The WHY behind Our Decision to Sell it All and Hit the Road

I have been talking for months about a huge lifestyle change Todd and I are planning to adopt by selling all of our possessions (including our home),purchasing a Class A and traveling all over the United States.  Since coming out with our future goals, we have been met with several different reactions (and many questions!). 

I decided to write a post about why we decided on this lifestyle change and what keeps us motivated to continue to work toward our goal.

Freedom

I would say the number one reason for this change is freedom.   We are tired of being tied down to the house and the maintenance it requires as well as keeping jobs we don’t necessarily enjoy to help pay for said home and upkeep.  We want the freedom to do as we please, where, when and how we please.

Simplicity

We have really been focusing on trying to simplify our life as much as possible and a move into an RV would be the epitome of simplicity.  You cannot fit much into a 330 sq. ft. space and are forced to live with only what is truly needed.  The amount of stuff that we’ve accumulated over the years has taken a toll on us physically and mentally.  Having the realization that within a few years, we will be living in an RV has really helped us to consume less.  When I go out shopping with my mom (she is a browser), I find items that I like and would tend to buy.  Now, I know that what we are taking in the RV will be minimal, and there is no room (or purpose) for such tchatzkies.  We have definitely been more mindful of our purchases to ensure that the item will fit into our lifestyle.  We are looking at quality and usability over quantity for the items we are purchasing.

Adventure

Todd and I enjoy adventure.  We like to see new places, experience new things, and what could be more adventurous than traveling the United States and Canada.  We honeymooned in Alaska back in 2007 and we look forward to driving across Canada to stay in Alaska for a couple of months before coming back to the contiguous US!  We have a long list of places we would like to visit, and by making this commitment, we are hoping to witness all of these landmarks before we get too old to truly enjoy them! 

Savings

Even though I am always trying to stretch a penny, this is not the main reason we decided to live in an RV.  Moving from a 1,890 sq. ft. home to living in a 330 sq. ft. camper will require far fewer resources and therefore {theoretically} cost less than owning a home.  I have always had a dream of living a self-sufficient life and though this is not 100% possible in an RV (can you say gas guzzler?), it is one step closer to being self-sufficient.  We have plans on installing a 250W solar panel on the RV and supporting local farmers with fresh {in season} produce while on the road.  The goal is to sell our primary residence and make a “home base” for a few months every summer on the ½ acre property we own next door.  This will allow us to grow and preserve our own vegetables and to harvest all the fruits we have been attempting to establish since moving into the house 7 years ago!

I am sure there will be many challenging times between now and when we hit the road (as well as when we are on the road!)  Todd and I have never spent more than a week and a half underfoot, in tight living quarters and with two 75+ lb dogs in tow!  Even though we have been met with some doubts, we are still as excited about our adventure today as we were over six months ago when we originally talked about the possibility of selling it all and moving into an RV.  If all else fails, we will have a paid for home and RV and we can continue doing what we’ve been doing.

What are your thoughts on this adventure? 

Do you think we will actually go through with it?

Have you ever considered living in an RV?

2013 Year in Review

It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone.
I decided to take a look back to see what all we have been up to here on the homestead.

January:
At the end of 2012, Todd and I decided to attempt to pay off half of our mortgage balance in 2013.  As of October, we succeeded!  After reading through this post of what our game plan was for the year, I am happy to report that we were able to live on half of our income without really cutting back our lifestyle.  We still completed a home-improvement project (updating the kitchen counters for $125) and we have another one in process as I type (new floor in the living room).

February:
In February, I made my own laundry detergent and to this day, we are still using the product!  We have another 2 1/2 gallons to go until it will be time to make another 5 gallon batch of concentrated detergent.  This recipe is a keeper, and we have all of the supplies needed to whip up another batch in the next few months.

March:
In March, I started to feel like we have way too much "stuff" and that our house is much more than what we need/want.  

April:
The first week of April, we had a family trip to Aruba with my mom and her husband to celebrate their 10 year wedding anniversary.  I could use a trip like this every year.

May:
May is always a special month for us because it is the month we married.  This year, for our 6th year of marriage, we took a short 3-day trip to Columbus, OH and had a blast.

June:
Every year around June, I wonder if I want to keep the blog going or to just let it sit.  This month, there was only one post about my internal battle to decide whether we should hire a housekeeper or if I should just do the housekeeping myself!

July:
July of this year was a busy one!  A yellow lab adopted us, my car turned 7 years old, and we started talking about downsizing our home.

August:
I gave up on gardening in August.  I realized that as much as I love to plan the garden every year and plant the seeds, my priority is not to see the garden through and make it all it could be.

September:
I documented some of the fun things Todd and I did over the summer for very little (or no) money at all.

October:
A new member of the family came to join us in October and I started a new cleaning routine that has been easy for me to keep up with!

