Ten Years On This Journey To Total Debt Freedom (And Beyond)

Today, marks exactly ten years since I have started this journey to Total Debt Freedom and beyond. 

It was ten years ago today, after work, that I had the realization that I had to somehow get my debts done or I would never get them done . . . yet still face retirement . . . with nothing to show for it but a pile of debts.

I was treading water financially; paying my bills, paying the minimum payments on my credit cards but little else. Then again, I have been in economic survival mode all of my working life (up until now).

In the days before that fateful day, I had been forced to wonder what would happen if I was suddenly unemployed (the boss had mused about shutting the company down).

I knew that if that happened, that I would have no choice but to immediately radically downgrade my lifestyle in order to meet the new financial realities of unemployment.

I decided to radically downgrade my lifestyle whilst I was still employed, and use the freed-up cash in my monthly budget to get my debts paid off.

I didn’t know exactly how I was going to do that, but I knew that I had to do something radical and live really cheaply: live in a camper or rent a room.

My original goal was to get, “Credit Card Debt Free.” I thought that my truck loan would end on its own, in time. 

It took a few years, but in late November of 2015 I paid off my last credit card and became Credit Card Debt Free.

As I look back on the credit card debts that were crushing me, I say, “that’s it?”

I have to remind myself that when you are also paying so many other bills, both large and small every month, that even small credit card debt can be crushing and take a long time to get rid of.

Fun fact is that my income is the same now as it was back then. I have recently got a pay-raise (this past Sept) . . . first one since July of 2014.

Yet that raise was not really a raise, as it was, “give with one hand but take away with the other.” So, in essence, I am no better than I was before that, “raise” . . . maybe a bit worse off.  

(Don’t get me started . . . seriously.)

Anyways, I continued to pay down debt and on October, 22, 2017 I became Totally Debt Free.

Since then, I have been: saving, investing and gathering up: tools, books, and supplies that I would need when I do get either that cabin or parcel of land on which to build.

My dreams are scalable, from a cabin somewhere, to building a town. 

That means that I want somewhere between a few acres to a Quarter Section (160 Acres) yet without debt . . . somehow.

In my mad rush to get the: tools, books, and supplies that I would need (the essential ones) and do so before inflation really kicked in or such supplies were no longer available, I have run up another pile of debt.

Fear not, that debt will be done by April of this next year, after which I can look to seriously work towards getting that . . . something . . . somewhere.

So, I will be in Wanda for at least one more winter . . . hopefully my last but who knows.

I am in a much better place than I was ten years ago, and I am so very close to getting that little patch of somewhere that will be mine.

At least, that is the plan. 

As we all know, many things can happen to upend those plans, but I will dream, plan and work towards that dream anyways.

As always: Dream for the future, Plan for the mid-term, but Work on the now.

Another Week of Stolen Days

This week has been a week of nice weather, fantastic weather for January. January and February are the depths of winter and so I expect them to be bitterly cold.

As in hibernating cold, such as I did in late December. I know how to handle the bitter cold and what to do, not that I like to do it, but I know what to do.

So, to be here with eight or nine days left in January and no intense bitter cold snap yet, nor on the horizon (so far) I consider myself lucky and the days stolen from the depths of winter.

Yet, as nice as it is, this non-stop fall weather is annoying. It is like trying to take a shower in lukewarm water. It is not hot, nor is it cold, it is just blah, neither.

Again, it could and should be much colder and it still could turn cold, but I long for the warm days of spring and summer. 

When I can enjoy the nice breeze coming through the open windows. When I can not have to worry about everything freezing (myself included).

Again, I am lucky and am thankful for the weather, but I hate this limbo and non-warm weather. 

I know that I have two months left before things are expected to get less-cold and start to get warmer. 

I will just tough it out and try to use this as motivation for me to at least rent something by December first of this year.

I have my plan, I am working my plan, and the plan is working. 

But I still hate the cold.

Still On Track

Okay, I had a setback last week, but I am still on track to make my day of April 7 for paying off the last credit card and becoming debt free again.

It was Thursday and I gave into an impulse to make a sizable purchase for my Homestead Supplies.

I also reworked my budgets in a few different ways, all in an effort to somehow have it all: build savings, pay off debt and build up my Homestead Supplies.

After going through that process, I realized that it was not worth it as when it comes down to it, I don’t like carrying debt. 

I have been carrying debt for a year now, and it is time that I just pay it off. I need to pay off my debt, and in so doing get back up to zero. 

