A few years ago my husband and I had a decision to make. We were living in LA, and really struggling to pay our $1600 a month rent for a 3 bdm condo. It was a miracle that we had even been able to rent the condo, as no one wanted to rent to a family with 5 children. It was a true blessing from God that we found a landlady who was a very nice lady, had no qualms renting to us and who was very supportive of us having a large family and always praised and encouraged us. However, we were paying out of our noses for a place that (because of home owners association rules) we had a hard time being ourselves.
For instance, the condos had a lush, green grassy area just a couple of feet from our door, but the children weren't allowed to even step on it. We kept getting fines for our dog getting out, and parking too long by our garage. It was crazy. People watching us all the time to make sure we obeyed the rules. sigh.
So although we were grateful to our lanlady, we knew we had to move. But to rent a house was about $2300 a month! And buying a house in the city was around $300,000+. How long would it take to pay off that much money??? And we knew we wanted land, so that we could grow food, raise animals and practice self-sufficiency.
So we began to look for affordable property in California. This took us to the cusp of the Mohave desert. We went out there to look at some property. My husband tried to be upbeat and positive, saying that all of LA is a desert and people are able to grow stuff there and it doesn't look like desert. I flatly said, "There are Joshua trees here!" How much water would it take to grow food when you are surrounded by Joshua trees and tumble weeds?! It was depressing to think that this was the most affordable property in California.
About this time an internet friend offered to sell us a cabin with 2 acres in Missouri. What a decision to have to make. Do we leave behind all of our extended family on both sides? Do we leave the beach that we love and the life that we know to go somewhere unknown? Do we leave the cultural diversity, where we fit in well, to go somewhere totally homogenous which makes us the odd ones out? Do we leave the nice weather California boasts?
More than that we knew the cabin was small and lacking some essentials (power and water, pretty essential!) How do we go from modernity to pioneer living?
So we began the process of studying Missouri on the internet, weighing pros and cons and praying too. At about this time my husband heard Dave Ramsey's motto, "
live like no one else, so you can LIVE like no on else." Robert also had just met a man whose family had lived for several years in his mother-in-law's garage in order to save money so that they could by their own home. When Robert met that man he had bought a big city house and was buying his third house at the time. They had sacrificed and it had payed off for them. And we knew another man who owned a 1 bdrm condo near us, who had sold if for tons of money ($250,000) and was buying a house on 10 acres in Missouri for $80,000.
We felt that now was the time for us to act, as our children were just young enough that living in a small space wouldn't be too difficult and we wanted for them to be able to enjoy life in the country with us before they were ready to become adults and move away.
So we are here in Missouri. We were able to buy our cabin and a 4 bdrm fixer-upper farm house on 10 acres for well under $80,000. Our mortgage is one quarter of what were were paying for rent in LA! And we were able to buy on owner financing, so we didn't have to put a dime down for a down payment. Best of all, our property will be paid off in 10 years (maybe less if we can.)
Maybe someday, when we have our debts cleared and our house payed for, we'll call Dave Ramsey and share our success story.
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