If you’ve visited my blog before, you might have noticed that my husband and I have been striving for debt freedom. We have never acquired credit card debt, but did have student loan and home debts that we feverishly began working to untangle from. I’ve detailed our 5 steps to conquering debt awhile ago on the blog. Those 5 basics we used in our journey were:
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Much has happened since my last post. We sold our 1,000 sq ft home in the city and are now residing in a 500 sq ft rental in the country while we search for our homestead. Everything transpired quickly, to say the least, and we moved on my 29th birthday. I’m just beginning to recover from the whirlwind. We are still catching up with so many things, and have a toddler who is starting preschool at home as well as working on potty training. It’s a busy season.
debt free!
In selling our home we are now debt free! We have been striving towards this for some time, and paid off my student loans earlier this year. We bought our first home, our fixer, with cash and fixed it up without any debt, which is really something we want to repeat with our next place.
early harvest
My garden had to be harvested early due to the move, although we had an amazing tomato crop for several weeks before we had to go. I did pick the remaining tomatoes (a mix of ripe and green) and have been freezing and dehydrating those, along with drying kale chips and other herbs and vegetables. My little dehydrator has been going 24/7 the past few days! Our pumpkins were ready sooner than expected this year, turning orange a week before we left. We had a tomato and peppers and some blueberries in pots, so we moved those with us, along with some strawberries I potted.
plans
We are getting back into a routine and working on our goals for the future. I’m so thankful for this cooler autumn weather (it’s my favorite season). We are adjusting to this smaller space and learning how to make it work for our family. I know that most people would not understand why we chose this path, but we are so grateful for this opportunity to escape the trap of debt (aka a mortgage) and chase our dreams!
I have so much I would like to blog about here (our path to debt freedom, preserving the harvest, recipes, living with children in a tiny home, our search for land, etc) and would love your input on what you would prefer to read about the most. Please share the topics you would be interested in the comments below!
*Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. I only recommend products I use myself. Thank you for helping support this blog and our goals for a self-sufficient homestead!
It has been a busy month: moving and unpacking, adjusting to city life for this country girl at heart, dealing with a sick toddler and baby, a little traveling, trying to find some time to grow our side income to get us to our financial goals, and just the day-to-day responsibilities and modifications at our new home.
Next week I am excited to start sharing some of the recipes I have experimented with for our family (chickpeas are on the menu again!), as well as a few ideas on what to do with an abundance of that summer harvest which may be piling up for you (for me it was plums and potatoes)! I also want to finish the Life-in-a-Fixer posts with the last photos I took before we moved and reveal the plants (and trees!) I started growing at our new home!
Today, I am leaving some links to my favorite internet discoveries since my last sifted post. I hope you enjoy!
: : This homemade deodorant recipe is amazing! It really works!
: : I found sage growing in our yard, so I will be making this as an all-purpose cleaner.
: : Since downsizing to 1,000 square feet, I have found inspiration in posts like this. Hopefully soon we can build our own tiny home, tailored for our family (there are certain benefits to marrying an architect). Less is more!
: : Love this post about focusing on beauty even in the midst of difficulty. Holding on to those moments, especially in parenting!
Follow me on Pinterest for additional links!
Our family has felt the bondage of debt. We have determined to wipe out the existing balance and never allow it to return. While we have not experienced or accumulated credit card debt or a mortgage on our house, our family has inherited the school loans I adopted for college. I did pay for some of my schooling upfront, and worked throughout my college years to save and pay as much as possible once the loans came due. This allowed me to pay the majority of my 4 years, plus some summer classes in Italy, off within a year of graduating (my parents have helped with some of these). We still have a little less than a year’s worth of university expenses to go. Our goal is to pay this off by the end of the year (using some of our current savings along with what we can spare in the coming months), even though we are currently living on one part-time salary.
**UPDATE: As of 2014 we became DEBT-FREE and purchased land for our homestead with cash using the following principles! Read more on that here.
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where the green things grow 