Thought I would start this to continue a thought I had while responding to another post...
I have been truly poor twice in my life. Once as a child of two very young parents and once again as the young mother of children. In both cases it was hard and often scary, but some of the best times in my life came from finding a way to do more with less. As a young child I didn't feel the loss of not having expensive toys. Spent hours playing outside and hanging out in my favorite tree. As a young mother it was harder...with the constant pressure of keeping us fed it was harder to be positive..and yet some of my most creative parenting moments were born from finding a way to keep two little kids entertained and fed with next to no money to work with. Eventually as many people do we worked our way out of it. We made more money, became more stable, and ultimately obtained my personal dream of being a home owner. Those were good years and provide the stability we needed to grow personally and financially. But then something tipped. I started to travel more and more for work. Life became more and more about the work and money (which for the first time was abundant) became an easy short cut to saving time. I stopped hand making Halloween costumes and bought them instead, we ate out more rather than having family dinners together, presents became cash instead of a thoughtfully picked out item...etc. One day you wake up and realize you don't have to worry about every nickel anymore and you have finally achieved "success", but in our case something was missing. We tried to fill it with taking those vacations we could never afford when we were younger. And we loved it, but then back to "real" life and those feelings faded. The more we made the more we had to trade and finally...although it seemed impossible when we were young and broke...what we had to trade was not worth the security we had....mainly because the security was a trap. We see people every day who had reached success and then have it stripped away...either by a health issue or being downsized. They are thrown backwards and unless they are very well prepared and lucky have to start over. One thing became clear to us...WE DON"T WANT THAT!!!!
So we started looking around..and I found Howard and Linda and Lee found a couple named Nina and Paul. We read about their lives and saw a different way. their lives were simple, they were frugal, but also so amazingly rich in many things we had lost along the way. It was so very very appealing...especially because it could be done...should be done on our terms. For the first time in our lives we could make decisions based on what we wanted as a couple..and we wanted to strip it down and get back to the basics...in our relationship and in our life.
Thanks to everyone here for supporting that dream. God bless.
Trace
SnowGypsy said
07:01 AM Dec 22, 2013
Trace: That is an awesome post! I think you have put into words what a lot of people feel but just can't put their finger on it. Right now, while not wealthy, we are more financially healthy than ever before but........... This makes me realize how lucky someone is to realize this before it is too late to make a change.
-- Edited by SnowGypsy on Sunday 22nd of December 2013 07:02:43 AM
GENECOP said
07:47 AM Dec 22, 2013
Wow nice post, right on the mark.....
The Restless Youngs said
07:56 AM Dec 22, 2013
Super post...and super timely!! Having gone through very similiar thoughts the past year, I totally relate! Couldn't have captured what we are thinking any better!!
Alie and Jims Carrilite said
08:48 AM Dec 22, 2013
WOW! You nailed it.
Terry and Jo said
08:49 AM Dec 22, 2013
Well said, Trace.
Along those lines, I remember a chance meeting of a man and his daughter in, of all places, the waiting room of an automobile dealership's service department. As he and I conversed, he confessed that he was going to move back to Oklahoma. I asked him where he lived, and he replied that they lived in California. So, to continue the conversation and to glean a wealth of knowledge from this man, I then asked why he was moving back to Oklahoma.
He replied that life was just so much simpler in Oklahoma and people cared more about the person and the personality of people and not the "mantle." I asked him to explain that because it confused me. He then said that where he lived in California, even a casual conversation with others generally heard the question, "How much do you make?" Apparently out there, like a mantle on a fireplace to show off treasures, the question was asked to determine the "worth" of a person. I was especially gratified that his daughter, whom I would guess was about 12 or 13 seemed to agree with her dad.
One thing about the RV lifestyle, there's not a lot to put on the "mantle," so one puts out their personality, which is a lot richer than things.
Terry
Airplane Guy said
08:50 AM Dec 22, 2013
Nice! You captured why I started looking for a MH.
dianneandsteve said
09:38 AM Dec 22, 2013
Very nice post Trace.
