One friend of mine made a comment regarding blogs that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.  It pops into my mind every now and then and I keep turning it over and over in my mind.

“I’m too busy living my life to then go home and write about it”.

Now, she was not saying this to be condescending at all.  She is an extremely active, single person.  One of the busiest I know, in fact.  Busy in the sense that she works a lot, she has a ton of friends, and she is always involved in some project or festival or event or whatever that is going at the moment.

But, her comment got me to thinking.  Thinking about all the projects I want to tackle and the photography class I want to take and how I want to get back into making jewelry and all sorts of other things that have been on my ‘to do’ list for ages (like sewing…it’s been a new year’s resolution going on so many years that I finally dropped it this year).

So, I’ve been thinking…..am I trading doing for writing about what I want to do?

Maybe I spend too much time reading blogs…and why do I do this?  Is my own life not exciting enough?  Why am I not taking enough time to spend with the friends I have in my own backyard?  What is not fulfilling me in my own life that I seek out living vicariously through others through blogs?

We went to cabin with 3 other families this weekend and had the BEST time.  I can honestly say that I didn’t think once about any type of computer, blog, facebook, email or anything.  The interest wasn’t there as I was too busy having fun.

I think I need more of that and less of this.  I’m just not sure how to get there from here.

I wonder if anyone else out there in blogland ever feels the same?  Then, maybe that’s why there are so many abandoned blogs out there.

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I feel like I’ve accumulated more stuff, simply because all those around me have and because it’s something I’m supposed to do as I get older.  I still sometimes feel like my house is less ‘grown up’ compared to others since I prefer to keep ours more basic and sparse.

Even typing that though I feel like a phony when I compare our life now and the amount of stuff we have compared to when we lived in Australia.

We lived in a two bedroom (one was more like a half bedroom since only a single bed would fit in there), one bath, furnished flat.  You want to talk about some ugly furniture!?  But, we didn’t really care.  It came with the flat.  We bought a desk and a computer and a bookshelf.  I think that’s it.  My husband’s family gave us some kitchenware, but nothing fancy by any stretch.  There was one closet in our bedroom for the whole unit.  And we didn’t need anything more either.  We just didn’t have a lot of stuff.

And I really don’t even remember cleaning that place.  I know I did, mind you.  I just think the time it took was so negligible that I don’t remember doing it.

Hence we had a lot of time just to do whatever!  Of course, we didn’t have kids either.  But, that’s a whole other level of stuff that just needs a separate post!

Whether you are de-cluttering or downsizing or cutting out more extra-curricular activities or dumping debt, everybody seems to be wanting “the simple life”.

However, ‘simple life’ means something different to each person.

To some people is means getting back to basics like baking your own own bread and making your own cleaners.  Vinegar and baking soda anyone?

To some people or families it means selling (or at least storing) most everything to live in an RV.  Or to some it means paring down to the bare essentials!

There are those who create household management notebooks, which seem like a fabulous idea if I ever actually did it or followed it.

Some are slowing getting rid of childhood collections or selling nearly everything for a new adventure.

For me, being a stay at home Mom keeps our routine simpler.  Also being debt-free as we have less to worry about.  And finally, our attempt to get rid of extraneous stuff is starting to pay off.  The house is slowly but surely becoming easier to manage and to clean

Sometimes I fantasize about moving back to Australia simply so I will be forced to get rid of stuff and start over.  Weird, I know.

What kinds of things do you do to create a simpler life?

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I am often one of those people.  One person, in particular, who is close to me is definitely one of those people.  So much in fact, that I change the subject often when she begins speaking about certain things.  I’m just sick of hearing about the same thing that she’s going to do that she’s been going to do for over 2 years now.  Do it already!

And, in an effort to curb my own ‘all talk and no action’, I decided a couple of weeks ago to no longer talk, just do.

Amazingly, it’s worked so far.  I’ve accomplished more in the last few weeks that I have in while.  And I feel much better for it.

I read this great article a while ago about a study on how talking publicly about your goals will often derail them because people often mistake talking for doing.  I can see this in myself.

So, this is the only time I will say anything about all that I’m doing to make our house one that is a better, more organized, less cluttered (less stressful) place to live.

Over the summer, I’ve been slowly, but surely, taking more and more things to Goodwill.  Sure, I could have saved it all and had a big yard sale.  But, then I would have had to have a yard sale, which I detest doing.

