Autumn Harvest Time

This time of year....ah the bounty of it all. The apples are still awaiting some of us to glean the last ones still hanging from the branches.

I´ve always been a fan of gathering local wild edibles....learned that from the joy of wandering the fields with my little friends when I was a child. That was back in the day when parents didn´t worry so much and let their kids roam free unsupervised.

I remember there was a patch of wild strawberries growing under the hydro towers that loomed above our favourite bike paths.

In my neck of the woods up here in Northern Ontario, Canada, we have wild apples hiding in plain sight. The issue being that folks are so accustomed to shopping for their food in the stores, that they don´t really grasp the concept of gleaning food that grows freely near their homes. I can honestly say that I have never seen any of my neighbours walking down the street with any food that they have collected in the wild. Now, this is not to say that they don´t do this beyond my observation, but in this semi-modern suburb, it just isn´t a trendy thing to be seen doing.

The things I have collected in the wild up here have included things like apples, and pears and raspberries. I have also dabbled in tasting little nibbles of spruce tips, as well as dandelion greens and even mulberry leaves.

Foraging for mushrooms in our local forest would be quite a hoot, because our location seems to sponsor a healthy bunch of mushroom varieties. I just am extra cautious and have never eaten any mushrooms I have found or photographed, simply because I don´t know enough about foraging yet to be able to confidently know whether  a local mushroom is safe for eating or not. Better to be safe than sorry eh!

If you are interested in learning more about foraging from someone who actually lives a life closer to local plant life, you may wish to check out the youtube videos of Rob Greenfield from the USA. He is an activist who seems to thrive on foraging and making do with what he can find, instead of going to stores like most folks do. Here is the link to his youtube channel  https://www.youtube.com/@RobGreenfield

Note that Rob Greenfield has made some pretty wild personal choices in his quest to live according to his beliefs. I am not here to endorse all of his choices, but merely to suggest that you may find his foraging videos to be helpful if you wish to learn more about living off the land.

Well, that is all for now friends. May God bless you with the eyes to see the bounty that is all around you....and the courage to harvest some of it. 

Peace,

Carla.

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Tiny Homes in Low Income States....the Investment Opportunity of our Generation?

I wrote in a former blog post, about how there are 15 states in the USA that require incomes under 50K for a single person to survive.(courtesy of an article written by Mike Winters)

I happened to watch a video this morning about tiny homes in the USA. Some were as small as 350 square feet. So, if North America is stairing down the prospect of a recession...there will be opportunities that empower lower income or cash strapped families to thrive in a tighter economy.

So enters the tiny home industry. Fixed home address on minimal land with minimal square footage that folks can buy while earning a modest income or on a fixed income due to retirement, lifestyle choice or disability.

The article written by Mike Winters spoke of the following 15 states...

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennesee, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

So, if you are looking for an idea for your next investment, perhaps you may want to consider investing in the tiny home industry being built in any of the above 15 states. Why focus on these low income states? Because you don´t want folks who buy these kind of homes, to not be able to afford them. You want to build them in states where folks have a lower cost of living. That will prevent foreclosures and folks living beyond their means.

What do you think friends....is this a golden opportunity? Could your family afford to invest less than 200 grand on a tiny home or more than one tiny home in one of the above 15 states? You could buy it for an income property to rent out or as an extra vacation home.

I live in Northen Ontario Canada and I see the struggles folks face finding affordable housing on a basic working family´s income. Where there is struggle there is also opportunity.

Do you want to help other people? Perhaps you can build a struggling working person or retired person a tiny home, so they have a safe stable place to live and sleep. 

We all have different abilities that God can use to support the other people we share the planet with. If you feel called to help people with housing...would building or investing in tiny home structures be a strategy?

Let me know what you think...I respect your voices.

Peace,

Carla

Disclaimer: This blog post is for conversation purposes only, it is not intended to be investment or financial advice. This blog and it´s author do not accept any liability for the ideas discussed in this post or any other post on this blog.

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Living Single on Less Than 50K in the Good Ole USA

I was delighted to read the article Mike Winters wrote that was featured on CNBC.com which described the minimum income  that  a single person needs in order to survive in each American state.

To read the original article here is the link

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/29/the-salary-a-single-person-needs-to-get-by-in-every-us-state.html

And so, playing the part of the truly frugalista, that I sometimes like to do....I went through all the states and ferretted out the ones that required less than 50K for a single person to survive on per year.

