece of land and I want it to come to fruition now. This is not reasonable and perhaps not desirable, let me explain.

By going through this process, I am learning how to manage my finances as well as master my mental state. I am learning fiscal and resource prudency and yes a massive helping of patience. 

I am also going to earn every square inch of that patch of ground that I will eventually own and settle on. 

The main thing to do to pull yourself out of the doldrums is just to resolve to, decide to just get your head on straight and stop looking and feeling so negative.

Things will get better, things will improve but you need to stop and choose to see the good rather than see the negative. 

For me, I need to continue to look at my progress, the good things in my life and move forward towards that eventual goal. 

I know, intellectually that seventeen months is not that long a time until total debt freedom. 

I also know that a little over a year after that is also not that long until I am able to buy a small piece of paradise with cash. 

I need to continue to get out of my little house, meet people and perhaps socialize a bit more. (Thanks, bud.)

I will now look forward to this weekend and my trip to Lake Louise for the last outing of the summer. Fall is coming, and winter after that. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Monday 29 August 2016

Back To Work(ing the plan)

Okay, so I have been slacking off a tad with regards to my fiscal prudency this summer. The trip to the coast did put me in a more spendthrift mood (for me anyways.)

I have tended to cheat a bit on my two cards. The low interest rate card has had a bit of a balance on it due to me buying a laptop and new glasses and I have been adding to it. 

Thankfully the rate is low and so are the minimum payments. I have been charging sometimes more than the payments that I have put on this card, however. 

I have named this card EF’it but don’t despair, I do have a plan to get it paid off, and it is next in line after paying that IOU to the Long-Term Savings Account.

Still, the fact that I have been nudging the balance up is not a good thing and needs to stop. This was one of the resolutions that I came to this weekend.

The other card is my higher interest rate card and this one I have been able to keep at a zero balance. I still pay it off in full each and every payday, so I am still doing that.

I do charge a few things on it, but mostly these have been things for the house that I need. Still, each charge on this card is cash stolen from the next payday’s budget.

So, I will resume my winter and miserly ways, as I have lofty goals and all that this spending will do is: blow my budget, sink my plans, and put me back where I was three years ago.

I will continue to walk that balance between being too much of a miser and too much of a spendthrift. 

It is a greater challenge when, in essence, now and for the last two and three-quarters of a year my cash is not my own, it still is allocated. 

In truth, for the last decade, at least, my cash has not been my own. That is, in essence, what I am working towards: debt freedom and therefore total freedom.

So, for now, I need to continue to hunker down, stay miserly and live cheaply. In so doing I will better my life and my situation. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Friday 26 August 2016

Now, Next, and What Could Be

This blog entry ties into the one from the day before last, the one about the dancing budgets. This is to expand on that concept and let you know the real secret about the power that those budgets have.

The idea of those three budgets is to keep me focussed on what is important and in a certain order. By doing this I can control the direction that my life and fiscal situation are moving in.

I don’t care about the budget from the previous payday, because that is in the past and what’s done is done. Spent money can’t be recuperated.

Sure, I always pause and reflect on payday what happened and what I can learn from the previous payday but I don’t dwell on the past, I look to the future.

1) The Now Budget


The purpose of keeping the budget for the payday that I am in, even though most of the activity, spending and allocating of funds happens on payday is to remind me of my targets.

This also allows me to alter that budget to reflect any changes in my actual spending during the pay period.

This will let me see in real time the impact of this or that spend. This serves as a deterrent to straying from the plan and budget.

2) The Next Budget


The purpose of the starting a budget for the next pay period while I am still in the current pay period is to let me plan out what I will do with the next paycheque.

This also lets me see how I can nudge myself ahead by not only doing what I plan to do in this pay period but also what I could achieve in the next pay period.

3) The What Could Be Budget


The purpose of starting a budget for the pay period after the upcoming one is to give me a glimpse of a possible future.

This budget is based on assumptions which are based on other assumptions. As such, this budget is woefully inaccurate and inherently unreliable.

This budget does let me see what might happen if things go as I hope and assume for the next month. The purpose of this budget is that it lets me see a little further down the road, to inspire me.

By keeping my focus on the future, the immediate future that is, it helps me take the necessary steps today that move me steadily and surely towards my long term goals.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Thursday 25 August 2016

Seven Traits for Urban Nomad Success

Today I thought that I would do a list of traits that you will need and/or acquire should you decide to follow my path of being an Urban Nomad.

1) Patience: 


This is a big one, as the main reason that you are doing this is to improve your life by temporarily downgrading your lifestyle. Yet change is not easy, nor is it quick (lottery wins/disasters notwithstanding). So that means that you will have to stick out this hard and uncomfortable life longer than you may desire. Thus patience will be required.

2) Determination: 


In order to stick it out for the long haul (and succeed) you need to have the wherewithal and plain ability to stick to your plan and do what needs to be done in order to get through. This stick-to-itiveness and refusal to give up is the crux of what determination really is. 

3) Embracing of Failure:


This does not mean that you need to celebrate or look for ways to fail, no. What this means is to embrace the fact that 1) you will fail and 2) that you can learn a great deal from your failures. Do not fear failure, accept that it will come, that it is not something to feel shame over, learn from it and move on.

4) Attitude is Everything:


Your attitude will determine how you deal with situations as they arise. I still struggle daily with my attitude but I do find ways to keep my attitude positive. Or at the very least, correct my attitude when it strays to the negative. It is a negative attitude that will make a mountain out of a mole hill. Yet it is positive attitude that will make a mole hill out of a mountain. Again, you decide, you choose, you can shape your attitude, so make it a positive one.

