So..Not being one to keep a faithful blog or journal before,it's hard figuring out where to begin.
Where do I start,how much do I write in each entry,and how do I not bore you to death.
Well I guess I will start with a quick overview of why we decided we wanted to live on a bus,and then what made us decide not to look for one for a year.
We (My Boyfriend and I & our Basset Hound Waldo) have been in an amazingly cheap basement apartment for a long and fortunate time.
We can't stay here forever,although the owner of the house is a good friend,she does not want to own the house forever.
I tried a few years back with my 80hr work week consisting of 2 jobs with guaranteed hours and a few other part time jobs with sporadic hours (not to mention my fantastical credit score that I was so proud of) to get preapproved for a mortgage..
Um hmm.
Even though owning my own home would lower my bills and stress and be an awesome investment,I was told I pay too much in bills and they would barely approve me enough to buy a shack in the woods.
"Did you not just hear yourself Lady,you just pointed out how I bust my ass to pay my bills AND on time!"
I would have been fine fixing up a shack in the woods,don't get me wrong,but have you actually tried to get a mortgage for a fixer upper,when you are low income?
I mean LOW INCOME...when your income tax bracket is still considered below the poverty line after working 60-80hrs every week.
So I gave up and we plowed on here,I left one job that I hated before the stress of it all killed me.
Ok okay,so it took a year of stress leave before I really realized how much I needed to slow down,just swallow a bankruptcy and not live to work anymore.
So one job,and not looking to add another because I don't need to work from the light of dawn til hours past sunset to justify my right to want and have things.
I'm sure you have all seen lists,and posts and articles all over the internet and one of the things they tell you is when you get old,you will NOT wish you had worked more.
When I say work,I mean for someone else,to better someone elses company and put a couple more dollars in my piggy bank.
I have no problem working more for us,for our life,to do for ourselves things that we have come to depend on having machines do for us,or things that we can just buy from the store.
But no..I am not busting my ass for someone else anymore for basic minimum food and shelter.
We can build our own.
(NOTE* If you are of the opinion that I need to get another job,grow up or save up $20,000 before I even attempt something so ridiculous then please leave our blog.We have gotten support in unexpected places as well as nay-sayers.Just because you are afraid to do what you want in life,don't piss on our parade)
It started out with many blogs and articles on Tiny Houses,check them out,some are pretty awesome.
So we went in circles over this,I would look at them online and *sigh* and J (my Bf) would say "Let's do it" and I would reply "but we would need land,no one would give us money for a house,they will never give us money for land they don't think we can afford to build anything of value on" *sigh*
Then...
I started seeing buses in some of the Tiny House blogs and thought.."Omg I think we could do this"
So I voiced this to J and he gave me the excited kid look and I knew I had him.
We went online and looked at buses and thought.."Hey!We could afford one once I do my income tax and get my holiday pay come this spring."..."Erm,wait.."
*We need funds and materials to redo the inside so it's livable and also so we don't freeze to death,this IS Canada eh
*Then we need some cash to get it road worthy,umm howdowe do that???Is That even LEGAL
*Where do we get a holding tank cause uh,we need water,and where do we fill our tank,thinking the local car wash or the neighbors hose may be 'no-goes'
*Oh crap..no really crap..Um where do you dump your other erm holding tank?
*Where are we really gonna park it when it comes down to it.
Walmart parking lot is not my idea of a backyard.."Hunny,Waldo's rope is tangled in the cart return again!!!"
So I guess we could move from place to place a little more than we planned,but you know Waldo does turn that lovely shade of green during a drive,so I would like to keep the evil torture of my dog down to maybe twice a year.
*So Hun,how do you think we wire all the electricity up inside anyway..We can get an ebook on that right? Hehe..Maybe we should pay an electrician to check it out when we're done just incase.
*Uh..yeah we kinda got lost there,so what kind of bus should we get,what's easier to work on,how do we find parts for one,good lord I think we need air tools or a service guy just to change a flat!
Maybe we better research this stuff,BEFORE we buy a bus....
So this commences our year and about 4 months "ish" of research.
I will try to keep you updated on info we had to look for,how we found it and where.
Products we plan to try out in advance of the bus buying and 'reno-ing'
Some fun facts,interesting shenanigans and hopefully some pics of Intentional Communities we would like to check out as well as Ecovillages or adventures into starting up or joining a Land Share.I want this puppy to have a base where I can plant a garden and a erm,clothesline? in the ground.
Eventually we will be able to share our adventures of the actual search and reno of our bus.
Until then I will post an adorable picture of my Waldo below to amuse you and give you faith in our adventures.I mean how could we truly fail,we have Super Dawg!!!
Feel free to leave comments or links to any products,places,etc that you have found helpful AND if you would be interested in starting a land share in Ontario with us,leave some form of contact info for me :)