I find MUCH more encouragement in just getting that stuff out of my house and having a more immediate calming effect due to more space and less clutter.  I almost dance a jig as I load things in my car going to Goodwill!

My current project is working on our mud room.  This tiny room (about 40 sq ft) is off our kitchen and goes to our driveway, so it’s where we always enter and exit our house.

It has mostly been a utility room/broom storage with all sorts of junk in it.  We painted it and put peel and stick tiles down when we first moved in, to make it feel a bit nicer, but it’s still just a utility room.  Well, not for long!  I will be posting a before and after pic when I’m done, but it’s going to be a much nicer entry way into our house once I’m finished.

I don’t know why it never occurred to me to make this space a nice entry way, but it didn’t until the other day.  So, that’s what I’m doing.

After the mudroom project, will be the BIG ONE…..photos.

Good grief, you can’t even imagine how many photos I have to deal with.  Well, maybe you can.  But, this is the year.  I am going to tackle them before our trip to Australia.  Some will be sent off to Scan My Photos to be put onto cd and some will be simply put into photo albums or scrapbooks….this is it.  I am also going to create a simple scrapbook, in chronological order, of things that are sent to me in the mail that I feel are worth saving (photos of family/friends, baby announcements, cards, etc).

So, there it is.  I won’t be writing about it anymore (to anyone!) unless it’s to showcase what I’ve done.  Less talk, more action.

I hope I haven’t destroyed my chances by writing this post!

What about you?  Do you feel you are less likely or more likely to get something accomplished when you tell someone about it?  Is there something you’ve been talking about doing for years and it’s not been done yet?

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Sunday morning, while Little C was napping, hubby, Big D and I worked on cleaning out the basement.

I would say it’s about 2/3 done, but it feels and looks 100% better than it did before.  Which is great, considering the laundry and freezer is down there and so I’m down there pretty often.

We threw stuff away, took things to recycling, made a big Goodwill pile, and pulled out the shop vac.  We vacuumed and wiped things down.

I found a rug in a plastic bag that I had no idea we still had.  Not really sure why I saved it.  We made tons more room on shelves and I still need to go through some of the plastic totes to see if I can find more things (ie old Christmas decorations) to get rid of.

I should have taken a before pic.  It doesn’t feel cramped down there and it actually makes me feel like painting down there.  But, I won’t go that far!

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I think it’s because I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want. What I want, lifestyle-wise for our family.  And what that means for our finances/budget and our current home and income.

In June and July we had no real savings after our spending spree on a new camera and swingset/fort.  Both of which we love and have not a single ounce of buyer’s remorse.  But, then Murphy came knocking and my husband fell from a ladder, so we’ve  also had the bills rolling in from that.   And, I went to get a simple oil change and was told I needed four new tires.  Great.  Oh well, we’ve not done anything to that car in ages, so it was due.

Always happens though.  You spend money on something you want, then something comes up where you have to spend money on something you don’t want to spend money on!

So, it’s back on the saving wagon for the rest of the year.  I’m already making lists for Christmas and on the lookout.  We will be gone most of December to Australia and will have to pack all of the gifts, so that will definitely test my strategic packing skills.

Our Home

On a very positive note, our mortgage just fell below $120,ooo with our July payment.  Seeing that made me really excited about paying it off.

So, we’ve decided to do two things starting in August.  One is to prepay our mortgage.  We are adding enough to pay it off in 15 years.  We may be able to add more in the future, depending on how this goes.

I often get a bee in my bonnet about looking for a new house that has a bit more room for us, though we really have enough room, I just want a 2nd bathroom.  Anyway, I LOVE our neighborhood and don’t want to leave it.  It’s a very liberal and arty neighborhood and the community is just unbelievable.  But, it’s become very popular since we moved here and the prices of homes has skyrocketed.  We could not afford our own house if we were looking right now.

So, I’ve decided to stop worrying over it.  Pay down the mortgage, enjoy the house and neighborhood and the yard I love working on.  If, in 5 years or so, the market turns around and we can make a mint off this house and move to one that needs some work and have no mortgage, then we will think about that then.

But, for now, I’ve found this great site, Young House Love, that has inspired me, once again, to dig around for my creative side and work on my house once again. I’ve going to hang some prints and photos that have been sitting around, repaint our living room and work on some blank canvas I have sitting in the basement.   Along with sell some things (cloth diapers anyone?) to make a little extra to buy some new things.