I have to get up out of this hole of debt before I am able to climb up higher and build savings and wealth.

It is true that I still have my investments, but again, I don’t want to touch them if I don’t have to. So, I am not in the same position that I was when I was paying off debt the first time.

I know that hard times are coming, which is why I want to build up my Homestead Supplies as quick as I can. I always fear that I don’t have enough.

I also know that I need to have no debt and a bit of savings when this calamity comes. 

If all I have to do is pay my current bills, then I am in a much better position if the economy craters and I am suddenly unemployed.

So, until now and April 7, when I finally pay off my last credit card and become debt free again, I have to resist buying anything that I don’t absolutely need.

It is a constant struggle, but one that I have to endure in order to build a better future for myself.

The Stolen Days

As I have said, January and February are the coldest months, the months that I keep an eye on and the ones that are usually the hardest for me.

So, any day in January or February that is warmer than -20C is a boon and what I call a “stolen day” a day stolen from the dreaded depths of winter.

Such is the case so far this year, and I am quite happy about it. I know that things can get cold after the end of February, but for the most part, things get warmer.

So, with things being warm this year, I am quite happy with not having to go into hibernation mode or do my “Voluntary Night Watchman” duties.

Yet with Winter Solstice being not that far in the rear view mirror, I am still having to keep an eye on what power I use and always wondering if I have enough charge in the batteries to be able to write in the morning in Wanda.

So, sometimes I do go to work early, but it is for the power, rather than the cold. 

When Wanda’s batteries get below 47% the inverter gives me a low-power alarm and shuts down. 

The other systems work for a while yet, the furnace, fridge, radio, lights, etc, I just can’t run the inverter, and so the laptop. 

With modern laptop battery technology being as horrid as they are, they whine and refuse to work if the laptop is at any temperature below 22C. 

So, I have to run the laptop plugged in. That and I have also discovered that it takes the lowest amount of power to run a fully-charged laptop, rather than running down it’s batteries and then running it while charging it. 

Dealing with the cold and power issues are things that I know how to do. I will just plod onwards and do what I need to do to get through this.

I am looking forward to being debt free again on April 7, and building towards getting some place of my own by the end of this year.

Until then I will enjoy each any every day that I have stolen from the dreaded depths of winter.

Thirteen Weeks From Today

I have begun another countdown, this one is a countdown until I can pay off my last debt. That will be thirteen weeks from Today.

I have to play these little games with myself in order to keep focussed, focussed on doing what I set my mind to.

In this case it is paying off this debt, which is much less fun than rushing ahead and buying all manner of things for my Homestead Supplies.

As I have said before, paying off debt is boring and so it is easy to get distracted and abandon paying off debt.

This week I have been battling impulses of buying more stuff for my Homestead Supplies, trying to convince myself to do so with all manner of justifications.

As I have said, I want to be debt free again, so as to be free to do what I need when I need. 

I want to be not only debt free but have a bit of cash set aside, so I can be okay if things go bad.

While I do still hope and work for a happy future, I have to hedge my bets against a darker one, one where I am suddenly unemployed due to the company that I work for shutting down without notice.

With the rumours of how the EI system has been changed, changed to ensure that you don’t claim it for long and are always in fear of being kicked off of it, it looks to be less and less of a safety net.

I will be fine no matter what, I just need to stick it out for the next thirteen weeks and then cautiously move forward with just what I have in my hand, rather than rush ahead on credit.

So, I will keep focussed on thirteen weeks from this today and make a new plan after that. Lest I max out both credit cards again.

What Is The Homestead Supplies?

It has been asked just what my Homestead Supplies are? What is this ever growing collection of things that take up a storage locker that I continue to rent month after month?

Well, I do want to have a bit of land and a modest homestead, a small-scale sustainable farm where I can live off the land, off-grid and most importantly, cheaply.

While it would be great to buy a farm or other such place all setup and ready to go, that is most likely not going to happen.

Yet if a few things bounce my way, it is certainly possible that I could end up with a house/cabin on a patch of land or even a small farm already to go.

If that happens, then I am laughing, if not, that is where my Homestead Supplies come into play.

What my Homestead Supplies are, is everything that I can think that I would need in order to build a homestead from scratch.

I have:

• Tools

• Books

• Seeds

• Supplies

• Food (Canned/Dry)

• Etc

Again, pretty much anything that I can think of that I would need in order to make a homestead out of just a patch of land.

I don’t have the lumber, screws or other supplies to build a house, but I do have the various books on how to do it, the tools to build it.

