Mother Nature Didn’t Help Much

Okay, so my plan was to let Mother Nature, AKA the weather blow most of the snow off of my solar panels . . . that didn’t happen . . . as in there was no wind yesterday. 

So, this was what they looked like when I got home last night . . . 

This brings up another point, one that will reveal itself once I brush the snow off of those panels . . . there we go.

You see that there are bits of ice still stuck onto the panels, now that is not a huge problem but it will decrease my ability to generate power from them.

Which in this time of year could be vital but in a sunny day, even in winter, that ice should melt away.  

The black colour of the panels do help in that regard, in generating a bit of heat from the sun. That is what happened and caused the ice to form in the first place.

The panels melted the snow a bit and then that water or wet snow then froze overnight and it became ice under the snow.

Now, I am not about to take an ice scraper to my solar panels to get that ice off, as I don’t want to risk damaging my solar panels.

Besides, at this time of year, during the week, I don’t use that much power, as I can’t and won’t run my laptop in the trailer in this weather. 

But I did run the furnace a bit last night as it was around zero when I got home. This was nice as I was able to get a bit of the frost that had built up inside melted away. 

Again, this time of year is about getting through it and doing what I can with what electricity that I can glean from the sun.

So, yeah I should have actually gone up there and brushed off my panels yesterday morning . . . ah well.

I Didn’t Bother Brushing Off My Solar Panels

Okay, so it snowed, it snowed for the past two days. What that means for me is that my power production from my solar panels is seriously lowered.

Even if it is just overcast, that kills power production for that day. This is because I have less hours of sunlight from which I generate electricity and those hours give me less sunlight.

This is a problem when the only way that I can produce electricity is from my solar panels. So on snowy and overcast days I will conserve my power usage.

Electricity is the lifeblood of Wanda, with propane being a close second. Water is the lifeblood of me but that I can pack in and get elsewhere, so that is less of an issue for Wanda.

Yet, at this time of year, I only really care about electricity levels on the weekend. It is cold so I stay at work more and use the electricity and heat there. 

Even with work’s heat turned down at night, it is still much warmer than Wanda . . . -15C inside last night.

The weather is supposed to change and the temperature is supposed to rise greatly over the course of today, as in up to zero (yes I said that ‘up’ to zero Celsius).

What I have learned is that kind of weather change usually means wind. Wind is good, as it will typically blow most of the snow off of the roof of Wanda.

I will still go up there and brush the snow off of Wanda tonight, when I get home, but I will let Mother Nature brush most of it off for me first.

At this time of year, the only thing I need electricity in Wanda for is lights and that I can use flashlights or even candles for. 

Heat is for the weekend and having enough electricity to run my laptop is something for during the days of the weekend, if I am lucky.

On the weekends I do run the furnace and do warm the place up, but during the week there just seems to be no sense as all I am doing is: packing my lunch for the next day, laying out my clothes and crawling into bed.

When it is not so cold, such as the next few days, then I can and will do more in and around Wanda. 

In the bitter cold, however, I just hibernate. It remains the most cost effective way to just get through winter . . . at least during this last hurrah. 

To Pay Down Debt Or Prepare

I face a conundrum that I feel most of us face: do I pay off debt or do I build up my Homestead Supplies? 

If I pay off debt, then I will be in a better position to weather whatever storm comes: financial, societal upheaval or otherwise.

FYI: My most aggressive possible completion date to pay off my debt is February 7.

If I build up my Homestead Supplies, however, I will be in a better position to start a homestead somewhere and live like a pioneer. 

Not that I want to live like a pioneer, but my philosophy has been, “I want to be able to live like a pioneer if I have to, because I can always better myself and my situation from there as I live sustainably.” 

The other reason that I put: tools, food, seeds, books and other things away into the storage locker that I call my Homestead Supplies is so that I can be able to do something with that plot of land that I want to get (even if it is just a plot of land).

Yet, I can tell you that Debt Freedom is Freedom itself. For if you only have whatever current bills that you have to pay, that and feeding yourself, then you are truly free.

If you are Debt Free then you can go where you wish and do what you want, all you have to do is cover your necessities of life: however you define that.

There are some who say that I should just stock up the Homestead Supplies and rack up the debt as much as I can and not care about that debt.

The concept there is that as hyperinflation picks up speed, then I would be able to pay off my debt with dollars that are worth less and less. 

