Goals Focus You

It is funny how much having a goal that you are working towards helps to focus you; then again it may just be me. I guess I am just a goal oriented person, or at least I am now. 

I don’t mind the cold that much anymore, I do know how to handle it. It is interesting that we humans can suffer and put up with a great deal, but we seek meaning in everything. 

If we are suffering and going through hardships, we want to know that there is a reason behind it . . . that we are suffering for a reason. I am not claiming to be a martyr or anything like that. 

It is just that I at least have a reason why I am freezing, not only this winter but upcoming winters as well. I am freezing my butt off for freedom, you may chuckle at that, but it is the truth, at least for me.

I still may meet that special lady and we may settle down on a nice piece of land somewhere. It is true that that may happen soon (*stifles laughter*) but for now, I am working towards owning nothing to anyone.

It has been a long time since I could say that, and I look forward to the time when I can say that again. With that in mind, these nights don’t seem all that cold, in fact they’re getting that much warmer each day.

I Got a Plan . . . For Now

Okay, after much humming and hawing, I have (officially) decided to go forward with my aggressive savings plan. What I am going to do is put aside in savings the money that I had been spending on Credit Card Debt Elimination. 

So, what that means is that each month I will be putting into savings $1500.00. Sure, this means that by the end of the year I will have 18,000.00 in savings, but not really.  

I plan to first build up my mid-term savings to my goal of $6000.00 and leave it there. Then I plan to put my savings money into (an alleged) high interest savings account. As in, the kind that takes a day or two to get money out of it: an investment account. 

It is the money in this account that I will use to pay first my Truck off and then my trailer. This means that I may take a month or two longer than my target of December of next year to pay the truck off, but in doing it this way I will keep my contingency fund intact, and make a couple of bucks in interest.

My idea is to utilize and leverage the mortgage payment structure of Wanda’s loan to my advantage. I am not going to crank up those payments anytime soon; in fact I don’t plan to do that at all. What I will do is pay the small payments that I am doing now and then pay the loans off all at once, first one then the other. 

This way I will have access to that money in case I get laid off, or perhaps a steal of a deal on a piece of land or property comes along. Only at a time of my choosing will I pay off one of the loans early. If for any reason that I can’t pay a loan off early, oh well, I have a pile of cash in savings and the loan will run its course to its predetermined end date.

As far as my personal overdraft is concerned, well, I will trickle save that back up. I am currently half way into it and it looks like I will be there for a few months yet. That is okay, as this is my own overdraft and not the bank’s overdraft. Don’t worry, I am still above zero in the account, at least as far as the bank is concerned.  

I could just put off my savings plan for a month and take care of my own overdraft nicely, but that won’t do. More importantly it will set an unsettling precedent, that this savings plan is voluntary.  I plan to keep this forced savings plan up for as long as possible, at least until the truck and then trailer is paid off, an estimated three years. 

As far as my trip down to the coast this summer goes, I will overfund my savings account in order to pay for it. I hope to have enough saved up by then and, if not, into my mid-term savings I will dip. After which I will trickle save it back up again. What I will not do is pause or dip into my long-term savings (investment) account; that is set aside for my next goal of total debt freedom. 

I also plan to put aside $50.00 a payday and whatever I get from my tax return into my RRSP and build that up along the way. It is nice to be on this side of the financial ledger, and looking at savings and investments and RRSP’s (oh my). 

This is a bold plan, I know, but it is one that I know that I can do. I scrimped and saved to pay those damn credit cards off, so I know that I can pay this amount each month. The difference is that I will be paying myself, buying my own freedom. In essence, I am redeeming myself from my indentured servitude.

Just having this goal does make bearing the cold nights that much easier, knowing that one day, I will own my home. Before too long I will be totally free to do what I want, when I want, where I want, and always be home . . . wherever I roam.

Lots of Frozen Nights in my Future

So, I did a bit of preliminary research on my next wintering over options (for next winter) and the outlook is not good. Sure there are some options and in a strictly logical sense what I should do is clear. We humans are rarely so “Vulcan” in our decision making. 

I confirmed that in my area there are one, maybe two campgrounds that operate year round and have monthly rates. The most likely one is outside of the city and directly diagonally across the city from me. 

The first problem with this option is that it would mean a long commute for me, so more gas. The other problem is that this option will cost between $750.00 - $850.00 per month, plus electricity.