When it comes to actually building the Homestead, I will do it with a book in one hand and a tool in the other.

As I have said, I want to be able to live like a pioneer, but I don’t want to have to live like a pioneer. That is the essence of the Homestead Supplies.

When I get my own place, I will make sure that there is a space set aside so I can store the Homestead Supplies with me until such a time as I am able to actually start my homestead. 

So ends theory.

Staying Focussed Whilst In Chaos

To say that I have many different impulses coming at me during this chaotic and turbulent time is an understatement.

If you say, “What chaos? What turbulence?” part of me wants to say to you, “stay there in your happy delusion” as it is safest and happiest there.

Yet, the truth is that there are many different emerging dangers, WWIII and a Depression to dwarf the Dirty Thirties are but two (both of which seem just around the corner).

There are many other dangers as well, but those are the larger two. Even saying that makes people say that I’m . . . a little, “touched” in the head and just a, “Conspiracy Theorist.” 

To them I say, “stay in your happy delusion and enjoy life while you can.”

My point is that in my head I have a long list of things (that keeps growing) that I want to get for my Homestead Supplies and a strong urge to buy them all now (thus maxing out my credit cards again . . .both of them).

Yet, I have halted that (okay, after buying a bunch of supplies) in order to pay off this last credit card with the promise to myself that I would stay debt free from here on out.

I do that by envisioning that goal, in this case it is my Mid-Term Goal of paying off that last credit card by my April 7 Payday.

It really is best to have a date attached to a goal, and focus on the Mid-Term ones as you keep the Long-Term Goal(s) as dreams that you imagine coming true.

So this Mid-Term Goal of paying off this last credit card is actually a Long-Term Goal of getting debt free again.

As you can probably figure, out I loaded up both credit cards by buying Homestead Supplies and jumping on an investment this time last year.

I digress, my point is that I have many impulses to spend that I justify to myself as being essential supplies that I will need when building that Homestead. 

I resist those urges by telling myself that I will be better served facing whatever calamity that comes my way being debt free.

For debt freedom is freedom, I can’t put it any simpler than that.

So, I will focus my thoughts and efforts on this goal that I decide is more important to me than loading up on Homestead Supplies, throwing caution to the wind.

If the unthinkable happens, I will make do with what I have and build and grow my capabilities from there.

I will leave you with the thought that should motivate and one that bears repeating:  debt freedom is freedom.

Back To Reality

Okay, so today I am back at work and so last night and this morning were a shock as I was back at it. 

Last night was not all that cold, but I was not happy waking up to it being -5C in my house as opposed to it being 10C in my house.

I had gotten used to having my electric heater going all the time, yet turning it down to the lower wattage range setting overnight (so as to not trip the breaker).

I also got used to having my slide-out out, meaning that I had more space. It was nice, as well as that view from my front door all Christmas Break.

I decided to run my furnace at an unheard of 20C when I got back and all was well . . . that is until twilight approached and I noticed that my batteries were down to 71%.

So I had to shut the furnace off (I can’t run my laptop lower than 47%) in order to save power for what was important, the lights, radio and fridge. 

(Weirdly enough unless I let my house turn into a freezer, I need to run my fridge in the dead of winter.)

When I got up this morning I was warm and toasty in bed . . . then I got out . . . and grumbled as I got dressed and situated so I could write. 

I turned the furnace on to the acceptable compromise setting of 10C and then got my morning coffee going.

Once I was in my sleeping bag on the couch writing away I was okay. I know how to handle it but I was spoiled in Banff. 

I am still committed to getting the last credit card paid off by April 7. After that I will most likely try to mix building up savings with building up my Homestead Supplies.

That is a matter for another day, and I will deal with it after I have achieved my Mid-Term Goal of paying off the last credit card.

After that is accomplished, I will set another few Mid-Term Goals and work on them at the same time. 

I keep my focus on my Mid-Term Goals because those are within reach and accomplishing them moves me closer to my Long-Term Goal.

I just need to get back into game shape again and just endure the cold. I will say that the weather that we are having and expected to have over the next bit looks nice and warm-ish.

Warm enough that I don’t have to hibernate or do my “voluntary watchman” duties at work, so that is a plus and each day that I can do that is a day stolen from the dead of winter . . . and that certainly is a plus. 

I can do this, I’ve done this before, and I will do it again.

The Dawn Of A New Year!

Here we are on the first day of the first workweek of 2023 and it is time to look ahead and set goals for the new year.

I have had a good Christmas Break, and while I am technically not back to work yet, that is tomorrow, I am back at blogging.