5) Resourcefulness:


This is another key trait that you will need, the ability to use whatever resources that are at your disposal in the most effective and efficient manner. Not only that, but look at what you are using and question “Is this the best use of this resource?” Finding new ways to stretch out what: cash, electricity, water, propane and other consumables are key to success as an Urban Nomad.

6) Adaptability:


Stuff happens, stuff that you can’t control happens, stuff just comes out of the blue and smacks you in the face . . . that’s life, deal with it. It will go from over 30C in your house to below -30C in your house in the course of a year and that swing can happen within a matter of months. Learning to just roll with the punches and adapt what you are doing so as to best meet the current set of circumstances is vital. Fine, throw that hissy fit if you need to, but after your two minute (therapeutic) meltdown, pause, breathe, then get to adapting to whatever change in your situation has happened. (As for me, I still have my annual hissy fit when the first snowfall happens.)

7) Decisiveness:


I will say that the first and most important trait that you need to have is the ability to make a choice and stick with it. Yet you still need to be flexible enough to reverse that choice, if the current course of action proves unwise. It is finding and determining that balance which takes time to work out. Yet being able to make a choice (such as to downgrade your lifestyle so you can upgrade your finances . . . hint, hint) and stick with it, are the first and foremost quality that you will need for success as an Urban Nomad.  

There are a few thoughts on what qualities are required for success as an Urban Nomad. Don’t worry if you don’t have all of them yet, trust me, you will learn and adopt them as you go, all you really need to get going is Number 7.

Remember: Tracy Chapman (from her song “Fast Car”) was right: “Leave tonight, or live and die this way.”

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Wednesday 24 August 2016

Dancing Budgets

As I have said I use a spreadsheet to budget what to do with my paycheque. I plan out what I will spend on what and when with my pay during that whole payday cycle. 

FYI: I call the time from one payday to the next a “payday cycle.”

I have gotten so good with my budgeting that I can accurately predict what cash I will have left in the bank at the end of the current payday cycle.

This allows me to not only budget but forecast; as in plan out what my next payday cycle will look like. 

This is for fun and for motivation for me to stay on track during this payday cycle. I don’t really take these forecasts seriously, you can’t.

This is because the further you go out into the future, the less reliable your forecasts become.

Why? Well I take my expected bank balances at the end of this payday cycle and plunk them into the beginning of the next payday cycle.

I then input my best guess as to what that paycheque will look like and guestimate my expenses. This then lets me play with these numbers to determine what will be spent and what will be saved.

I now work with three budget spreadsheets looking at three different payday periods. Again this is for fun and motivation. 

How is this? Well, I get to see what could happen in the near future if I keep on being a good boy. This helps me not spend wildly and resist the urge to buy something new and shiny.

Once payday has arrived I do the following: 

1. Delete the budget that was this current pay period (the one that just ended the previous night)
2. Copy the budget for the next pay period to a new spreadsheet called “1) This Payperiod”
3. Rename the budget for next payperiod “2) [date] Payperiod”
4. Rename the budget for the payperiod after that “3) [date] Payperiod”

Why I do this is that I have two pay period budget sheets one is called “7th Payperiod” and the other is called 22nd Payperiod.”

Depending on what part of the month I am in will determine what one is next. As it is right now the 7th pay period is next, because my next payday is on the 7th of September.

After the payday on the 7th of September, the 22nd Payperiod will be first because that is my closest payday (22nd of September). That is why I rename them, just to keep this straight and know which one is next.

It is a silly game, but it lets me forecast out about as far as I dare. After all, all we have is the cash in hand and your next payday. After that it is a crap shoot.

For me, though, it allows me to see progression and active and real steps working towards my goals. 

I will need this especially once winter hits, as this winter is predicted to be colder and worse than last year. One thing is for certain, I will not only survive but thrive.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Tuesday 23 August 2016

The Payday Nudge

Yesterday was Payday, so that means that after work I did my running around. It also means that I paid my bills and yes even one to myself.

I am referring to my IOU of $1500.00 to the Long Term Savings account for the pausing my savings plan in May to give myself a nudge forward in other areas.

I was not able to pay it all off, or rather I chose not to, but I did take a bite out of it. 

I was able to pay a third of it off this month. (Yay!) I intend to take another bite out of that IOU next month and finish it off in October. 

I will keep my Personal Overdraft fully funded as well as maintain my Mid-Term Savings funded up to its minimum acceptable levels ($1k) as I pay this debt off.

I will admit that I did have to dip into my Mid-Term Savings a bit to do that this month. I was able to keep myself on track, and that is important for me to do.

I should be able to fund that back up past $1K next payday (the 7th) and then again be able to take that bite out of the IOU on the 22nd 

This brings up a point which may be helpful when staring down a seemingly impossible task such as paying off long term debt. 

All you have, all you really have is the cash that you have in hand, and your next paycheque. After that, there are no guarantees; you are not owed any further money.

There are a thousand reasons why you could or would not be gainfully employed anymore, most of which are no fault of your own. (Happy thought I know).

What that means is use what cash you have in hand wisely. Look for a way to somehow nudge yourself towards a better and more balanced fiscal position during this pay period. (As in, don’t wait.)

What keeps me going is not simply daydreaming about my long term goals and wishing they were already achieved. (I do, do that now and again, sure.)

What keeps me going is seeing the small steps that I am making towards these goals each and every payday.

I have my savings plan and yes my RRSP plan, sure, but those are automatic and expected. I treat them like bills that I can’t avoid (like rent). 

