Three Years In Wanda!

Today is July the 12th so this marks three years to the day that I have been living full-time in my trailer. 

(For fun, here is the blog entry from the day about moving into Wanda)

I still remember that Saturday morning three years ago when I loaded up the contents of the room that I had been renting into Wanda. 

Talk about second guessing the wisdom of what you were doing! I did it anyways and have not looked back. 

(Grumbled and wondered why a few times, but looked back . . . no.)

After leaving my room for the last time, I drove to a campground where I could sort through what I had and find homes for everything in Wanda.

It was hard going with lots of failures and mistakes, all of which had do just deal with and learn from. 

There was no course, after all, of how to do this lifestyle, there was just experience and what I could learn on my own. 

If I could go back I might change a few things, but I know now that I am a result of the choices that I have made. 

I am who I am and know what I know what I know not only because of my successes, but also because of my failures. 

I don’t know how many more years I will live in this trailer, but for me, it is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

I do not love living in this trailer with no place to call my own and traffic constantly whizzing by, two feet from my window.

I deal with is because I have a goal . . . Total Debt Freedom, is a Crossroads Goal, not an end destination. 

Neither is getting my own land, that too is a Crossroads Goal, for I have many goals and dreams.

I still wish to establish a town that focuses on: science, building the future and yes helping people, not tearing others down to build myself up. 

(I would make a terrible Ferengi) 

First, I need to get debt free, then I need to buy the land . . . after that, plant my flag and see who salutes. 

I will do this by living in my trailer full-time . . . for some time yet.

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

The Bleeding Has Stopped (Partially)

So, it is official, I only have two bills in the Debt Column. That’s it, only two bills that I am contractually obligated to pay each and every month. 

The first is my cell phone bill, but I have long since outlived the “you must be with us for X years” requirement. 

(For some reason I haven’t met them ensnare me again.)

I like to think that I have the cell company a bit nervous in so far as I am in a position that I can leave at any time without penalty. 

(Cause they’re terrified of little old me leaving them . . . oh yeah . . . sure.)

I have already done the “squawk until you get to Customer Service, Level 2” where you talk to “Customer Retention” department where they give you something closer to a fair deal. 

I checked this morning and no Truck Insurance Payment went out of my account, thereby leaving me finally free of this monthly bill.

I, therefore, only have one monthly (bi-weekly actually) bill that is unavoidable . . . the Wanda Loan Payment.

Each payday I am still putting a smaller sum directly on the loan each payday, and putting as much as I can into savings. 

All with the plan to pay the Wanda Loan off on October 22nd of this year. After that I will be totally debt free. 

I say this because the only monthly bill I will have, my cell bill, I have total control over, I can cut it off or switch companies at any time.

I will continue and do what I can within my stringent budgets. Each day I have to make decisions as to what I can afford and what I can’t.

I have to continue my savings plan, yet maintain a balanced budget and zero balance on my credit cards. I will not get into that mess of out of control debt again.

In order to do that, I need to continue to my frugal ways of dealing with the cash that flows through my fiscal system. 

With interest rates now going up, all those people who have been living on debt, particularly lines of credit, or wore, credit cards, will start to feel the pinch.

I may have more company in my Western Home yet . . . either that or I may have to actually start that “Economic Refugee Camp.”

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

One Step Forward, One Step Back

Okay, so I did pay my Truck Insurance up front. That means that I saved the 4% of interest that I would have paid over and above the principle amount.

I have also saved the monthly payments so my cash flow will be freed up of that payment. 

Since today is when one of those payments is scheduled to come out, technically the first of the new pay cycle, I am partially expecting them to still take the payment out. 

We shall see what happens tonight, (the payment happens at midnight). I shall hold on to the hope that the correct buttons were pushed to prevent this.

At any rate, I shall chose to look at the positive side that my truck insurance is paid in full for the next year.

The step backwards is that I have no propane running through my system because I got things halfway fixed, and need another part. 

The long and the short of it is that I had thought that the problem was the hoses that connect the propane tanks to the regulator.

So fine, I bought two new hoses with brass fittings rather than the plastic/brass fittings that were on there before. This was to ensure a better seal between the hose and the propane tank.

I got the old ones off and got one of the new hoses attached. The problem was that somehow I damaged the threads on regulator where the second hose would attach. 

So, this means I need to buy another regulator, something I may do this Friday. I am still weighing my options as I just don’t want that extra cost just yet.

I am doing okay, as I am now using my single burner “backup” stove. It uses one of the small propane bottles to burn and with it I can do what I need to do.

I can: cook, boil water, and all that good stuff. I just can’t have showers (as no hot water) nor can I run my fridge, or main stove. 

(So, I am back to Jug Showers for the time being.)

My reason for fiscal restraint is the fact that this budget was tight due to the large expenditure of the truck insurance. 

This, coupled with the fact that my next paycheque looks to be disastrously short is why I am shy to spend. This is mainly due to the limited number of days within this payperiod. 

For whatever the reason, I will likely fall a couple of hundred dollars less than my “targeted minimum” pay. (IE: The minimum amount of income that I need to make, so as to balance my budget.)

I am still surviving and still maintaining my savings targets and keeping my credit cards to a zero balance each payday. 

This will pass, I will get things fixed and I will continually move forward. After all, as of this past Saturday I am now 3 months and 2 weeks away from Total Debt Freedom.