As I look to this year and set goals I have three categories of goals:

1. Short Term (1 – 4 weeks)

2. Medium-Term (2 – 6 Months)

3. Long-Term (7 Months +)

This is a general gauge but you get the idea. Typically my Short-Term Goals are for this payday or the next one. 

These are goals that I can have a good certainty that I can get them done (baring the unknown).

My Medium-Term Goals are the ones that I am focussed on and striving hard to get done, as these ones are also within the realm of possibility of getting done.

They take more than a few paydays to achieve, so the level of uncertainty increases with them. 

When you meet a Short-Term Goal, set a new one that will move you towards achieving your Mid-Term Goal.

When you meet a Mid-Term Goal, set a new one that will move you towards achieving your Long-Term Goal.

One thing to keep in mind is that the longer that you go into the future with your Goal Setting, the greater the uncertainty.

My Long-Term Goals are goals that are more aspirational in nature. They are goals that I am working towards and certainly want, but achieving those goals are uncertain.

These goals are so far out into the future that so many things could get in the way of my achieving them, or just plain, my goals may change.

It is important to have those Long-Term, Aspirational Goals, as those are your dreams that you want to have happen, those keep you motivated to keep going through the hard times, when you want to quit.

You need to focus on the here and now, this week, this payday, your Short-Term Goals as you move towards achieving your Medium-Term Goals while you keep your Long-Term Goals in mind.

As for me, with all of the uncertainty that I see this year, my Long-Term Goal of having some place by next winter remains foggy at best. 

I still want it, but with housing prices still elevated and rent in the stupid and ludicrous range, this all remains to be seen.

Add to that the economic uncertainty and if you have been paying attention, you have an inkling, a fear of how bad things might get, and getting a mortgage in the midst of all this might now be wise.

So, I will focus on my Medium-Term Goal of paying off my last credit card by April 7.

That date has changed as I have bought more tools for my Homestead Supplies. There is always more that I want to get, but I am resisting buying more just yet.

With uncertainty on the horizon this year, I want to face it debt-free and with a modest amount of cash in the bank. 

I really have no idea what this year will bring, but every fibre in my being tells me that something wicked this way comes. 

I will continue to work towards some sort of happy future as I prepare for the worst, hedging my bets as it were.

I will also do my best to resist the urge to purchase ever more tools and supplies for the ever growing Homestead Supplies.

So, Dream for the Long-Term, plan for the Mid-Term but work on the now.

Off To My Mountain Home!

At least I will be after I get this pesky thing called work out of the way today. 

Regardless, this is the day that I head to Banff (My Mountain Home) for my Christmas Break, one that I am greatly looking forward to.

I am already going over what I have to do after work, what to pick up, what errands to do and in what order. 

While I tried to push it off because of cash considerations, having this one week of a break is important to me. 

It gives me this one week to plop down and relax, and do so in comfort and surrounded by lovely scenery.

I don’t know what the future holds, what kind of year that 2023 will bring, but I do know that I will face it and make it the best year that I can make it regardless of what comes my way. 

Sleeping at work has been an odd experience and while sleeping on concrete is not fun, it is not as bad as it seems.

I have been spoiled by the heat . . . heat that I have not paid for. Though I would like to consider my “voluntary night-watchman” services as a fair trade for staying indoors.

I still plan to be in something, hopefully own, but at least renting an apartment somewhere by December 1, 2023. 

I have run the numbers and it is looking good that that will happen (major calamities economic, social or otherwise notwithstanding). 

All while keeping my investments and savings untouched. So ends theory.

Ding Dong One Card Is Dead (Paid Off)

Or, it will be . . . when I get paid today. Anyways, the first of the two cards that I have will be paid off today, as soon as I get paid. 

This is an oddity in me not having my paycheque before payday. Usually I get my cheque a day or two early and so early in the morning of payday I do my banking online.

So, ordinarily I would have already deposited and spent my paycheque by now. The money is allocated in the budget and I have it all worked out what goes where.

My best guess is the fact that it is the last payday of the year that Boss wants to make a bit of a presentation. 

Regardless, he has until close of business today to give me my paycheque. The one thing Boss has not been is one to play games with my paycheque, so I am not worried.

So, technically I haven’t paid anything off as I haven’t been paid yet . . . but I will.

With regards to credit and debt, the one point that I wanted to make was that one way to look at it is bringing future money into the present to spend now.

What that means is that when you spend on credit you are bringing money that you will make in the future into the present to spend on something right now.

