The Painted Lines Saga Continues.

So, as none of you may remember, I was kicked out of Western Home on Saturday Afternoon by an individual claiming to be a manager.

Why? Well they were going to be painting the parking lot lines that night and needed everyone out before nightfall. 

Usually this would be a fine and straightforward request, but the trouble is that friends of mine were kicked out of that very same parking lot for the same reason, weeks earlier.

Yet, no parking lot line painting took place, so I had a great deal of trouble believing this guy (who looked suspiciously like the guy who kicked my friends out).

I left, as it is their right as the owners of that parking lot to kick people out. It is their land after all, despite the few hours notice to move (after being settled in for the weekend). 

So, all last week I was working up all manner of sharp and witty comebacks for when that same individual tried to get me to move (from a non-painted parking lot).

I was going to call him out for the liar that he would be and demand that he come clean as to the real reason why he wanted me and those like me out of that parking lot.

So, as I was approaching Western Home on Friday afternoon I was intently scouring the parking lot for any hint of proof as to no lines were painted, yet again.

The trouble was that the lines looked nice and fresh. Upon closer inspection it looks as though they did paint the lines. 

Not only that but the lot had more than the usual number of RV’s parked here and there (all politely parked away from the front doors).

So, they did indeed paint the lines, and I will give them that. I don’t mind moving to get something done, just as long as you actually do what you said you were going to do.

To be shoved off for such a reason yet to have nothing being done, is an insult. It makes you feel as if there is something wrong with you, that you are an undesirable “social leper” as it were. 

Trust me, I’ve been made to feel like that, and I know others have as well. 

But, they shoved me off to pain the lines, and actually painted the lines . . . and I was not harassed all weekend. So, that’s good (the painted lines saga now ends).

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

Mid-Term Or No Mid-Term

So, as I get going on my reincarnation of The Grand Savings Plan (to build The Homestead Fund) I am revisiting an old question.

Do I include the contents of my Mid-Term Savings Account towards my Savings Goal? 

Since it is a savings account, the simple answer is yes, don’t be silly.

Yet, since it is not a Long-Term Savings Account, and I can raid it at any time, it doesn’t feel right to include it.

The very purpose of the Mid-Term Savings Account is to be available for me to dip into at anytime right away, for any reason. My “Emergency Cash” as it were.

Yet, it is savings nonetheless, and by including it in my calculations towards my Savings Goal, it discourages me from touching it (which is a good thing).

It is an esoteric discussion within me, and one that will bug me as I move forward. 

Part of me will still feel like I won’t have achieved my goal unless I have achieved it without including the Mid-Term Savings Account.

This is silly, of course, because as soon as I make that Savings Goal I will start to spend out of it as I go off and begin the next adventure. (Whenever and whatever that is).

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

The Rebirth of The Grand Savings Plan

Okay, so I have been doing some things over the past month, as well as I have been doing a lot of thinking and planning. 

So, now that those things are taken care of (don’t bother asking unless you sleep beside me . . . you don’t  . . . nobody does) I will be enacting a new plan.

I am announcing the Rebirth of The Grand Savings Plan!

I have a new target date (or dates, rather) as in my 54th birthday of June 11, 2054 (so . . . either of the paydays in June of that year . . . most likely the payday of the 22nd)

Then of course I could say f*ck it and push things off to the following June so that I am “retiring” early at age 55. 

(Or everything could go to hell in a hand basket well before then.)

The point is, nobody knows what will happen, which is why I always say . . .

Dream for the future, Plan for the Mid-Term, yet work on the Now.

So, I will start building my Homestead Fund and keep going until it is fully funded. 

It is still undecided as to if I will buy a cabin for me and the future Mrs or found the town, the one thing that I do know is that in either case, I will need The Homestead Fund. 

I won’t tell you the target amount for The Homestead Fund, as it is irrelevant. 

The reason I post and blog about The Grand Savings Plan is not to brag and boast, but to demonstrate that building your savings is possible.

So with all that aside (along with the obligatory “don’t ask me, because I’m not giving you any cash,” statement of fact) here is the current (and inaugural) status of my Homestead Fund!

   

As you see it stands at 9.9% almost at 10%, but not quite. Again, this is a marathon, not a race and any progress is progress. It is nice to see that I am not starting at zero.

With that I wait two weeks to take another step forward on this marathon of savings.

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

Reject The Shame Of Debt . . . Just Deal With It

There is a stigma around being buried in debt, and to a degree that is healthy, as being in debt, buried in it is not a good thing.

