You thought cloth toilet paper was crazy, hanging my laundry out to dry wasn’t too far out there, but once you hear about my next wild and crazy idea, you may begin to think I’m a crunchy nut case. Here’s the honest truth: I’d love to sell our house and live in an RV.  Let me plead my case first.  We’d save money, simplify, reduce our carbon footprint, and not be so tied down to our 9-5 (or in Mr. Money’s case, 9-9) jobs, and enjoy life the way we’re supposed to.

While I would be absolutely ecstatic over actually being able to do this, I know there are cons that we’d encounter.   Let me list my pros and cons, and please help me add to my lists.

Pros:

• Save money.  We wouldn’t have a mortgage payment, taxes, etc.  Our monthly utilities would go down considerably.
• We’d be able to travel all over the country between Colorado and Michigan (where our families are located) and go visit places we are dying to see.  We’d be totally free!  Sometimes I can’t stand being tied down to our house, jobs, etc.  I like to be flexible.
• We wouldn’t have to worry about home maintenance. We could sell one of our cars. We would have less stress.  I think less “things” equals less stress!

Cons:

• We’d have to do something to make money.  I don’t think we could make enough money online to support us.
• It would be hard with the two dogs.  Although, if we did stay in Michigan long enough, my parents own 70 acres we could park on and put up a shed and run for the dogs to play in.  They’d love that!
• We’d have to get rid of a lot of things, and that would be a headache.
• We love our house and we’d lose a lot of money if we sold it in the near future.  We’ve owned it less than two years.

I almost wish we hadn’t bought our house, but we love it so much and it’s perfect for us.  It’s not too big, and we’re in an area that we can be ‘crazy hippies’ and not have people question us.  It’s not the norm for people to do things like we do here, especially living in the midwest/south where people think I am crazy for using cloth grocery bags, but the property we live on is almost an acre, which is great for growing a garden and hanging my laundry out.

 Do you think I am crazy for wanting to simplify and live in an RV?

Posted under Budget, Green Living, Save Your Money

Here’s my spending so far for No Spending Month. We’re about a third of the way through the month and it’s been a pretty tough month! Here’s where I’ve spent my money so far:

• Mortgage: $960.00 (about $6 extra to principal)
• Home Depot $28.67 (paint for hallway)
• Kroger $3.89 (Diet Coke for my boss)
• Verizon $72.66 (cell phone bill for us)
• Student Loan $99.57
• Library $15
• Costco $2.81
• Costco $63.74 (dog food, fish, sorbet)
• Meijer $46.15 (groceries)
• Rainbow Blossom $2.89 (health food store-flour to make bread)
• Water Company $28.00
• Car $13,500
• County Clerk $827 (taxes for new car)
• Credit card $140 (bill for gas)

I will have to say I am really impressed with my ability to control my spending.  I haven’t bought anything frivolous or unnecessary.  Of course, I think we bought more groceries than we needed, but at least I didn’t spend the money on stuff.  I’ve been doing a lot of reading and cooking, and the cooking occupies my time and saves us money.  I hope I can do this well for the rest of the month!

Posted under Budget

I am so ready for this year to be over. I have had the worst luck this year! My grandmother passed away in January, we had the tree fall on the house in January as well, I thought I had cancer (I go to the oncologist tomorrow for a check up), my dad is currently in the hospital, and now we have all this car trouble.

I am ready for a break!

Monday I decided I was going to take my car in to the mechanic because it was running funny.  It sounded like something was going to fall through the floor, and when I turned, I heard this “wubba wubba wubba” noise.  Of course that’s not good.  When the mechanic called me on Monday to tell me that the Motor Mounds were bad and that it was a miracle the motor hadn’t fallen out, I asked him how much it would cost to fix. Around $500.  Then, he proceeded to tell me that because of the motor mounds being out it ruined an axle, which will cost me another $500 at the most.  At this point I’m wondering if it’s worth putting the money into a 1994 Oldsmobile Achieva, but I think, hey, I can’t buy a car for $1000.  So I tell him to go ahead and fix it.

He calls me back a few hours later with more bad news.  The steering rod needs replaced and the bottom of the car is rusted out.  At this point it makes no sense to fix the car, because it’s going to cost more than it’s worth!  Plus, if we did fix it, who knows how long it would last before something else happened to it.

There goes my “no car payment” plan.  I am so bummed.

I have a few options, as I see it, and I really need your advice.   This is what I’ve come up with:

• Buy a car that’s a few years old, obviously used but in good condition.  Take out a car loan and try to pay it back as soon as possible.  Take some money out of savings to pay for the car.
• Buy a car that is only $6,000-$8,000 and pay cash.  I’ve been saving up for a car (thankfully!!).  The only problem is that if I do this then I’m not going to get a newer car and I don’t want to get something that I’m going to have to sink more money into.
• Buy a Vespa scooter for $1,000 and drive that.  Just kidding.

That’s pretty much the only options I can think of now.  I am dreading having a car payment/spending money.  I hate this! I feel so unfrugal lately.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Posted under Budget, Gas, Pay Off Debt, Save Your Money