Right livelihood

 First in 1976 I wanted to move to Mt. Shasta because my cost of living would be much lower there than in a large city like Los Angeles County or the San Francsico area or the San Diego Area. So, far I have lived in all three areas since 1953 off and on. I Presently reside in the greater San Francisco Bay area on the coast looking out into the pacific Ocean.

So, even though I found it difficult to make a living in Mt. Shasta I also recognized the lower cost of living for things like Rent and water. For example, in 1989 the water bill for my 400 dollar a month home on over 1 acre of land with Black Cherry trees, Apple Trees, Pear trees and Black Walnut trees and blackberries and boysenberries growing wild on the back fence this side of the railroad tracks was only 10 dollars a month for an unlimited amount of water then. So, even though food (if you didn't grow it yourself at least) might be more expensive that remote, your rent and clear air and water were very easy to pay.

Earlier we bought 2 1/2 acres from 1980 to 1989 which was very reasonable then in 1980 for around 8000 dollars at the time. However, there was no electricity or phone lines there even though it already had a septic tank and storage shed with a bathroom there. It also had a spring of water on the land that ran at least 6 months of the year.

So, the point for me was I didn't want to EVER pay for a mortgage on a house because I have always considered that to be a form of slavery (even indentured Slavery) that people willingly enter into.

So, instead we bought land for 8000 Cash which we had in savings and sold our 1971 VW Camper van to buy enough plywood and green felt roofing to build our A Frame Cabin deep into the woods at 4000 feet with a perfect view of Mt. Shasta and sometimes in winter 7 feet of snow on the ground.

This helped us a lot when unemployment nationwide was 10% around 1980 because we didn't have to pay rent at all and only had to pay land taxes and food and anything else we needed instead. I figure this saved us at least 24,000 dollars in rent from 1980 to 1985 even if we use the 1989 rent of 400 dollars per month as a basis for that calculation.

So, sometimes thinking outside the box is important to not be a prisoner in your own life.

We were able to home school our three older children for 5 years during this time and it was wonderful.

Then in 1985 we returned to the San Francisco Bay area and bought another business because the oldest who was 12 then wanted to return to public school. 

This likely was good for the children because they all got college degrees partly because of this move to the san Francsico Bay area and buying another business.

But, I look back at that time from 1980 to 1985 as one of the most important parts of my life and likely would have died in my 40s without those healing healing years in my life from all the traumas I faced growing up and into my 20s.

By God's Grace