2009 - Year in review

Well 2009 is in the books, and the first day of the new year I love sitting down and going over all our finances for the previous year. I spend literally hours going over how much we spent and where and why. I think if others practiced this even a little bit, they wouldn't be broke all the time.

I'm amazed at how little it takes to live off of. I'm serious! Life is cheap .. it's your LIFESTYLE that makes it expensive. We just finished out 2009 with ONE income probably a bit higher in the pay scale than your average McDonalds worker. That's right, ONE income that didn't even make enough to get out of poverty level, and it took care of a family of 4 pretty damn well. We ate good, the kids are spoiled, we took a trip, we bought some decent non-necessities that were pretty expensive (generator, wood burning stove, etc..). And we did it all with NO government handouts. Were not on food stamps, we don't get heating or living assistance. Hell, FEMA came to My door last spring to hand Me some money for the severe flooding in the area and I basically told them to fuck off! It's just not that hard to live on less, and yet nobody does it or else doesn't believe Me.

Why anyone wouldn't want to cut their work life in half, be debt free, and have no stress is beyond Me but yet nobody does. We don't own credit cards, we have no loans other than the house, and we just watch what we spend. And in return we have all the freedom in the world to enjoy life.

By government standards, we're basically living in poverty. I would argue the exact opposite! Do you know what happens when you live under government standards?? You don't pay taxes! Do you have any idea what a financial burden that is lifted off your shoulders?? And I'm not breaking the law .. I'm not even bending it. I'm simply CHOOSING to live on less because I see what a rat race life is for most of you out there. It's just not worth it! I also choose this because our government is arguably the least fiscally responsible entity I've ever seen in the existence of eternity!! They SUCK!! Why in the hell would I give My hard earned money to someone who can't even come close to balancing their checkbook (the budget)!! And I don't feel guilty about it one bit .. why?? Because I don't ask for government handouts, and I'm not milking the system. I like to think of Me and the government as a annulled marriage .. it just kinda dissolved away. I don't need their help, and they sure as hell won't get mine.

On the flip side I'm not anti government by any means. Taxes on gasoline to pay for roads .. good idea. Taxes to pay for schools, police, fire departments .. great! However .. taxes to go around the world 'nation building', or bail out fiscally irresponsible people .... FUCK YOU!! I'm simply saying the government is extremely inefficient and irresponsible from the money they take from you and me.

Dammit, I'm getting way off track! Back to humble living.

For almost all the months of the year, we (a family of four), lived on less than $2000.00 per month. Of course we had months that are inevitable, like when property taxes are due, or home owners insurance is due ... hey, shit happens. But when you average it out, I would say that a family can easily live a very comfortable life on around 2 grand a month. If you take all the non-necessities out of our spending for the year, it's less than that! But we all gotta live a little, so I included things like vacations, and big boy toys and stuff.

Now I'm pretty certain that most of you make more than double that ... and are still broke at the end of the month. All I can say is "HOW?" How is this possible? I can't even begin to think what we would do with 4 grand a month! Maybe go to Disneyworld every couple weeks! In fact now that I'm working (ha ha), we have extra money to just throw in the bank at the end of the month. And might I add that each month a pull in a 5 DIGIT income .. if you include the cents!! I'm not kidding either, if you think I pull more than a grand a month at what I do, you are sorely mistaken. And in case you forgot, our MAIN source of income is another menial job that gets us health benefits and stuff.

For a very short time I thought since the kids are both in school now, I'm going to go out and get a good paying job with lots of hours and we'll be rolling in dough. Thank God common sense stepped in and stopped Me. If I had done that, I would hardly be with My wife, rarely see My kids, and everything would get complicated and hectic and stressful. You know ... like your typical family!!! Well typical I AM NOT, and with any common sense, I never will be. It just ain't worth it.

So in conclusion, the world would have you believe that getting a good paying job, and climbing the ladder to success will give you all the freedom in the world. I have seen just the opposite come true. You have no time to live your life, tons of stress, and your left with always wanting more more more. The benefits of living the opposite of what the world tells you to live are beyond description. It's just to damn bad that no one will ever believe Me.

The snowball

The American way of life is like a big snowball that we create. I'm sure it's like this all over, but I speak of Americans because that is what I know.

People think they need a job. OK, you go and get a job, but it isn't that simple. To have a job you probably need a car. And not just a car, a dependable car. And if your like a lot of yuppies out there, you need a car that also uplifts your image to show off to your fellow co-workers. Now that car takes money. There's gas, and oil changes, and repairs, and insurance. And how about interest on the loan? I doubt many of you own your car outright, how sad. Most people pay 1000's of dollars in interest before they pay off their car. And might I mention that most people have more than one car? So a big chunk of the reason you got a job (money), is now gone so you can have a car to get to work. SMART THINKING!

And what about the schooling it takes to get many jobs? Think of all the money you dumped into your job and the loans you have to pay for .. all to make money? I wonder how you can make money if your money your making is to pay for the money spent for your job?