November:
The only post in November included pictures of a covered bridge tour we did throughout October.

December:
In December, I now notice that we have come full circle realizing that we are not happy with the big house, all the possessions and all of the consumerism that takes place around us.  In December, we let out a big secret that Todd and I want to purchase an RV and travel the US.  Since deciding to do this back in early October, our plans have been evolving.  It went from selling it all and living on the road full-time to downsizing our home and possibly making it a duplex so that we can be with our families and have a home-base for a few months a year.  I am sure there will be a few posts on this in 2014.

So, there you have the entire year on Sparing-Change.  It has been a fun yet challenging year this year, as every year seems to be.  This year, we are learning that it doesn't take a lot of money (or any at all!) to have fun.  We have enjoyed going on many hikes with the puppies, and we really enjoy being out in nature.

We look forward to taking on whatever 2014 has to offer.

The Only Constant Thing in Life is Change

My aunt once told me that the only constant thing in life is change.  How true that statement is!  Though I try to avoid change as much as possible, Todd and I have been talking a lot lately about what is important to us.  We feel weighed down by our home and possessions and we have come to realize that home ownership is not that important to us. 

While we were traveling one weekend talking about our dreams and what we enjoy doing together, I thought that everything I need in life is in the vehicle with me: my husband and our two dogs.  We were traveling all over northeast Ohio to view the 18 covered bridges that are scattered throughout Ashtabula County.  We were doing what we loved: traveling and exploring with our fur-babies.  I mentioned to Todd how great it would be to do this more often: enjoying great views of landscapes around us as well as great conversation with one another.  It dawned on me: we could do this all the time if we weren’t tied to our home and jobs! 

I told Todd that we should purchase an RV and travel the United States.  Go to one location and see all there is to see in that location for several months until we get sick of it and decide to move on, boondock, use solar panels for electricity, and camp out wherever we choose.  Mind you, I have crazy ideas all the time, and Todd thought this was just another passing crazy idea.  As the day went on and we kept discussing it (Todd was discussing it just to pacify me) he said, “You now have me wanting to do this!”  As soon as we got home, we started looking at our options for RV’s

This may all seem far-fetched, and I will admit, it is!  We decided a few years back that we want to live life now instead of wait until the typical retirement age to explore our surroundings.  These plans to travel will not happen overnight.  It may actually take 12-18 months to accomplish, but this is what we are working toward right now.  

The Game-Plan:

• Pay off the mortgage by October 2014
• Fix up the house to prepare to sell spring 2015
• Save up money to purchase a used Class A (a motor home that looks like a big bus)
• Sell all of our belongings
• Start our journey

If all else fails, we will have a paid off house that we can live in and continue to do what we have been doing for the past 7 years (working and trying to keep up). 

What is a far-fetched “dream” you would like to make reality?

Are you taking any steps to make your dream a reality?

Updating the Kitchen for $125

My husband and I purchased our home in 2007 at auction fully aware that it was a complete fixer-upper.  We liked the fact that we could make the home into what we wanted it to be and were prepared for it take several years to complete.  We did not have a conventional mortgage: instead, we had a personal loan with a bank that was just enough to pay for the home.  Our plans were to fix up the home so that we would qualify for a conventional mortgage.  After shelling out a lot of money for a new roof, the next task was to update the kitchen and bathroom and paint all the walls so that the house would appraise for what we needed to install a new septic system that was required within 12 months of purchasing the home (side note: a new septic in our area is the price of a brand new car! Ridicules!!).  The goal was to complete these renovations as quickly and as inexpensively as possible. 

This is a photo of the original kitchen and cabinets (please note: that is carpet on the kitchen floor!):

This is the kitchen with some extra cabinets installed, new appliances, and a buffet area that now houses our microwave and gives us great storage!

We had these beautiful new cabinets, but we needed counter-tops for them.  To save money, we used stick-on tiles that appeared fancy schmancy, stripped the grey exterior paint from the disgusting cabinets and replaced the doors with more modern cabinet doors from a salvage home improvement store.  We found out after year 2 or 3 that the stick-on tiles were not the best option because they warped and started to turn up at the edges. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of what the kitchen has looked like for the past 5 years.

Memorial Day weekend, Todd and I went out shopping for real tiles to replace our kitchen counters.  We found a great deal on neutral colored tiles at Lowe’s for $0.57/sq ft!  For $60, we purchased enough tiles to redo our counters.  We purchased mortar and grout for pennies on the dollar thanks to damaged bags at Lowe’s (original price was over $23/bag: we got for $3/bag).  The only other expense was a tool to cut the tiles that cost $50.  So for less than $125 and a lot of physical labor, this is what our kitchen looks like today.