The steps that I am talking about are the things that I do with my surplus money, that one extra thing that I can do with this payday to nude myself forward to a better fiscal position.

This is why I really have no extra cash in my budget and won’t for at least 16 months to come. Every last cent that I can spare goes to getting myself to that place of total debt freedom.

That place is achievable, but you have to work towards it, by taking one step each payday, and do so consistently. Trust me, you can do it, you just have to start (as in, now . . . now’s good).

As always: keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Monday 22 August 2016

Meh, Close Enough

As I was leaving work on Friday afternoon, as usual Boss asked me what my plans were for the weekend. This was fine, usual and expected, as he regularly does this out of curiosity.

After that the conversation turned to winter and my Urban Nomad Lifestyle. Again, something that has happened on a reoccurring basis.

He mentioned that he felt that come next fall (as in a year from now) we should see some great real estate deals in the local market, I agreed. 

He then mentioned that he felt that come next October, that I should just “Give it up” that by that point I should be “close enough” to my goal and move out of my trailer. 

In essence, what he is saying that he doesn’t want to see me go through another winter. This was more out of words of advice from a friend than anything else.

I just politely reminded him that by next November or December I should be able to pay Wanda off completely. I left it at that.

This does raise the interesting point of if you should take the advice of people around you or just keep on doing what you feel is right. 

If I surveyed most of my friends or colleagues, they would tell me to stop this silliness and get a place now. That winter was too cold to go through again.

For me, and what I keep coming back to is this: what would be the point of throwing in the towel ten feet from the finish line? 

Are you kidding me? Quit a race when you are so close to winning? My goal is to be totally debt free, first and foremost. 

Sure, I have said, and maintain, that if a steal of a real estate deal comes along that I will take it. Yet it has to be the property that I want, located where I want and for the price that I want.

Until then, I will keep on keeping on, living in my trailer and doing my best to get my hiney ahead as quickly as I can. I, and I alone, will decide when I quit this Urban Nomad Journey. 

Again, this is a temporary measure to repair the disastrous fiscal situation that I put myself in. I am not doing this for fame, fortune or to impress anyone, just to improve my life and my financial health.

So today’s word of wisdom is that you should always follow your gut and do what you feel is best for you. After all you are the only one who has to live with the consequences.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward! 

Friday 19 August 2016

Distracting Dreams

The dreams I am talking about are not the ones we experience at night or even the ones that you experience as your bored mind wanders during the day.

The dreams I am talking about are the ones that you want to accomplish, your long distance goals. If you are like me, you have a lot of dreams a lot of things that you would like to do . . . a lot of dreams that you want to achieve.

As I have said before, one of the things that I do is check the real estate listing website regularly to see what the market is like and see what is out there.

I do this to see if there is that sweet deal that I can’t pass up. I also check for those silly deals, as in something I might be able to do now, yet shouldn’t.

Again, it started with me seeing how much land I could get for very little cash, and assessing where that was and if that was some place I could see myself living in . . . in a few years.

That led to looking for cabins and other similar properties and again, I found a few for relatively little. It is all tempting, but in the end, not practical and distracting to me, for now

At this point, even if I could swing a real estate deal by either paying cash or obtaining some sort of cheap mortgage I would be in a fiscally bad situation and couldn’t do anything with that property for at least a year and a half, more likely two years.

Why? My budget (and common sense) would not allow me to uproot from a good job and move to the middle of nowhere without first the truck being paid off and second of all a bit of a nest egg.

Why do I need to move? Because, like Vancouver and Toronto, the prices for houses in this province are (according to the Geoffie index) insanely, stupidly, grossly overpriced.

I am not going to put myself into an overleveraged position just to get a “nice house” in a “nice area.”  I refuse to be house poor. That and I have plans and to do those, I need land and space.

The point is, that I need to keep reminding myself that I really can’t start looking for a place for at least two years, As in August of 2018.

By that point I will not only be debt free but have a bit of cash in the bank and actually be in a position to live on said property and live cheaply. To try to buy before then would be a risky proposition at best.

I will still look, I will still see if I can hobble some deal together for the right property for the right price. I will know that to dwell on this is dangerous and yes distracting.

It is a pleasant distraction though, but it does come with the aggravation that comes with dreaming a dream that can’t come true . . . yet.

Yet again, for no reason whatsoever, here is your sunrise shot:
 
 
As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!


Thursday 18 August 2016

Determination Wins

I always try to look for inspiration and beauty in the everyday things that surround me. I stop and do appreciate the flowers, and pause to enjoy the sunrise and sunset; so sue me.

The overall thing that keeps coming back to me again and again is the need and necessity to just keep going. If you have a dream or a goal, no matter how lofty, distant or impossible it may seem, just keep moving towards it.

I have learned that again and again as I keep on sticking it out in this RV while still holding down a 9-5 job.

I am sure that people around me think I’m nuts, but a few are a tad envious (at least about my ever improving fiscal situation).  None of that matters and I don’t think about it.

I just keep on keeping on, and keep working towards my goals and doing what I need to do to get there. I am determined and refuse to give up, just like this candle.
 
 
When my candles get down low I just let them burn down to nothing, this one wouldn’t quit and burned down to nothing at all. That shows determination indeed!

So, I will keep on working my plan and striving towards being debt free and yes home ownership.

For no reason at all, here is your sunrise shot:

 
As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Wednesday 17 August 2016

One Step, Consistent Steps

I will say, and have said that time moves both slowly and quickly at the same time. For as it feels like the heat will never end, it also feels like fall, and then winter is right upon me.

