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Thread: Howdy from OK

  1. #1
    Junior Member
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    Howdy from OK

    *waves*

    Have been a reader for years, can't see any of my older posts, so thought I would re-introduce myself.

    Trying to get to simple living sometimes is not so simple. Working towards that. Have downsized, upsized, downsized and went everywhere in between. Tired of it. I want simple. Less stuff, less needs, less wants. I want to be comfortable with what I have and stop the hunting for bigger and better.

    Looking back I've never been so stressed and scared as when I had what appeared to be a pretty sweet life: dual-income-grown-kid with a too-big new house full of high end stuff. Lead to excessive drinking and addiction. Cancer and hubby passed. Struggling and hitting bottom. More than once. Lessons learned, good and bad. Lived out of my van while searching for meaning. Digging my way through life. Have been in big debt and completely debt free. Am back to school in my 40's. Became a grandma. Was widowed for 5 years before taking the marriage plunge again, gained a stepson (so different than my girl!).

    Life is stressful, and I want simplicity. Maybe I'm just getting old.

    Aiming to move out to family land in a few months. Getting away from mortgages and rent. Would really like to get away from utilities, but yeah, too expensive upfront, maybe eventually. Stepson about to be off to college, so entertaining idea of going semi-tiny. I want to garden even though I've always had a black thumb. What we want is just our little piece of land in this world, away from the noise, be able to get by decent on one not-stressful income, and get our time back. Enjoy the birds singing again.

    Anyway... "Hi"

  2. #2
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Welcome! It sounds like you have had so many ups and downs and need a little peace. I hope you find it on your land.

  3. #3
    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    Getting away may seem like the solution but eventually one needs to face where one should change one's thinking about stuff, priorities, dreams, realities and what comes first. It is a never-ending journey so welcome to the club.
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

  4. #4
    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
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    Welcome Pammy. Glad to have you on the Forum.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by pammy View Post
    *waves*

    Have been a reader for years, can't see any of my older posts, so thought I would re-introduce myself.

    Trying to get to simple living sometimes is not so simple. Working towards that. Have downsized, upsized, downsized and went everywhere in between. Tired of it. I want simple. Less stuff, less needs, less wants. I want to be comfortable with what I have and stop the hunting for bigger and better.

    Looking back I've never been so stressed and scared as when I had what appeared to be a pretty sweet life: dual-income-grown-kid with a too-big new house full of high end stuff. Lead to excessive drinking and addiction. Cancer and hubby passed. Struggling and hitting bottom. More than once. Lessons learned, good and bad. Lived out of my van while searching for meaning. Digging my way through life. Have been in big debt and completely debt free. Am back to school in my 40's. Became a grandma. Was widowed for 5 years before taking the marriage plunge again, gained a stepson (so different than my girl!).

    Life is stressful, and I want simplicity. Maybe I'm just getting old.

    Aiming to move out to family land in a few months. Getting away from mortgages and rent. Would really like to get away from utilities, but yeah, too expensive upfront, maybe eventually. Stepson about to be off to college, so entertaining idea of going semi-tiny. I want to garden even though I've always had a black thumb. What we want is just our little piece of land in this world, away from the noise, be able to get by decent on one not-stressful income, and get our time back. Enjoy the birds singing again.

    Anyway... "Hi"
    Hello Pammy! Welcome to the forum. Hoping everything is fine with you here. Let us all stay positive that life will be great ahead.

  6. #6
    Moderator Float On's Avatar
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    Welcome! Sounds like you need some peace in your heart. I hope you find your happy place and your happy way of doing things.
    Float On: My "Happy Place" is on my little kayak in the coves of Table Rock Lake.

  7. #7
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    Thanks all for the welcome!

    On to the positive... I am so dying to get moved out to the land. Hubby inherited it from his grandma, 5.66 acres, which is next to his aunts land, cannot be sold outside of family. Has road access, we just need to finish the road to our part, waiting on more $$ to rent the equipment. The grandma (in her 70's) has the water well, with water already piped down to our spot. The hubby's late mother, when she lived there years ago, had septic installed, we just got to find it. The spot where these are secluded and plenty of trees. So peaceful feeling out there.

    Other than getting the road finished and the septic found, we are still at the deciding what to put out there part. I have a paid older mobile home in a park right now, it's what we live in at the moment. It's 5 miles to the land from where it sits now, not bad. The logistics of getting it there is the problem. The road leading to the land isn't big enough to move it on, so getting it there is a problem. Plus, not sure structurally it's sound enough to move. We dislike paying every month for something to live in, so yeah.. getting something new is out of the question. I've entertained the notion on building eventually, so we are leaning towards possibly getting a cheap RV in cash to move it there. Then selling current mobile home where it sits. Electricity near so that's no problem. Taxes are $14 per acre a year. Propane should be easy, there's 3 places in town that deliver or fill up bottles.

    Going small appeals to me. Realistically it will have challenges, to be sure. Would love some input from others that have gone small. We know, as of now, the hubby and I do okay around each other in small space. We already do in the home we have now. The mobile home is single wide, and we basically occupy less than half of it: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room. Hubby enjoys puttering in the yard, I enjoy being outside, so there will be plenty of outside living.

    The land is a mix of trees and brush. The soil has been untouched for lots of years, at least 30. There's shade and sun. The place where the home will sit is north of a hill with trees all around, which I LOVE for the shade in Oklahoma's hot summer. Aim to put some wind blocking shrubs/vines on the north side to cut winter's north wind. Will lengthwise face the south, laying out outdoor living space to take advantage of passive/solar. To the west of the spot is near where a creek runs when there's enough rain, where I want to put the garden. Wild deer and turkey seen about every time we go out there. We hope to eventually grow most of our food. Have been reading on root cellars, fermentation, canning, dehydration, and all the good stuff. Have already been reading up on eventual housing designs that will compliment the resources we have on hand, like cobb or underground (cause, let's face it, Oklahoma: tornadoes!). Want to get out there any way we can for now to start working on this. My daughter and I have thought out a possible business utilizing the land, that would be awesome! (she's taking classes in herbalism and holistic meds)

    This place is 8.1 miles from our smallish city of 12k population with just about anything we need. There's no zoning restrictions.

    Well anyways, my thoughts are leading me to think of going small, minimalist for living to be able to work with what we've got to aim for as self-sustainable as possible. I've got a year left of school and my aim is to be able to work remotely, if at all. The hubby enjoys having a schedule of a job, but we both agree that we don't need for him to have one that is high paying, just an easy less-stressful one that he can leave at the door. Going this route will enable us to live this way. Maybe someday finding a hobby that either of us enjoys that earns enough neither one of us is required to have a paid job. That's the dream anyways.

    Maybe all of this above doesn't fall in line with simple. I don't know, I just want our needs to be simple, minimal. I'm just rambling, haha. Kinda nice to put this to words. Errrr.. type.

  8. #8
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Hello, pammy! It sounds like you have stories to tell and dreams to reach for!

    It sounds like you and DH have done some thinking about what you want your end state life to look like. I think you'll find (as most of us have) that "money for time" or "time for money" is pretty tightly linked. I also would suggest you do some contingency planning, especially if you're looking at one income supplying your needs.

    There is a great joy in living simply. There are many people here happy to hear your stories and support you on your path. I look forward to seeing more posts from you.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  9. #9
    Senior Member Ultralight's Avatar
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    Hello! Glad to have you around!

  10. #10
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    How small a space are you actually living in now? I know half of what you have but that can help you figure it out. It really varies what is comfortable for people. You can always change your plan. Nothing is permanent until you are gone)

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