I absolutely love the way the kitchen turned out.  Everything that used to be on the counters (convection oven, toaster, can opener, bread box, flour/sugar jars, etc.) are now housed on either the baker’s rack or in the cupboards (thanks to some major decluttering!). 

I enjoy our kitchen so much more now than I ever have before.  We have learned one very valuable lesson with this house: quality is better than trying to do something as inexpensively as possible!  Because we did not do this when we first moved into the home, we have already had to redo our bathroom (in 2010)  and now our kitchen.  We know better now for upcoming home improvements to spend a little bit more money and make improvements that will last a long time! 

It just so happens that this improvement was inexpensive to complete and we got great deals on the supplies needed!  Win-Win!

The Great Purge 2013

Over the past few weeks, I have really been inclined to stop talking about how much I dislike cleaning and actually do something about it.  While putting in the time to clean up our home little by little every day came the desire to de-clutter.  The first three days of my new-found cleaning routine, I realized how much clutter I did not want to continue dusting each and every week.  I started purging items from my bedside table and ended up with one whole box of items to donate as well as one plastic bag of trash. 

After being able to see the wood surface of my bedside table and having next to nothing in the drawers, I was motivated to continue de-cluttering throughout the house.  After three days of my husband watching me clean, purge and enjoy my hard work, something in him changed.  His mentality of “more” was morphing into the realization that we have too much!  He realized that he did not enjoy living with the stuff that littered nearly every flat surface of our home.  The best part of this change is that I did not have to say a single word about it: he discovered this himself (which in my mind, leads to long-term change).

The purging process is going to take (a lot of) time and I’m sure it will never really be complete but I love that we are finally moving in the right direction.  After just a couple of weeks, we have been watching our possessions leave our home and it does not bother us one bit.  I am very nostalgic which is one reason we have so much, and that will probably never change, but it is getting better.

My husband brought up a good point: I have my hand in too many pots.  It is time to focus on just one or two activities.  I have always wanted to be able to maintain our home, spend quality time with family, have a huge (productive) garden, love on our (6) fur-babies, raise chickens, grow fruit, compost and keep up with my new-found love of getting lost in books.  Oh, and lets not forget about having to work 42.5 hours a week with a 10 hour commute..  The issue is that I am trying to do too much and I am not doing any of it well!  Case in point: this year’sgarden.

My focus right now is going to be on:

1. Quality time with family
2. Taking care of the fur-babies
3. Maintaining a clean home

That’s it.  Nothing more. These are the three areas of my life that I am focusing on.  The garden is done this year, so I don’t have to worry about that. I have some things to do with the fruit trees, bushes and vines but it is not very time consuming (not to mention I have 2 months to do it in).  Everything else is being put aside for now.  I am even contemplating selling the flock to someone who wants to raise their own chickens.  There are several people in our area selling free-range brown eggs for $2/dozen.  It is much easier to pick up eggs twice a month versus the time to clean the chicken coop, feed them and count heads twice a day to make sure none were taken by a predator!

I am learning that purging leads to simplicity, and that is what we are aiming for in life.

Less stress, more time together and with family, and contentment with our possessions.

Have you been de-cluttering lately?

What tips or suggestions do you have for this newbie?

Downsizing Our Home

Our home is too big for us and I have written a post in the past about it in length. When we bought our home, it was the best bang for our buck.  It was inexpensive, it needed redone inside and out, and Todd was willing to do all the work himself to make this home into what we wanted.  When we purchased the home, we were living in a 1100 sq ft home in the city.  This 1890 sq ft on ½ an acre seemed like it was exactly what we wanted at the time.

Now, we want to downsize.

We talked about building a tiny home on the property wepurchased next to our home and renting out our home.  Though I liked the thought, we had put so much time and hard work into our home to make it what it was (with more work still needing done to complete the home.)  Then it came to us on a 2 hour drive home from my mom’s house one weekend.

As you can see on the Auditor’s schematic above, our home is in an “L” shape and has a very large footprint.  We mainly use one “wing” of the house and the other “wing” goes unused.  We have been working on paying off our mortgage so that we can then save up to build Todd a workshop as a separate building from the main house.  While we were talking aloud on our way home from my mom’s house, we decided that it would be best to make our home smaller so that we use all the living spaces.

There is one room next to the garage (Yellow Box D above) that is currently being used as storage and to keep the cats litter boxes and food.  The size is 280 sq ft.  Enter great idea.  Todd will be knocking down the wall between the room and the garage.  This area will be Todd’s workshop area that will be completely open to the garage.  Todd’s workshop will keep his welding equipment, tool boxes, work stations, etc.  Right now, everything is crammed (literally) into the garage along with two vehicles.  This will free up a lot of space in the garage as well as give Todd some much needed space to work on projects.  By knocking out this wall, we will save upwards to the effect of $15,000 for a new workshop that we were planning on building on the property.  The workshop will need to be insulated to keep the cold from the main part of the house, but otherwise, needs nothing but a good scrubbing and ample lighting (all of which Todd can do himself).