At some point in you will have to send that money back to the past, in order to pay for that spend that you made back then. You do this by paying that debt off. 

That is why it is so much fun to buy on credit, as you get to spend now with money that you did not have. You get to have the spend and have it not impact your cash on hand.

Which is why it is so hard and so boring to pay off debt, you get the pain of the spend but you don’t get the fun of getting the item that you bought.

I use credit cards for two things, the first is for the ease of spending on my day to day things. 

I make sure to allocate the money to pay off each and every spend in the next payday’s budget right away, so I can:

• See the pain of that spend

• See how that spend impacts my next payday’s budget

• Set my mindset that that spend will be paid off right away

The other thing I use credit for (these days) is to stock up my homestead supplies with what I deem essential, stuff that I must have. 

The prudent part of me wants to wait and buy this stuff over time, but there are things that I just don’t want to wait and risk it either not being available or going up in price.

I am trying to do this dance of being debt free (or as close to it as possible) and having the essential supplies I would need if I was somehow forced to start that homestead right away.

I have my savings, and investments, so technically I could pay both cards off right now. 

The thing with investments and savings is that you don’t dip into them unless you absolutely have to (or to enact that big spend you planned) . .  . such as buying that land/cabin/house/something  that I want to buy. 

None of the things that I am buying are what I call wasteful purchases, but it still aggravates me every time I spend on one of these items.

It is a dance between having what I need and paying off what I have already bought. 

I am doing okay, not great, but okay. I endure what I have to endure today so I can have a better future (so ends theory).

At least I know that one of my credit cards is paid off, and I only have the other “low interest” credit card remaining.

I Cheated Last Night

Okay, so I did not sleep in Wanda last night . . . so . . . I guess my tough guy image is gone. I slept here . . . 

I slept at work, that is a nice little place between the shelves where I was able to lay my sleeping bag down and sleep. (On the carpet-covered concrete, but whatever.)

Here is why . . .

For added incentive, as I went back to Wanda to check on her as well as to pack my lunch and get fresh clothes, here is the temp inside Wanda . . .

Yep, that’s -25C in my house (I have to hang an "outside" thermometer in my house as "inside" thermometers don't go down cold enough) .

So, I slept at work on concrete in 18.33C (65F) at work rather than tough it out in Wanda.

Running the furnace just is not an option, at that temp, as the furnace will run constantly (draining the propane take more than likely)  and my batteries would be flatlined before morning . . . and it would still be cold in Wanda. 

Not only that but it would take days (it is Winter Solstice) to recharge Wanda’s batteries.

Today is Winter Solstice, which means that it is the shortest day of the year. For someone who gets all of my electricity from solar, this is a big deal.

This means that after today, every day is getting longer and longer. I (we) will get more sunlight each day (clouds notwithstanding) from now until Summer Solstice (June 21) . . . the longest day of the year.

The point that I want to make is that it is important to be adaptable, swallow your pride and just do what you have to do, what is necessary to get the job done. In this case, it is to get through the cold snap. 

Come Friday night I will (hopefully) be in Banff, plugged in and enjoying the view.

When I come back it (hopefully) won’t be this cold and I can continue sleeping in Wanda and get through this winter and into spring. I will be okay, though, one way or another.

2nd Night of The Bitter Cold

So, it was below -30C last night and about -23C in my trailer last night . . . and I made it to morning. 

(Figuratively speaking that is, as it is still night when I am writing this, but tomorrow is the winter solstice so give me a break.)

Regardless, I am okay and while I did get a bit of sleep, I didn’t get as much as I would have liked, once again my feet kept me up.

If you are not comfortable, you will not relax enough for sleep. I have learned this much. I will take a look for my hot water bottle (which is somewhere in Wanda) after work tonight.

I am spending a lot of time at work both before work and after work. Again, work is heating the building up anyways (even though the heat is turned down for nighttime).

What is keeping me going is the knowledge that this cold snap won’t last forever, only till Friday morning and then it gets not sooo cold.

Heating the trailer is not an option at this time of night, and parking the trailer somewhere near a forlorn outside electrical outlet is not an option either., 

Both because stealing power is not within me and I am bared from parking actually on work’s parking lot. 

(The business condo association made that decree a number of years ago and I have respected it.) 

I have not yet brought a sleeping bag into work and slept at work, but I did think about it.

Just renting a place is not really an option as I would have to pause my debt paying plan in order to do that and this payday (the day after tomorrow) I will pay off my first credit card, and I won’t pause that.

