Winter Rituals Resurrected

Okay, so the first taste of real winter has come, at least in the overnight temperatures anyways. 

The bitter cold of real winter will hit next week, but for now, at least I get a small taste of what is to come. (It was -12C overnight, which will be a daytime high next week.)

What this taste of winter allows me to do is to remember and practice all of those little winter rituals that I have developed in winters past.

Such as: bundling up a bit more as soon as I get home, lighting candles for light, and who could forget wearing the sleeping toque all evening, night and morning.

It is all of these little rituals and habits which seem silly, but have a reason and a purpose. They all help to keep me warm and weather winter. 

It is not a pleasant process, or one that I would wish on others, but I wear it as a badge of honour: I can live in my RV on the streets of a Canadian prairie town and live to tell the tale (sans-frostbite). 

I will grumble, and I will protest, but most of all I will look to spring. Or as I call it “Anti-Fall” as it is just like Fall, it just happens in reverse.

During these few months of “Real Winter” all I really need to do is to warm myself up, not my trailer . . . just me. That is something that I know how to do, and know how to do efficiently. 

The thing to remember is that when it comes to winter is that it is all in the resources, more specifically, the resources used; the more efficient the usage the better.

It is far too easy to just run the generator every night and keep the furnace cranked. 

To do so would use up way too much gasoline and propane, which would negate any cost savings staying in the trailer over winter. 

This is because the more resources you use, the more cash you are required to spend. 

So bundle up buttercup and just hunker down, after all, body heat is the cheapest (nicest when shared) and most renewable form of heat there is.

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

(and stay warm)

Get a Room, Why Don’t You?

It seems inevitable that every time the weather starts to get cold (as in starts to dip below zero during the day) that someone suggests that I rent a room for the “real winter.”

You know, get out of my trailer for the really cold months, say December through March. It’s only 3 months, right? What’s the big deal, right?

It is a big deal, to me. I know that nobody else may understand but when I moved into Wanda full-time, I swore that I would not rent again.

I told myself that, for better or worse, unless my life was in danger (as in south of -40C) that I would continue living in Wanda until I finally BUY a place.

For me, staying in Wanda for the long haul is not really a matter of pride, or even a test of macho bravado, but practicality, and fiscal prudency.

You see, if I rent a room or even a campsite, that would take a bite of $500.00 – 1000.00 out of my budget each and every month. 

That would all but pause my savings plan for those months and in so doing, lengthen the time it would take to get the Wanda Loan paid off, and yes build up the Homestead Fund.

This Urban Nomad Lifestyle is, and always was, intended to be a temporary measure to correct my fiscal situation that I allowed to get so disastrous.

It is also a protest, as in: why should anyone have to forgo living in a warm and cosy home, just to get ahead in this country? 

The answer is, of course, that nobody is ever expected to get ahead in this country. We are never told to pay off debt, just “Manage Debt” 

Manage Debt, as in keep paying those minimum payments. When you get rid of one debt, get another one . . . Don’t get me started, but at best, that is another blog entry.

Back to me and my rental-moratorium. I would allow myself to campsite at a year-round campground, but it would have to be as a case of last resort. 

To me, doing such a thing would be a sign that I couldn’t handle doing what I am doing and needed the comfort of such a living arrangement. (As in sustained -40C temps.)

Not to mention that such a campsite is would cost me approximately $900.00 a month, plus the cost of power. No thanks, I will keep that cash in my pocket and move my hiney ahead, thanks.

So, whilst I have approximately three years to go before this Urban Nomad journey of mine may come to an end (at the earliest), I will stick it out (stiff upper lip and all that).

I have already been through two winters living in Wanda. I can do three more (or more) if need be. I know what to do, and I know how to handle it. 

The most important thing is getting in the right mindset, to just accept that winter has come. I’ve done this before, and I can do this again.

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

The Long Road to Roots

As some of you may know from my Facebook status update over the weekend that I got kicked out of my Western Home on Saturday evening.

It was nothing personal, I just got caught up in a sweep they seem to do now and again in response to some people who just stay there 24/7 /365.

I understand that it is their right to do so, as it is private property. They have a right to say who can and cannot stay there for how long.

It is just frustrating and a bit sad that I have once again lost access to a place that is, or was, my weekend home; such as it was.

It was a place for me to put my slide-out out and therefore have a bit of extra space, coupled with not having traffic roaring two feet from my window all the time.

Such is life, and these things can and will happen as long as I remain mobile. Mobile is what I am and shall remain for 30 months at least.

How have I come up with this number of two and a half years? Let me break it down for you.

I have (as of Wednesday the 30th) 11 months and 1 week until I pay off the Wanda Loan in full. That will put me a year from now: Late November 2017.