Yet, there are a thousand reasons as to why we rack up debt and not all of it is reckless spending or impulsive buying.

There are times when you have no choice but to put regular bills on the credit card, knowing that you will have to carry that balance.

We have all bought gas on the credit card just to get to and from work. Of course we have bought food on that card. 

My point is that there are all kinds of understandable reasons as to why we get ourselves into debt that have nothing to do with poor fiscal management. 

It has to do with poverty and the cost of living outpacing the increases in wages. There are stupid spending, impulsive buying and poor fiscal management issues in there as well. 

The one thing this journey has taught me is that no matter what your situation (job, income, etc) you can get yourself out of debt.

So do that . . . deal with your debt. 

Don’t give up and mire in debt, believing that nothing will ever improve, so why bother. It can get better and you will be the one to make things better.

It all comes down to cash flow and mastering your cash flow. (As in what income you have coming in and where you spend it. IE: how your cash flows.)

You can either increase your Income or decrease your Expenses. 

There are a thousand ways to do this, but to really make a difference in your fiscal situation you need to do something drastic (that is: legal, ethical, and moral)

If you can’t just magically get a better job or another part time job, then perhaps get a bunch of roommates to drastically reduce the living expenses for all of you.

Living in an RV is another example, but the point is that if you are in debt, that you can do something about it, but more importantly if you don’t do something about it, it will never get better.

I will leave you on that note.

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

Chased Out Of Western Home

So, I was chased out of Western Home with barely a few hours notice, again for their favourite excuse of the moment “Painting Lines” (of the parking lot).

I wouldn’t mind moving, but A) with a more than a few hour’s notice (it’s rude) and B) actually do what you say you’re going to do.

The power that be in Western Home have been saying “You need to move because we’re painting the lines” for about a month now, but nothing has ever been done.

If I go back this weekend, and I don’t see a single line painted yet that same “representative” of Western Home tries to tell me to leave, I will call them out.

On one hand, it is their right to ask me to leave, I get it. It’s their property, I get it . . . but I’m only there for the weekend, and I don’t bug anyone. 

In return I will buy my weekly grocery shopping in their store. 

I will find other places to park, I always do, and I always will. We shall see how this upcoming weekend goes. 

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

Another Staycation For Savings!

So, it is the long weekend, at least here where I live and I will not be heading out of town for it. (What a shocker, I know).

I really don’t need to go to a campground to treat myself to power. 

Thanks to the solar power system that I have, power just is always there and it doesn’t cost me anything (other than the cost of installing the system).

There are other reasons to going to a campground, and otherwise just getting out of town. Nice view, campfires, being surrounded by nature.

For me, saving money is more important, at least at this stage of my life than those things. I need to make some headway on my savings as quick as I can.

I do enjoy myself and I do find ways to find small joys in life, yet I stick to my mantra of living simply and living cheaply.

Again, this is so that I can get ahead and into a place where I can be comfortable and have that house and land that I want.

I am still working to be content yet not complacent, as that does seem to be the trick for happiness in the now while working for the future.

It just makes for a boring life, at least for now.

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

Um . . . Thanks?

So, apparently the province of Quebec has put new rules for credit cards into effect today. 

As I understand it, it forces them to set the minimum payment at 2% (of the outstanding balance) for existing credit cards and 5% for new ones.

Yeah . . . thanks . . . how about lowering those extortionarily high interest rates? (crickets chirping).

Yet, the real problem is that you will never get out of debt by paying the minimum payments, even people paying the minimum on those credit cards know this (or should).

Credit cards are a fine tool, they make paying for things easier, handy for paying for things online, paying for a large purchase (such as paying for my truck insurance). 

And yes, they are handy for emergency cash when needed, but for this use they should be seen as friendly and as desirable as going to a loan shark.

I have said it before, and I will keep saying it, getting out of debt is as simple as getting into debt . . . control your spending.

We get too much focussed on the here and now, the “survival mode” mentality of where we think that we just have to do this for now and things will be fine in a bit.

Yet, we never change what we are doing yet still hope that things will somehow get better. How is that? This is a delusion that people let themselves believe.

If you want to get out of debt you have to downgrade your lifestyle in order to upgrade your cash flow. There are many ways to do this, you don’t have to live in an RV.

If you master your cash flow, you will be able to pay down debt until you are debt free. I have done it.

So, sure pay a little more than your minimum payments if that is all that you can do. 

It will help, but for a real solution to large fiscal problems you may need a radical solution (that is: legal, ethical and moral).

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