No Need For a Campsite

So, one of the advantages to having solar power is that the main draw for me to go to a campground was to have unlimited electricity all weekend.

The views are nice and the peace and quiet is also a welcome sight, but the main draw was always the electricity.

In the dead of winter, I can and will go to a campground, but that is because I can use my electric heater to warm up Wanda. 

I will see how warm I can get Wanda with my furnace, but that will take propane. Yet, I know that burning propane is cheaper than a run to the campground.

So, we shall see how things shape up this winter, all hinging on how effective my solar charging system is in winter.

The point is that I will be staying in town this long weekend, and in so doing, saving cash.

I will enjoy the downtime and rest and relax, but I will do so without burning extra fuel, and paying to stay somewhere.

After all, this phase of my life is all about saving as much cash as I can. While at the same time trying to enjoy life along the way.

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

Make A Pattern To Success

We are creatures of habit, we humans, so why not use that desire to repeat patterns to your advantage.

I have a number of small habits that help me towards my goals.

A few of them are: 

• I check my bank and credit card accounts daily (to ensure no fraud or false charges go through).

• I budget and stick to that budget. (So as to control my finances and grow my savings.)

• I spend cash on most things, rather than with my bank or credit card. (So as to feel the pain of the spend and to stay within my budget.)

The trick is to get yourself into these good habits by forcing yourself to do them every day for at least three weeks.

Habits are formed in about three weeks (so they say). So the trick is to get yourself into the good habits that will help you move towards your goals.

What you do, here, now, today, this week is what matters the most. For it is the small actions in your life that move you towards the larger direction in your life.

You are moving anyways, so why not move in a positive direction, a direction that you choose. Establishing positive habits are a way of helping you do that.

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

Plan Many, Enact Once

So, as many of you know, I use spreadsheets to budget my paycheque pay periods. 

My budgetary cycle runs from when I deposit one paycheque in the bank to when I am about to deposit the next one. 

I use a spreadsheet to plan out how where my cash should go (before that payperiod arrives) and then record where my cash actually went (when I am in the middle of that payperiod). 

So, since these are cascading spreadsheets with the bank balances of my various bank accounts carrying over from one to the next, I can plan for a while into the future.

Again, when it comes to forecasting, the further you go into the future, the less accurate your fiscal projections are. 

So, you take these with a grain of salt, but it is nice to see what could happen. How things might play out if I do this plan or that.

I have worked up the paycheque budgets from now up until April 7 of 2023. (That is the projected end date of my Grand Savings Plan).

I have also reworked those budgets a number of times. Why? Well, each time I have an idea to do this or do that, I work up the budgets and see how it impacts my finances.

This lets me see what would happen if I save in different ways or invest in this or that. 

Again, the real power of spreadsheets is the ability to change things in them and see how they are impacted.

This lets me try out various patterns of savings/investing and see if I will still get my overarching goals of my Grand Savings Plan done.

It is through methods like this that I am not only keeping myself on track, but on the right track.

So remember kids: Plan Many, Enact Once. 

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

Biting Your Tongue

It has been said that biting your tongue is a sign of weakness and submission; I disagree. 

None of us are in charge all the time, and in all circumstances. If you think that you are then you are likely a jerk. 

For only a brash jerk must always have things their way at all times and in all circumstances.

I will warn such people that almost everyone loves to see jerks fall flat on their face and rendering assistance to a jerk is almost never done because you want to.

At any rate, wisdom, along with a healthy dose of self-preservation, can and will prevent us from saying what is really on our minds at a particular time.

This is well known and well practiced by those who are gainfully employed and wish to remain that way. If I may say so, I know this all too well.

I put forth that having the strength to keep your tongue when “others” around you lose their minds, and my personal favourite, blame you for their mistakes, is not weak.

You know what really happened, and even that “other” person knows what really happened. Yet it is their immaturity and pride which prevents them from admitting it.

So, to all those out there who bite their tongue on a regular basis, take heart, for it is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength and wisdom. 

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

Grand Savings Update

Okay, so it is that time again, when I update how my progress is going on my “Grand Savings Plan!” 

Okay, so let’s see how I did . . . 

   

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

   

That is 25.5% (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 26.5% of my savings target. 

That means I put away 1% of my total Savings Target this payday.

So, I am on track and putting my target 1% in my savings per payday. That is always a good thing to see.

The other interesting thing is that my “Target End Date” moved up one payday to July 7, 2022.

This end date moves around and is an estimation. It is just a fun thing I do but what it really is, is just another way to keep me motivated.

As long as I am putting more away, each payday, that is progress. Any progress is good progress. So even a dollar put into savings is a good thing. 

The more I put into savings, the quicker I will be done this Grand Savings Project.

Stay Motivated

Dreaming is often seen as a waste of time. It is often seen as being silly. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve been told to “Get my head out of the clouds.”

Yet, I am here to tell you that Dreaming is an important part of your path to success. 

Why?

Because Dreaming is vital to keep you motivated as you go through the hard part of the path towards your Dream.

You need to see and envision where you want to be in order to be able to keep moving towards that Dream.

Don’t get me wrong, you will never get anything by just wishing hard enough, you need to work and do things in order to make that Dream a reality.

Trust me when I say that in order to keep going during adversity, you need to hold on to your Dream as motivation to keep you going, to keep you moving forward, through adversity. 

There have been many a cold evening where I have questioned my life’s choices and thought about renting a room or otherwise straying from my chosen path to success.

One look at my Dream Board (a place where I keep reminders of my Dreams and Goals) and I remember why I am doing this. 

For me, I am doing what I am doing for that land, for that town, to help others break the cycle of Debt -> Work -> Working Poverty -> Death.

The thing to remember is to hold on to your Dreams as you work towards them.7

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

Dare To Be Different

Another key to success is the willingness to do what others are not willing to do. Go against the crowd and do what you are not supposed to do.

I’m not saying to and break the law, but just bend some social norms. 

Take me for example, societal convention dictates that every person either buys or rents a fixed address. 

Entire industries have been built up around this concept. Most people spend well over half of their hard earned income on this principle.

Why? Do you really need this to survive? I don’t think so.

I live in an RV trailer, and constantly tow it behind my truck. I park on industrial streets near work during the work week but in a big box store on weekends.

It is not a glamorous lifestyle, but it is a way to get ahead. I have a place to live and a place to call my own, but I do not have the costs associated with having a fixed address residence.

You don’t have to do what I am doing, but it is an example of getting ahead by doing what the crowd is not doing.

Again, I am not advocating to cheat or deceive anyone. Such as: renting a place and then never paying rent until you are evicted, drawing out that legal process till then end only to start the process over again with another landlord.

Just find a way to do things differently that will help you get ahead. As I said before, a path to success is found in doing what most people are not willing to do.

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