Monday, November 3, 2008

My Way




Once upon a time I had a lovely cottage sitting on a pristine lake in the midst of one of the only old growth forest regions left in the state of Ohio. I loved the place, but as lake front became more popular and my land more valuable I decided to sell and move further South where the cost of living would be a whole lot less.

It seemed the right thing to do as I was near retiring, the EPA was about to force us to rebuild our ancient dam and I was a little apprehensious as to what was taking place in the homebuilding business (to many things to go through) I was a part of.

I put the lake front place up for sale and sold it a week later for three and a half times what I paid for it. The couple who bought it immediately tore the old cottage down (that fit perfectly into the woods) and replaced it with a McMansionesque nightmare (that didn't). That's what they were doing during the boom time. The money spigot was wide open and the banks were, what can I say? Drunk?

My wife and I bought the acreage we live on now. Shown is the 1200 square foot (plus576 sq.foot loft) cabin I built mostly by myself. I also built a smaller 200 +- square foot cabin, two outbuildings and a storage shed from the lake front profits. We also paid off two vehicles, credit cards and every other bill we had. My goal was to, after everything was finished, break even. And that we did.

We now live on Social Security exclusively. My wife gets Medicare and I am a life time member of the VA hospital care program so we don't have to buy expensive health insurance. Life is good.

It took plenty of thought to get here, but as I look back, I was also very, very lucky because it was no more than six months later that property values plummeted. Had I waited just a bit longer I would have been stuck holding the bag.

Down here I have two deep springs so I'm fairly secure when it comes to water supply. This I will be able to share with my few neighbors if/when the power goes out. The small cabin is decked out for burning wood and I have oil lamps for light. I am going to dig an outhouse as well just in case. I have built a clay oven that sits outside along the tree line for baking bread and pizza's, anything that will bake actually.

All that I've done so far is just common sense stuff that would be smart to do if you live in the country like we do regardless of the situation. I have not gone overboard, nor do I brag about anything (well at least not till now:-)) This is as far as I will go until the situation warrants a change. But I am ready for anything.

What I've done to this point has little to do with your own lives because, as I've stated earlier, everybody's circumstances are so different. The one thing we share in common though, are the principles involved. The principles of survival are pretty much the same regardless of where, when, why you find yourself needing to. And the first most important principle is your mindset. Where's yours?

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