The great part of turning this extra bedroom into an extension to the garage is that it will not require heat.  The heat will be forced to the wing of the house that we currently use which will allow us to have a smaller, more efficient furnace (yet another savings factor).

The 100 sq. ft purple area on the schematic (Box C above) is a hallway that we never use.  This will be turned into a space for the furnace, and for our stackable washer and dryer and storage.  At the moment, our furnace is a low-efficiency furnace that is located outside.  When we save up the money, we would like the furnace to be inside and we may even splurge for air conditioning as well (I never though I’d agree to having A/C in the house, but after this year’s heat and humidity, our floors were literally sweating.  By having A/C, it will keep the house from expanding in the heat and will keep the house dry and comfortable.)

Our family room is enormous (400+ sq ft).  We could host a party with 25 people and everyone would have a place to sit and mingle.  The catch is, we don’t ever host parties of 25 people (nor do we want to), so what’ the point of having a room this large?  We are talking about building a wall smack dab in the middle of the room and making this a master suite.  Todd would also install a separate bathroom in the suite. Sliding glass doors would be replaced with french doors (that we already have) and we would have our own personal deck with sitting area.  One great thing about cutting our family room in half is that we will still have the fireplace that I love and a much cozier space to sit and relax with my husband and guests.

Of course, all of these are just plans.  Nothing has been started nor will be started for a couple more years.  But with a few simple changes (and a little bit of extra plumbing), we are downsizing our livable area by over 400 sq ft.  The goal is to make the home smaller and all the rooms to be utilized.  We would still have 1512 sq ft with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, family room, kitchen and dining room.  This is still more than enough room for us and would be plenty even if we had another set of feet running around the house one day.

Do you feel like you need more room or that you would like to downsize your living space?

Reflection: Bigger Isn’t Always Better

I would like to mention that if we are talking about ice cream sundaes, bigger is most definitely better (in my opinion)!  However, today, I am going to talk about the size of our home.

Back before Todd and I were married, I owned an 1100 sq ft home in the city.  At the time, I thought the home was perfect and I couldn’t see myself ever moving away.  It was the perfect size for me as a single woman, with just one room that wasn’t used (the spare bedroom).  It had a decent sized back yard and a front porch that I loved sitting on in the evenings and weekends reading a book or just watching the neighborhood kids run and play.

Then Todd moved in. Todd moved in with the contents of his 1400+ sq ft home along with my belongings.  We made it work, even though the basement was full with a lot of his “stuff.”  In hindsight, this 1100 sq ft house was the perfect size for us as a couple.  While engaged, I dreamed of starting a family and living on a nice piece of property with a large garden and some animals, so I started looking for homes with a little bit of land (more than a quarter acre).

I found one in our price range (very inexpensive) with a half acre out in a town I had never heard of.  Todd scheduled an appointment with the realtor of the home and went to go take a look while I was at work the next day.  Todd, being the visionary man that he is, was able to look past the flaws of the home and saw what the home could one day be with hard work, sweat and tears.  He called me and said he liked it and thought we should put an offer in on the house.  The realtor put in the offer, and we were informed that the house had just been sent to auction the day before, that we would have to bid for it online.  We did just that.

We ended up getting the home for less than what we were going to offer for it.  But I am getting off-topic.

Back in the day, I dreamed of a larger house for Todd and me, and the pitter-patter of little feet we were hoping to have.  Today, I sit in one of the 4 rooms we use most often and think about how bigger is not always better.

We have an additional 750 sq ft than we had in the house in the city.  Now, instead of just one room going unused, we have 4.  Oh, and did I mention how much I dislike cleaning?  This is 750 more sq ft that has to be cleaned every once in a while. J  It costs us more in utilities to heat and cool this home and the upkeep runs poor Todd ragged most of the year.  We have one acre of land and use about a half of it for animals and gardens. 

I do not regret buying this home and I still pray that one day we will hear the pitter patter of little feet running through the halls (no mom, this isn’t an announcement).  I love our little town and how peaceful it is (most of the time) in our little area of the world.  I even dream of starting our own business and using the rest of the land to its full potential.  Until then, I am working to control my mentality that bigger (and more) is better in all aspects of my life…except for when it comes to ice cream.

Keep Up With ‘em? I Don’t Even LIKE ‘em!

…the Joneses, that is.

While driving 5 hours round-trip to my grandmother’s house on Thanksgiving day, I thought a lot about the Joneses and how much I do not look up to them.  There are so many people who do. 

There are people in my life that desperately want to keep up with the Joneses.  It is always about appearances and who has what.  Even though they have a beautiful family and more posessions than they know what to do with, they always want more.  I’m sure you know a few people like this too.