At which pointy I will most likely have decimated all of my savings and so will need a payday to top up the Mid-Term Savings before starting the next phase of my journey to a home.

That phase is of course building up The Homestead Fund. I plan to have $60,000.00 in that fund before I start to seriously start to look for a place.

By my Estimations that will take me until late May 2019 (Yes, 30 months from now).
 

Even then I will need to stuff an extra $6000.00 in extra cash, over and above my regular, ambitious, savings plan to make that goal.

This target of $60,000.00 will give me enough to buy something and pay for all of the closing costs.

Exactly what I will be able to get for that or where it will be, is anyone’s guess. I plan to buy something for cash outright and not get a mortgage.

This is an ambitious and some may say unrealistic goal, but I have to start somewhere, I have to have a dream and a vision of what I want.

After that I need a plan to get me there. I have both of those, and yes I am working that plan.

That is the essence of the recipe for success and the way to improve your life: Dream, Set Measurable Goals, Plan, Act.

What having a piece of land means to me, is a place to finally belong. It means having a place to put down roots, of building something permanent, something lasting, and yes, a life.

My life is transient and in a constant state of flux and, in truth, on hold. It will be so until I can finally unhitch Wanda on that patch of dirt that I own.

The only way that this number (30 months) until that date will shorten, is by way of some sort of outside intervention: lottery win, crowdfunding, etc.

I may have jokingly asked for donations before, but I was not serious then, and I am not asking now.

(Don’t let me stop you if you indeed feel so motivated to donate or arrange a crowdfunding campaign, though . . . $100,000.00 in total thanks).

I will pay my own way, on this journey to have a home of my own. Even if it is just a patch of ground with nothing but trees, grass and perhaps a stream, that sounds great to me.

I choose to see that there is an end in sight that, sure it is two and a half years away, but there is some sort of end in sight; an end to this Urban Nomad Journey.

Just buying the property is not enough, as there are improvements that will need to be done to make that land a home.

I will, most likely, need to keep working for a year past the time of buying the property.

That eventuality is too far unseen, as I may yet get a place near this work or some other decent job. At which point I can still be home, and steadily improving my home.

Once again, I digress, while it is a long road to a place where I can set down roots, I have a dream, measurable goals, and a plan. So, there is a real chance that this will happen, that I will finally have a home of my own.

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

Don’t Look Too Far Down The Road (Trust Me)

It has been said that “Inch by inch, anything’s a cinch, yard by yard anything is hard.” What that means in today’s blog message is to just focus on the now.

This is a lesson that I keep needing to learn. When I look down the road and the long haul that I have to go before I can return to some semblance of “normalcy” the view is depressing.

Why? Let me lay it out for you.

First of all I have a year and one winter (as in this one) to go through before the Wanda Loan is paid off and I am debt free (Nov 7, 2017). 

So far only one tuchus-freezing season: Winter 2016

Well, after that I will be debt free with next to no cash in hand and still living in my RV. 

My next goal, as I have stated numerous times, is to buy a plot of land and start that Science Research Community (for lack of a better description) terran.foundation.

To do that, in order to even begin to look for any land remotely close to what I want, I will need at least $60,000 in my hot little hand.

At my best estimates that puts me sometime in May of 2019 . . .

Three tuchus-freezing seasons: Winters of: 2016, 2017, and 2018. 

Naturally, before driving off to start said Research Community from the ground up (literally, as I will be buying raw, vacant land) I will need, you guessed it, more cash.

So that puts me a year later at somewhere in the spring of 2020 . . . 

FOUR tuchus-freezing seasons: Winters of: 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

At least I will be standing on my plot of land, with a place to live (Wanda) a fistful of cash and a dream, not bad . . . even if I will be: 50, still single (let’s face it), and still without a real house . . . 

Yet, to look at the bright side, I will be totally debt free, on a piece of land that is mine and paid off, with a modest pile of cash in hand in order to start my dream, and another adventure in life.

I will just focus on the now and hold true to getting Wanda paid off on time. I will then look towards the next phase of my journey: saving up the cash, after that, buying the land. After that . . . planning and working for settlement (as I save up cash).

It is all in how you look at it, and for me, I need to block out the steps down the road, as they are not guaranteed. 

All I really have is this moment, so I can either use it to move myself and my plans forward or I can sit and wallow in my misery and complain about my life. 

Today may or may not be a good day to die, but it is a good day to DECIDE then ACT to change your life.

I choose to stay focused on the positive direction that my life is moving in. I am in this situation because I failed to act and do what was necessary to fix it, years ago. 

I made this mess, and so I and I alone am responsible for cleaning it up. I will get there, on my land, just not today; someday though.

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

Wanda Loan Paydown Plan Update

Just because I have paused beginning the Wanda Paydown Plan one month does not mean that I have paused my study of the Wanda Loan. 

