Frugal living in rural Canada
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 4:17 am
Hello everyone!
I've been lurking for a few weeks and decided to start a diary
I'm a 37 y.o. female, married, childfree. I work full time as a Registered Nurse in a small rural hospital in a very isolated and Northern community in Alberta.
I guess the reason I'm right here right now is the Fight Club movie I watched in 1999. Since then the ideas of anti-consumerism and sustainability won't leave my mind. I recently came across the ERE book while searching for books on stoicism, the philosophy that resonates with me the most.
Since 1999, when my husband and I started practising selective anti-consumerism without any clear idea of where it'll take us, many things happened.
We immigrated from Russia to Canada.
I went to nursing school for more than 4 year, managing without getting into debt. I got my license and full time job with good salary, pension plan and benefits.
We're getting decent income that allows us to save.
After reading the ERE book I dropped the idea of getting Master's degree and I feel very relieved
We bought a tiny house really cheap (but had to get into mortgage, sigh) with some land.
I walk to work (15 mins) regardless of the weather (in winter it could be -40C which is -40F). The grocery store is 5 mins walking distance.
My husband works from home (IT).
We turned into vegans with emphasis on starches and beans and that saves a lot of money. As a result we were able to fix all our health problems that were grossly lifestyle related (obesity, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes all gone for good). Which is ultimately will save us a lot of money as well.
We live in a very clean environment, surrounded by farms and First Nations reserves, no industry around. So minimal exposure to harmful substances.
I quit drinking any alcohol a year ago without any regrets. My DH still nominally a drinker, but his last drink was 11 months ago
We're growing our social capital really well. My job at a small rural hospital helps with that a lot.
Since we started saving money after my graduation in 2014 we accumulated about $30,000 of liquid assets.
Our leftover mortgage is $89,700.
I have to send money to my parents, about $400 a month because Russian economy is pooped.
Our plans:
- Start monthly budget. We stopped doing that since we ceased to be very poor. I need to start again in order to see where we could optimize our spending.
- Get full driver's license. Since we didn't need a car all our life we didn't bother to learn how to drive. Right now I'm almost ready to take the road test, but my husband still needs to start from scratch. It's an expensive skill to get, but we need it since we're so isolated up North. Right now though there's no immediate need (our social capital helps us to get around if needed).
- Learn to ride a bike.
- Improve my financial literacy to become a smart investor.
- Start a garden and learn basics of Permaculture. Despite we're so far up North, we have beautiful summers with a lot of sunshine and quite fertile land. Right now though our land is just a lawn... And we have only minimal gardening skills. So... Lots to learn Also, the car will be needed to be able to get water for irrigation from the river. We don't have much rain and every season is drier and drier.
- For my husband: to learn electrician skills. He got pretty serious about it and already spent $400 on tools, which bugs me, but it's ok. He didn't read the ERE book, so he is still interpreting the idea of Renaissance Man in his own way
- Get my husband to read the ERE book
I want to retire at the age of 50, as for my DH, he hasn't decided yet. He's 43 now.
I've been lurking for a few weeks and decided to start a diary
I'm a 37 y.o. female, married, childfree. I work full time as a Registered Nurse in a small rural hospital in a very isolated and Northern community in Alberta.
I guess the reason I'm right here right now is the Fight Club movie I watched in 1999. Since then the ideas of anti-consumerism and sustainability won't leave my mind. I recently came across the ERE book while searching for books on stoicism, the philosophy that resonates with me the most.
Since 1999, when my husband and I started practising selective anti-consumerism without any clear idea of where it'll take us, many things happened.
We immigrated from Russia to Canada.
I went to nursing school for more than 4 year, managing without getting into debt. I got my license and full time job with good salary, pension plan and benefits.
We're getting decent income that allows us to save.
After reading the ERE book I dropped the idea of getting Master's degree and I feel very relieved
We bought a tiny house really cheap (but had to get into mortgage, sigh) with some land.
I walk to work (15 mins) regardless of the weather (in winter it could be -40C which is -40F). The grocery store is 5 mins walking distance.
My husband works from home (IT).
We turned into vegans with emphasis on starches and beans and that saves a lot of money. As a result we were able to fix all our health problems that were grossly lifestyle related (obesity, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes all gone for good). Which is ultimately will save us a lot of money as well.
We live in a very clean environment, surrounded by farms and First Nations reserves, no industry around. So minimal exposure to harmful substances.
I quit drinking any alcohol a year ago without any regrets. My DH still nominally a drinker, but his last drink was 11 months ago
We're growing our social capital really well. My job at a small rural hospital helps with that a lot.
Since we started saving money after my graduation in 2014 we accumulated about $30,000 of liquid assets.
Our leftover mortgage is $89,700.
I have to send money to my parents, about $400 a month because Russian economy is pooped.
Our plans:
- Start monthly budget. We stopped doing that since we ceased to be very poor. I need to start again in order to see where we could optimize our spending.
- Get full driver's license. Since we didn't need a car all our life we didn't bother to learn how to drive. Right now I'm almost ready to take the road test, but my husband still needs to start from scratch. It's an expensive skill to get, but we need it since we're so isolated up North. Right now though there's no immediate need (our social capital helps us to get around if needed).
- Learn to ride a bike.
- Improve my financial literacy to become a smart investor.
- Start a garden and learn basics of Permaculture. Despite we're so far up North, we have beautiful summers with a lot of sunshine and quite fertile land. Right now though our land is just a lawn... And we have only minimal gardening skills. So... Lots to learn Also, the car will be needed to be able to get water for irrigation from the river. We don't have much rain and every season is drier and drier.
- For my husband: to learn electrician skills. He got pretty serious about it and already spent $400 on tools, which bugs me, but it's ok. He didn't read the ERE book, so he is still interpreting the idea of Renaissance Man in his own way
- Get my husband to read the ERE book
I want to retire at the age of 50, as for my DH, he hasn't decided yet. He's 43 now.