And then there is clothes. Most jobs you have to dress nice for (well yuppy jobs anyways). If your a banker, or a Realtor, or such, you need to have nice clothes. And not just nice clothes, you have to have many different outfits so it doesn't look like your wearing the same stuff everyday. And these clothes that you have to buy don't come cheap either. So once again, the reason you got a job (money), is sucked up by your clothing upkeep.

And then there is time. So much time is eaten up at work. Take your typical 8 hour shift. If you count getting ready, driving, taking a lunch, and driving back home your 8 hour day easily becomes 10 or more. So about 1/2 your day is now shot. And considering that you sleep 8 hours, your only left with 4 hours to go. Of course you don't have time to raise your kids, so you put your children in daycare. More money down the drain .. all so you can go out and apparently make money.

And with the stress of the job, you can't always deal with making a nice home cooked meal. So you spend 4 times as much ordering in a pizza or some other food which takes ... you guessed it, more money!! Again I say .. all so you can go out and apparently MAKE money!!

Speaking of kids. Since you don't have time to raise them, you feel guilty about not being a good parent. And to fill this gap, you buy them stuff .. all kinds of stuff. Somehow you feel that all this stuff will fill the void of never raising your own kids, but your kids know better. By the way, all that 'stuff' you buy them takes even more money! Just so you can go out and make money!

And if you want to live the 'good life', and take trips now and then, and live in a nice home, and a nice neighborhood, and have all the toys that the Jone's have, you must work even more!! You make more so you can spend more, so you can make more to spend more! What a snowball we live in.

I purpose, (and have many times) that WORK should be the last thing of importance on our list. So many people think having a career is the top priority in their lives. How sad. When you make that your first goal, then everything else falls down the priority list, like your kids, your spouse, your 'living of your life'!! It's important to note that these snowballs you create are not forced upon you, they are the choice YOU make, even though it seems like you have no choice. YOU DO!!

So let's all go to work today and tell our bosses to "Shove it up His ass!" Let's all stay home, raise our family, grow some food, build a fire, and reset the world to the way it should be. Amen.

Possum Living

There's is an old book out there called 'Possum Living'. It was written in the mid 70's by a lady named Dolly Freed.

This girl lived with Her Dad in a house outside of town and neither of them had a real job. She would watch neighbor kids once in awhile, and He would take on temporary jobs that came through for a week or so. Everything they needed .... they had. And they did it on under $1500.00 per year!!

If you google Her, you should find a set of 3 (10 minute) videos that talks about how they live so cheap. I found them fairly entertaining and it might be worth checking out if you like.

Anyway, to do this today, I figured a dollar back then is worth about 4 now. So basically take Her 1500 bucks time 4 and you get $6000.00. Hell .. I'll even round it up to $10,000.00!! I believe that We could live on 10 grand a year without giving up much, well giving up much 'important' stuff that is! I don't consider a blackberry, 8 HBO channels, and a $50,000.00 car necessities!

These two lived in a house that they fixed up, they put in a wood stove, they raised bunnies in the basement for meat, they went fishing for more food, they had a nice garden, and they bought grain from the elevator and had it cleaned. They both worked about 4-5 hours a day .. but that's matter of opinion. If you consider gardening and fishing as work ... well then I guess they did put in 5 hours a day.

On the flip side,they also made their own moonshine, and have several recipes on making various alcohols. Not to mention, they are daughter and father, and neither of them mentions how they fulfill sexual desires. Hmmmmmmm. Well take the good, and omit the questionable and I say you can still live a pretty damn good life without working.

Here's a link to the e-book if you wanna browse through it. And your welcome! This thing was damn hard to find for free! Enjoy!

Possum Living Book

House in a house.

I just had another brilliant revelation! I like to call it a 'house in a house'.

As you may know, we live on a farm with a house, some out buildings, and quonset. Now the biggest expense is the damn house!! I'm thinking "GET RID OF IT!!" How's that for brilliant??

I guess there is more to it than that. You see, We have a huge quonset that's probably twice the size of the house ... why not use it?? Tear down the house and use the material to build a 'house' in the quonset!

I know what you thinking! "What the F@CK is wrong with this guy???". But wait, I'll explain. You see there are lots of expenses to go with a home ... a 'house' to be exact. The mass bulk of your property taxes is because you reside there in a house. The mass bulk of your insurance is because of your house! Most of your repairs that need to be done are because of your house. Are you starting to see a pattern?? It's the damn house!!

So here's what I propose. Well ....... FIRST let Me say that if it was just Me, I would be living in the quonset (very comfortably), and saving a shit load of money. But since I have a family who resists every good idea that I have, I must compromise. Therefore ... I say let's build a house-like structure IN the quonset!! THAT'S IT ... I'M A GENIUS!!

