Tiny House Route to Financial Freedom? Hmmmmmm…..

Posted on by January 29, 2019

I see these tiny houses that are 80 to 100 thousand dollars….and think, “how are they going to save money with something like that?”

This morning I remembered that most of the houses around these days are pretty expensive.

You could pay a million dollars for a house that’s not very impressive if you live in a high priced area.

So….a hundred thousand dollar house is going to be a bargain if your neighbors are living in houses that are really inflated in price.

I don’t have a whole lot of perspective, though.

We didn’t pay a whole lot for a gutted old house on a couple of acres back in the early 90’s.

Because we paid cash for all the improvements, it didn’t foster any debt and (after a long process of rehabbing) we had an affordable place to live.

That was a hard way to go, though.

It would have been nicer to have something….nicer….right off the bat.

When we do it again…..and we will….soon….we’ll go a different route.

You have to pay the people who can do it efficiently if you’re going to get it done in less than 10 or 20 years.

These tiny houses are nice, though.

I’m not as enamored of them as I was at first.

I think that rehabbing an existing home is a more appealing option…(RECYCLING!)…but the tiny house movement…and the reasons people got behind it….is a positive shift away from all the mega-mansions and consumeristic attitudes that some folks think they need.

They serve a need, I suppose.

So….a brand new tiny house that seems expensive might be a good option to save money.

That’s a freaking new paradigm for me….for sure.

“There are no monsters in Nature….except for humans…”

Posted on by January 27, 2019

That’s a quote from the film.

I don’t know if I agree….completely…but it’s amazing what one man with a purpose can do.

One man….with a stick and some seedlings….can change the world.

That’s hopeful, isn’t it?

 

“I don’t know how interesting this will be….”

Posted on by January 26, 2019

“I don’t know how interesting this will be…”

That’s a quote from this Russian Dude….showing us his big masonry oven that heats his house in some pretty extremely cold conditions.

That’s darn interesting to me.

I always thought that it would be good to plan a house around a big masonry oven like this.

Like he says in the video, once they’re up to temperature, they’ll keep a house warm for a long time with a small amount of fuel.

When you heat with wood, and spend some time chopping and stacking it, you appreciate the most efficient way to use it that you can find.

I like this guy….down to earth….nice, mellow sense of humor.

You can find more of his videos on his YouTube Channel HERE.

Ten Years Behind Me-Andrew Gold

Posted on by January 25, 2019

I used to listen to all the maudlin music I could gather….back in the day.

This was one of the tunes.

When you’re young….and “ten years behind me” would have made you a pre-teen, you don’t really have a deep well of experience yet.

You don’t have any experience….but you take the world and all it might hold so seriously.

Perfect for becoming a fan of the maudlin.

This guy was pretty good….sideman, musician….had a couple of big hits….good songwriter.

He’s been gone for a couple of years now.

Andrew Gold.

Here’s another maudlin one….

All I’ve Ever Known: Margaret Gallagher’s Story

Posted on by January 24, 2019

When I go to the bookstore, there are a lot of books on minimalism.

Why, if I had them all….I’ll bet that I could learn to be a minimalist!

It would just be me, my wooden bowl and spoon….and all my books on minimalism.

Here’s a woman living in Northern Ireland….who lives as she’s always lived….with the things she needs and uses everyday.

This is simplicity.

She didn’t learn this from a book.

It’s just the way she’s always lived.

Isn’t it funny that we pursue a simple life as a reaction to our hectic consumerism?

We pull back from something that we know is too busy and too crowded with things that we don’t really need….and that we know we probably can’t really leave?

We play at simplicity like it’s another costume to put on… and pretend for a while that we’re something different than what we’ve allowed ourselves to become.

That’s kind of weird, isn’t it?

This lady’s name is Margaret Gallagher.

The film was made by John Callister.

Here’s the YouTube description:

Documentary I produced for the BBC in 1992 that has proven to be very popular from its first broadcast, and continues to attract interest from across the world in 2018. Margaret Gallagher from Belcoo, County Fermanagh, N. Ireland, enjoys her rural lifestyle, living without modern amenities. This was shot on 16mm film.

 

win the morning…

Posted on by January 22, 2019

Man.

I need this motivational stuff…all the time.

I talked to the guys at the garage where my Jeep has been for the past 4 months…getting a new engine….and, after the initial startup with the new engine, it sounds like the “good” engine may have some issues.

Dang.

So, anything positive is, well….positive.

I can’t worry about this stuff.

I have to expect a positive outcome.

You know, though….something funny about this video….was….that I got kind of hung up over wondering if this lady slept in her false eyelashes.

Do people do that?

I don’t have any personal experience with sleeping in false eyelashes….so….I don’t know if that’s normal.

Is it?

Normal?

Gratitude….starting the day with exercise….visualization….etc…..are all the keys to pointing yourself towards good outcomes….but….the false eyelash thing was a crazy thing to wonder about.

Don’t get distracted.

Maybe that’s the key?

Tellico….Salsa….a song about a dog….

Posted on by January 20, 2019

Here’s a local band with a song about a Great Pyrenees.

There’s not too many of them out there….the song about the dog, I mean.

Our Pyrenees, Appa, busted a move and got past me the other day when I was bringing him some fresh water in a bucket with a busted handle.

He stopped when I called his name and told him to come back, looked at me, and then hi-tailed it for the woods.

He’d stop when I got close….then run some more….then stop when he heard me yelling at him….then run some more….then stop…then (you can get the picture).

We covered a lot of ground before I gave up and went home.

It was nice to be up in the woods….even if it was only to chase a big white dog for a while.

I think that he thought it was amusing to treat me like that.

He came back in about an hour….full of burrs and excited for a time that was more adventurous than being down in his normal area.

I guess that Pyrenees are known for being roamers.

I’m glad that he came back.

Tellico is a good band….from up in Asheville.

Thanks for the song about the dog, Tellico!