It may be my stubborn nature or my resistence to being like everyone else, but I don’t look up to material possesions.  I was thinking aloud while we were on our road trip about what I look up to* and who I am striving to become. 

This is what my (ideal) Jones family would look like!

• A happy, healthy, hands-on family (spends quality time together)
• Does not care about the latest and greatest kchotchke (fashion, gadgets, toys, vehicles, vacations, etc.)
• Lives well below their means
• Has paid off their mortgage
• Has a cushion in the bank
• Has the freedom to do what they love as a career and not have to worry about how much they make doing it
• Want what they have (contentment)

I am fortunate enough to know a couple who meet most of the points above…and they are not Warren Buffet.   It is nice knowing them because it proves to me the possibility to accomplish these goals in life and getting rid of the rat-race.

 What does your “Jones Family” look like?

 *This is what I want in my life.  Everyone is different and if you don’t want the same things I do, I wouldnt hold it against you. 

Book Review: Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

I am a master procrastinator.  There is no denying it.  I have struggled with this trait for as long as I can remember.

Todd always jokes, “If you were a nation, you’d be procrasti-nation!”  I found this book on the library computer system from another branch and I knew I had to read it!

 

Photo Credit

 

When the book was available at my library to pick up, I immediately noticed how compact it was and I thought, “This is the perfect book for me!”  Why was it the perfect book?  Because for those of us who procrastinate (with some ADD tendencies), we get overwhelmed by large books and procrastinate on reading them!  Can you imagine?  Procrastinating on reading a book on how to train your mind to stop procratinating!

That being said, I dove right in.

I was interested from the very first page.

"If you are like most people today, you are overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time.  As you struggle to get caught up, new tasks and responsibilities just keep rolling in, like the waves of the ocean.  Because of this, you will never be able to do everything you have to do.  You will never be caught up.  You will always be behind in some of your tasks and responsibilities, and probably in many of them."

You may be wondering what frogs have to do with procrastination, but everything in the book revolves around these simple thought processes:

"Mark Twain once said taht if the first thingn you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long. 

Your "frog" is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don't do something about it.  It is also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact ony our life and results at the moment."
 

 Rule 1:
If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.

Rule 2:
If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesnt pay to sit and look at it for very long.

I will be honest that the first 40 pages of this book were the most motivating to me.  The rest o the book was more about what to do in business-type settings to get past the procrastination.  Though it is good to know, the quote about the frog and the rules above are what have been motivating me the most to "eat my frog" every day.

The book goes on the the following 21 steps about how one goes about accomplishing the thought processes above.

 

1. Set the Table
2. Plan Every Day in Advance
3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything
4. Consider the Consequences
5. Practice Creative Procrastination
6. Use the ABCDE Method Continually
7. Focus on Key Result Areas
8. Apply the Law of Three
9. Prepare Thoroughly Before You Begin
10. Take It One Oil Barrel at a Time
11. Upgrade Your Key Skills
12. Leverage Your Special talents
13. Identify Your Key Constraints
14. Put the PRessure on Yourself
15. Maximize Your Pesronal Powers
16. Motivate Yourself into Action
17. Get Out of the Technological Time Sinks
18. Slice and Dice the Task
19. Create Large Chunks of Time
20. Develop a Sense of Urgency
21. Single Handle Every Task

This book is a must-read for anyone who is looking for motivation on ridding of their procrastination.  At less than 130 pages and a 3 hour read, I know it has changed my life and my tendency to procrastinate!  When I start my day, I know what “frog” I need to eat and try to get accomplished first thing because after that, the rest of the day should be smooth sailing. 

So, my question to you is, what is your frog?
I know for me, it is housework and getting organized. That is the main reason I got this book: to get motivated and take care of the tasks (or the frogs) that have been piling up on me for years. 

Ribbit! Ribbit!

 

Photo Credit

 

 

*Disclosure:  I was in no way compensated or influenced to write this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

MIA

I am not sure if anyone has noticed but I have been (intentionally) MIA for the past 2 ½ months.  At the beginning of July, I scheduled an post that I decided never to make live, but to just let the blog sit idle.  I didn’t know for how long the site would sit unattended, but it wasn’t until I received encouragement from a reader several weeks back and a friend ofmine who also reads the blog that I decided to start writing again.

Don’t get me wrong, I have missed updating and writing on the blog over the past 2 ½ months, but I really needed the time away to focus on other things in my life.

This is the post that never made it live back in July:

I Don’t Want To Be Connected (To Electronics, That Is)

Over the past month, I have been struggling with being “connected” by the internet and cell phone.  For the first time in my life, I am not concerned about the amount of time I am spending online because I am met with my own personal resistance to being connected.  I am perturbed by a society that is connected to their cell phones and internet connections every waking minute.