It also feels like I have only just begun this journey of being an Urban Nomad in search of taking back control of my finances. Yet at the same time it feels like I have been living in Wanda forever and a day.

I am always looking to my finances and looking at two time periods at once, one is here today, now, and the other is the next pay period. That’s it, no more.

Further out than that is not assured, and what can happen then is only a guess. I do look to the future and I do plan and dream, but I don’t make plans written in stone.

I know that I have the cash in hand and that I will at least get my next paycheque. It may be my last paycheque from this employer, but that’s it.

We have all seen companies fold up without notice, or people get downsized, fired, dismissed or just plain lose their job for any number of a thousand reasons, most of which are not their fault.

This is why, living without any kind of savings is like being a trapeze artist without a net, one slip up could cause you serious harm. (As in splat!)

So this is part of the reason why I have my Mid-Term Savings Account (as modest as it is) and my “Personal Overdraft” in my Main Account; as a bit of a cushion, if I need it.

The Long-Term Savings Account is steadily building up to pay off Wanda and so I consider it spent and can’t be touched. Yet, at the same time it is there to be that extra fiscal buffer from total fiscal devastation.

Again, I don’t like working without a net or without any sort of savings, especially after having done so for so long.

I highly recommend getting one, even if it is just $500.00 and it takes you six months to save up that much. Just get started, just do it, do at least that much.

I focus on this payday and today, so as to control my spending. I am always aware of what I am spending and if I am on track to meet my fiscal targets I have set out for myself.

I have my budgets for my next two paydays laid out with projections and estimations, the further out they go into time. Again, this is to motivate me, to keep me on track.

By looking at the future, the near future, I can see what is actually possible if I stay on track and not do something fiscally stupid like make a big purchase.

I get to see what goals, however minor, that I can achieve if I keep spending as little as possible. This is not a glamorous or extravagant lifestyle, but it is necessary for now.

I do see a time when I am living in a house, somewhere and hopefully paid off, sooner rather than later.

I envision me standing on my porch, sipping my coffee as the sun rises over the trees of my acreage . . . and a dog . . . need a dog  . . . and a cat . . . for rodent control and bed warming.

To get there, I have to keep moving forward, one step at a time, one paycheque at a time, consistently improving my life and my fiscal health.

For no reason, here is your sunrise shot
  


As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Tuesday 16 August 2016

Fall Reprieve

One of the things that I am always aware of is resources: 

How much I have? 
How much I’m using?
How long they will last.

Just for clarification, when I say “Resources” I mean: 

1. Water
2. Propane
3. Electricity
4. Gasoline
5. (Black and Grey) Storage Tank Capacity

I don’t list food, because, as yet, food is always available at a store and I always have a ready supply of it. Going hungry is not a worry for me, at least not yet. Running out of propane in the middle of the night is.

For that matter, running out of electricity so much so that the furnace won’t work, or any number of other things to come up short when I really need them. This is why I keep a wary eye on my resources.

When you live in a fixed address, you just don’t think about your resources. You want water? You turn a tap and as much water as you want comes out. 

You want electricity? That magic plug in the wall will give you all of the electricity you could ever want, as long as you make regular sacrifices (of cash) to the god of utilities.

Heat? In winter? Just turn up the thermostat (or if you’re the one paying the heating bill) put on a sweater. Freezing at night is not a worry.

This is just the way that things are and I guess, how things should be, or not, that’s debatable. After all, I am inadvertently, probably the “Greenest” person that I know, as my “Carbon Footprint” is probably pretty low.

Yet you don’t drive across the city hoping to find one water faucet that you have (legal and ethical) access to so you can fill your water tank is still turned on.

Doing so, being able to fill your water tank will mean that you can shower and wash your hands in your sink using the luxury of your taps. 

Otherwise it is pouring water from a jug over each hand to get them wet, then lather up with soap and finally rising again with the same jug. 

If I am in Spring/Fall mode, then the water goes down the sink drain. If I am in Winter Mode, then this ritual is done over a plastic tub, after which the water is poured out over a nearby shrub or bush.

So, for me, when I drove up this last Sunday to that one RV dump station that is open in the North East of the city I was happy to find that the water tap was turned on. 

Sure, the sewer access dump was padlocked, that I could deal with. I have a place that I can dump year-round, in my Eastern Home. They haven’t had water going on two years now, with no plans to change that any time soon.

Since I was able to fill my water tank, I can still enjoy Summer Mode, which means everything is active. This is a treat that I enjoy during winter like the warm weather and the light breeze blowing through Wanda.

I still pump my drinking/cooking water out of that blue jug and I still have a reserve five gallons of water standing by. This is to conserve water and stretch out my water so as to be able to have four maybe five showers per tank fill. 

The one thing you never want to run fully out of is water . . . or propane . . . or electricity . . . and gasoline for the generator as well . . . in winter, those storage tanks are dry though.

So, while it is still the middle of August, I still drive up to that RV Dump station with trepidation, wondering if this will be the week that they have finally turned that tap off. 

Doing so will force me into Spring/Fall mode, meaning no water in my pipes, yet I can still use my Grey/Black water tanks. 

This means, sure I can still use my toilet but it means showering with a jug of warm water while standing in the shower. Then there is the washing of hands and dishes using nothing but water heated in the kettle. 

This is a small price to pay for being 19 Going on 83.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Monday 15 August 2016

Nineteen Going on Eighty-Three

Right now I am sitting at nineteen (19) . . . that’s right nineteen percent (19%). I can keep, save and/or do what I want with nineteen percent (19%) of my take home pay.