Our Rental Income

I’ve written before about how we rent our upstairs.  The same renter has lived there since before we even bough the house.

He has started doing a few things that are pushing my boundaries (after 5 years, it’s bound to happen),  so I am planning on giving it another year to see how things go and then decide if I want to keep going with it (LOVE that rental income) or start thinking about something else.  We can either renovate up there, increase the rent and get another renter.  Or, we can take over the space for ourselves.

So, I’ve created another savings account that I will be putting all of our rental income in.  This way, we can see how our savings does without that income.  We are planning on using it, not for our regular savings, but to take care of some repairs and updates that are desperately needed on the house (hello new back windows!).

So, that is our new plan.  I don’t know about you, but I have never been able to stick to the same plan for an entire year.   Too many things change during that time.

Have any of your financial goals changed or become more focused at the midway point for 2009?

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1. Spending Less and Earning Extra

My fave HGTV shows are Design to Sell, House Hunters (International), My First Place, Curb Appeal, etc.  I love those shows.

I used to always say to a friend of mine when we were in Grad School, that all I really wanted to do was sell real estate.  She wanted to own a flower shop.  Neither of us are doing these things.  Or what we went to grad school for.  Go figure.

So, why am I not selling or doing anything in real estate?  Well, a lot of has to do with real estate agents.  No offense if you are an agent, but so many of them are super smarmy, money grubbing, liars.  Not all, mind you.  I’ve met, and know (and are related to) a lot of nice ones.  But even still, very few will be up front and honest with you about a house.  They are trying to sell it or get you to buy it after all, which is what pays them.

This is the problem.  I know I couldn’t be that person.  I could not sit there, all smiley-faced, about a house, that some naive young couple is about to put all their hard earned money into, that had a bunch of problems that they were just to inexperienced to see…so I could make some money.   I couldn’t sleep at night doing that.  We have a very successful agent in our neighborhood that will tell you how wonderful a house is even if a wall fell down while you were looking it (“Oh, that can be easily fixed”, she would chirp merrily, the smile never leaving her face).  Can you tell how much I like her?

So, the other issue is being associated with that group of people, the unscrupulous ones.  It’s something I will have to get over if I want to try it though.  I will have to seek out the good ones and learn from them.

I could probably be a buyer’s agent, which is what we used when we bought our house.  A buyer’s agent doesn’t sell houses, they only help you buy one.  So, part of the double edge is gone.  You are not selling any houses.  You listen to a client and try to help them find the best one for them.  Our buyer’s agent was a big help to us.  He was older and pointed out things about houses we would have never thought about it.  Some things we were willing to live with, but at least we knew what we were getting.

If I had the design skills, I would love to be a stager.  I don’t know how many houses I’ve gone into where I think, “Don’t you watch HGTV?!”.  I mean, it’s crazy.  I helped my sister pack up and stage her house when they sold.  It wasn’t fancy, but it looked TONS better when we were done with it.

I would also love to try my hand at house flipping.  I live in a neighborhood that is full of that going on.  It can be pretty fast money if you do it right and price it to sell.  I see mistakes being made all the time, both in a house and with the pricing.  People get greedy and the houses just sit because the flippers don’t understand our neighborhood.  I am confident I could do a great flip…just not confident enough to put my money where my mouth is right now.

When our boys get older and are in school, I will probably look into pursuing these options a bit more.  It’s something I would love to try my hand at.  In the meantime, I will just keep watching the shows, practicing on my own house and learning.

What about you?  Is there something you’ve always wanted to do, but aren’t doing?  Why not?

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Saturday night we had a family BBQ to finish off the day of hard work.  We had burgers, corn and veggies cooked on the grill, pasta salad, and fruit salad (watermelon, strawberries and blueberries).

It was a great BBQ and after we finished the swingset on Sunday, Big D played on it for nearly the rest of the day.  He just loves it and we couldn’t be happier with it.  It’s the perfect size for our yard and not too over the top.  Totally worth the money.  We know that the boys will have loads of fun with it for years.

I didn’t do a lot of posting last week, but I did do some reading.  I’ve been in my head a lot lately, for various reasons that I will try to post about.  But, I’ve also been trying to focus on different things.  Simpler things.  It’s hard for me since I’m a dreamer.  Always have been.

