You know that feeling when you've been waiting for something forever, and you've almost convinced yourself that it's not going to happen...and then it does, and you just sit there and think "Wow, that's awesome!" Yeah, I had that feeling two days ago.
I got a call on the 20th from the moving company, saying that they had an opening the next day to move the mobile. It just so happened that I had the next three days off work, so I was pretty stoked! It was just about perfect timing.
I went to the mobile, and starting cutting things off, sewer pipes and various wires that were not necessary, the skirting and whatnot. The moving company showed up about 1pm and started doing their thing. About 3pm I came back after running around a bit, and they were packing up. They brought the wrong type of hitch! So, they would have to come back the next day with the right one. Well, I was still two hours from Calgary, I was driving the gas-hog truck, and I had a bunch of work to do, including getting up on the roof and taking off the furnace chimney. I decided to stay overnight, which probably saved me $60 and 4 hours of driving.
The next morning the moving company was there at 8:30 am sharp, which was cool, since there was a lot to do. They hitched the house up, and we got on the road about noon. I followed the house all the way there, a bit nervous watching my house swaying on the back of this big truck...but we made it there with no problems at all! Well, a few shingles went flying, but that's not the end of the world.
They backed the house onto the spot, and in an hour or so they had it blocked and leveled perfectly. Then they helped me out big time to get the wood stove into the doorway! I was kind of dreading that one, since the stupid thing weighs like 450 pounds.
So, $5000 later, our house is now on it's final spot, and all I need to do is finish the services!
I even brought along the sewer pipes, because they were still in good shape, and the gas pipes as well. All I have to do is convert the furnace and water heater to propane, and reconnect the pipes underneath. Easy as pie, and not expensive!
Now for the really good part. I was stressing bad about money, because as I mentioned before, we were about $10,000 short because of the expensive septic. I've reached the end of my available credit, and can't get anymore, and the money we have borrowed is very high interest. I swallowed my pride and asked my parents to cosign a loan for us to continue, and bring the interest charges down to a reasonable rate. Even 10% would be way better than what I'm paying now!
Then, I also found out that my pension from my last job is available for me to withdraw...and it's worth $11,000!!! I'd have to pay tax on that if I withdraw it, so I still have to consider that, but at least I have some money available if and when I need it! I'm pretty sure that I will end up making good use of that money. If I leave it where it is, I can get a $103/month pension when I turn 65, which might buy me a cup of coffee and bagel by then. I'm going to cash it out, obviously. Pensions are scams. They take your money, keep it for 40 years, and give you back less (after inflation) than you originally gave them!!! How is that security? Plus, have you been watching the stock market lately? It's taking a crap on the living room floor, the Dow Jones is down like, 30% in the last few weeks, and probably will continue to free fall.
I think the most qualified person to handle my money is ME, so I'm going to take my cash and bail on the markets.
The funny thing is, I prayed about this, and I finally said "Lord, I've stepped off the edge here, and I don't have a parachute. I need your help!!!" I knew things would work out, and they did! We are definitely committed to this move now, we couldn't cancel it if we wanted to! We've got the cash, and maybe a little more, and we'll have the work done on time, and hopefully, on budget.
I get to dig a two foot deep hole on Wednesday, and then I need to drill 10 anchors into the ground to keep my house from blowing away in this ridiculous wind we've been having : (
I can't wait to move!!!!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Hello again, I guess I haven't updated in a while, but not too much has happened in the last little while, at least, nothing really good.
I finally got a quote from the Septic people...$21,750!!!!!! That is almost DOUBLE what has been previously estimated by this same contractor, and the designer! He was supposed to call me last night to discuss it, but I never heard from him. Not to mention, I'm also paying over $1,000 for the design of it as well.
This really cuts into our cash reserve. That's almost all the money I have! I've got about $28,000 or so, and that has to cover moving the mobile, putting in electric, finishing the woodstove, finishing the water, and then putting in sewer. Bottom line...I'm $10,000 short. I hate this, it really blows, but it isn't the end of the world. We will find the money, and the funny thing is, I may have found it already!
I found out that my pension contributions from my last job will probably be returned to me! That represents about 5-6,000 extra dollars, and then on top of that, I might be able to claim back the GST I paid for the last itself. I was kind of hoping that I could pay down the debt I've already got with that money, but it doesn't look like that's going to materialize. I just need to find a short term loan until I get this money back.
I'm also looking into the possibility of a part time job for a little while, or at least until we're making money off of the land! My understanding is that things will be tight for about a year or maybe a bit less. Then, my pay at work will rise, and I will have some surplus money to start paying down the high interest debt. Once the high interest debt is gone, I can start socking away for the mortgage. I want to have this paid off in 5 years or less!