Now it doesn't have to be an entire house, I mean you don't need a shingled roof inside another roof. Nor do you need siding on your inner house, since it has a perfectly good 'outer layer'. It just has to be some rooms connected together is all. Think about it! Pour some concrete, build some walls and a simple ceiling and your set. From every aspect inside this house, you would never know any different from a regular house. You would have finished walls (if you must), carpet, furniture, electricity (if you must) .. and all that crap. But just think of the savings!!! Never needing to replace the roof again, don't have to paint it, no need to put on new siding, your protected from the elements, you stay warmer in the winter because your not directly exposed to the elements, and cooler in the summer (your ALWAYS in the shade) ... oh the list goes on and on.

And here's the best part! From every aspect from outside, it looks like a plot of old farm land with a quonset and some old out buildings .. not a place where people are living day to day! And who would be suspicious of that? There are tons of old abandoned farms out there that are still in use to store equipment and stuff. No one has to know your living there .. hence saving a buttload of money on home taxes and insurance. If someone of authority inquires about your quonset, just tell them it's where you weld and repair and store your farm equipment.

So half the quonset would be your 'house', and the other half would be your garage, or shop, or chicken coops, or whatever!! I would also propose that you use solar panels and or generators to help with the suspicion of a questionable amount of electricity being used for just an old pole barn. And of course you would heat the place with a wood burning stove, maybe just have a cell phone to eliminate a phone line to there. If your really ambitious, you could dig an underground bunker under the floor of your inner house (you know, in case of aliens attacking), but that's a whole other topic.

I just took a tour of My house currently, and was amazed at the crap we wouldn't be paying for. For starters .. a basement! A place to store your shit, big deal! That doubles the size of the house, and in turn, doubles the worth which doubles the insurance! What a waste. How about things like door trim, a toilet, a freezer in the winter (totally stupid), how about heating the entire place when your not even using half of it. All this would be gone when you have a 'house in a house', and the savings would be tremendous.

So there you have it .. a house in a house idea. In fact, I have a section of the quonset that already has concrete, and it just so happens to be about the right size for Me, Myself, and I, to create a little one room paradise! I think this winter I shall start gathering some materials laying around and begin building a small scale 'house in a house'. I'll heat it with My 55 gallon barrel that I converted to a wood stove. Soon the rest of My family will realize what a pure genius I am and beg to move in with Me, and then I'll just add on to accommodate the rest of the family.

Yeah ... I know, you wanna reach out and pat Me on the back for My brilliancy. That's OK .. I already know. Thank you.

1/2 price living

Well November 2009 is in the books, and I gotta say .. I'm quite impressed!

We are a family of 4, living on 15 acres out in the country with a house, quonset, 2 vehicles, a couple roosters, and a dog ... and in November 2009, We did it on $1550.00! I find this pretty damn good.

Now I will have to say, We didn't take a vacation, no major bills were due (taxes, car insurance), and We didn't have anything major go wrong. So I guess it was one of the better months for expenditures.

However!! With that $1550.00, We had people over for a huge Thanksgiving meal, took the kids skating at the local indoor arena, bought the kids some mascot clothes from a school fundraiser (total gimmick), rented movies, went to a downtown Holiday festival, and took the kids swimming, and went out to eat once or twice. Not to mention the 'basic' things that just about everyone does ... pays for the mortgage, heat, electricity, satellite TV, internet, gas, and all the things that go with daily living.

Now I'm sure the government would say that We are living in poverty by only spending this much. I bet the government statistics would say that We need to earn closer to $3000.00 to be considered normal, and that We should be getting food stamps and heating assistance and such. Well you know what? The government can 'Eat My Ass'! I think We live pretty damn good. I may not have a brand new car, a small mansion, 3 cell phones, 6 credit cards, or the latest and greatest gadgets .. but I also don't have a lot of stress in My life of how to pay for all that shit, and I'm not running like a chicken with his head cut off trying to constantly entertain Myself and My kids by involving them in every activity known to man.

So what's the point of trying to live off of less? THE JOB!! It's the job stupid! Not only do I have less stress by living a 'simpler' life, but I'm not pinned down to a job requiring 40, 50 hours a week, and all the stress and responsibility to go with it. Yes .. I am working (I'm sorry), but just barely working!! I work a few days a week, and only 6 hours a day on top of it. But to top it off, I have NO responsibilities to anyone, I just show up, take My time doing stuff to keep Me busy, and leave. And their happy with that because most people these days don't even show up half the time. And apparently they're going to throw a few hundred bucks into My checking account now and then. Good enough. And to top it off, I could quit tomorrow and We'd still be just fine.

So half price living has it's advantages. It's cheaper (duh!), it's simpler, it's a lot less stress, and it really keeps the family tightly together because you rely on each other, instead of the rest of the world to entertain You. Yeah .. I might not have My kids in advanced karate, or ballet .. but We do pull out the 'marble board' and the 'Sorry' game quite a bit, or I have time to personally help them with their homework ... and I think in the long run, that will pay for itself over and over, and I ain't talking about money either!

So everyone out there who lives a more 'sophisticated' lifestyle than Me, have a nice life. You can have the stress of paying a lot of bills that you don't need, and worrying that your next raise will cover the the balance increase on your credit cards. I, on the other hand, think there is nothing much better than NOT having to say "I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go."