Anyway, here are some of the articles I enjoyed reading last week.

Man vs Debt wrote about “Should Retirement Really Be the End Goal for Gen Y?” over at Virology -  I am hardly Gen Y, but I think this sort of thinking is hitting home with a lot more people these days, including myself.

Free Pursuits did a guest post on Location Independent titled Jump Start Your Life of Location Independence With a Sabbatical – I love this idea.  In fact, I have a great friend, who works on Wall Street as a very highly paid executive recruiter.  I was extremely impressed when a few years ago, she was able to negotiate a 6-month sabbatical to go and teach kids English in Thailand.  I figure if someone on Wall Street can do it, then nearly anyone can.

On a side note, Australians and Kiwis, who work at a company for 10 years, earn what is called Long Service Leave.  This is an extra amount of of PAID sabbatical, usually 2-3 months long.  Unreal.  We are getting so ripped off in this county.   My Mom got a crappy camera after 10 years and something equally laughable after 20.

GuyNamedDave, who is also the creator of the 100 Things Challenge, did a great review of the movie, Up.  We took our son to see it a few weeks ago and just loved it.  Unfortunately, our son got scared at the very end (overstimulated is more like it), so I had to take him out and missed the last 15 minutes or so (hubby filled me in).  But, the the crux of the story definitely hit a chord with me and as a result I’ve been relishing in the more “boring” aspects of life and enjoying the little things.

After all, it’s the little things that often make the biggest difference.

On a lighter note, Making this Home tells us how to make your own marshmallows!  I have never even thought of doing this!  Now I totally want to do it for our next BBQ.   I mean, not super healthy, but at least you know what’s going into it and they are ingredients that can be pronounced, which is a big plus in my book.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend too, also full of little things, making big memories.

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There has been a lot of Q&A happening around the blogosphere in the realm of Location Independence Living.

This has always been an interest of mine.  I love travel and feel cheated compared to the rest of the world with the measly of amount time off each year that US employees blindly accept.

I used to think about this a lot when I was working and how “there must be something better” than what seemed like the drudgery of the same thing day in and day out.  Just waiting until I could get the time off for a vacation or dreaming about a possible early retirement if I saved my pennies.

I realize now after reading, Free Pursuits’ article on the 5 Categories of Life Plans, that I was a ‘Deferred Lifer’ though I didn’t want to be.

The article states that the, “characteristics of this plan include a job with a modest salary or hourly wage, little vacation time and little control over how, when and where you work.”  He goes on to say that, “people who follow this plan focus quite a bit on their retirement options and look forward to that magic age (usually somewhere between 55 and 68) when they can enjoy life without working.”

I know that not everyone views their days and their work this way, but I always did.  It’s not to say that I hated my jobs, because I didn’t.  I always looked to find something to enjoy about my job and my days.  But, working the 9-5 grind was never a dream of mine and it still isn’t.  I love to work and even more so, to earn money.  I just prefer it to be more on my own terms.

Since our family is a dual nation one, it’s a dream of mine to become more location independent in terms of how we earn our living so we will have more flexibility with visiting family.

At my husband’s workplace, where he works in IT, they are about to launch a new work-from-home program where certain employees can choose to work 1 or 2 (or even more) days from home.  You are supposed to have a dedicated office in order to do this, of which we do not.

So, a dedicated office space (with a closed door) is now something that we are adding to our list of considerations when deciding whether or not to move or renovate in the next 2 to 3 years, in order to foster our working towards a more location independent lifestyle.   Once you can prove to your employer that you can successfully do your work outside of the office, it is much easier to then take it on the road with you as well.

Does all of this sound interesting to you too?  Here are some GREAT blogs with all sorts of things to get your thinking….or dreaming.

Location Independant has a great Q&A article with advice from all sorts of Location Independent People (LIP).  The article also mentions some great LIP who have families.  And, since we have two boys, this is of great interest to me.

There is a lot more to consider when you have kids.  The blogs they mention are Tumblewagon and Soultravelers3 (read their great Q&A post as well).  Soultravelers3 also has a great list of blogs of traveling families in their links section, though many seem to be done with their journeys.

Their seem to be quite a few families who save up financially to travel for a fixed period of time, but not as many who are more nomadic and work as they travel.

