New life: Part 3: The Dream

Okay. I'm using a lot of words to get to the point. (Hi! I'm Lisa and this is so me.)

Here is what I want: A cabin at the lake (or in the woods...I really just want to see nature and fall asleep to the crickets and bullfrogs). And no mortgage.

Here is how I think I can get it by the time I'm 50:

(and here is where you're going to think I'm completely insane. Please don't have me committed. Those white jackets are so last season...and uncomfortable!) Just go with me here:

I can't go anywhere for six years. I want the kids to finish high school where they start, and I don't see being able to pull off much of anything for a few years anyway.

The good thing about being a single parent is the tax refund. Yeah, baby! So I figure, if I can put 1/2 to 1/4 of it away every year, in six years I can have between $15,000 and $20,000. I only want about an acre. I just want to be able to overlook someone else's 500 acres. At current prices, I could get a piece of property with utilities for $10,000 or less. (Maybe not at the lake, but...)

Leaving me $5,000-$10,000 to buy a used RV. (I'm still working this out. The super nice ones, used, are going for about $30,000. Unless I get a camper, which would necessitate a huge truck to pull it with, unless I get someone to park it on the land and never move it). Or something of the sort. It's going to be just me, and all I need is four walls and a roof, right? But at that point, I own land and an RV (or camper) and no mortgage. And how bad do you think utilities could be?

Assuming I save only $100 off of utilities, I will save $750 per month. Tuck that away for 5 years (and assuming 0 interest earned and that I don't add an extra dime to it), I will have $45,000. In cash. Think I could build a cabin for that? During that time, I may even work a second job, just to pad that nest egg even more. But that doesn't mesh with a simplified life, so we'll see.

Enter my new dream cabin. It was a very simple design. Basically...a wooden box. Think one big square room. The bedrooms were glorified partitions.One quarter of this "room" (house) was sectioned off into two bedrooms and a bathroom. There were windows everywhere and a wide porch on all four sides. Perfect for shade and cross breeze. It had a huge fireplace which kept the place plenty warm enough. If I don't have a fireplace, I will want at least a wood burning stove. This cabin was bigger than I would need, but basically it was perfect! And so comfortable. This wasn't even my place and I felt like I was home.

I think it could be built fairly inexpensively. Even if I had to take a loan out for a little bit, that wouldn't be so bad, as long as I could pay it off quickly. The overall goal is to be completely debt free.

Oh, and as soon as I turn the key in the lock, I would own, outright -- (hopefully) -- land, a house and an RV (or camper)....which I could choose to keep and use, rent out for some extra dough, or just sell. And I will have saved thousands by not having to pay interest on a mortgage.

The benefit of this plan is not only that I could get what I want (a mortgage free home of my dreams), but that the minute I move onto the land, I will have a larger cash flow even if my income never increases...which means that while my kids are making their own way in the world, I will actually have the funds to help them along...at least a little. It might take me a little longer to get my cabin, but that would be so worth it.

And not just my children. I would be able to help anybody who needs it. I hope. My dream would be never to have to say "no" again...especially in the face of someone who is asking for food.

So this is my long term dream. I figure it this way: If this is what I shoot for, and I'm saving money for it for the next six years.... is there a downside??? God may definitely have other plans for me (I'm sure He does). But again...I need a plan for moving forward. He can't change my direction if I'm standing still: just working and paying the bills with no idea where I'm going or how I'm going to get there. If I do that, I will wake up 20 years from now and wonder what happened to my life.

That's the long term aspect. In the short term, like immediately, I have to learn how to help others more right here where I'm at. But you've been patient enough to read this much....I'll save that for another blog post. Perhaps another day. I think we'll close this little series. For now, anyway.