Today was a regular Wanda Payment, so that means that the balance of the loan has changed this morning. 

So, with new balance in hand I have plunked that into my Wanda Paydown Estimator Spreadsheet and a pattern is emerging. 

I have notice that with each and every Regular Wanda Payment that the amount of Principle that comes off of the Outstanding Balance increases by 10 Cents!

Here is the schedule for what has come off of the Outstanding balance so far:

1. October 27: $43.08

2. November 10: $43.18

3. November 24: $43.28

With this info in hand I have speculated what the payments in December will look like and see if I am correct. Again this is part of my plan to be able to predict what will happen in the future of this loan. 

Why is that important? Well when I start to pay down in earnest this loan, I want to be able to accurately predict how quickly I will actually pay this loan off.

Why is that? Well I want to know if my plan will help me hit Total Debt Freedom Day (Nov 7, 2017) or not. As well, in a nerdy way it is kinda fun, and feels like I am cheating the system sorta.

Just in case you are curious, here is the spreadsheet as it stands now. 

  

Just FYI: The checkmarks on the side let me know if that payment has actually happened or not. So it is a quick way to let me know where I am in this ever changing spreadsheet.

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

Hedging My Bets

Okay, so yesterday was payday which means that by now, all of my money has been allocated and distributed. 

My bills have been paid or monies set aside for their automatic payment, life is normal, since I am broke once again. Something we all know, all too well.

The exception is that I have a smidgen of money put aside in case something goes kerblewie and/or life tosses me a slight bump in the road.

I am about to embark on a phase where I hand most of my money over to the bank and in essence give it away. If I need it again, I will not be getting it back (but they’ll lend me more).

This time of year (Corporate Liability Insurance Renewal Time) is always a stressful time for Boss, this year is no different. 

It was an off-handed remark of his which set me on this journey of being an Urban Nomad this time of year three years ago.

That comment was his openly musing to just “pack it in” and “close up shop” and “get a job elsewhere.” 

This year he just vented about the stresses of a small businessman, but I could tell that the temptation was there.

This is also complicate by the murky and uncertain future of trade relations between us up in Canada and getting access to the market where 80% of our sales directly into.

Being a small company, my immediate fiscal future rests on the whims of one man and the fluctuations of the market and the access thereto. 

With this in mind, I gave myself a bit of a “fiscal stress test” yesterday and found that if I were suddenly unemployed (for any of a thousand reasons) I would not fair well, 

This goes especially if there was a delay, or I was ineligible for, unemployment insurance. This gave me a chill and a moment of pause.

It is for this reason that I will delay the start of the new Wanda Loan Paydown Plan until my January 7th payday.

For this payday and the two in December, I will focus on building up my savings. I will still go on my Christmas Break, but whatever cash I can spare will go into my two savings accounts (Mid-Term and Long-Term).

Since I am not talking about taking an epic trip to Vegas or buying that stellar laptop, but instead socking cash away, this cash can and will be used to finish off the Wanda Loan in November.

Yet, at the same time, I will have this pocket of cash to live on if the need arises. I need to be prepared for just about any eventuality that can be solved with cash.

I don’t want to borrow money, as I like keeping my credit cards at a zero balance and the thought of being totally debt free is what keeps me going.

So, this is the new plan, as it stands.

 

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

Payday Dance Finalized

I have been wondering what to do with the shortfall in my budget that prevents me from funding each of my accounts to $1K (as planned).

I had thought about just underfunding my Main Account, but that tends to lead to (as this past weekend revealed) the F*it attitude.

This then leads to me just spending a bit more anyways due the belief that I will never get out of this debt anyways. 

I thought about just overfunding my Mid-Term Savings Account but just making sure to stay above $1K in it. 

I wanted to make sure to never touch that $1K and keep it for that Monsoon day. That was when it hit me . . . that was what the Long-Term Savings was for.

So, what I will do is put (and leave) that $1K into the Long-Term Savings Account as that is for when I really need it.

The Mid-Term Savings Account, I will keep topping up as much as I can, and also dipping into when I need it over the course of this year.

This way all of the money in the Mid-Term Savings Account is available for me to use, not just anything over $1K. 

I really do hope to top this up to that $1K mark, but it will be a stretch if that happens this year. At the very least I will have 1K in my Main Account and $1K in the Long-Term Savings Account.

I have a year of my most stringent budgets yet to look forward to, but it is necessary if I am to be debt free by the end of 2017. 

For my future and my own sanity I need to be finally free, finally and truly free. Debt freedom does not just mean fiscal freedom, but total freedom.

Debt Freedom will allow me to go where I like and do what I like, as long as I have a bit of cash in my pocket. That is something worth freezing, scrimping and economizing over.

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