I don’t count my gross pay (as in before taxes) because that is out of my control. Also, let’s face it filing your tax return makes all of us feel like Oliver “Please, Sir, can I have a little bit back, Sir?” (But I digress.)

Effectively that number is zero (0%), as these days every last penny that I have in my budget either goes to bills, debts or expenses. 

The money I am putting aside into either of my savings accounts are bills to myself. The Mid-Term Savings is there to provide for my minor emergencies or to live on if need be. 

The Long-Term Savings is there to build up so I can pay off Wanda. So, while, technically there is cash in there, there isn’t, not really.

That money is allocated and therefore “spent” unless I am suddenly unemployed or some other emergency necessitates using it. Either that or there is some real estate deal I can’t pass up.

Given what I am about to tell you, that had better be some sweet deal indeed. As I said before, as it stands now, nineteen percent (19%) of my income is discretionary. 

Once I hit that magic day of January 16, 2018 (otherwise known as Total Debt Freedom Day) that number will rise, overnight to eighty-three percent (83%).

(Okay, now: scream, rant and rail at the unfairness of it all, doubt the validity of my claim, call me nasty names, pause, deep breath . . . aaaaand we’re back.)

This came out of my doing a bit of forecasting budgeting for what the day after Total Debt Freedom Day would look like. I did this to help motivate myself . . . and it worked (gloating happy dance).

Now and again I do ask myself “Why the heck am I doing this?” and consider packing it in. Particularly when winter is just around the corner and all that entails.

Sure, I now have momentum and that sense of “normalcy” about this lifestyle on my side. After all, I have been living in Wanda for just over two years now.

I do get to second-guessing and ponder the wisdom of doing something “normal” like living in a fixed address. This budget kinda helped keep those feelings at bay.

I will have a fixed address; I will get there. It still remains to be seen: where it is, how big it is, and if I live there alone, just with my woman, with my family or any and all comers (www.terran.foundation). 

Who knows, but that is the wondrous joy that is the future. Like Doc Brown said “Your future isn’t written, no one’s has, so make it a good one!” 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

P.S. I’m nineteen going on eighty-three, what’re you at?

Nineteen Going on Eighty-Three

Right now I am sitting at nineteen (19) . . . that’s right nineteen percent (19%). I can keep, save and/or do what I want with nineteen percent (19%) of my take home pay.

I don’t count my gross pay (as in before taxes) because that is out of my control. Also, let’s face it filing your tax return makes all of us feel like Oliver “Please, Sir, can I have a little bit back, Sir?” (But I digress.)

Effectively that number is zero (0%), as these days every last penny that I have in my budget either goes to bills, debts or expenses. 

The money I am putting aside into either of my savings accounts are bills to myself. The Mid-Term Savings is there to provide for my minor emergencies or to live on if need be. 

The Long-Term Savings is there to build up so I can pay off Wanda. So, while, technically there is cash in there, there isn’t, not really.

That money is allocated and therefore “spent” unless I am suddenly unemployed or some other emergency necessitates using it. Either that or there is some real estate deal I can’t pass up.

Given what I am about to tell you, that had better be some sweet deal indeed. As I said before, as it stands now, nineteen percent (19%) of my income is discretionary. 

Once I hit that magic day of January 16, 2018 (otherwise known as Total Debt Freedom Day) that number will rise, overnight to eighty-three percent (83%).

(Okay, now: scream, rant and rail at the unfairness of it all, doubt the validity of my claim, call me nasty names, pause, deep breath . . . aaaaand we’re back.)

This came out of my doing a bit of forecasting budgeting for what the day after Total Debt Freedom Day would look like. I did this to help motivate myself . . . and it worked (gloating happy dance).

Now and again I do ask myself “Why the heck am I doing this?” and consider packing it in. Particularly when winter is just around the corner and all that entails.

Sure, I now have momentum and that sense of “normalcy” about this lifestyle on my side. After all, I have been living in Wanda for just over two years now.

I do get to second-guessing and ponder the wisdom of doing something “normal” like living in a fixed address. This budget kinda helped keep those feelings at bay.

I will have a fixed address; I will get there. It still remains to be seen: where it is, how big it is, and if I live there alone, just with my woman, with my family or any and all comers (www.terran.foundation). 

Who knows, but that is the wondrous joy that is the future. Like Doc Brown said “Your future isn’t written, no one’s has, so make it a good one!” 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

P.S. I’m nineteen going on eighty-three, what’re you at?

Friday 12 August 2016

Do You Need That Data?

Okay, so because of my trip last month, I (surprise, surprise) almost went over my data plan. Thankfully my mobile phone provider messaged me when I was at 90% of my plan.

So, that meant that I turned off my mobile data on my Phone and iPad. With the computer I just didn’t plug the cell modem . . . thing into my computer and done.

This worked and I did not go over my data plan amount. It got me thinking though, do I really need mobile data on my phone?

For me, I always have my phone and iPad with me, or rather the iPad is always within reach.  My iPad is either with me or it is around the house somewhere. Since my house is always parked nearby, it is always nearby.

My phone is about as old as my truck and so these days all I expect it to do is to: 1) make and receive phone calls and 2) send and receive texts aaaaaaannnd that’s it.

(Can I just get my Star Trek Communicator Badge yet?)

So after my plan ticked over to that magical day when your data plan resets and you can use your mobile data again . . . I got to thinking . . . when it comes to my phone . . . do I need mobile data?

Sure, I need mobile data on my laptop, as it is my only source of internet as the places that I park at do not have decent (or any) free Wi-Fi (Jerks). 