I just have to tough it out and make it work and just move on. Again, I need to be debt free so I have the freedom to do what I want and choose.

Debt freedom gives you more options, and that is essential for what is coming (you will wish it was just a recession).

So, I will bundle up, find my hot water bottle and just make it work during these really cold bits, and grumble and bear it through the not so cold but still cold bits.

Another Cold Snap Has Arrived

So, for the next few days, it will be south of -20C during the day and south of -30C overnight. Last night was “definitely a warm socks and sleeping toque” kinda night.

I did get some sleep but mostly my cold feet kept me up . . . not my reluctance or anything, my feet were actually cold. 

It was almost -20C in my house last night, so it was also a “turn the fridge off and prop open the doors to get the cold INTO the freezer” . . . kinda night.

I can do this lifestyle, I can make it work, but my desire to do so is quickly leaving me.

I still have the determination to push through and the willingness to do what I need to do to get through this winter, it is just that my want to do this has left me. 

Any sort of fun-factor or just take it in stride as left me. I hate the cold, I mean I really hate the f*cking cold. I can handle it, I know what to do, but I hate it.

Any thoughts of modifying Wanda so as to be more comfortable just seems like me making a long-term home out of Wanda, and that is not what I want.

I have depleted my cash reserves to pay my credit cards off, so “just getting a place” would require me to save up . . . which would take a month at least. 

That would put me getting a place for February 1 and . . . well . . . by that point, why bother screwing up my plans for that.

As with other cold-snaps this one will not last all that long, a few days. By Friday it should warm up to -18C. 

So I should be able to get the truck started so as to be able to drive to Banff for my Christmas Break. 

If I have to I can jump-start the truck with Wanda’s batteries . . . I’ve done that before.

Again, I know what to do, I can get through it, I just don’t want to. Having said that, it is only two months and then it starts to get better. 

January and February are cold, but things will start to warm up in March; by April we are back to Fall/Spring mode.

Again, I can do this, I will do this, I will get through another winter in Wanda, I will just grumble more.

Somehow, someway I really don’t want to do another winter in Wanda. Only time will tell and necessity will dictate if I will or will not do another winter in Wanda.

Just get through this next bit and deal with the future when it comes. Dream for the Future, Plan for the Mid-Term, but Work on the Now. (Just bundle up).

Who Do I Choose To Be?

So, while my plan to pay off the last of my credit cards is well in hand (if I can resist the spending or “stockpiling” urge) my thoughts turn to what to do next.

Part of me want to just get a little place in the city that I currently live, continue working and just have a regular “normal” life (without crushing debt). 

Sure, I would have a mortgage, but I would also have my savings (that I still have) and so it would be balanced out, and never become a huge part of my monthly budget (I would make sure of it).

Then there is the concept of buying a nice Class A Motorhome, and live in that for the rest of my life. All in all stay mobile but do so in style and comfort.

The cabin in the woods also sounds like a nice little existence to me as well.

Yet, with what is coming, what I know is coming, what all of us feel is coming, economically and geopolitically, that does not seem like what I want . . . who I want to be.

I am not a selfish person, yet at this phase of my life I have had to be ultra-frugal and so ultra-selfish in a way. I have not donated to charity, nor I have not done things for others. 

I go to work and go home. I move my trailer once a week five minutes down the road to check my mail and buy my weekly groceries and supplies. 

I do this because that is the cheapest way for me to live and in so doing I can get through this phase of my life of paying down debt and building up savings.

Yet when all this chaos of what I fear is coming, actually comes, I don’t want to: hide in my cabin in the woods, barricade myself in my home/Dreaded Condo in the city, or stay on the run in my nice Class A Motorhome.

I would much rather be the refuge that others seek, be the place that people can gather around and get the help they need.

I don’t mean in a refugee camp kinda way, or even a hippie commune, no, not at all, more like in a “Gene Roddenberry future” kinda way, if you get my meaning. 

I certainly don’t want it to be a place where someone shows up, sticks their hand out and says, “Where’s my free stuff? I want my free stuff? You promised to fix all of my problems, a**hole, so just do it already!”

I mean that I want wherever I end up to be a bastion of civilization where each of person there has what they need to live, yet you are still encouraged (prodded) to contribute to that community with your skills and yea better your own lot in life. 

I see it being a place that is a mixture of capitalism with a safety net, with an overall focus on the pursuit of science and knowledge. 

To do that I would need a crapload of help and a tone of money and resources.

