The Price of Convenience

There was an old cliche I had heard ("If you want it done right, do it yourself.") and I knew upon first hear that it was one of those Grey Truths - the kind you know will be true at least half of the time. In a world gone crazy medically, economically, and spiritually, the DIY cliche seems to be the truest links to my sanity and notion of frugality.

When I'm honest with myself I know and admit that I have wasted a lot of time and money on not caring enough about myself or the future. I just couldn't see it. I never imagined myself getting old, so I could not care. Regardless of my lack of imagination or my lack of prudent planning, old came anyway. I've only got 10 years left to create something nice for me to get snug in as an old lady. I don't want to live in one of those decrepit old folks homes where you hear about the old lady who got beat up or neglected. I don't want to cost anyone who might care about my 65 year old weak old self so much money to put me in one of those nicer places. I've got to make something livable and worthy for me and I've only got about ten years to get it done.

Paying rent with my husband for seven years was a big waste of our time, effort, and money. We didn't get anything for that. That was seven years and over $50,000 just to live in a place that we could never enjoy without roommate assistance. There were no amenities, no fancy bathroom, no laundry room, no swimming pool, no trash pick-up. We paid $850 just to claim the apartment as our home. Add cable, electric, cellphones, car purchases and insurance, child support, credit cards, trips, Christmas memories, and general day to day living and we were spending about $4000 per month, going nowhere but to the day when we lost whatever it was we thought we had.

Fast forward from 2018 to today February 2023. From learning it was all for nothing, to being grateful to still be alive to use the wisdom gained. What now? Eggs and gas are so expensive I hae to be extremely careful with either. I have to know where and how to obtain any freebies. I have to know the resale value of any acquisition. I have to consistently ask myself, "Is it worth it?" I have to spend the next ten years with the Frugality Mentality. Time is Money and Money is Time. I'm on Social Security. I'm 51 years old. Both Time and Money are resources that I can't kid around with anymore. Anything I do with either MUST be absolutely worth it.

The prices of things are shocking to me. In this county the average selling price for a standard suburban house is about $300,000. Nothing special about it, nothing new, or unique. That's the going rate for a cookie cutter used home on about a quarter acre or less lot. They want $30,000 for a mobile home and $600 minimum for monthly lot rent to put it on. They want anywhere from $1200 to $2000 in monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment. It's impossible for me to do any of that on my Social Security income, and as I've sought income opportunities around here for th epast two years -- I see that it is impossible for me to afford any of that even if I got a typical "job". It's simply impossible.

So I've researched cheap land. Found options in other states. Places no one wants to live because of crime or cold weather. Affordable land exists. I can get a quarter acre for less than $20k in many lost and forgotten places. In some cities there almost giving away the land and the abandoned houses on them just to entice people to live there again. Sounds like a winning plan to me. I see an ad for a container tiny house or even a she shack and they want $20k to $30k for a stupid wooden closet. It's nice and convenient, but who are you selling that to? A frugal minimalist? Do you really think your "buyers" want something like that with that price tag? That price tag is the reason they want to live like that to begin with. Lunacy. Truly lunacy.

So the only ogical cure is to seriously embrace the Nomad lifestyle and to accept that frugality is the DIY mentality. Anything you get from others will cost you more than you ought to spend. So if you can Do-It-Yourself, then do so. I know I'm only handing over my money to those who are doing something I really can't do. I don't care if someone can do it better than me. I'll accept my cruddy work to save a fortune. I don't care how nice your product is. I am done getting ripped off and coming up with nothing to show for it while you and yours get to go to Disney trips and world trips and wear $200 suits all on my buck as me and mine live on the sidewalk saying thanks for that cold cup of coffee.

As E.E. Cummings put it so eloquently, "No Thanks!"