The data on my iPad is pretty much a necessity and I can do all sorts of things on it. So much so, that I don’t bother to fire up my laptop, unless it is something that I have to do on the laptop.

With the phone and what little I expect of it, I don’t see the need to turn the mobile data on. I can steal Wi-Fi at work for updates and other hot spots here and there as I walk about.

Since I share a large pool of data between the three devices this means that I now have more data to use on devices that are much newer and easier to use.

The other bonus is that I have found that by turning my mobile data off, the battery on the phone lasts twice as long, so there is that added bonus. 

I still plan to keep this phone as I don’t see the need to upgrade the phone because my expectations from my phone have decreased. 

If I want to look at a webpage or other stuff, I want the larger screen of the iPad. Any apps that I could or want to get on the phone I can get on the iPad and guess what, they’re nicer and easier to use.

So, one tip to save a bit of cash, and that all important mobile data, is to turn that mobile data off and only turn it on if you need it, for only as long as you need it.

For no reason, here is your morning sunrise shot:
  

As always keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Thursday 11 August 2016

Question Advice Givers

I don’t mean to imply that you should become some sort of Conspiracy Theorist or paranoid, but you do need to question the motivation of people and organizations giving you advice.

You are the ultimate expert on your life and your experience; you know what is best for you. 

It is true that sometimes you choose right, and sometimes you choose wrong, that’s life. Always, however, you learn (but I digress). 

For example, what if your good friend tries to discourage you to start working out? Why would they do that? 

Well, if you start to work out, then they will likely have to start working out too . . . and they don’t want to do that. (So, they have to stop you.) 

I bring up this because my boss at work has (yet again) been advising and encouraging me to buy a house . . . or condo . . . or townhouse, something, anything.

Why is this bad? Well, it is his motivation that makes me question what, on the surface seems like good advice. Let me break it down for you.

After I got back from my vacation, he took his vacation not long after. So the day before yesterday (Tuesday) was the first day that he got back from his vacation. 

He was asking me “You’re not going to go through another winter, are you?” Again he was making conversation and was curious if I would get a place or a room this year. Surely I would not stay in my trailer this winter . . . right?

I said that I was going to stick it out, as my next goal is to be totally debt free in seventeen months. His eyes went wide, then he went silent for a moment. (Again, never ask me a question that you don’t want the answer to.)

After that, that the sales pitch on buying a house came out. I am sure we have all heard it before so I won’t bore you with it. It included that he made most of his money in real estate. 

Again, good advice so why not take it? Why question it? After all he is successful (okay not as successful as Trump, but he is doing okay). The trouble lies in two areas. 

For one, he knows why I want to push off buying anything right now. Why? Well if I buy something now, I would be back to having my budget maxed out. (All that and no furniture.)

Not only that, I would still have my Wanda payments for years to come, and the only relief I would see was in seventeen months when my truck is paid off. 

That place of being maxed out with no wiggle room in my budget is a place that I will do everything in my power to avoid. I have been there and I don’t want to go back. 

The second reason why I question his advice lies in the fact that if I buy a place, I am  not going anywhere. 

My mortgage payments would nail my feet are nailed to the floor. Therefore, I would stay and be a good employee, not rocking the boat for years to come.

He is afraid of me becoming debt free and therefore free so I can leave, if I choose. Why is this? Well I have been working here for a number of years and know what to do.

I do a lot of smaller jobs around this place, sure. After the number of years that I have been here there are lots of little things that you just know, but I am not irreplaceable. 

Nobody is irreplaceable. I have seen people get fired for saying as much and, oddly enough, life moves on. 

This is why I say that you always need to do what is best for you and question why someone is telling you to do (or don’t) something.

I am not saying to become a self-absorbed jerk, but at the end of the day, you gotta do, what you gotta do. Keep an eye on and give a helping hand to your fellow humans though.

In the end, you do what you feel is best for you. Stick to your guns and never feel that you have to do what anyone else tells you to do, no matter who they are . . . they are not you, you are, they are not the expert on you or your life, you are.

As for me, unless the most incredible steal of a deal comes along, I am going to keep on with my plan and become totally debt free January 16, 2018.

For no reason, here is your Sunrise Shot:
  

As always, keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Wednesday 10 August 2016

Pondering Press Pieces

I saw one of those “Your Memories” posts on Facebook this morning and it was the fact that one year ago today a newspaper did an article on me. They were following up from an article done a year prior to that (two years ago).

This causes me to reflect on the small amount of press attention that I have received and my own thoughts on it. I admit to having mixed feelings on it. 

(Disclosure: this blog entry does ramble a bit).

For one, let’s say that I do become some sort of (even for a short time) media sensation and massive cover story (unlikely). 

We all know that nobody’s life can survive such intense scrutiny and we as a society like to look for the bad about someone and rip them to shreds. 

This of course gives me a moment of pause, but I have always been honest with who I am and what I am doing. If you ask me something, I will answer honestly. 

If you complain or try to chastise me about some aspect of my life, I will listen, but I certainly won’t apologize if you don’t like something about me or my lifestyle. I am who I am, take me or leave me.

I do blog, so my life is out there and I suppose a matter of public record; fine, I accept that. If some reporter or other media person wants to talk to me, okay, drop me a line and let’s set up a meeting.

Part of the reason why I blog is not only to educate and enlighten people that there are other ways to reduce and eliminate debt but to also as a protest of sorts.

I blog to draw attention to the trap of debt and the expected “normal” structure of our society. Why is it that this is, my “Urban Nomad” lifestyle, is the most effective way to eliminate debt? 