The belief is that wages will rise and rise in order to keep up with hyperinflation (and keep workers). So, I will then be able to pay off my debt with my fistfuls of dollars that I will have.

The problem with that is that wages don’t keep up with regular inflation, what makes you think that it will keep up with hyperinflation? 

Even in normal times wages don’t and never will keep up with inflation . . . by design . . . by conscious forethought and design. (Ponder on that).

So, I will force myself to pause building my Homestead Supplies as I eliminate my debt (debt that I built up while stocking up those Homestead Supplies).

This is because I am forcing myself to keep in mind that, “I have what I need, not what I want.”

What I need, for my own peace of mind is to be Debt Free once again. I will get there, just one more winter to go, then onto another adventure.

Make That Change Day!

Today is the day that you make the change in yourself or your life that you have wanted/needed to make for some time but have been putting it off.

This is the day back in 2013 that I started this journey towards Total Debt Freedom. In honour of that, I encourage others to make the change that they have wanted to make in their life but have been putting off.

It was in the evening and I had just arrived home from work. I pulled into the parking spot in the townhouse that I was renting and Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car was playing on the radio.

That song was the spark that I needed to start this blog and begin this journey to Total Debt Freedom. 

In essence, what I got from the song was that there was no good time for change, nor do you have to know how you’re going to make that change, just do it, just decide to make the change.

You do not need to know every detail of the plan of how to make the change that you want to make, just do it, make that change and figure out how to make that change along the way. 

Neither is there a good or convenient time for a change, there never is, it will always be a crappy time for a change, so just do it, make that change and make it now!

When I started this change, my goal was to become ‘Credit Card Debt Free’. I couldn’t imagine being Totally Debt Free; that was too lofty a goal for me to imagine at the time.

My original plan was to rent a room or buy a camper for the back of my truck, do that for two years and by the end of that two years I would be debt free and have a down payment for a house . . . I’m not kidding . . . I was that delusional.

The key thing that I learned along the way is that you will learn and grow along the way. Always adapt and change your plan to suit your new knowledge or situation. 

Always change what you are doing in order to better achieve your goals. Never keep doing something out of pride. 

Don’t beat yourself up too much over your mistakes either. You will make a lot of mistakes (I did, and do) but learn from them and use them as an opportunity to grow (I did, and still do).

So, go out there and make that change that you have wanted to make for some time but have been putting off . . . you can do it!

How I can Handle a Prairie Winter

It was quite cold last night and I didn’t even bother to turn my furnace on; I haven’t done so all week.

Yeah, that’s what dish soap looks like when it freezes.

My secret to handling winter on the prairies is twofold. One is doing some ‘voluntary watchman’ duties at work. (they know and don’t care).

What I mean is that I get up when I usually do, get out of bed, dress quickly in the clothes that I have laid out the night before (complaining as I do).

I then grab my lunch and head to work. There I do what I need to do in the hours before work, but I never turn the heat up until it is time to start work. 

Despite the thermostat at work being set at a lower setting overnight, it is a darn-sight warmer than my trailer (it was around -18C or so when I got up this morning).

I work my usual work and so on, on Monday through Thursday I then stay late and eat my dinner and putter around until it is time to head home and go to bed.

Friday is my early day, I finish work at one in the afternoon so I check my mail and do my weekly shopping on Friday afternoons.

Anyways, after work on Monday through Fridays I head home, pack my lunch, lay out my clothes for the next day, (in reverse order). 

This is so I can just grab the underwear that is on top, put that on then, and then grab the socks that is under it, and so on with the shirt and pants.  

I crawl into bed and complain about the cold (questioning my life’s choices as I do) and curl up in a ball (still wearing my toque of course).

The key is to keep your feet and head warm. The toque keeps your head warm. 

To keep the feet warm I rub them together with stroking the top of one foot with the bottom of the other. You start from the ankle and stroke down to the toes. Then switch feet and stroke the other. 

You need to do this because there is not a lot of meat on your feet so there is not a lot of blood flowing around them to keep them warm. Eventually your feet like the rest of you is warm in bed.

Warm socks don’t really help as all each foot has to get warm is just itself. If your feet are not covered they can bundle up together and warm up. 

The fewer clothes that you wear in bed the warmer you will be; I learned that early on. Your body will heat up the pocket in the blankets around you and that will keep you warm.

The thick mattress was a big help, as it stops the cold from coming up from underneath, which did happen in the thin foam mattress that I came with Wanda.