I liked what Howard said at one of his rally's: We are all equals at the sani dump!
el Rojo and Pam said
09:51 AM Dec 22, 2013
Great post Trace.
I believe if I'm not mistaken your exact mind set of getting back to basics is what Howard and Linda had and is what gave birth to this forum.
cherylbrv said
09:52 AM Dec 22, 2013
Let me also add my kudos to your post. As you know from some of my other posts, I, too, have been in a relatively financially secure position (still had to juggle bills and my savings was cleaned out years ago for a business venture that failed and as a result my credit sucks), but still... with a full time job at least I had a steady stream of income. Now I have lost my job and prospects are very scary. Although I have a plan B, C and D (probably a combination of all of them), no one knows what the future will hold.
But in the 3 years since we've made the decision that we want to pursue this lifestyle, this just reminds us that we CAN still achieve it. We don't have to have in a top of the line coach right off the bat - we can live simply and frugally until we get on our feet. But there is so much beauty in this lifestyle and now that a physical building to commute to is no longer in the way, there's nothing holding us back from it.
Thank you for expressing it so well!
Alie and Jims Carrilite said
01:01 PM Dec 22, 2013
When we started out we bought a 1996 Carriage 532RKS 5th wheel for $7000, add another 800 for a slider hitch in our short bed truck, and put new tires on it. It wasn't the prettiest on the outside, but it was decent. We did a long October vacation in it 16 days or so, and decided that yes we could live in it fulltime if that the only choice we had. We were in a position though to upgrade if we wanted to. So we started shopping. We didn't have to have a 5th wheel, we didn't have to have this CarriLite, its just how the plan worked. Alie is retired from nursing, and I am "retired"from the real work world, but have to have some income. So we are currently Gate Guards in Texas for the winter. Not a hard job, not completely easy, but different for us. We plan on doing this yearly to pay for the traveling the rest of the year.
-- Edited by Jims carrilite on Sunday 22nd of December 2013 01:02:12 PM
MarkS said
06:26 PM Dec 22, 2013
Frugality is simply not spending money on crap you don't need anyway and being smart enough to know it and satisfied with the simplicity it brings. We are in the midst of selling our last rental and divesting other business activities. I'm tired. I don't want the responsibility anymore. It's time to begin my second childhood.
Bill and Jodee said
07:19 PM Dec 22, 2013
So often I read through the forum and it's like coming home. So much of what you said Trace could have come from many of us (perhaps not so eloquently :-])......the richness gained from recognizing what is truly important regardless of individual circumstances. It doesn't matter what the financial circumstances, religious and political affiliations, marital status, or whether we prefer dogs over cats - we have a dream of a simpler life of freedom.
I was also introduced to the idea by Nina and Paul and then hooked for good by Howard and Linda! And they are all just people who wanted to change their lives, were courageous enough to try it, and generous enough to share it with folks like us.
May we all enjoy a wonderful year ahead, realizing our dreams and doing so with courage and generosity.
Thought I would start this to continue a thought I had while responding to another post...
I have been truly poor twice in my life. Once as a child of two very young parents and once again as the young mother of children. In both cases it was hard and often scary, but some of the best times in my life came from finding a way to do more with less. As a young child I didn't feel the loss of not having expensive toys. Spent hours playing outside and hanging out in my favorite tree. As a young mother it was harder...with the constant pressure of keeping us fed it was harder to be positive..and yet some of my most creative parenting moments were born from finding a way to keep two little kids entertained and fed with next to no money to work with. Eventually as many people do we worked our way out of it. We made more money, became more stable, and ultimately obtained my personal dream of being a home owner. Those were good years and provide the stability we needed to grow personally and financially. But then something tipped. I started to travel more and more for work. Life became more and more about the work and money (which for the first time was abundant) became an easy short cut to saving time. I stopped hand making Halloween costumes and bought them instead, we ate out more rather than having family dinners together, presents became cash instead of a thoughtfully picked out item...etc. One day you wake up and realize you don't have to worry about every nickel anymore and you have finally achieved "success", but in our case something was missing. We tried to fill it with taking those vacations we could never afford when we were younger. And we loved it, but then back to "real" life and those feelings faded. The more we made the more we had to trade and finally...although it seemed impossible when we were young and broke...what we had to trade was not worth the security we had....mainly because the security was a trap. We see people every day who had reached success and then have it stripped away...either by a health issue or being downsized. They are thrown backwards and unless they are very well prepared and lucky have to start over. One thing became clear to us...WE DON"T WANT THAT!!!!