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

Bye Bye Truck Insurance Payments!

Today is the day that I pay for my Truck Insurance (for the year) up front. Today is payday and so I have a busy day of running around to do.

There are a number of errands to do today and thankfully Payday falls on Friday, so I have some time this afternoon to get all of that running around done.

Not the least of this is the fact that I am going to pay for my truck insurance up front. I have been paying monthly for vehicle insurance for years . . . as long as I can remember really.

This is a big day for me and I am looking forward to reclaiming $130.00 a month of my cash flow. It is a small amount, but what I have learned is that every little bit counts.

I will try to adjust the coverage to lower my payments, since there is no loan on the truck anymore. There is probably some coverage that I don’t need and can drop.

Yesterday was a Wanda Payment and the amount of increase for the bite that is taken off of the balance is holding steady at $0.80 for each regular Wanda Payment.  

This is good, as it means that my projections for the Wanda Loan are holding. 

This is key as it is those projections that told me that I can pay down and save up enough to pay the Wanda Loan off by October 22 of this year.

One step at a time, one payperiod at a time, but all in all, things are looking up (propane problems notwithstanding). 

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

Propane Problems

So, good news/bad news . . . the good news is that I will be saving on propane, the bad news is that I have to shut my fridge down.

Let me explain and sum in up with this statement . . . I have gone through two tanks in a week and a half. I definitely have a leak in my propane system somewhere.

In order to save my food, specifically my frozen food for lunches, a colleague at work has agreed to put my frozen food in his freezer. (And bring on each day for my lunch).

I will fill both of my propane bottles up yet not leave one “on” all the time, as per usual. I will keep both tanks cranked down, or shut off all the time.

When I want to cook or use propane, I will open up one of them, cook or do what I have to do, and then crank down that propane valve again.

This means that I can’t run my fridge at all (unless I am connected to the grid all the time and I can run it on AC. Either that, or run the generator a few hours each night. 

For me, other than my lunches (which will be safe) I really don’t have all that much that has to be refrigerated. I like cold stuff and it is nice, but not essential . . . for me.

I will do my best to find where the leak is using the old soap and water method. This is where you spray or pour soap and water over the pipes and valves and look for bubbles. 

My suspect is the hoses that connect the tanks to the regulator and perhaps the regulator itself. I don’t know, but I will see.

This is because of all the removing and replacing of the tanks in the front that I have done over the past month (for BBQing) and of course over the almost three years that I have lived in Wanda

This is yet another expense at a time when I don’t need another expense. I could put Wanda in the shop and have them fix her, but there are a few problems with that scenario. 

For one, it takes a month to get an appointment. For the other, every day that the trailer is in the shop, I am in a hotel. 

So this is an expense on top of an expense, all at a time when I am coming down the home stretch to Total Debt Freedom.

Somehow, someway I will make it. So I have to forgo my fridge for the time being, so what? Come winter my whole house will be a fridge, then a freezer.

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

Water Solution Found

Okay, so the other thing I did over the long weekend was to look around to see if I could find a working RV Dump Station.

After a bit of phoning around I found one which not only was open, but had water as well. This was defiantly worth driving out there to investigate.

Since they were open 24/7 I thought about going there in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, before work. 

I had never been to this place before, though, so trying to find it in the dark was not advisable. 

Rather than try to do this on Monday afternoon, I went on Sunday Afternoon. Why? Because I didn’t want to deal with the coming home traffic after the long weekend, that’s why.

So, I went there and the staff was nice, but the way the dump station was placed on the lot meant that I had to park in an awkward manner. 

I did get to dump, though, and I did get my water, all for about $6.00. This is what I would spend on filling my two 5 gallon jugs of water from the grocery store, so that’s good.

This station is out of the way for me and so I don’t want to make this a weekly trip. I will do this once every two weeks and just stretch the water out for that second week.

This may mean a few jug showers during that second week, but it is the best option.

After all, I am on the home stretch to Total Debt Freedom, and nothing will stop or deter me from making that day.

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

Havin' a Heat Wave!

Okay, so the city where I live is in the midst of a heat wave. On one hand, I am thankful that I am not freezing my butt off; instead, I am boiling my butt off.

I try not to complain, but my only recourse is to open all the windows, both vents and the door as I hope for a breeze to blow through the trailer. 

The other thing that these days of 30C temps and overnight lows about 20C is that I have to run my fridge 24/7. 

This means more I am going through more resources, as in: propane and more electricity. 

More electricity means more fuel for the generator, to run those batteries. No problem, it doesn’t mean all that much more generator time, perhaps once more per week.

More propane, however, means that I have to spend more on propane at a time when the price of propane has been artificially inflated.

I still remember the plain face when the attendant told me that the price was $1.20 a pound for propane (as in $20 - $25 for the tank).

I actually scoffed laughed and left. I have one place to try that said their price was $16.00 to fill the tank. 

Either way, I have no choice but to buy more propane, as I don’t have a place to plug in so I can just use electricity from the grid. 

Again, that’s life and how it goes with this lifestyle. There are times when I go through more resources, just because the situation demands it. 

It is at those times that I find ways to try to conserve those precious resources where I can, when I can. 

I also keep myself focussed on my goal and remind myself why I am doing all of this . . . as in Total Debt Freedom (and beyond).

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