I have four or five quilts on the bed at this time of year and they keep me warm (just not when I get into bed).

With water I keep two two-litre bottles with me and keep them tucked into the bed. On the really cold nights like it has been this week, I will keep them closer to me, just like my phone, wallet, laptop and other electronics.

The real trick is to know that the really cold weather does not last all that long and this too will pass. 

So, I just tough it out and before long it is not all that cold again.

Which means that I can use my furnace again in the evenings and eventually have to turn my fridge on again (what’s the point turning it on when everything is frozen in it anyways).

I do what I have to do in order to get buy and get through this. I will do this during this last winter in Wanda. I will make it through, because I have a goal and a dream to motivate me.

It Was -15C In My House When I Got Out Of Bed

And that’s okay . . . but that’s not okay. 

You see, I know how to live in my RV, even in winter. I’ve gotten used to it, I don’t want to be used to it anymore. 

After nine years I know how to handle things, what to do; what I can get away with, and what I can’t. I know how and when to keep water and “liquids” liquid.

This whole journey was about getting rid of debt, building up a bit of a nest-egg, so as to “correct” a few of my many financial mistakes that I have made in my life (and take ownership of).

It was never supposed to be a way of life for the rest of my life. I suppose that’s part of why I don’t want to renovate or modify Wanda so as to be comfy year-round: I might want to stay in Wanda.

The main reason I don’t renovate Wanda is that I don’t want to spend the money on something that is by definition temporary. 

Wanda is and was always supposed to be a temporary home, not a permanent home. Wanda has become my permanent home, of a sort, and I don’t like that.

In the spring, summer and fall, life in Wanda is fine and I get along quite well. It is in the depths of winter that things get challenging and test my resolve.

I endure what I have to endure because of that dream of having a place of my own, of home ownership without a mountain of debt, and yes that nest egg. 

Again, I can stomach a mortgage as long as I have a nest egg and my mortgage is not too crazy high. 

I like having cash left over at the end of the month. I like steadily building my savings and investments. I want to keep these things going even after getting a home of my own.

I will continue to do what I have to do as I move forward towards having a home of my own, even if it is a Dreaded Condo.

Hmm . . . dreaded condo or waking up to -15C inside my house . . . thinking . . . thinking . . . .thinking.

One Last Hurrah

As I write this, it is November 30, 2022 but when I began this blog, and therefore my journey to better my financial life (and therefore my life) it was December 5, 2013. 

That means that in just over a year it will have been ten years since this blog and that journey started. 

Other than the half a year that I lived with Kim, and the initial few months renting a room, I have lived in Wanda that whole time. 

I have been parking on streets, or in parking lots if I am lucky, always having people walking right by my home. 

To them, it is just another vehicle parked on the street, to me it is a home, my home, yet not. It still bugs me to see someone walk past my window less than a foot away.

I want a home, a place to belong and that is either building my own RV to be as self-sufficient as possible (which I term “The Armageddon Vehicle”) or I get my own place, even if it is just a dreaded condo.

I want to do that, get a place that is mine, even if it is just a dreaded condo which will be a stepping stone to me getting the land and cabin that I truly want. 

I want to live in a place of my own (one that doesn’t have wheels under it) before my ten year anniversary of this journey comes up next year.

This past year or so, I have been building up my “Homestead Supplies” and buying a few investments, so I have run up or been carrying a balance on my credit cards. 

It is not anything that huge, and I have been working on getting them down paid off again, but funding investments and building up the Homestead Supplies is a good cause.

I hate debt, however, (but I could stomach a mortgage) and so I want them gone and paid off and I will do that by this coming March. 

That is, if I resist the urge to buy another investment or another whatsit for my Homestead Supplies.

I hate winter and I despise living in Wanda in winter, so I have run the numbers on renting an apartment or some sort of basement suite. 

Renting a room is out of the question as my Homestead Supplies already take up a 5 x 10 storage space. If I rent anyplace, I would want those supplies with me.

Besides, I ran the numbers and renting a room and renting my storage space would be the same as renting an apartment or basement suite. 

So, all this means that I have to endure yet another winter in Wanda in order to get rid of this last debt and build up enough of a cash savings to get that dreaded condo . . . or whatever I can manage to get. 

So, I have begun to blog again, in order to document my journey, the last of it to finally have a home of some sort . . . which was the point of this whole journey in the first place. 

Wish me luck.