From Excess to Economy

Since I last posted, MANY things have changed.  I moved away from the Dallas, Texas area and back to east Texas, where I am originally from and am homesteading now.  I still love fine dining and travel and home cooking, but I'm changing a few things in my life as a result of our changing times. With the cost of food and the questionable safety of commercially produced foods, I have embarked on a journey to return to a way of life where I have an active role in feeding myself and my immediate family with food I have raised and cared for and, at times, have processed as well.  There's no guarantee that there will be electricity, running water or food at our command so I needed to create a simpler, less needful life.

I felt wasteful and privileged and spoiled, accustomed to eating out often, living in a huge house and totally dependent on large corporation provided power.  We were 2 people living in a 4000 sq ft house and paying huge utility bills every month for 13 years. I woke up one day and realized I had to change my life and teach my son that wasn't how life should be.  I sold that monster of a house and bought land in the country and built a new house.  My goal in building this house was to be frugal and resourceful in the materials I chose and to buy American whenever possible.  If I needed something for the house and I couldn't find an American made source, I bought it used or made it myself.  I used local labor, bought from local vendors and tried to support my local economy (let me tell you, they do appreciate it!).  It took 4 months to build and aside from some builder and structural issues I'm having to deal with, the house is working out great. 

This is the new house (still under construction here).  It's 860 sq ft...yes, 860 sq ft.  I did the math, that's less than 1/4th of the other house. Everything about this house is cheaper.  Here's an example:

Expense                         Then                        Now
Insurance                       $2600/yr                 $900/yr
Electricity (summer)         600/mo x 4             60/mo x 4
Gas (winter)                      350/mo* x 4           80/mo* x 4
Water                                 150/mo                   60/mo
Taxes                               5200/yr                  2200/yr
TOTAL                           $13400.00/yr         $4380.00 yr

* Before, I had only gas heat and water heater, now I have that, and a gas range too.

I'm saving an average of $9,020.00 a year on these items alone. I saved the most money on utilities by positioning my house using permaculture guidelines, having concrete floors (keeps the house about 10 degrees cooler in the summer), a 23 SEER A/C and I have double foam insulation - it's like living in an Igloo cooler, the cool stays cool and the warm stays warm.  I still have Internet and satellite TV and those charges are about the same and my auto insurance stayed the same as well, dang it. I have some livestock that provide meat and eggs to my food supply and a garden is coming this spring.  I'll be solar one day, but for now, my electricity is from a local co-op, not ideal, but at least it's not  ONCOR.

I'm just more satisfied and secure, both financially and realistically, living this way.  As I learn and grow, I'll be blogging along the way about my journey from excess to economy and hopefully help others to do the same.   I believe it's time for a change in our lives. Stay tuned!!