In the month of June, I inadvertently started to break away from blogging* and the internet in general.  I think I posted once a week for two or three weeks.  I checked my email every several days but I was horrible at responding back.  It was so bad that I even received a second and third email from a friend who was worried that something happened to me!

With the fast-paced world around us, I have been yearning for the truly simple life.  A life with no real plans on the weekends and time spent together with friends and family face-to-face.

Have you gone through a phase that you completely disconnect from the internet and your cell phone?

 

*Please note that I love-love-love connecting with people! I enjoy blogging and reading emails and comments from followers of the blog.  But I have been cutting back a bit to “stop and smell the roses” along the way.

 

So, what have I been up to over the past 2 ½ months?  A lot!  I have several posts to write and update my faithful followers on what we have been up to here on the homestead including what we decided to do with our broody hen, how our garden turned out this year, our new way of eating gluten/dairy and sugar-free, and many other topics.

The only difference from the past is that I will not be posting nearly as much as I used to: most likely just once a week.

To all the readers who have stuck with me through all of this, THANK YOU.

Edible Landscape: Primary Residence

Last week,  I wrote about our yard and how we are trying to make it so that we can generate most of our produce from our property.  In this post, I will show you pictures of our primary residence and the steps we have taken over the last 4 years and the steps we plan on taking in upcoming years to make this land as productive as possible.

Front of the house.

This is a picture of our primary residence which is half an acre. As you can see, it is not very colorful this time of year.  I love when the leaves start to form on the trees and everything bursts with colors of spring.   We have a nice sized front yard, but the majority of our property is to the side of our home and very dense with trees. 

Picture from the edge of our property to our home.

Picture of our side property - we own to the bush in the side yard.
These are our new red raspberry patches. 

In the side yard,  a little closer to the road, there are two pear trees. We purchased these trees along with a dwarf plum at a large discount in June 2010.

Pear Trees

This is a picture of our teeny tiny back yard. We have never really done much back here, but I’ve got big plans for this area. I received 6 blueberry startings a few weeks back that are now planted in this area. I also plan on putting in blackberry bushes and strawberries in the area.   My new moto is: If it’s got sun, decent soil and room to grow, use it!

Teeny Tiny Backyard

6 Blueberries Planted!

A new addition has arrived last week that I absolutely love: our new arbor!  On this arbor, we will be planting 4 concord grape vines (on their way in the mail as I type this).  I have wanted to grow concord grapes since we moved in, but this year it is actually happening!  Concord grapes bring up great memories of my childhood when my mom, dad and I would eat bags full of concord grapes, never getting enough of them.  They aren’t as readily available here in Ohio as they were in New York and Pennsylvania, but that will (hopefully) all be changing in the next 2-3 years when we have our very own source of them in the front yard! 

Arbor

Close to our mailbox in the front yard, we planted a dwarf plum tree that we bought on clearance from Home Depot two years ago at 75% off.  We have been patiently waiting for fruit to start producing on this tree.  One reason we have this tree here in the front yard is because it is decorative, but the added bonus is that it will hopefully start producing fruit for us!

Dwarf Plum

Where are all of our vegetables going to be planted?

Next week, I will show you the other ½ acre lot we own next door.

Please feel free to link up to this post with pictures of your yard or container garden.  I’d love to see it!





This post is linked up to Homestead Revival's Barn Hop!

Edible Landscape

About a mile away from our home, there is a woman who lives on a city-like lot of less than ¼ acre.  She has very little yard, and what she does have is in the front of her house.  Last year, while I drove by her house to go into town, I noticed she had dug up rows in her front yard.  I was curious as to what she was doing.  By May, I figured it out: she planted an edible front yard of tomatoes exclusively!  Though it wasn’t the prettiest yard to look at on the street, I saw bright red tomatoes in her front yard every week when I drove past her home and I had to smile to think about what she was doing with all that produce!

As I walk around our yard, I get the feeling that we could potentially eat quite well (minus meat, dairy and grain) off our property.  We live on 1 acre of land divided up in two parcels.  I found this great diagram  from Ohio State University’s website that shows how to have an edible landscape in our zone (zone 6) even on the smallest of properties.

Over the next two weeks, I will walk you around our two parcels of property and show you how we are making it the most efficient we can in terms of growing our own fruits and vegetables. 

A picture of our property.  We own to the street at the very end of this road.

To those who would like to join me, please start getting ready to link up next week.  I would love to see how you “live off your land.” 

Saving Money on Heating Costs

People cringe when I tell them that our thermostat is set to 55 degrees during the winter months.  Many mention that I am taking my frugality to the extreme, but there is a method to my madness.

