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rayyy
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# Posted: 15 Feb 2011 06:01
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Simple,if I continue living my current life style,I'm gonna die thousands and thousands of dollars in deat.Living on income I havn't even earned yet.(thanks to credit cards).So I have to do somthing.It's not gonna get better unless I change my stratigy.Going green makes the most sense.It's the healthiest choice for me and my environment.Piece of mind and simple living.I think you can have the best of both worlds and I'm gonna prove it.There is so much more to offer these days with solar and wind energy sorces.Living green,comfortably is doable now more than ever.
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turkeyhnter
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# Posted: 15 Feb 2011 17:58
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credit cards are evil----i pay my credit card balence in FULL at the end of each month----OR I DO NOT BUY IT<<<<<>>>>>>>...simple........live within your means..maybe not what you want to hear-----but you asked.
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hattie
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# Posted: 15 Feb 2011 18:14
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ditto what turkeyhnter said.
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bobrok
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# Posted: 15 Feb 2011 18:51
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rayyy:
There is merit to what you say, but unless you are on a severely limited income, unemployed or non-employable, or an incorrigible spender I think you may be overreaching and jumping from the pan into the fire, so to speak.
Now I know you value a deal because you shopped around and found a better price on your Honda generator last week. Did you stop to figure if you had the means to pay for it before you purchased it?
Quoting: rayyy if I continue living my current life style,I'm gonna die thousands and thousands of dollars in deat.Living on income I havn't even earned yet.(thanks to credit cards
We don't know each other, but this statement scares me in light of the fact that you just spent $900 on a generator. If you can't define your goals and live within your means in modern grid-tied civilization I have to question how you are going to exist in the alternate one you seem drawn to.
Quoting: rayyy Living green,comfortably is doable now more than ever
...except when your generator needs repair, or your solar array proves inadequate, to name a few possibilities.
Do you know how expensive your new setup is going to be?
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rose
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# Posted: 15 Feb 2011 23:14
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I have met a couple of guys in the last year living totally off the grid and are making it work. But while they profess to loving it they also seem to look more tired[rugged some may say]. Not in the romatic sense, but they look like they have been working HARD and it shows. Living off the grid is work, in the beginning for sure...till you get every thing set up. And even then... we take so much for granted....The simple things that we take for granted....off the grid...take much more thought and effort.
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rayyy
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2011 05:47
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Morgage,home owner insurance,car payment,gas(for heat and hot water),electric,car insurance,all kinds of taxes,meds,doctor bills,dentist,grocerys,cable,internet,gasoline,credit card,upkeep and repair bills,,,this is what I mean.I'm caught up in modern day living just like everybody else,living paycheck to paycheck.And the older you get the harder it is to keep up.Somthings gotta give.
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bugs
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2011 08:26
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Rayy
Sorry to hear about your predicament. I suspect, from what I see on the news that you are not the only person with similar issues whether it be in much of the US, Canada, or the European countries. (Strangely SK, where I am, has barely hiccuped and is booming as a whole. Not really sure why.)
Anyway:
Here is what has worked for us over the years. As poor university graduates just starting out when interest rates were ticking around 20% we had to learn to make do with very little and accept it. So we read the Wealthy Barber, and books on how to live without an income. Many of the lessons have stuck:
Know your expenses intimately: Write then down from the mortgage payment to snack food. Do that religiously for a few months or better yet a year. Very shortly you get an idea of how much money you need and where cut backs can be made. And viciously purge as much as you can. Even changing life styles ie. walk to the grocery store instead of drive. (We often walk 5 miles for groceries. Even tho we have two grocery stores 3 blocks from us) It saves tons of money and we get exercise to boot. Simply making your own coffee rather than having a Starbucks gourmet one or having an apple as a snack can save a person hundreds of $$$/yr.
Avoid cutting edge technology. Things will come down in price rapidly. (We just bought a little flat screen tv to replace our old one... We even miss having to get up to change the channels and the volume! lol The thing is even the Salvation army would not take our old tv.... "Poor" people need(?) remote controlled tv's...Go figure.) And you may not really need it.
Second hand items whether it be clothes, furniture or salvaged lumber and windows for your cabin can save oodles of money. Often too they are of better quality than we could afford new. For example: We have almost eliminated particle board furniture from our house. With patience we have been able to get some very nice real wood antique or semi antique furniture from garage sales.
Cut up the credit cards. Consolidate your debt. Pay cash only as much as you can. I don't even use a debit card. I find it important to physically pull out the $20, $50 or $100 bills to pay for something. I know how much effort each took to get into my pocket in the first place. I also only pay with paper money. All the change I get goes into peanut butter jars as "special" money. (With the $2 coin arriving in Canada this habit has turned into a windfall for the peanut butter jars. We have used it for many "free" little holidays including tickets to Europe on more than one occasion. This method enabled us to pay cash for our flat screen tv. )
Another thing we learned is when talking to banks when they say you can afford it on your gross income. We calculate things based on our net income to see what we really can afford. Sometimes we have to delay a major purchase but at least when we do make the purchase we know we can afford the payments.