What aggravates me furthermore is why should anyone have to do this to get rid of debt? The short answer is that people are not expected to get rid of debt, ever. 

We are supposed to carry debt and we are told by economists (and bankers) that debt is good. Don’t eliminate debt just “manage it.”  Sure, I’ll say it, debt is good . . . for them! 

I see debt for what it is, a trap, for once you have debt and/or a mortgage, you are trapped and will never do anything but pay bills until you die. 

Sure, you will live a comfortable life, but your money and assets are never truly yours and are always at risk of being taken away, why . . . debt.

So, I will continue to work towards Total Debt Freedom, and work my goals and keep saving up to achieve my dreams (they are many and grand and yes bold). 

The future is truly so bright, that I have to wear shades . . . and a hat, you always need a good hat. 

As always: keep your head up, you attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Tuesday 9 August 2016

The Oops-Fund Imperative

Nothing chills the heart faster than looking at your bank balance and seeing, realizing that there is nothing left.

You have less than five bucks to last you a little over a week and a half . . . and you have expenses still coming: gas, food, bus fare, etc.

This is a place that I have been many times in my life, and is certainly not a place that I want to go back to.

This is the reason for the “Oops-Fund”, the “Contingency Fund” or whatever you call it; that little pot of cash that you can dip into when you need to.

The trouble is that for most people, that “Oops-Fund” is our credit cards. This is what got me into my troubles and why I monitor their balances, interest rates and use them a sparingly as possible.

This is also why I devised and maintain my “Mid-Term Savings” account. This is my Oops-Fund. This is where I will dip into if I need to, in order to make it to the next payday.

To be honest I have a “Contingency Wallet” with a bit of cash in it, and this is where I will steal from if I need to. This is my first line of fiscal defence against budgetary irregularities and overspending.

You know, if I need some groceries but my Groceries Wallet is empty. Or even if I need that extra bottle of Propane and my Utilities Wallet is empty.

The trick with this wallet is that you, you know, have to put the cash back into that wallet the next payday . . . or that cash never gets back in there . . . and won’t be there the next time that you need it.

Again, the concept of the wallets with cash in them is to separate the spending that I do to operate and function with my bank account. Thereby reducing and controlling my spending.

The Mid-Term Savings comes into focus today because in two paydays, as in the one on Sept 7th, I will have $1500.00 in it and I will be able to do one of two things. I have been pondering these two choices lately.

I can either take a chunk of $500.00 out of that IOU to the Long-Term Savings account, or I could pay it all off and completely drain that Mid-Term Saving account.

The danger of doing this second option is that it would leave me without an Oops-Fund, and this is a dangerous place to be. 

If any sort of large, unforeseen and unavoidable expense were to come along, I would have to either have to dip into my Personal Overdraft or even further into my actual overdraft. 

Either that or claw back cash out of the Long-Term Savings or yes put it on a credit card. Again, depending on the size of the expense, I may still have to do that.

This is why I want to trickle save that Mid-Term Savings account up over time so as it will be able to absorb such fiscal shocks in the future.

So this is why I will do this $500.00 chunk bite out of my $1500.00 IOU (to myself) three times and hopefully complete it before the end of the year. All while keeping my Oops-Fund intact.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Monday 8 August 2016

Broken Poop-Chute

So, all in all I had a good weekend. In true to form of this lifestyle I had three different parking spots on the three different days that I was in my Western Home.

That is just the way of things, each time I move to go run errands, someone else might park where I was parked. 

That is, after all fair, as none of the spots that I park in, belong to me. I have the spots that I like to park in, but I can’t demand that someone moves, I am by my very nature, nomadic.

I did go to my library and I did get ahead on Book Two, I was able to nudge forward a portion of new material on a chapter, and that is a pattern that I plan to extend.

Yesterday was payday so that means that I did my running around and my errands, after which I did my online banking, paying bills and shuffling money around.

It is official, I now have my minimum acceptable levels in my three bank accounts. So for, me I am back in the black and a stress has been lifted from my shoulders.

What that means is that I am working on paying off that IOU to my Long-Term Savings Account using only salvaged money . . . this will be a close one.

You see, what I call “Salvaged Money” is the surplus that I can squeeze out of my budget after all of my bills and obligations have been met. 

As you can imagine, this is not all that much each payday. Sure these last two paydays I got lucky but usually my budgets are somewhat tight.

I know that this is not a large debt and that it is an arbitrary deadline. If I do have to push this one into next year, that is okay. The real deadline is January 15, 2018 (Total Debt Freedom Day)!

The interesting thing (and the reason for the name of this blog entry) happened when I went to my free dumping station on yesterday afternoon. 

I pulled up and there was sign that said “Out of order, sorry for the inconvenience” and that trusty padlock locking the sewer dump opening closed.

I was momentarily worried as this is the only place that I have found where I can get water. I was relieved to find that the water had not been turned off.

I can still dump at the place in my Eastern Home but that is a place where I pay to dump. So, I will wait to dump until Wanda’s molars are floating (as in when her tanks are completely full.) 

I know that I may come by next week to this RV dump station and find that it is “fixed” (unlikely) or more than likely find that they have turned their water off. 

It is possible that there is something wrong with their sewer connection but since it is just a pipe going straight down, I seriously doubt it.

Most likely they have closed it because people like me were not paying their high prices for gasoline and just using their free RV dump station. 

Since they have water, I would pay them if their price was reasonable and their water was available. 