Conversely I could rent a room, not far from work for about $450.00 per month. Even if you factor in $50.00 for a storage fee for Wanda, that is still $500.00 and I am toasty warm all winter, with internet, running water, a toilet, shower, and everything.

Still, there is that nagging voice which still tells me that moving out of Wanda, until total debt freedom is some sort of capitulation. Even plugging in somewhere kinda feels like cheating, in a way. 

I am not about to spend $1000.00 per month just for my comfort and still live in Wanda. $500.00 is about what I would be willing to spend, but still, moving out of Wanda, as hard as it is for anyone else to understand, just feels wrong. 

Don’t get me wrong, I do not enjoy shaking my water container up like a martini shaker every eight hours or so, just so some water will still flow out of it. The list of what I hate about winter is long and has been exhausted in this blog, yet still I will persevere. 

The really cold of winter will only last for two, perhaps three months, and then it will get steadily warmer. Soon I will be able to use my gray and black water tanks again and then eventually I will be able to use my fresh water tanks again. Things will get better and things will improve, in: temperature, living conditions and yes financially. 

I can get through this.

Cold Weather is Not Good For Writing

Each morning this week the same thing has happened:

1) My Alarm goes off

2) I peek out of my warm sleeping bag

3) Feel the sub-zero cold air on my face

4) Ponder writing in this cold temps.

5) Grumble/moan/whine

6) Turtle in

7) Snooze as I snuggle in my warm bag until I have to get up.

I know that I need to get up and get writing, for me as a writer, it is who I am. I also hate the cold and I have been spoiled with the balmy plus 20C temperatures in my house over the Christmas Break.

I will adjust and more than likely I will toddle back to the library this weekend to write. I find that writing at the library is good for more than just stealing power and heat. I find that while there, I get into an “office” mentality and focus on what I am there to do . . . write.

I know what you are thinking, just get a place to plug in over this winter, but I refuse to do that. I will stick it out this winter as I build up my savings towards that first goal of paying the truck off by this time next year. That would then put $541.91 back into my pocket each month and on a monthly cash flow basis, that is huge.

Next winter, say in October, I will look to find that place to park and plug in. This winter, I will tough it out and survive, as I always do. Yes I will adjust to what is happening to me and do what needs to be done.

I have decided that every long weekend this year I will go out to the campground as a break from the cold and what have you. In the warmer weather I will also enjoy the outdoors, but in winter, it is a break from the cold.

Next week, I hope to haul my carcass out of bed and write each morning next week, for now, I know that I will turtle in tomorrow morning . . . as I reeeeaaalllyy hate the cold.

Use Winter To Your Advantage

One of the challenges that I have when the real cold weather hits is that the effectiveness of my fridge drops off significantly. Usually this is not a problem, but when I am trying to get stuff frozen, it is.

While out in Banff I cooked up two large batches of food, one for my work lunches and one for my meals at home. I have food for two to three months . . . seriously they were big batches. 

The trouble is that I have to have this stuff frozen in order for it to keep, and with my freezer not working properly, this is an issue. My best guess as to why my freezer is not working lies in how it works and the environment in which it was intended to work. 

My fridge/freezer works by heating up (with electricity or propane) the coolant so that coolant can circulate around the fridge/freezer. As the coolant circulates, it moves the heat from the fridge part to the outside where it is warmer. This works well when the temperature outside is warmer, but when the outside is colder than the inside of this freezer, this cycle doesn’t work. 

My answer hit me when I was grumbling while shaking my five gallon water container. I need to shake that thing up like a martini in order to break up the ice that forms within it (something I need to do at least twice a day). I realized that the answer lay in doing what nobody would think of doing . . . leave the freezer door open.

Since the outside world and the inside of Wanda (when the furnace is not on) is definitely below zero, all I need to do is to let that cold get at my “soon to be frozen” food. So for the next few days I am experimenting with leaving that freezer door open when I am either sleeping or out. 

The other thing I did was to use the snow to cool down my too hot water. In the mornings I boil water to make my morning bowl of porridge and for my morning Bachelor’s Bath (I reeeeally miss my shower).

The water was too hot to pour over my head to wash my hair, so I put it in the snow for a few minutes . . . thank you -15C. 