We also have done our best to live on HALF our income... ALL expenses included. The other half goes to savings in preparation of job loss (Both my wife and I have never had a real long term job. The longest has been a 3 year contract for my wife. For me I work on a contract basis so often my contracts are less than 1 month. And we never know if the contract we are working on will be the last.) We face uncertainty regarding our jobs every day. That is why we have made an effort to have at least one year's income stashed away in the bank. Once the one year's slush fund was set up the rest of the extra half of our income is excess to spend wisely ie paying down mortgages, retirement, major renovations or if all the expenses are under control then we can reward ourselves with a holiday or maybe even a small cabin hee hee.
I think you get the gist of what we do. It has worked for us. Not saying that it will work for you tho.
Also I am not sure if off grid is as green as they say. It is extremely expensive to setup. And the pay back time is quite long. There is also the cost of manufacture, disposal and life span to consider when thinking of solar or wind power. I think, whatever that is worth, if a person is already tied into the grid and have reasonably cheap power already, better, greener alternative may be to become more energy efficient. But that may be for another topic.
Sorry for my blathering.
bugs
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CabinBuilder
Admin
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2011 10:52 - Edited by: CabinBuilder
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In our younger years, we have made a mistake of buying a house in a (relatively) trendy neighborhood using mortgage on the maximum amount the bank would lend us. After paying monthly mortgage and other household bills, there was nothing left - not for savings, no for decent travel or discretionaries. We had to make too many sacrifices to pay for that house - that was not the life I envisioned to live for the next 25 years of mortgage payments.
So after few years we have sold that house and scaled down to a more modest one little further from the city/work.
It DID make the difference - now we were living not from paycheck to paycheck any more, but having a lifestyle we could REALLY afford (and not what the bank said we could afford), including purchase our small cabin property, some travel and saving for the rainy day (this one is a must!).
Quoting: turkeyhnter credit cards are evil----i pay my credit card balence in FULL at the end of each month----OR I DO NOT BUY IT
Ditto. I even use credit cards as a source of small additional income: We use a card with no fees and best reward point system we could find. We use it for all purchases, accumulating as many points as possible, and we PAY BALANCE EVERY MONTH IN FULL - NO EXCEPTIONS!. If we think we wouldn't be able to pay for the purchase next month - we don't buy it. The accumulated reward points allow us to buy a week of family groceries once in few months.
Of course everyone's story is different, but it has worked for us.
I think the key is to set realistic expectations from your life - what you can afford/achieve, and not what commercials tell you. For many it's true what they say about this recession - it could be called a "reset-sion".
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bobrok
Member
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2011 11:14
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Yeah, what these two said! Some are better than others in putting words together. That is what I really wanted to say but re-reading my post now gives the impression that I condescended to you. I want you to know that was not my intent, rayyy.
Bob
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Not poor
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2011 11:54
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Keep in mind that there is a benifit to credit cards IF you pay them off every month as you will build up your credit score. If you pay cash for everything you will never have a credit score and things will be more difficult and more expensive for you when it comes time you need a loan or line of credit.
The key is to use it like cash. When you buy something on credit card take the cash for the equivalent ammount and set it aside for the payment at the end of the month. If you put your cash in a high interest savings account your credit card is actually lending you money. You buy something at the beginning of the period you don't have to pay it for 45 days so your cash in the savings account grows for those 45 days getting you interest.
As for living off the grid. Does not help you at all with those dentist or medical bills you were talking about.
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rayyy
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2011 17:12
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Thanks for the good advice everyone.I admit Iv'e learned to live a little high on the hog these days and that's why I'm going back to my 35 year old dream of building a cabin and getting back to the basics.I grew up with out houses and wood and coal stoves,cutting wood,not a big deal to me.I remember the joy of a toasty warm fire and the smell of baking bread.Fresh eggs,a full pantry.Just the peace of mind those memories bring.
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turkeyhnter
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2011 19:30
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rayy good luck on your journey.........i hope and pray all works out well for you.
when i go down to my hunting camp( i have elect no internet or sat. tv etc) and for a few days,it nice to keep the wood burner going , a hot pot of coffee, and enjoying the woods.........
BUT when i get back to the house, set the ac/heat to a certain temp,. turn on the tv, internet........it's a not bad either.........
i like a little of both worlds............
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rayyy
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# Posted: 17 Feb 2011 05:12
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Thanks Turkey hunter,The best of both worlds,absolutely!Perfectly doable.
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