I’m not holding my breath for the crowdfunding campaign as that is not how help works . . . I am expected to help others, others don’t help me.

I’m on my own to start this, I know that.

So . . . unless I win the lotto, the start of it will not be much than a patch of ground that I can somehow scrape together enough cash to buy, but it would be a start.

I also see this going horribly wrong and descending into madness and anarchy in a Mad-Max sense as everyone tells me that this was I deserve for trying to help people. 

All while I stumble away from the burning inferno that was my home and all of my possessions in the bloodied rags that would be all that I have left in the world . . . so yeah, I have no fears at all in starting this at all .

Yet, with real fears set aside, that is the type of person that I want to be. I want to be someone who is the last bastion of civilization in a world gone mad, that beacon of light in the descending darkness. 

So, wherever I end up, I will fly a flag as high as I can fly it which will read, “Find Refuge Here, All are welcome.” (And hope for the best).

PS: Designs are now being accepted for just what that flag will look like.

Debt Freedom Setback

My Goal of being Total Debt Free again was pushed back yesterday, and it was as a result of my own actions.

My push to being Total Debt Free again has been a fixation of mine because I like the freeing feeling of being Totally Debt Free. 

Also with what is coming, in the economy and geopolitics, it is best to be debt free. 

This fear of what is to come muddies the waters with my desire to have a place of my own, but one thing at a time. Pay off the last of my credit cards (again).

So, I was on track to pay off one credit card (the card with a higher interest rate and has the smaller outstanding balance) by this payday (Dec 22) . . . that is still on track.

I was on track to pay off the other credit card by the Feb 7 payday, this one has been pushed back.

You see, coming up (the week after next) is the week that my office shuts down. Since the office is shut, I can take a vacation . . . during this one and only time of year.

Now, I can legally take a vacation elsewhere during the year because the law says that I can. 

I can also technically take a vacation because Boss says that I can (and encourages me to do so).

Yet, operationally I cannot take a vacation because nobody wants to do what I do and there is a palpable sense of dread and fear of me not being there (to make things just “happen”).

Also, when I go on vacation I take at least a 10% pay cut because if I am not there, I don’t get commission on the online sales that I process.

So, I don’t go on vacation but I use my vacation pay to pad my paycheque throughout the year (when my paycheque would otherwise be smaller than what I term “Budgetary Minimum”).

But I digress, so, me taking any time off is a big deal and not something I do on a regular basis . . . for a few reasons.

So, this year I had pushed off and delayed booking my spot in Banff because it is costly for me: paying for the site, the extra gas, buying the Parks Canada Pass, and the extra propane, to name a few.

Yet, I just got to a point yesterday where I realized that this is my one and only vacation each year (such as it is) and just plain old, I deserve a break.

So, as a result, me being Totally Debt Free, has been pushed back by one payday to Feb 22 . . . but I still get my Christmas Break.

Deciding what to do about what kind of permanent home I will have will be decided after that date. (I am still undecided about that.) 

I Looked At A New Motorhome

At least online . . . I was tempted . . . there were a few but this one seemed the most plausible. 

The main draw for it was that it was a way to drop out of the system. With RV’s, you don’t pay rent, you don’t pay property taxes, you are free to roam. 

The only utilities you pay are fuel and . . . propane (for heating/cooking) and then the prices for dumping your tanks. 

The freedom aspect was a nice thought for me, and I got to thinking that if I did stick it out in an RV for the rest of my life that I could live a decent life with little income.

That was the draw, the freedom and dropping out of the system was and still is the greatest draw of a Motorhome.

Yet I did not go to look at it and won’t, or wouldn’t until spring . . . but I most likely I won’t.

This is because the price that I would want to pay, in order to get a nice/decent one would be the price of a Dreaded Condo. 

At least with a Dreaded Condo I would have a place to belong and an asset that . . . goes sideways in value?

I also looked at my budget and saw that being debt free again is really not that far off, 4 paydays away.

So, I will get through this winter, get debt free again, then decided what to do after that. 

If I buy another RV, it will be because of a decision to stay in some form of an RV for the rest of my life. 

As I have said before, my life is in flux and I really don’t know what I am going to do.

All I really need to know is what I need to do in the Short-Term. What do I need to do today, this week, this payday. 

I can and will figure out the rest as I keep going.

The Future Is Murky, My Plan Isn’t

So with all that is going on in the world, my plan to buy a home by this time next year is a bit murky, as in unclear.

I have actually given serious consideration building “The Armageddon Vehicle,” a “Monster Armadillo” of my own.

