Update's

So it's been about 3 months since we moved back to AZ. Things are going a little slower than planned and like most things in life we've had some set backs. No running water, the most uncomfortable bed in the world, the black water tank has a hole in it and just getting used to living in 144 square feet of living space We have just completed month 2 living in TT (Tiny Trailer) and have made some modifications to her to make life a little more bearable. The hubs cut down the width of the dinette and although we only gained a little over a foot in width it feels more like a palace. We can both stand in the Kitchen/Dining area without one of us having to sit down so the other can pass. I've been painting and redecorating so TT feels more like a home rather than an extending camping trip from hell. Our next big project is the bathroom. hopefully I'll get some before and after pics when we get ready to start. We've looked at some land and found a few we like but we don't want to rush into anything yet. Daily life stresses got us down for a while but I think that cloud has passed. So remember
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Little Living Update

So my previous post somehow got held in drafts but I published it anyway today. It's been a crazy few months. The month we were planning on spending in California didn't go as planned, we blew through all our budgeted monthly spending's in a week and weren't able to find pick up jobs in Cali like we expected. I guess that's to be expected when you wanna spoil grandchildren you haven't seen in almost 2 years. The hubby called a friend in Arizona and he said "YES, I AM BUSY AND HAVE WORK FOR YOU." So after getting his final pay check we decided to head straight for Flagstaff.
We stayed with our youngest son for 2 weeks but his landlord insisted we leave after that and we didn't want him to have issues with his roommates. We ended up camping out in the forest, Huzzah for free camp spaces, for a week. Not completely horrible but most definitely not what we planned. You know what they say about the best laid plans...
The "job" that we came here for definitely was not anywhere near the full time promised. Hubby would work for 2 days be off for a week, work for 1. So we decided to throw all our effort into looking for real full time employment. Nearly a month and a half after coming here we finally got some job offers...Thank goodness... We were getting scared. I'm so glad to have a partner in life that when things get hard we know we can ALWAYS count on the love we have for one another to pull us through any crisis.

~~Faith , Hope and Love

Off we go

So we did the most scary thing imaginable and quit our jobs, put a 30 day notice in for our apartment and are just gonna wing it. We have small flexible plans but first we are headed to California to visit our daughter and grandbabies. We have budgeted money for gas to get us to Cali and then onto Arizona, as well as a small budget for expenses such as food and what not. Hopefully it will last 2 months. We've packed all our belongings into our mini van. Here we go. Wish us well...

Taking a leap of Faith

So after much deliberation the hubs and I are off to start our off gird adventure. With minimal savings, no jobs and no real place to live we decided to move back home to Arizona. We are not city people and the cost of living in one is not allowing for us to save the kind of money we need to buy land and get a homestead up and running. I know what your thinking, "Won't being jobless be even harder to get your dream?", and I guess in this society where you are expected to work a soul draining 9-5 for 40+ hours and own a car that you can barely afford our adventure seems crazy! At least we'll be back home in our mountain and if that means we have to super budget or camp out until we have jobs we are willing to do it. 15 days and counting! Wish us luck

Culling Possessions

The next step towards our new adventure is culling our possessions Aka getting rid of junk. We really want to live a small sustainable lifestyle so getting rid of things are necessary. Some choices are easy to make like we really don't need the ginormous couch, love seat, chair combo, especially since I spend a lot of time sitting on the floor anyway. However when it comes to personal items such as clothing, keepsakes, collectables, the kids old school papers and mementos is where it becomes harder. I know you think you need to keep the prom dress you had or that menu from your first date but believe me it's the memory you hold dear not the items you keep locked in a box that you pull out and look at once every 6 months. Purging myself of these unwanted items was a lot easier for me than I thought (my husband not so much). His collectables are still a "work in progress" but since we still have time I'm not pushing insanely hard. All my children's keepsakes were given to them with the exception of photo albums. I still like to trot down memory lane once in a while but I don't need a box full of stuff to do it. Picture will suffice. Plus one box per child X 4 is a lot! With my collectables I gave serious thought if I could do without it? Some stuff stayed but most went. Now to clothing I followed Project 333. 33 items for 3 months! Some clothing went to Goodwill straight away but anything I was unsure about was put in a box in the back of the closet under other boxes. I figured if I thought I wanted an item bad enough it would be worth digging for. Three months later whatever wasn't pulled back out of the box out of necessity was also donated. Clothing wasn't the hardest , it was the jewelry. I love me a awesome pair of funky earrings! So much so I felt like the Imelda Marcos of earrings but what I realized is that I always seem to go to the same few pairs. It hasn't been easy, there were some tears shed or at least a few sighs but I am super proud of us for this small accomplishment. So my best piece of advice to you is GO FOR IT!!!
"The best thing in life to hold onto is each other" ~~ Audrey Hepburn

The planning phase

Hi, welcome to my new blog about our homesteading journey. My hubby and I have held this dream for years! Planning and doing research is one of the most time consuming parts of trying to make your off grid DREAM a reality. I hope you'll join us on our journey to freedom as we attempt to untangle ourselves from mainstream living.

We've watched a LOT of YouTube videos, read STACKS homesteading books and combed through countless online webpages, only to come up with the thought that we don't really have the common denominator running through most of these other homesteaders plans. What is that you might ask?? Why MONEY of course!! The hubs and I are by no means rich, we live pay check to pay check just to keep up with the costs of things we don't really want or need. Why?? A couple of reasons, 1. We moved from the home we were buying and left almost everything we owned behind to move to a new state and help out a family member. 2.We're just used to living this way.

You know what I mean right? You go to work every day to pay for essentials, car, rent, food, gas insurance, and you never seem to get any closer to finding independence. So finally the hubby and I have said ENOUGH! We are going to start living our dream now.