In Times of Troubles, Stick To Your Principles

So, as I have said, I am not unaware or unaffected in regards to the troubles and uncertainty that surround us these days.

I am still trying to figure out the best way forward, the best way to navigate all of this uncertainty. 

As I do that, I need to remove emotion from the mix and act on pure logic. As emotions will pull you astray and not be helpful in uncertain times.

So, I will do what I always do, I will fall back to my Fiscal Directives and just make my best judgment with regards to just what and how to save.

My first goal is to get to a place where I can buy the land and pay cash if I need to. That way at least I would have a place to start that homestead, if needed.

With regards to the long list of calamities that the current state of uncertainty may bring? 

Well, I will just make my best guess as to how to mitigate those risks as I move forward towards my goal.

I can’t and won’t do any rash or impulsive decisions as that is rarely a wise thing to do.

I just need to stick to my principles and move forward as I always have.

And resist the impulses to “run to the hills” or “stock up for the road warrior future.”

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

Trying To Remain Stable In Unstable Times

The one overall thing I am trying to do is to make the best decisions for myself and those around me (so far just one other person).

Yet with so much uncertainty, uncertainty that seems to be unprecedented with many more problems that seem to loom on the horizon, one gets worried.

There are many reactions to such impending calamity which wants to pile on to the calamity that we are already in.

What I am trying to do is to navigate the best way forward so that I (or we) can weather this storm in the best way possible.

There is that little voice inside me that tells me that I (or we) may be forced to make the move to the property sooner than I (or we) had hoped.

This will of course complicate things and I (or we if said other is stupid . . . I mean brave enough to come with me) will be living like pioneers.

Meaning those “pioneer skills” books I bought will come in reeeeeeeal handy. And all of you folks who are laughing at me now, will be wanting to show up and help out.

And you’d be welcome . . . we just won’t let any lazy freeloaders stay, so be prepared to work and pull your weight . . . and learn a whooooooole lot of new skills.

But I digress, the point is that I am trying to not panic and just keep doing what I am doing: save for the future, but do so in the wisest manner possible.

Trying to hedge my bets as it were for whatever that comes this way is challenging in the best of times but even harder when all of this uncertainty is the new “normal.”

All I can do is stick to my principles, take my best guess and do what I can do today, this week and make my best predictions and choices for what tomorrow may bring.

And . . . you know . . .

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

Double Batch of Canned Concoction

So, this weekend, with Kim’s help, I made another batch of my canned goods large batch of stuff. 

Since I had access to the large pot and large burner, I decided to make a double batch. 

This was partly because I was worried that my canned goods would freeze with the cold weather approaching. 

So, I bought an extra pound of ground beef, a package of hash browns and made double the batch.

That is it freshly cooked. I let it sit for a day so as to let the solid bits soak up the liquid. This is it when it is being portioned out, after it has sat for that day.

As expected it came out well and produced a decent amount of meals for me.

A total of 46 to be exact . . . well 45, and 3/4 s of a meal.

This will last me for quite some time, especially with me only using this on weekdays that I don’t spend at Kim’s (Monday through Thursday).

Again, all in a drive to keep my food costs low, so I can maximize my savings.

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

The End Of The Year Push

So, it is that time of year again, and with the October 22nd payperiod over my thoughts turn to the last four Paycheques of the year.

I have submitted my timesheet for my paycheque on October 22nd, and as is typical I have not only started the timesheet for my next payday (November 7th) but I have started the one for the payday after that (November 22nd).

I do this so that I have an idea as to what is coming, I like to look at the payday that I am currently in as well as the next two, simply because I want to know what is coming down the pipe.

The last four paydays are the largest because there are less taxes taken off near the end of the year. 

The beginning of the year is less fun because there are more taxes taken off at that time of year.

I will be taking extra holiday pay on my cheques for the last four paydays of the year, so as to put the most I can into my savings, rather than waiting until January only to pay most of it in taxes.

I am still working on the push to get to 50% before the end of the year. This is 2020 so anything can and will derail my plans, so nothing is set in stone.

I can plan and dream all I want, but all I can do is do the best with what I have in my hand right now. All I can do is be as responsible and frugal with the payperiod that I am in.

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

Adjusting To The Cold

Okay, so it is a bit chilly, but not that cold. I have seen worse, but this time of year is when the body, my body goes through an adjustment in what it expects to be “normal.”

We are dipping down to just below freezing, so cold but not reeeeeaaaly cold. Yet for me, when I am quite happy and used to above 20C it is darn cold.

Yet it is all relative, as when it was (and will be again) south of -20C, 0C now seems like summer in comparison.

The same is true when it comes to your situation, fiscally or otherwise. As you are working to steadily improve your situation you can feel like things are just off and wrong.

This is because you are used to things being as they were, in debt, no money, lots of bills. All that seems normal to you despite how much you hate it.

It is normal to you because you have let yourself be acclimatized to it. Change is unsettling and it is an odd feeling, but you have to keep going despite that.

You need to reset and reshape what you see as “normal” just like in a few months you will be calling 0C T-shirt weather.

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

The Ladder Is Out Of Storage

So, it snowed last night, nothing that bad, but enough to make me break out my ladder . . . so I could once again brush my solar panels off . . . all winter long.

So, this morning I got up and before heading to work I got my ladder out of the back of the truck and climbed up it so I could brush the snow off of my solar panels.

