Only recently can I claim paying no taxes. Over the past 30 years, I've paid alot because I made alot.
> > I'm trying to do my part. Back in 87, we got our mortgage paid
> > off in 7 years (mortgaged much less than we could afford),
>
>So, did you do it the VS way? Or did you have two sizable incomes.
> With all that stuff, I'm guessing you must have quite an income at
> one point. Paid it off in seven years, huh?
I would have been content to stay in a camper on purchased unimproved acreage, but when I married, my spouse couldn't accept living that way. We compromised by buying this old farmhouse on 7 acres out in the sticks. The banks would have happily lent us $200,000, since together we were bringing in $55K a year. But I wanted no part of that. So we bought this place for $37,500 and mortgaged $32,500 of it. There were times we were living on grits, but we doubled up on payments and pulled out all the stops to get it paid off. I then quit working for 7 years to stay home with our son and we lived very easily on my husband's $18,000 a year, managing to put some money every year in the bank.
My intention was to become self-sufficient thru homesteading and I seriously tried that route, with sheep, chickens, goats, rabbits, hunting, organic farming, orchards, canning, drying, etc., but it was too much for only one full-timer and 2 part-timers, and I fell back on using the food co-op more and more. So its true that I failed in my intent, but I learned alot and think self-sufficiency is still possible, but that it takes more people working together to make it happen. I have a real interest in intentional community.
>Guestimate: your house is worth $120k.
Maybe. I'm divorced now, so I plan on taking my half and buying unimproved acreage with whatever I get from the sale of the place and going back to either a camper or some small home made place so I can keep the property taxes low. If the property taxes get too high, I'll sell and buy somewhere else. They are getting too high here, up from $250 a year to $700, though most of my siblings just laugh when I complain, since they are paying $2000 to $4000 a year where they live. I won't do that. Nothing is worth that kind of on-going debt, IMO.
>Move into an efficiency. You don't use 4 rooms in a 1200 sf, then
> why stay in it? That'll cost you $600 a month, utilities included.
> And you would use even LESS energy!
Why would I do that? To make a landlord rich by putting myself in debt to him? No thanks.
>That's $3600 a year. plus the $5000 you earn.
$600 a month is $7200 a year. What's the $3600? And you say PLUS the $5000 I earn instead of MINUS. You've lost me.
>From what you said,
> your income tax return will pay your medical insurance. That's what
> $4000? You need, rounding up, $13 k to live on. YOu need to take
> $8k out of your savings every year.
I lived 2 full years by pulling money from my savings because I lost my last fulltime job in August 2001. I had no earned income to report in 2002. I tried a full time teaching job in mid 2003 in a public charter school, but left after 2 months and started teaching on contract part time. I'm using an IRA that is only half mine to put our son thru college, saving my ex the problem of having to pay taxes on his half of that money because I'm still way under poverty line when I add it all to my income. For the first year I purchased a high deductible medical insurance policy for about $2200 a year that I got thru Nationwide Insurance. But I quit buying it as my savings dwindled. I broke even last year with my $5500 wage income, with no reduction in my savings between the first and the end of the year. Since the 70s I've always had at least a year's worth of expenses put aside as a buffer and I'm a little too close to that level for comfort now.
>You can live off the $120K for 15 years. Well, with taxes, maybe
> not, but you only need seven more years worth of the income, then
> it's SS time! Yeehaw! You will do just dandy with your super skillz
> at living the simple life. 'sides, when the kid moves out, you
> won't need more than a closet. Why don't you move in with someone
> and share expenses to boot? I'll bet there are some homeless folks
> that would share with you.
I'm definitely considering intentional community when I move on from here. I won't use the income from this property to live off. It will go to unimproved property, which I see as the most acceptable form of investment. And you are right, my skills in living simply will help me, as they would for anyone else. I'm supposed to get close to $600/month from an AT&T pension and I have $20K in an IRA. If there is anything left in SS when I hit age 65, I should be living easy.
>Now, about that community college bizzo. That's a pretty unethical
> place, that.
I couldn't agree more. But I've had a very difficult time finding work I could be proud of doing. This is as close as I've gotten. But yes, I'm quite aware that I'm simply training people to become better little cogs in the corporate machinery. I do tend to add a bit of political flavor to my classes and so far haven't been read the riot act for it, though I expect it to happen any day.
>Still not enough? How's about this: you are working for a aystem
> taht teachers people to consume, consume, consume and work, work,
> work.
I agree. I've tried finding other work. I was hellbent on getting an activity director job (paid $10/hour only a couple years ago) for a local nursing home, but I didn't have any social work background at all, being a technocrat. I heard I came very close to getting the job, because they liked my enthusiasm and ideas, but unfortunately someone with a 4 year degee (I only have a 2 year) in Recreational Studies, and years of experience as an activity director got the job. I even tried getting a job paying minimum wage at the food co-op but I couldn't get hired because I didn't have any food service background.
>I'd leave it if I were you. I don't know how you can stomach going
> to work everyday. That is three strikes against it.
I know you are having fun mocking this but I do take it more seriously. Am I just too much of a bleeding heart? I've never been any good at separating myself from my work as it is a part of who I am. And I refuse to go cynical to be one of the sophisticated class. I'm just an old hippie who won't let go of the ideals that meant so much to me back then and mean even more now.
>OOP! Almost forgot: This newsletter is hosted at the LBO-talk
> discusssion list, home of Left LEFT LEFT LEFT Business Observer.
So does this mean Marxism only?
--tully