Our home is a 1890 sq. ft. ranch with a large footprint.  This means that it is quite a distance from one end of the house to the next, and our furnace is located at one end of the house…outside!  When we purchased our home back in 2007, the furnace that came with the house was not functional, and actually caught on fire at some point before we bought the home.  Needless to say, we needed to replace it, but at the time, we didn’t have $6,000+ to get a high-efficiency furnace. 

Handy hubby did some research and found an outdoor furnace for less than $2,000.  We decided to purchase the furnace with the understanding that we would keep the thermostat low and heat only the rooms we were using.

Pot Bellied Stove (that needs painted!)
The fans are to help circulate the air.

Todd installed a pot bellied wood-burning stove at one end of the house and there was an existing fireplace at the other end of the house.  It just so happens that the pot bellied stove is in the living room which is directly in front of our bedroom.  We stoke the fire and stay nice and cozy in our bedroom (it also helps that we have a heating pad on our mattress to keep us warm at night). 

We have purchased only one cord of wood since we’ve had the wood-burning stove for over 4 years.  We go through about a cord a year, and the remaining wood has come from trees that have been cut down or fallen due to storms around our property.  We have enough firewood to last us a good 2-3 years, and that is not including the 3 trees we expect to take down next year.

 The fireplace is in the family room, which is also really handy, because we spend most of our time as a family in this room.  This fireplace is not a wood-burning fireplace due to maintenance issues and my fear of the house catching on fire.  We decided to purchase propane logs for less than $250 to help heat this room. 

Ceiling fans have helped us tremendously to circulate the heat around our home.  Every room in our home has at least one ceiling fan.  Not only does it help circulate the heat in the winter, but it also helps to keep the house cool in the summer!

One day, when the windows are replaced, when we get more insulation in the attic and insulate the walls, we will get a high-efficiency furnace.  I cannot guarantee we will turn up the thermostat past 60, but I can guarantee that we will get a new furnace at some point.

We pretty much live in two rooms of the house, and both of those rooms are very close to our heat

sources.  I don’t see the sense in heating the rest of the house that goes unused. ((This makes it sound like we need to downsize, but I feel our home is the perfect size for us and hopefully a few children in the future!))

As a side note, I hate the thought of cutting trees down to keep our home warm.  We have plans to plant bamboo which grows quickly, burns hotter and creates less ash than wood. We have enough wood to last us the next several years, but we have plans to plant bamboo in 2012 and start to harvest it to use as a fuel source. 

Do you use alternative heat sources to heat your home?

Saving Money: Use Your Library!

Our local library is an invaluable resource to us! I love books, but decided a couple of years ago that I would not buy another book unless it is something I would read more than once.  That being said, I don’t own many books.  

The library is not only good for books, but music, DVD’s and even audio series at our local library!  It is a great source for us to keep up to date with movies and music without having to spend a dime.  Every Tuesday, new release DVD’s are listed on this website.  I open this website and open up our library online catalog and request the brand new DVD’s.  Many times, we get new release DVD’s within the first two weeks of them being available! Another great thing about our library is that is connected with about a dozen other libraries in the area, so if they don’t have a book/CD/DVD that we would like, they get it from another library.  I go in and pick them up when I am notified.  We have something to pick up at least once a week from the library.

Lastly, they have a lot of great educational programs for kids and adults alike.  From learning how to crochet to helping the unemployed with putting themselves out there and getting hired!  Even though we live in a small town, this library offers a lot to our community! 

Do you use your local library?

What is your favorite thing about your library?

Preparing for Winter

It seems like Todd and I are always planning a couple of seasons in advance.  When we bought our house, we had a couple of trees that were too close to the house.  We had the trees taken down and we have been letting the wood "season" in the quanset-hut at the property we own next door.

Todd gets oak wood from work that comes on a pallet with product that is needed to make what they manufacture.  The oak plans are free for the taking, and we've learned that the oak burns realy hot.  It is a great way to warm up the house quickly and then the wood from our trees keeps the stove nice and warm for hours after the oak has long burned away.

Two weeks ago, Todd started cutting the oak planks to get ready for Winter and stored them all in the Living Room.

On Friday, Todd bought  a new chainsaw to help cut the wood.  We bought one when we bought the house, but it was not powerful enough and quite frankly, a cheap chainsaw.  The one he bought is much higher quality, and according to Todd, it runs like a dream.  It is amazing how easily and quickly a job can get done when you have the proper tools.

We have a bundle of wood in the Living Room waiting for the cool days to come around. Todd is still working on getting the rest of the wood in the hut cut and split to put in our "wood shed" behind the garage.  We can keep warm for an entire Winter on a cord of wood.  We have enough wood to last us several years.
Even though it's alot of work, we like to plan ahead and prepare for the upcoming seasons.

Are you getting ready for Winter yet?  If so, how?

This blog post is linked up with HomeStead Revival's Preparedness Challenge and Barn Hop.