I would like to read more about those who work as they travel and how exactly they do this.   More about what type of work they are doing.  I like to read what others are doing because it helps me to think outside the box and stretch my idea of what is possible for us.

For a good start, Free Pursuits has a great list from the survey they conducted listing 64 Ways Location Independent People Earn A Living.  Fantastic list, though I don’t know what some of the jobs are.  I believe he’s planning on writing more about his survey results and go more in depth, which should be interesting.

For those who don’t really want to be nomadic, but who just long for more flexibility in where they do their job (ie don’t want to be tied to an office), Muselife has an article about helping to arrange this within your current job that is quite good.

Then of course, one of the masters of Location Independence, Tim Ferris, and his book and website, The 4-Hour Workweek, is also a great read.  Not practical for most of us, but a lot of good tips in there for efficiency.

You can also find even more info by following the #LIP tag on Twitter.

Do you dream of being location independent?  If so, what are you doing to get there?  Or maybe you already are?  If so, share your secrets!

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I would go to college, become a financial planner, make big bucks from my first job, save up $2500, while in school to start a mutual fund that would grow exponentially over time making me a millionaire by the time I was 45.  This was my plan when I was 18.

That was, ahem, many years ago.

I did not major in Finance.  Bored me to freakin’ tears and I nearly failed Advanced Financial Accounting.   So, I majored in Marketing & Psychology instead.  I worked for a year waiting tables after undergrad to save up for Graduate school, where I majored in Wellness, of all things.  Needless to say, all I got from my graduate degree was a better perspective on living my life and great friends.  Nothing to sneeze at, but it definitely doesn’t put money in the bank.

I did save up money, like I’d planned, and start a mutual fund in my early twenties.  It even grew a bit too.

And then my heart won out over my practical side.  After I finished my graduate degree, I took out all that money and all the rest of my savings, and moved to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Huh?  Yep, that’s right.  I worked mostly temp jobs and traveled around the UK, Ireland and Europe.  It was the best decision I ever made.  And, it was not in the least bit practical.  My parents thought I was nuts (they are uber practical people), but figured I “needed to get it out of my system”.

It’s not only where I met my husband (Awwww!), but I also a host of other wonderful people who changed my life, changed my perspective on what is important, and opened my eyes to a whole other world outside of the narrow one I grew up in.

This one decision showed me how valuable it can be to listen to your heart, gut, instincts, whatever you want to call it.  When we make decisions solely based on pros/cons or what we or others think we “should” do, we are potentially missing out some very fulfilling life experiences.

I still remember a friend asking incredulously, “So you are moving to Scotland to wait tables?  Why would you do that?”.  I answered, “Because I will be in Scotland…where will you be?”.   My move actually motivated him to leave as well and follow his own dreams.

So, have you done things that others thought you were nuts for doing, but ended up being the best thing ever for you?

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This just always breaks my heart when he asks this in his little, sweet three-year old voice.  He is so sincere and questioning and just loves it when we are all together.

When I asked him why he liked “Home Days” he said it’s because he loves for Daddy to be home.

And my husband doesn’t even work a lot of overtime.  In fact, he rarely does.  He does work at home one Saturday a month, but only for a few hours in the morning.  The rest of the time he’s usually home by 5:30.  But, when kids go to bed by 7:30, it’s still limiting.  Big D just craves more, I guess.  And who can blame him.

Whenever Big D asks this question and his little face lights up when he finds out that it is in fact a “Home Day”, it just reaffirms to me how important it is for us to continue on our path and goals towards financial freedom.  And that are frugal ways allow us to be together more since we don’t have to work extra to pay off any debt.

Of course, we still want to maintain a healthy balance of “living for today, while planning for tomorrow“, a mantra I try to live by.

Some things we have spent money on recently (or are planning to) is a membership to a local Botanical Gardens that has all sorts of kid’s activities throughout the year, plus beautiful grounds to walk and picnic on.  We went there for the Easter Festival and have big plans for this as the weather turns nice.

We are also currently looking for a good deal on a wooden swingset/fort to go in our backyard.  Big D has been wanting one since last year, so this year we are going for it.

These were a couple of our short term spending goals for this year (along with, of course, our trip to Australia that we take every year to visit family).

I still think, however, it’s important to have clear long-term goals to maintain momentum.  Our boys are little reminders of what’s important and keeps us focused on the big picture.

What helps you to stay focused on your long term goals?

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