So we started looking around..and I found Howard and Linda and Lee found a couple named Nina and Paul. We read about their lives and saw a different way. their lives were simple, they were frugal, but also so amazingly rich in many things we had lost along the way. It was so very very appealing...especially because it could be done...should be done on our terms. For the first time in our lives we could make decisions based on what we wanted as a couple..and we wanted to strip it down and get back to the basics...in our relationship and in our life.
Thanks to everyone here for supporting that dream. God bless.
Trace
Trace: That is an awesome post! I think you have put into words what a lot of people feel but just can't put their finger on it. Right now, while not wealthy, we are more financially healthy than ever before but........... This makes me realize how lucky someone is to realize this before it is too late to make a change.
-- Edited by SnowGypsy on Sunday 22nd of December 2013 07:02:43 AM
Well said, Trace.
Along those lines, I remember a chance meeting of a man and his daughter in, of all places, the waiting room of an automobile dealership's service department. As he and I conversed, he confessed that he was going to move back to Oklahoma. I asked him where he lived, and he replied that they lived in California. So, to continue the conversation and to glean a wealth of knowledge from this man, I then asked why he was moving back to Oklahoma.
He replied that life was just so much simpler in Oklahoma and people cared more about the person and the personality of people and not the "mantle." I asked him to explain that because it confused me. He then said that where he lived in California, even a casual conversation with others generally heard the question, "How much do you make?" Apparently out there, like a mantle on a fireplace to show off treasures, the question was asked to determine the "worth" of a person. I was especially gratified that his daughter, whom I would guess was about 12 or 13 seemed to agree with her dad.
One thing about the RV lifestyle, there's not a lot to put on the "mantle," so one puts out their personality, which is a lot richer than things.
Terry
Nice! You captured why I started looking for a MH.
Very nice post Trace.
I liked what Howard said at one of his rally's: We are all equals at the sani dump!
I believe if I'm not mistaken your exact mind set of getting back to basics is what Howard and Linda had and is what gave birth to this forum.
But in the 3 years since we've made the decision that we want to pursue this lifestyle, this just reminds us that we CAN still achieve it. We don't have to have in a top of the line coach right off the bat - we can live simply and frugally until we get on our feet. But there is so much beauty in this lifestyle and now that a physical building to commute to is no longer in the way, there's nothing holding us back from it.
Thank you for expressing it so well!
When we started out we bought a 1996 Carriage 532RKS 5th wheel for $7000, add another 800 for a slider hitch in our short bed truck, and put new tires on it. It wasn't the prettiest on the outside, but it was decent. We did a long October vacation in it 16 days or so, and decided that yes we could live in it fulltime if that the only choice we had. We were in a position though to upgrade if we wanted to. So we started shopping. We didn't have to have a 5th wheel, we didn't have to have this CarriLite, its just how the plan worked. Alie is retired from nursing, and I am "retired"from the real work world, but have to have some income. So we are currently Gate Guards in Texas for the winter. Not a hard job, not completely easy, but different for us. We plan on doing this yearly to pay for the traveling the rest of the year.
-- Edited by Jims carrilite on Sunday 22nd of December 2013 01:02:12 PM
I was also introduced to the idea by Nina and Paul and then hooked for good by Howard and Linda! And they are all just people who wanted to change their lives, were courageous enough to try it, and generous enough to share it with folks like us.
May we all enjoy a wonderful year ahead, realizing our dreams and doing so with courage and generosity.
Blessings of the Season,