These are but a few examples to get the point across that to use whatever situation and environmental conditions to your advantage, whenever possible. 

Sometimes it is best not to fight Mother Nature but to work with her and let her help you do what you need to get done.  I will keep you posted on how my “Natural Deep Freeze” experiment goes.

The Rearing of Stubborn Pride

As I went through my day yesterday with those options bouncing around in my head, one voice kept nagging away at me. It almost felt like I was a Captain who was abandoning ship, mid-voyage (an odd yet accurate analogy). Each time I considered an action or direction which would get me out of Wanda and into some fixed address, that nagging voice taunted me.

“What? Are you saying you can’t do it?” 

“Have you lost your nerve?” 

“Is the weather and life on the road too tough for you?” 

And the worst of them all . . . 

“Giving up so soon?” 

It is true that my goal was to get rid of my credit card debt, and I have done that. Also I have taught myself to manage my finances better. I keep $1K in the account at all times and I keep my credit cards at a $0 balance, paying them off each payday. 

I have mastered my finances and my credit card debt, so why is this not enough for me? Why can’t I be satisfied with that and accept the other debt that I have as “Normal” and get a comfy place? 

I am still me, that’s why. 

When I achieve a goal, I set another one, a higher one and work towards it. As I sit here, I am still tempted and allured by the dream of owning my home and being free to travel where I like and live really cheaply. 

For me, it would allow me to pursue these various projects that are also bouncing around in my head. I could finally try my hand at the ones that I can’t do with a regular job, while saddled down with debt. 

I could: 

• Find a small piece of land in the boonies and live there while I write. 

• Work on various film sets, literally living on set (Who would notice one more trailer?)

• Start a travel webseries.

• The possibilities are endless . . .  

Yet, I still hate winter and don’t like the loneliness that this current lifestyle (or my interpretation of it) necessitates. I suppose my goal for this year is to find a way to compromise, perhaps finding a place to park Wanda and plug-in over winter would be a nice way to weather the winter, say Oct 1 to March 31.

Hmm . . . a campsite sponsor of this endeavour would be hot . . . (applications to sponsor me with a year-round campsite being accepted now).

This is an ever evolving process, but I will continue to save up what cash I can as I move forward. If nothing else, if I save as much as I can, I could pay my truck off this time next year . . . two years early. (that also is a tempting prospect).

Happy New Year!

So, it is a new year and that means a new chance to do things better this year than I did last year! As I enter this year I am in a much better financial place than I was a year ago. 

My credit cards are paid off and I a maintaining a zero balance on them. I make sure to pay the remaining two cards off to zero each and every payday, so as to not rack up any interest (evil cackle). 

The question that still nags at me is, what now? What do I do now? I have a few options before me and I still have not decided exactly to do and what I should do. Here are a few options bouncing around in my head: 

1) Keep Going

This option says that I keep freezing my butt off in this trailer and get completely debt free as soon as possible. My best estimate is that would be three years out. 

What this means to me is three more winters plus this one, then more after that. This would continue to put a serious dent in my dating life as I would be still living in an RV and parking in parking lots and side streets all this time.

It would mean the path toward absolute freedom though, eventually being able to go where I want, when I want and live really cheaply. 

2) Buy a Condo

This option is to buy a small, two bedroom condo for 2K or under (they are out here) this way I can still get ahead financially and have a bit of financial security. 

This would mean more expenses and yes much longer before debt freedom. If I did this, in all likelihood I wouldn’t be able to consider selling the condo for at least five years. 

The upside is that I would not freeze this winter and have an asset. The downside is much more debt and taking much longer to pay off Wanda.

  

3) Wait Till The Crash, Then Buy a House

This option says save up my down payment in full (10K) by around say August and then look to buy a place. My gut tells me that the market is going to tank this year. 

What this means for me is that I may be able to squeak into a small, older house with a smidgen of land and a garage/workshop still in commuting distance. 

This is nice but still more debt and further towards debt freedom. Like the last option this will allow me to actually have some sort of a social/romantic life.

4) Rent a Room

This option is a bit of a compromise. This one says to stick it out till October and then get a room for the winter at least. This way I can still save up cash but not freeze my butt off. 

There are still much to consider, but for now I will stuff as much cash as I can aside as I figure out what to do. For no reason whatsoever, here are some choice shots from my Christmas Break in Banff.