Why I am writing this blog

Musing on why I write this blog

Someone the other day asked me why I was writing this blog. Honestly it didn't even occur to me that I hadn't told you. That is a bad blogger, bad. 

So the truth is that I am tired of the city life. It was all fine and good when I was younger but I have become disillusioned to say the least. We also have a strong desire to live debt free. Like many of you I spent the better part of my 20's thinking the Jones' were really cool,  and getting anything and everything I wanted. That being said I am ready to live simpler. No bills, No traffic, No neighbors. Just me, the wife, and the baby and our dogs. Working on our crops and livestock and me selling farm and ranch among other ideas I have. 

When we were thinking about what the next phase of our lives looked like, we thought that all the hustle and bustle of city life was not where we wanted to raise our family. I want the kids to play in the yard, dig in the dirt, maybe even learn a thing or two about the way our grandparents and great grandparents lived. So that got me on my search for how to make money, how to make things grow, and how to just be a bit less reliant on some of our modern conveniences that now run our lives. 

My first stop was with a GREAT Vlogger, Wranglerstar on YouTube. He seems like a very knowledgeable person about homesteading and appreciating what you have. (In all honesty I would love to get his thoughts about making the leap). Then we just started doing research on what it will actually take to live out of the city. 

From there I looked at trends and things to do that would help us cut down on our monthly expenses NOW. I fired the lawn guy, told the maid I can pick up after myself, and cut the cable (see my previous post here). Then we looked at things that aren't "skilled" labor that I could learn or do myself to help with repairs. 

There are many things that if you have half a brain and a little bit of elbow grease you can do yourself. My current project is replacing our old fence. We are going from this:

To this: 

I figured out this process through youtube, other bloggers, and talking with others that have done a fence before. This is literally saving us over $3,000 in labor by doing this ourselves. Plus we are not paying any interest on "borrowing" the money, as we are doing sections as we can. Yes, I know it is slower but the savings are amazing. 

Now on to paying off some of our stuff. Cars are #1 in my book. The Jag I paid cash for. 

The truck is getting close. I must confess that have really had the new car fever in the last year or so but I keep telling myself that it is almost paid off, stay the course. It is cheaper in the long run. I have been very good at staving off the craving and I plan to keep it till either the doors fall off, or it becomes not enough truck. The wife's car is a lease and we pay extra to it so when that is paid off (yes you can pay off a lease and not have any payments), we can get something else and pay cash. I want you to think for a moment about your car situation. How much per month do you pay just for the payments on your cars? I would guess for many of you it is a small house payment and for a few it is a BIG house payment. I know people that their car payment IS bigger than their house payment. 

Then on to thinking about making money once we are out there. Of course I still have Tartan Real Estate Services which I own and will continue to be the Broker for. 

I have been working on finding a partner that would manage the day to day while we were out in the country.  We already have agents that are in the DFW area and I am looking to add more in the coming years. I can still sell Farm and Ranch in the country which I have done before. We also have a few rent houses and a few houses we manage for our investors. 

I then ran across a report (and I would be lying if I told you I remembered where) that was talking about tiny houses. You know the little bitty houses. Some on trailers, some on the ground, others in trees. The ones that people go, "WOW that would be cool but what do I do with all my stuff?". Yeah those tiny houses.

Source

The report said something to the effect that there is a sub economy popping up that is all about renting them like a bed and breakfast, working them for the empty nesters that want to be out of the city, and having them as hunting lodges. EUREKA. That is what I want, to start helping people find land to put these little investments on and help others get out of their rat race too. I have been pretty successful helping others invest in real estate and that is yet one more niche that I can be passionate about.

I am not talking about tomorrow, next month, or even next year. It is a goal that I would consider medium to long term. All I know is that the more self sufficient I am today the easier the move will be tomorrow. 

In conclusion, I really am writing this blog as a way to help keep myself accountable for my actions (I.E. not getting a new truck), as well as hopefully inspiring someone else to take this ride with me. It doesn't matter what your goal is. It could be living in the country or moving to a downtown loft. Either way, the way to get to your goals is to not be a slave to the system and becoming as self reliant as you can now. Live like your grandparents did. Pay for a car in cash. Pay off your house. Invest in some real estate. You will thank yourself later.