How Our Journey Began

Why and when it all started:

Just over 6 years ago, we were reevaluating our finances to see what unnecessary bills we could cut in order to get us closer to our goal. That’s when we realized that being able to go debt free and live sustained was more of a pipe dream than an actual reality. We were paying a 30-year loan on a very big house that sat on top of 15 acres of nothing but dry land.

Could we realistically raise a few cattle for our beef, some pigs, chickens, a dairy cow and dairy goats, a large garden, on 15 acres of land that had no irrigation water or the means to get our land set up for that? Sadly, the answer was finally “No”.

We accepted this reality, but definitely did not let this stop us from working toward that goal of sustainable living.

As we sat at our kitchen table located downstairs in our 2,000 square feet, 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home, we had to make the decision that would determine if we were going to be slave to a 30-year mortgage payment or actually take the steps required to live that lifestyle. Yep! Right then and there, we said let’s do it!! And there literally was no looking back. It had to be all in or none at all.

{this is a photo looking toward the back yard of the home and tractor we sold}

I just so happened to be working at home for a real estate agent at that time. So, the immediately the next day, I called her on the phone and told her we wanted to list our house. And the very next week, our house was on the market. We didn’t waist moment. Some may call it hasty, but the truth of that matter was that this was our only opportunity. We not only had a mortgage, but we were also financing a tractor as well. We sold the tractor and began packing what few items we decided to keep and started selling everything else. We seriously sold all of our belongings that furnished our huge home. We became what some would label ‘minimalists.

Within a month our home was under contract and then another 2 weeks later we were signing the closing papers. We never hesitated or had any feelings of remorse. We knew for years that we wanted this lifestyle; it just took us needing a detour along the way to teach us what needed to be done.

After closing and loading our little horse trailer w the only belongings we chose to keep, we stayed a short 2 days at my sister in laws house while we searched for a camper. We found one quickly, a nice one too for the price. It was a 40’ 5th wheel that had 2 slide outs, a dishwasher AND a washer/dryer unit. It was perfect. We purchased this with the equity that we received on our sale and paid off what little amount we owed left on our vehicle and began our debt free living process!