Something that is large, tough, self-sustainable, yet has all of the comforts of home; all so that I could stay mobile, yet stay comfortable.

Yet, that seems to be abandoning the future to be some “Mad Max” wasteland where you have to stay mobile and stay fast to stay alive.

I don’t want to live that way.

I still want my little place, wherever it is, whatever it is and have a place belong. Yeah, family of some sort would be nice ...  would have been nice, rather.

So, while the long-term outlooks is murky, due to factors that are way out of my control, all I can do is control what is within my control.

One of the things that I have learned is that no matter how murky the Long-Term looks, what I need to do in the Short-Term remains the same.

I need to: 

1. Get debt free ASAP

2. Build up a bit of Savings

3. Build up my Homestead Supplies

Then it gets murky . . . Do I:

• Get some place? (Rent even?)

• Buy a Dreaded Condo/Townhouse?

• Buy a Parcel of Land?

• Build The Armageddon Vehicle?

I really don’t know what is going to happen, but I do know that all of it hinges on doing the first three things on that list, at least the first two.

Yet even with regards to building up savings, I need to figure out how and where to put those savings and in what form they will take.

This is because the more I learn about banks and the financial system the less I trust them. 

Regardless, my point is that while I will keep an eye on the future, on the Long-Term, I will work on the things that I need to get done in the Short and Medium-Term.

Those are things that I can control and they are the first steps before I do . . . whatever I will do in the Long-Term.

I still want a place of my own and a place to belong. And yeah, a family would have been nice.

Banking Shenanigans Coming To Canada

So, I was in my bank on Friday afternoon, waiting in line to see a teller so I could get a roll of loonies for my laundry that I had to do the next day.

A guy who was at the teller was having a conversation with the teller and someone who appeared to be a supervisor of some sort. 

He was frustrated and agitated but he was not angry or rude. The teller looked scared and the supervisor was calmly explaining that it was a new policy to hold bank drafts for a few days.

The thing is that bank drafts (as far as I understand) are as good as cash. So are certified cheques or money orders. You don’t need to wait for them to clear.

With modern technology, you can see instantly if the money is there or not, there is no manual processing or other such things that need to happen (as far as I understand).

I have heard of banks in the US doing silly things like this, making up any excuse that they can to delay you getting access to your money. 

In the incident with the guy at the bank, it seemed that transferring funds with bank drafts was something that he did all the time. 

He even had the receipt for the bank draft and that was not good enough for the supervisor. She just kept repeating that it was a new policy of the bank, to hold the funds for a few days.

This is being done because the banks themselves are having liquidity (cash flow) problems. They have also just been ordered to increase their cash reserves by federal regulator.

People keep saying that “our banks are fine” and snicker at the US banking system. They keep pointing to the fact that Canada weathered the storm of the 2008 Financial Crisis quite well. 

Well, here are a few things to consider:

1. Canada (publicly, privately and corporately) is way more overleveraged (in debt) than the US was when the 2008 Financial Crisis.

2. The Financial System (and banks) are much more interwoven around the world so if a crisis hits in one area, it will quickly spread to all other areas of the globe.

3. As a result of the 2008 Financial Crisis, we bank depositors are now considered “unsecured creditors of the bank.” All that a bank needs is the permission of cabinet (not parliament, not new legislation) to steal your money in your bank account and give you shares in the bank (a bank that at that moment would be failing) all without telling you or getting your permission.

Things are getting dicey and we here in Canada are not immune to the goings on in the world. 

Be careful out there and keep an ever watchful eye on the shenanigans of banks and corporations. 

All this is coming at a time when I want to look forward to buying a home . . . I am worried but I will move forward prudently and try to keep hope alive.

Charge Ahead or Hunker Down?

My thoughts are always on the future: Short-Term, Mid-Term, and Long-Term. As I look to the future, I see murky uncertainty. I also keep an eye on the macroeconomic picture, and what I see coming is not good.

Yet, I don’t want to live in a dark world and have a dismal outlook on life. Yet at the same time, I have to be reasonable and realistic and every chart that I see, points to a massive downturn in the coming months and years.

So, while I do want a place of my own and will have that, exactly: where, what, when to buy, I will have something of my own, some home without wheels under it.

Again, my thoughts waver between charging boldly ahead with only a positive outlook and one that urges caution and waiting for the bad times to hit and then act accordingly. 

So as to whether I will hunker down or charge ahead? I will move forward cautiously. I will pay off debt, then build up my savings as I build up my Homestead Supplies.