There were only 15 states that made this cut:

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennesee, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

So friends, if some of you are trying to plan a modest retirement, this list might become helpful. As a Canadian, I was surprised to see Oklahoma and Tennesee on the list....as the folklore we hear up here about those states is so lovely, that a certain wealthiness for the average citizen was kinda my assumption. But myths are lovely for story time...and don´t always represent reality.

So, does this list help you picture what you could afford if you are a single person trying to thrive in America? Does it help you budget for potential costs of rent or groceries? 

Let´s say you were trying to go really low budget and live from just side gigs, such as food delivery, would it be comforting to know that you don´t need 70K to afford to live in these 15 states?

One of my fave bloggers, https://annienygma.com/

often wrote about Kentucky and how it was pretty simple to find below market rentals for 2 or 3 people. She made a reasonable life from her self published writings and various side gigs to provide for her and her daughter with room left for her to spend time with her family.

Do you look at retirement in such a broad sweeping way? Would you be willing to move to a completely unknown state just to afford to 

¨not work¨ in your retirement?

Do you expect to do any kind of income producing labor in your retirement years? Do you expect any kind of pension income? Do you have any extra health concerns that are not going to be covered by any private or public health insurance policies? Do you want to retire in an area where the average income is below average or above average? Do you want to retire near a hospital or university or have access to great entertainment venues like theatres and concert stages?

Do you have a special diet that requires access to specialty shops?

Well, I have prattled on enough. I love it when authors take the time the report the facts and I respect Mike Winters for attempting to illuminate our understanding of what is a necessary basic income for a single person in each state of the USA. Thanks Mike!

May God bless your preparation for retirement or any kind of lifestyle you design to fit your budget.

Peace,

Carla

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Increasing My Mobility in a Small City that Hates Walking

It's true....folks in my city hate walking. Ok, ok....i'm exaggerating a tad....but you hear me right? I live in suburbia in a smallish northern Ontario city. There are lots of places that are walkable....or at least bike-able with a fairly cheap bicycle....and yet.....99% of the residents of my town drive or are driven EVERYWHERE they go. Ugh.

And so.... back to my dilemma. I knew that increasing my mobility was going to do wonders for my sense of wellness and not to mention my muscle tone and can-do spirit. I knew from experience how even ten minutes in the sunshine on a sunny day could improve my mood measureably. But yet..... it still feels odd, that when I do these outdoor activities....walking, hiking,. sunsitting on the grass....and biking....that I see very very few folks doing the same. And yet, the gyms are full of avid athletes and the sports teams are active on every weekend for the younguns. Sports is a big thing in my town...but non-registered casual physical activity for the purpose of getting gracefully from a to b....is not real trendy.

And so, I have a problem I have not yet solved. How to make walking and biking cool again? I did my small effort the other day, when I noticed a local food store did not have a bike rack. So I contacted the head office of that shop and complained that they needed  a bike rack for their location in my city. I was successful. The head honchos were glad to receive my feedback and promptly had their landlord install a brand new bike rack a couple steps from the food shop. Well done Carla! 

In my city's defense, they have recently put in more bike lanes on newly updated roadways near my suburb. I applaud this. But the social climate has not really changed. Ladies in my age phase and snappy style are not often seen on bikes. It just isn't perceived as the thing to do.

The only time I see really stylish folks biking are those who spend thousands on ultra sleek racing bikes and join bike clubs and wear neon spandex and sharp helmets. That's not the kind of societal change I am seeking.

I'm seeking the notion of biking the way it was when I visited Holland often as a kid. My relatives let me bike around their beautiful dutch city on a great big black bike. Bikes were common. The land is nice and flat so the rides were not stressful. To see adults on bikes is normal in Holland....or at least it was those years ago when I  traveled there.

Biking, when you are not huffing and puffing is a graceful activity, especially if you have a well maintained bike with the tires pumped to perfection.

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And so...my friend, I plunder on and take the blessings along the way that all this activity brings to me and my life. I have learned to recognize several plants this year that I didn't know were edible before...such as mullein and sumac.

I have take some of the best wildflower pics I have to date. I have discovered that even when I meet a small hill, that if I shift into the highest gear that I don't have to get off my bike and walk to make it up the hill. The gears make the bike ride enjoyable and my muscles thank me later.

Peace friends, and bike on......

Carla