ClaireI was mindlessly scrolling Facebook one day when this meme caught my attention.
For so long, John and I have talked about our “dream” of one day taking off on the boat on an extended adventure. It’s always been a dream, but – it struck me – why aren’t we calling it a “PLAN”?
Plans have action, intention, direction, motivation, tasks, agendas and goals. And I’m a planner . . . It was time for the mental shift. It felt a little scary and needed some sea legs. This slight change in perspective made the whole dream become real. It’s a PLAN . . . time for action.
Any good plan must be divided into task oriented goals. One of our major, overarching goals is lowering our cost of living in order to fully fund the cruising kitty. Work towards this goal will be constant and will require daily attention.
We’ve been fortunate to be in a position to maintain a vacation property in the town of Blowing Rock, a small mountain community in western North Carolina. We’ve always thought of the Blowing Rock property as the place where we would ultimately retire. However, carrying the property has been a sticking point in our sailing budget. It was time to reconsider whether Blowing Rock would continue to fit into our plan.
We’ve previously written about the purchase of our small “farm” in the mountains. Here’s a link to our previous post with all the details. https://www.preparetocomeabout.net/pull-up-a-chair-weve-got-a-place-to-sit/ To catch up – to meet our financial goals while retaining our ability to enjoy the mountains, we decided to sell the Blowing Rock property and purchase a small house (850 square feet) on 10 acres out in the middle of cow country. The farm property was a lot less expensive than the Blowing Rock property, giving us the opportunity to retain a vacation home without a monthly mortgage and make some headway towards funding the cruising kitty. Long term, the farm property will have lower carrying costs (tax, gas, electricity, etc.), could potentially offer rental opportunities while cruising, and will be home base at the end our adventures.
Like every good “plan”, we had to be prepared for the unexpected. The Blowing Rock property did not sell quite as fast as we hoped. But with a little luck, we were able to find renters that moved in before the start of the winter in 2018. Their rent covered our mortgage expense, and the renters covered the care taking responsibilities. Although not ideal, it kept the plan in motion.
The property went back on the market at the start of the summer 2019, and we closed on the sale August 23rd!
Moving is always bittersweet. As we packed, we took with us memories shared with friends and family in Blowing Rock – the Thanksgiving where my niece and nephew first saw a real snow, countless oyster roasts and cookouts and evening strolls to our favorite restaurant, Bistro Roca. We also had to make hard decisions on personal belonging that would come with us to the farm and those we would part with. We’re confident this has been the right move, and the farm has truly become our new home.
Our financial goal is the big one – the driver of the plan that will make cruising our reality. The transition to the farm is one key piece, but it ties with even the smallest of action items. We’ve learned life goes on without Netflix and Spotify subscriptions, library books read the same as the ones from Amazon, the latest fashion item doesn’t have to have a home in our closet, shopping second hand is not only economical but helps our ailing planet, and finding cheap eats around town and when traveling can be a whole new culinary experience.
The next stop is back to the financial planner. We believe our work on our financial goals has now changed the calculus, and will make our plan a “go”.
Now to learn to sail. . . . just kidding . . . well, sort of . . .