Ah well, as always I will adapt and survive, even if I have to switch to “Fall/Spring” mode in mid August. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

P.S. Side Project Note

I have a long term goal/dream to build a scientific research centre that would be focussed on science as well as “people refurbishing” where money is not a factor within the place. 

To do this I need to raise some funds to at least purchase the property and get the ball rolling. To do this I need someone who is skilled in social media/crowd funding. I would be willing to pay a commission. 

If you are interested, check out the website that defines the project (www.terran.foundation) and if interested drop me a line.

Friday 5 August 2016

Back on Track

Okay, so this weekend is payday, Sunday specifically and I am thankful that I am doing business with a bank that is open on Sundays. So I can actually do my deposit and running around on Payday.

(I won’t mention their name because they haven’t sponsored me 

(Hint, Hint, sponsors? Anyone? Sponsor me?)

What this means is that I will officially be back on track from my Vacation by funding my Mid-Term Savings back up to minimum acceptable levels ($1k). 

Now I will continue to stuff all of my surplus cash into my Mid-Term Savings account. The difference is that when it crosses over $1500.00 I will then transfer $500.00 into my Long-Term Savings Account.

Why? Well, I still have that IOU to that High-Interest Savings Account from when I paused my paydown in May. If I put three blocks of $500.00 into that High-Interest Savings Account then I will have paid that off. 

This is important to me to do before the end of the year, as I want my Savings Plan to be back on track before crossing into the New Year. 

After that IOU is paid off then comes paying off my Low interest credit card that I put about 2K onto with: glasses, tires for Wanda, a new laptop, and a few other things.

Since this card is 4.25%, my minimum payments are still somewhere south of $20.00. Even now I am putting $150.00 per payday onto it to make sure that I stay in their good books.

After that is paid off, I plan to top up my Mid-Term Savings Account so that I could live for a year on it (post total Debt Freedom) if I needed to. 

If that somehow happens before January 2018 (total debt freedom) I will then just double down on what I put into the High-Interest Savings Account.

I have plans, I have goals all of which are achievable and will be achieved because I choose to believe in them, myself and yes work towards them. There is always a solution if you put your mind to it. 

There shall never be any prison so effective or cruel as the one you devise for yourself out of your own attitudes, outlooks and assumptions. 

As the wise man said:  “Free your mind and your butt will follow!” 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Thursday 4 August 2016

Arnie’s Rules For Success

This blog entry started with me scrolling through my Facebook Feed, as we always do and coming across a Meme that caught my attention. 

Again, nothing new, but this was one which attributed a list of “Six Rules of Success” to “Arnold Schwarzenegger.” 

I will post that pic, but admit that I have no idea where it came from or who owns the right to it, but post it here for educational purposes.
  

Also, in the interest of clarity and fairness, I give Arnold Schwarzenegger credit for the list as it has been attributed to him. 

What I will do is offer my own take on what each of these “Rules” mean.

I was going to do my own list but quickly found out that not only did I agree with these rules but I am also following them . . . and succeeding . . . who knew.

I have taken to even put them up on my “Inspiration Board,” That place above my stove where I can look up and remind myself that I am not a total failure. 
  

1) Trust Yourself

To me, this means that you need to trust in yourself to follow through and have faith in your abilities. 

You need to believe in yourself and know really know that you will steadily improve and know, trust that you will succeed. 

(Once again, you are not the failure that you tell you tell yourself that you are.)

2) Break Some Rules

I don’t think that this implies to try to by food at a fast food place without wearing shoes or a shirt, or even running around with scissors. 

I also don’t think that it means to go out and break the law. At least I don’t advise you to.

What this means to me is don’t be afraid to break some rules of convention. As in, don’t always do what the crowd or society expects you to do. 

Don’t be afraid to go out there and do something different that will most likely make people wonder what you are doing and even perhaps laugh at you. 

(As in live in a trailer, that you tow behind your vehicle wherever you go, sleeping as you park on the roadside or in parking lots.)

3) Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

This is a big one and is the one rule that stops most people. We want to win every time that we try something. Every time we get to bat we want to hit that home run. 

Life is not like that and we learn and gain much more from our failures than we ever do from our successes. 

I am talking from personal experience on this one. So get out there, try something and fall flat on your face! You will be better for it, trust me on that one.

4) Ignore The Naysayers

This one is also a big one that stops a lot of people from doing something new and different. 

A few friends or associates or the collective wisdom of the internet says that something can’t be done or is a bad idea so we don’t even try.

Once again, if you have a dream an idea, or a vision, just get out there and try, and ignore the people who say that you can’t or shouldn’t do it. 

You don’t want those people in your life anyways. The greatest gift negative people can give you is the silence after they finally leave you alone . . . I also know this one from personal experience.

5) Work Like Hell 

I like the term “Work your butt off,” as I have seen two versions of this list. This one is a simple rule, get out there and work towards your dream, vision, goal etcetera. 

Nothing comes to you, so you will need to get out there and work for it, and be prepared to work hard and sacrifice to get what you want. 

Standing there with your hand out or demanding freebees from family and friends will get you nowhere. (At least with me.)

6) Give Something Back

This is a good rule and motto for life in general, as it helps to keep thing in balance. As you succeed and get better it is good to help others as well. 

I will not go into the various ways that I have been helpful or charitable as I believe that true charity is done in private and not for glory or recognition.

I would like to think that one way I give back is through this blog. I give back by letting people know my experiences and what I have learned. 

I hope that someone has found something useful through this blog.   

In order to end on a happy note and just because the sunrise looked great this morning, here is your sunrise pic.
  

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!