I Broke Out The Sleeping Socks Last Night.

So, it got down to -20 or so, and it was somewhere south of -15C in my house when I woke up this morning. 

Needless to say I turned the air blue . . . or bluer as I was getting dressed this morning. 

Both things were things that I and my trailer have experienced before. Just because I have experienced them and lived through them doesn’t mean that I like doing it.

One of the things when it gets that cold is the fact that my feet get cold, even under all those quilts (5 of them).

So, I wear warm socks to bed, along with a toque on my head. My core is able to stay warm, but the extremities, (the top and bottom of me) need a bit of help staying warm.

Again, nothing I haven’t seen before, and things I know how to handle, but handle them I must if I am to make it through and keep my Grand Savings Plan on target.

So, I sleep with a toque and warm socks. It keeps me warm.

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

The Eve of The Cold Snap

So, tonight it is supposed to drop below -20C and pretty much stay there. At least for the next week, perhaps more, who knows.

I do know how to get through it, and I can sum my process in one word: Hibernate.

Yep, after work I go home, heat up my dinner in a pan (my meal starter). As this is happening I turn the radio on.

I then strip down to my skivvies and a t-shirt and get into the warm sleeping bag that is on the couch. I eat my dinner and listen to the radio as I warm the sleeping bag up.

It really is not a life, but it is an effective way to get through these cold snaps without spending too much. 

As things get warmer, I will do more, but for now, it is all about spending as little as I can in order to save as much money as I can.

As I always say: not forever, just for now (until I complete my Grand Savings Plan).

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

The Homestead Fund Update

Okay, so it is that time again, when I update how my progress is going on my “Grand Savings Plan!” (to build my "Homestead Fund")

Okay, so let’s see how I did . . .
 

For review, here is how things looked from last payday . . .
 

That is 15.8% (of my Savings Target).

And this is how things look like, after the dust settled on this payday’s budget . . .
 

That’s right things jumped up to 16.4% of my savings target.

That means I put away 0.6% of my total Savings Target this payday.

Okay, so here goes, it is a new year and I am focussed on building my savings.

Since yesterday was payday that means that I processed my paycheque. This payday’s contribution could have been larger, but with the buying of the books put a dent in that.

What I mean is that some of the charges for the books didn’t hit the card until after the 22nd of December.

Since I can’t pay a bill someone doesn’t give me, those charges carried over to the payday of January 7th.

I am excited to build my possibilities by building my savings. Each dollar I put into the bank increases the possibility of what I can do in the future.

I know that a really cold snap is coming, but I also know that it will pass and that I know what to do, how to handle this cold snap. I am not worried.

This part of my life, the savings building part, will pass, and I will begin the Homesteading Phase soon enough (four or five years, but that time will come).

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

New Year, New Budgeter

So, this is the day when I change from one “Budgeter” to another. Meaning I am now officially, and fiscally, into 2020.

You see, each of my Payday Budgets runs from the morning of one payday to the morning of the other. 

As in, from the time that I deposit one paycheque, to the time that I deposit the next.

So, since this is the morning of January 7, this means that my Payday Budget Cycle for the paycheque of December 22 has officially ended and the Payday Budget Cycle for the paycheque of January 7 has officially begun.

So, this means that my Payday Budgeter for 2019 is now in the digital archives and I have moved into my Payday Budgeter for 2020.

With all of the uncertainty in the world I am still uncertain of the wisest course of action, with regards to building my savings/investments.

I am still going to continue on the boring path of putting cash in the bank so that I will finally be in the place where I could buy land and a home if I wanted to (and do so by paying cash).

Next year is next year, and I will decide what next year’s plan is next year. For now, I will be just putting cash in the bank (as much as I can).

I still reserve the right to change my mind if the realities of our unstable world changes significantly.

For now, I am focussed on building my savings and in so doing, building the possibilities for my future.

And doing so by using my new Payday Budgeter.

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

The Homestead Archive Grows

Okay, so a healthy portion of the books that I ordered before I left for my Christmas Break has arrived.

   

There are a few more but this bunch doubled what I had in the Archives already. This bunch filled the storage tub that I bought specifically for these books to be stored in.

This means that if and when I buy more books, that I will have to buy yet another storage tub. 

This brings me to another point; I will hold off on buying more books at least for now. 

Also I am looking forward to spring so I can have another spring cleaning and turf a bunch of stuff that I am carting around yet don’t use.

I will be ever more vicious this time, and get rid of everything that I don’t need. I am carrying around too much weight, I know that.

My needs change and what I need changes with it. Fluffy, extras are not needed right now and there is very little in my life that holds sentimental value to me.

My life is about weight and necessity as I get through this ultra-frugal phase of my life in order to finally have that home and land that I want. 

The home and land that I want to be generous with as I help others (I’m twisted that way).

For now, I will celebrate having about the minimum books that I feel are necessary to have in my ever growing Homestead Archives.

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

Back At It

So, yesterday was the first day back to work for me. It also marks the first day of what I consider to be the real winter. 

For me, January, February, and a good portion of March, is really cold. After that it does, sorta, get warmer, sorta.

I know that while the weather looks nice and not so cold, that the real cold stuff is coming, at least at some point over the next couple of months.

This is also the time of year when the “I don’t want to do this anymore,” impulse kicks in. I remind myself that all I have to do is get through the next two to three months and thing will get better.

After that is the warm(er) season and that means that I will be home free until next winter. 

I further remind myself that this year marks the first of the real savings building. 

The building of savings for last couple of years marked me putting my “emergency fund” aside. As in, allowing me to live for a year or two on my savings if I have to.

Now, I am getting to the point where I am building my savings to the point that I can actually have a home and land of my own.

So, I will keep going and I will keep building, and in order to do that, I have to keep living in my RV, even in the depths of real winter (yet to actually arrive).

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

New Year, New Opportunities!

Okay, so Christmas Break is over and it is time to get back to work. This means, for me, the same-old, same-old, but I’m okay with that, because I make money doing the same-old, same-old.

The New Year is also a time to look back on what you have accomplished over the past year and set new goals for the New Year ahead.

For me it is a renewed focus on my savings, as I want to get to a place where I could buy either my Acreage or my Quarter Section of Land before this year is out.

I call it my “first exit ramp” strategy. While I may not be able to buy an acreage or quarter section of land anywhere near the city where I work (not even close) I want to at least be able to buy it.

It will be nice to know that I could, if I chose, go out and buy that permanent home that I am working towards. 

I know that I will need more cash than just enough to buy land or an acreage, so further savings will be needed.

It is just nice to know that within this year, will be nudging towards a place where I won’t be totally screwed if anything should happen to my job.

I still feel like a spider looking up and around for that large shoe to come slamming down on unsuspecting little me.

I do try to be positive, as I try to head off any problems before they arise, and deal with the problems that do.

Now is not the time to think of such things, however, as it is the time to look forward to a year of new opportunities!

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