Frugal Project: Outdoor Furniture

Todd and I bought two bistro sets on clearance at Home Depot when we bought our house 4 years ago.  We have had the bistro sets on our front patio where it has been exposed to extreme heat, cold and all of the elements in between!

This year, it started to look really rough and washed out, so we decided to paint it! 

Before:

$7.00 worth of spraypaint and 20 minutes later, it looked like this:

This is what the furniture looked like when we bought it!  One great thing about the spraypaint that we purchased is that it will protect the wood from the elements in the future! 

Quick, inexpensive fix!

This post is linked up with Hop Along Friday, HomeMaker By choice and Boost my Blog Hop!

Dreams of Self-Sufficiency

When I speak of self-sufficiency, I am speaking generally about food and energy.  Even though I love what the No Impact Man  accomplished in his year of being “no impact,” I’m not sure our family could live that way.  None-the-less, I am striving to reduce our impact. 

I realize that being self-sufficient is not easy, but I still dream of the day that we can create enough power from the sun and wind to operate all of the modern conveniences of our home without relying on the electric company.  I also dream of the day that we can survive mainly off of the fruits and vegetables from our 1 acre of land.

These are the steps we are taking to become more self-sufficient:

1. Reducing our energy footprint
2. Buy items that will last (non-disposable items and appliances/machinery that can be fixed by my handy hubby)
3. Plant perennial fruits and vegetables (Click here for an extensive list!)
4. Expand existing garden and build new gardens to yield more produce
5. Make use of any available land to build edible perennial landscaping
6. Grow and dry our own herbs
7. “Buy it used, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

I do have my limits!  We will not be growing our own wheat/flour, raising our own meat or dairy products.  I would love to have bees for the honey (thus not needing sugar), but I will have to work on hubby for that.  I’m thankful he finally gave in to getting chickens*!

For me, becoming self-sufficient is a way of thrift and frugality along with an awareness of how we use our resources to positively affect the environment.  To become self-sufficient will not be easy nor will it happen overnight.  That being said, I have always had a desire to live this way.  It may take 3-5 years to get the garden to produce enough to sustain us throughout the Winter and Spring months. It will take even longer to make our home run efficiently and with minimal pull from our environmental resources.  Little by little, we are taking steps to reach our goals of self-sufficiency and each year, we get a little bit closer to living out our vision.

Are you striving to become self-sufficient?

What steps are you taking now to help you down the road of self-sufficiency?

*Hubby wanted nothing to do with chickens. As a child, he was pecked by chickens and absolutely despised them.  He said they were only good for one thing: eating!  Since getting our chicks in March, I find him outside holding them, and loving on them without me being around.  It’s so cute!  I am turning my suburbanite into a farmer. 

Newton Falls, OH 44444

Newton Falls, OH is where my husband and I have called “home” for the past 4 years. Moving from Akron, OH, this was a big change of pace for us.  We went from living on top of our neighbors with the hustle and bustle of the city to complete silence and tranquility.  The town of Newton Falls has 3 stop lights that I can think of, and if you blink while driving through town, you may just miss it! 

Fun Facts:

Newton Falls

·        is one of only three zip codes in the United States with matching digits

·        population of only 5,000 residents

·        has the oldest remaining covered bridge in the State of Ohio

·        still has a full service gas station

·        is located next door to Lordstown (aka Chevy Country), the manufacturing facility to the Chevy Cruze

The 4^th of July is always a blast here in Newton Falls.  Even though we have a population of a little over 5,000 people, visitors from all around come for the 4^th of July festivities including a week-long fair, an incredible parade, and the best 4^th of July fireworks display I’ve ever seen!  It has been noted that over 40,000 people come to Newton Falls for the 4^th of July festivities!  And remember, we only have 3 stop lights!

People driving into town to watch the fireworks.

One major event that happened in Newton Falls a few months ago was a train derailment!  This is a picture of the train that derailed off of the bridge and onto the road!  Thank goodness no one was driving under the bridge that morning.  We had black vehicles with tinted windshields buzzing around town for over a week to determine the cause of the derailment.  This is about as fun as it gets around here.  There was a buzz around town for weeks after the train derailed!

Photo Credits

The place I visit the most is the local library: I go at least twice a week to pick up books and DVD’s I’ve requested from other local libraries.  We save a lot of money by watching DVD’s and getting resources from this library.

There really isnt much to do or see here in town, but we are close enough to Youngstown, Warren and the Pennsylvania border that we can find things to do.

Even though we live in a remarkable town, this is my favorite place to be:

Home with Hubby & Puppy

Rules to Link:

1. Link up the specific blog post about your city/town
2. Provide a link back to this blog post so others can join in!
3. Have fun!

This page has been linked up to: Homestead Barn Hop #20