”The Plan”
So the plan is to get the lot I bought cleared and neat and a couple of large and quite a few small trees removed. Then, I have a lot of outdoor stuff to transfer over there, as I’m getting plans firmed up for a storage shed and tossing out lots of papers and clothing and anything that doesn’t add to my life.
Next steps will be to store what I don’t need or use (but will want later) while I try to find another place to live. No rush of course but after last night’s episode (see below) I have made up my mind to work towards saving (this house). Some possibilities: I expect prices on housing will collapse eventually like they did in 2008, so I will watch for a cheap house with land. If that fails, I might either purchase a mobile home or move into 1 bedroom senior apartment home (last resort).
This kind of thing is what is distracting.
I had forgotten I even took that class! I don’t remember it at all! Yet there is the “proof”. Apparently the ex (Z) took an Intro to Electronics class as well. But neither of us will need these papers, so out they go. Still it is amazing where memory fails…
The episode: My neighbor feeds stray cats and didn’t get them neutered. So they wander all over the neighborhood and especially near my house. I’ve been having to shew them off my porch a lot since it turned cold. I did so yesterday before Bible study. I got back and my solar lights were not on since it wasn’t bright enough yesterday as I went to unlock the door. (And shewed the cats away again.)
Apparently they had crapped on my porch and I didn’t find out until After walking into the house and smelling cat crap. It was all over my shoes and the rug! I was hoping just to relax for the evening but spent half of it cleaning up cat crap (and my nice boots) instead. So that was the last straw.
Keep in mind, this was just a place I got to shelter myself after the last divorce where I could have privacy and be able to sustain myself just on savings until Social Security kicked in. I learned how to live cheaply all those years of marriage and being just me, I can still do that. (I don’t necessarily now, but I do manage well. All bills come first and that’s why my FICO is over 800 and why they could give me a loan with no real questions asked on just my signature.
In January it will be 5 years here. That’s 300 months. If you multiply that by *minimum rent of $500/mo, that’s $150,000 in rent I didn’t have to pay for 19,000 (what I purchased this house for). During this whole time, the roof has not leaked and no disasters have happened. It’s only the closeness to neighbors and the lack of outdoor space (and the steep stairs) that is driving me out. So the cat crap is the last straw – but there’s no hurry. I need more decluttering time in both places.
By spring I hope to start a garden in the purchased lot and have a lot less “stuff”. In the meantime keep looking for an opportunity to move. I have one of my senior friends in a mobile home park (with low lot rent), and it is close to my purchased lot so I will ask her to keep an eye out for a mobile home for sale there. Or a house with at least a half acre if/when the real estate market and interest rates go down.