The weather will warm up today, so the snow should not last all that long, but enough to be annoying.

As well as to remind me that snow and cold has returned . . . sorta.

I will endure as this is nothing, nothing to worry about but colder temps and more snow are on the way.

I know what to do, and I know how to stay warm, as I have done this for a few years now.

It is just frustrating is all. 

But, life rolls on . . . with or without snow.

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

So, How To Begin...

As many (most) of you should know by now, it is Geoff's and mine goal to buy a 1/4 section of land and build a homestead - with hopes of then gradually developing the homestead into a town.

This ultimate goal is a life-long project, and may (or may not) be achieved in our lifetimes. 

Of course, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step (Lau Tzu). So, the question becomes, how do we begin?

The Grand Savings Project will be just enough to: buy the land, including closing and associated costs; build our first home, as well as a good-sized greenhouse; and have money to live on while we await the first crops, and our gardens and greenhouse, etc. begin to flourish.  This budget is very tight!

Geoff and I have debated this, bouncing ideas back and forth, and I believe we have come up with not only a reasonable idea, but, something that could also help us to attain our later goals, as well.

We will take one of the sub-sections, 10 acres (a quarter of a quarter, of a quarter section), and slowly develop that as we go. 

If need be, we can start with only ourselves in either a tiny home or a mobile home, with a single greenhouse, but we would much rather do this with other people!

If you look at the picture, you can see that this is also divided into quarters. Each section is also drawn at full capacity. In reality, we would be developing as we go, so there could very well be empty space. 

That space would find a use, whether it would be for simply green space, a small garden plot, or even play space for children.

The first detail I would point out is the hedge that surrounds both the entire section, as well as each quarter. Eventually, that would become a stone wall, however, it will likely be a metal farmer's fence to begin with, sandwiched between two layers of some form of hedge.

This hedge fence would be mainly for animal control, and would have gates for easy access. After all, you wouldn't want Yogi Bear looking in your fridge for things to pack his pic-i-nic basket with!

There would also be two roads with two lanes each that divides each quarter. Within each quarter, there would be single lanes, as transportation is intended to be either walking, riding a bike, or, possibly by golf cart. It will be wide enough for a tractor towing a tiny home or mobile home, though.

The residential section (bottom left quarter) has space for up to 21 mobile homes or tiny homes. It also has a small parking space for visitors. 

We shall be gardening mostly by greenhouse, which is reflected in the agricultural quarter (top left quarter). This quarter will also include a barn and yard for both chickens and goats. Both shall also be used in yard maintenance as well as providing fertilizer for compost. 

The commercial/industrial quarter (lower right quarter) is much more adaptable than it's name suggests. This quarter is, essentially, whatever we need it to be. Anticipated use is for manufacturing and offices.

The final quarter, the Community quarter, is the most interesting. One of the main purposes of developing a town, is to develop the sense of community, which is hard to do when everyone is busy doing their own thing.

One of the first buildings to go up in this quarter should be the Community Hall. With a commercial-grade kitchen, as well as enough seating to fit an old-fashioned pot-luck dinner, we anticipate that this will quickly become the heart of the town!

One of the key services we see a need for, and would like to develop, is the idea of "Mom Care". This is the concept of "it takes a village to raise a child", and therefore, providing Moms (and other parents) the support they need in order to not feel constantly overwhelmed while raising their tiny humans.

This could include everything from Day Care and drop-in babysitting, to providing meals, or simply some sound advice from the voice of experience and a shoulder to cry on.

Another building will be a basic school, with subjects ranging from Kindergarden to College-level instruction. Of course, parents will have the option of busing their children to their local school, but, this would be an option, and could be helpful for homework. 

It would also be a resource for adults who are looking to upgrade their education, or for us to host seminars on debt reduction and financial sustainability.

We also had the idea that, in the future we could also offer the service of being a "self-sustaining incubator", teaching others who would like to then purchase their own land for their own fiscally responsible, eco-friendly homesteads - but, that would have to be once we have shown success on our own!

The final building would be a combination of workshops and gallery for artists, for a variety of mediums. By being near, but separate, it provides enough connection to still be a part of the community, but have the quiet and privacy needed in order to focus on a project.

Now, this still leaves a great deal of space in this quarter. One of the practicalities of the entire quarter, is that people will be living and working there. While we are still looking at some eco-friendly options, it looks like we will likely be building a septic system. 

With a septic system, comes the necessity for a drain (or leach) field. This is where the partly treated water gets slowly drained onto a bed of gravel and sand, in order to clean it before it re-enters the water table.

You cannot have trees or anything with long roots growing above this field, so it is typically covered in grass.

We were thinking that we could have basement access to the septic collection tank from the Community Hall, and that we could use the main outdoor area of that quarter as the leach field. This would provide natural, underground irrigation, as well as fertilizer for the grass, which the goats could keep under control.

This leaves us with a large, open field, so, why not use it for recreation? With sports such as football, soccer, and even baseball in the summer, and flooding a section (or two) for an outdoor ice rink in the winter, this could be a very popular and active area!

As always, this is purely speculation until we actually have the land in hand. Ideas change and shift, depending on what actually happens. 

Ultimately, we would be happy simply having the land, with enough cleared for our own home and a greenhouse and barn, but we would much rather have a few good families join us!

As always, come join us in reaching for the future, and getting off of the hamster wheel!

Kim