Just curious who else is living super frugal

[Arielle]

Quote:
I was a manufacturing engineer before that last Revolving door hit. I had a nervous break down and went to work for ARCO as a gas station/convenience store cashier.... My most favorite job to date. I went back to school to get my degree and found I could have taught all the classes except Physics and economics... A validation of sorts. I tried going back in another industry... Rather than Electromechanical packaging I gave the Building trades a try... found I was too old to pay my dues all over again. Found Biomed and worked there doing Iso 9001 work and engineering change orders. That revolving door hit me in 2011. I am done.

But during that time my granmother started needing me more and more and now I get a small income from her to be her caretaker. Its just enough to keep my house up and feed my horse and pay what few bills I incurr. shes 99 now.

I have begun the small things toward moving home for when she doesnt need me any more... Loosing weight, is the first step. But getting some things done at the house as I can afford it. Slowly packing stuff and taking a few things up there "to store". Settling on the idea that I will have to do it part time for a while as well. Its a compromise.

I am a good designer my software skills are stale though. my area of expertise is streamlining an existing product without changing the integral function but making it less expensive to manufacture... sometimes exponentially less expensive to make. I hope to freelance working by bidding a job and completing it and moving on. We will see. I am sixty now... At sixty two I am told I can begin collecting Social Security without quitting working... of course there are guidelines for that. I need to read up though.

Oh yeah and I started out in aerospace... General Dynamics Space systems... Worked on the Commercial retrifit of the Atlas Centaur rocket. Tooling for the aft one third of the C-17, as well as Work platforms for the 777. After the 777 Aerospace left San Diego pretty much with the exception of SAIC... but I never was able to time the application right to get in there.

I am tired of revolving doors tired of working "on contract" but I am euqually relieved that I am not locked into a cube farm any more tied to three different operating systems to get my job done.

I just want to raise Chickens learn how to can and Putter.

deb
You have arrived at a better place for sure.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Here in MAss we were not allowed to m ove in until the house was well finished: electrical in with fire cheif issueing permit; building inspector issueing his permit. While I understand the need for safety, this thinking drives up the cost of living. ( we built our own house, small by local standards, but I like the size and design of a Cape)

 

[Arielle]

Thanks.

apparently I also need to draw a map of the inside and mark where each item is located. Somehow having a penis cancels out the ability to locate an item in the fridge or cabinet

. I can even say..."It's on the third shelf, left hand side, probably behind the cheese"....can't get much more specific than that, right? "Mom, it's not there.....".

LOL I have taught my boys to keep looking . . . .they would give up too quickly. Guess looking in the frig is not as riviting as searching for a toad.

 

[Oliver Douglas]

I also came from San Jose – born and raised there. I married my high school sweetheart there. I worked my whole carrier there with an large international company – retired in my 50's. I lost my wife to illness in 05. That cut retirement income in half, but I still get along well enough. We owned this property out here where I can see the stars and where I can't hear my neighbors; so this is where I now live. In 2013, I started sharing my life with Jennifer, but she died of lung cancer earlier this year. I'm now in my 70's and I'm dammed tired of saying good by – of being left behind; so I am now learning to appreciate the quiet of being on my own – the simplicity of it all.
With your new freedom and your new adventures, the greatest thing you have, is that you can still say “We”.

Leaving behind two loved ones in such a short time takes it's toll. Both my parent's remarried after their divorce...my father and step-father both passed within three years of their spouses dying. I can't imagine life if my wife should go first. The thought of having to downsize by removing her things is something I would dread. When my mom passed away, my step-father closed off the bedroom they shared. When he passed, we had to go through the room...her hospital bed and medical devices were still there, as well as all the documents, magazines, medications, etc. When you reach a certain age, too many of us don't realize that the hardest part of our passing is for the children, having to figure out what is what, where important papers are, etc. We keep everything in a safe for our kids. Draw up a will. Make the most responsible one executor of the estate. Keep the vultures away.

 

[Oliver Douglas]

I was raised in Rochester, MA. Left in 1959, but still make visits now and then. Miss the woods, the water, the summer thunderstorms, clam bakes,,...not so much the mosquitos, ticks, snow, and summer humidity. And the June Bugs. Things were everywhere! That's why all homes had a blocked off entrance into the house, I guess.

 

[DennisK]

Leaving behind two loved ones in such a short time takes it's toll. Both my parent's remarried after their divorce...my father and step-father both passed within three years of their spouses dying. I can't imagine life if my wife should go first. The thought of having to downsize by removing her things is something I would dread. When my mom passed away, my step-father closed off the bedroom they shared. When he passed, we had to go through the room...her hospital bed and medical devices were still there, as well as all the documents, magazines, medications, etc. When you reach a certain age, too many of us don't realize that the hardest part of our passing is for the children, having to figure out what is what, where important papers are, etc. We keep everything in a safe for our kids. Draw up a will. Make the most responsible one executor of the estate. Keep the vultures away.

I was raised in Rochester, MA. Left in 1959, but still make visits now and then. Miss the woods, the water, the summer thunderstorms, clam bakes,,...not so much the mosquitos, ticks, snow, and summer humidity. And the June Bugs. Things were everywhere! That's why all homes had a blocked off entrance into the house, I guess.

I spent a year back East – Georgia. I fondly remember the clam bakes. That was in 66. And I remember the humidity as well. It was during winter time that I suffered as it seemed no matter what I wore, that cold damp wind would cut right through.
Oliver, it happens to all of us who stay together. One of you will say goodbye and the other will be left behind. If she goes first, she will take a big chunk of you with her – for me, I figure that is OK. The thing I take comfort in is that one day, I will follow her footsteps – that is when I become whole again. In the mean time, I have a number of animals that need me to care for. Your children will be a source of strength for either of you. For their sake, It's good that you have planned for that eventuality.
In the mean time, stuff as much joy in your life as you can manage. You have a lot to work with.

 

[Oliver Douglas]

I had a serious motorcycle accident years ago. Ambulance, hospital, nothing broken but a lot of road rash and sore limbs. When my wife arrived at the emergency ward, she said "you can't go first...." took that message to heart. The most amazing part of the story was that my bike went 400 feet down the road, head over heels, and was dropped into a culvert in the side of the road. I slid 150 feet backwards over gravel, missed several mail box posts, ended up face down on the other side of the road. I could see the tail lights of my bike in the distance, and I was only 1/2 mile from home. I tried to lift the bike, but couldn't...a good Samaritan came up beside me and asked if I needed help....I said " just help me get this bike up"....well, it came up. When I went to thank the person, there was no one there. I got home in one piece. The next morning, after I had returned from the hospital, I checked out my motorcycle I had parked the night before. The master brake cylinder had been sheared off in the accident. My rear brake pedal had been ground down from the accident. Guess someone wanted me to stick around for awhile.

 

[DennisK]

Gayle and I rode bikes together - for a while. Her front wheel met with my back wheel, and the result was her broken collar bone. That ended our bike riding adventures; so to follow up, we started flying lessons. A while back, I joined a petanque club, and some of the old folks there still ride. They called themselves Organ Donors.

 

[DennisK]

If ever you need a hug, join a petanque club. Win or lose, everyone gets a hug! Petanque isn't very expensive and it is a good way to keep from getting isolated.

 

[Arielle]

Have decided to make sprouts as a cheap veg. Appatently from all i read the vitamin content is much higher than as a seed. Need cheese clothe. Still trying to find. Lots of seed good to sprout.