On another note, I spoke with my uncle, who sells beef in bulk through a website. He charges between $2.49 up to $3.19 per pound for an animal that weighs about 750-800lbs. If each animal takes between 16-22 months to raise, and the cost of production is about $1.10/lb, then the potential profit is between $1.40-$2.00/lb. For an 800lb animal, you could possibly receive $1200! If you processed 10-14 animals per year, that equals $12,000 to $18,000 per year net profit for your efforts. That's pretty good, and that's what I plan on doing next year. I'd like to start with 7 cow/calf pairs if I can raise the money, and start processing beef in the fall of 2010.
I'd also like to start planting some raspberry plants, which will hopefully start production in a couple years. That oughta keep me real busy for a bit!
I finally got a quote from the Septic people...$21,750!!!!!! That is almost DOUBLE what has been previously estimated by this same contractor, and the designer! He was supposed to call me last night to discuss it, but I never heard from him. Not to mention, I'm also paying over $1,000 for the design of it as well.
This really cuts into our cash reserve. That's almost all the money I have! I've got about $28,000 or so, and that has to cover moving the mobile, putting in electric, finishing the woodstove, finishing the water, and then putting in sewer. Bottom line...I'm $10,000 short. I hate this, it really blows, but it isn't the end of the world. We will find the money, and the funny thing is, I may have found it already!
I found out that my pension contributions from my last job will probably be returned to me! That represents about 5-6,000 extra dollars, and then on top of that, I might be able to claim back the GST I paid for the last itself. I was kind of hoping that I could pay down the debt I've already got with that money, but it doesn't look like that's going to materialize. I just need to find a short term loan until I get this money back.
I'm also looking into the possibility of a part time job for a little while, or at least until we're making money off of the land! My understanding is that things will be tight for about a year or maybe a bit less. Then, my pay at work will rise, and I will have some surplus money to start paying down the high interest debt. Once the high interest debt is gone, I can start socking away for the mortgage. I want to have this paid off in 5 years or less!
On another note, I spoke with my uncle, who sells beef in bulk through a website. He charges between $2.49 up to $3.19 per pound for an animal that weighs about 750-800lbs. If each animal takes between 16-22 months to raise, and the cost of production is about $1.10/lb, then the potential profit is between $1.40-$2.00/lb. For an 800lb animal, you could possibly receive $1200! If you processed 10-14 animals per year, that equals $12,000 to $18,000 per year net profit for your efforts. That's pretty good, and that's what I plan on doing next year. I'd like to start with 7 cow/calf pairs if I can raise the money, and start processing beef in the fall of 2010.
I'd also like to start planting some raspberry plants, which will hopefully start production in a couple years. That oughta keep me real busy for a bit!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Pics finally!
Here are the pics I promised. I've got new ones that I haven't downloaded yet, but I will soon.
Hopefully this will give some flesh to what we're doing, it's always hard to describe these things accurately. Pictures really are worth at least 1000 words. Well, maybe 860 words, after taxes.
Firewood anyone?
Well, it's been two weeks since my last update, I better keep up, since things are happening at a fantastic rate!
I've made about 5 visits to the land since my last update, maybe even 6. Each time I fill in a little piece of the puzzle, and do a little bit of work.
We bought two large water cisterns, and dropped them onto a spot behind the shed. They hold 1250gal each, and I also bought a pressure tank to go with it, so we'll have running water! I just need to figure out how to get the water from the cistern tanks to the pressure tank, without having the pressure tank outside where it can freeze in the winter. Freeze protection is a concern for everything we do here. I've thought long and hard about it, and I think I have some solutions, but I'm also searching for others who have had the same problem and solved it. No reason to reinvent the wheel if there's a better solution!
We finally got possession of the mobile! The lawyer stuff and all the nonsense with the seller was sorted out, and we got possession yesterday! I need to make a trip out there to start pulling the skirting off, securing the cupboards, and making her ready for the 120km trip. The moving company should be able to get the move done around the 8th, or shortly after. Then I have to get the stairs and the shed there somehow, and we're in business!
We bought the woodstove (on sale too, sweetness!), and got it off the truck with some insane effort. I can't believe how freakin' heavy that thing is!! It's at least 400lbs, and cannot be lifted by the combined effort of me and my wife. I'm going to need four huge goons to get the sucker into the mobile when it comes time! Either that, or a hoist on my truck or something. Getting it off the truck was tricky. We ended up letting it fall a short distance to the thankfully soft ground, where it rolled onto it's top. I had already taken out everything I could grab, like the firebricks, the ashpan, and I pulled the door off too. It still nearly sunk into the ground when we were moving it just a few feet! Holy smoke. For $944, it seems like a pretty solid unit to me! It even has a blower motor on the back to distribute heat.
That brings me to the most recent activity - firewood collection. I cannot believe how expensive firewood is! For a cord of hardwood, the lowest price I saw was $490/cord!!!! Crummy softwood was minimum $220, and that's me picking up unseasoned, unsplit wood and doing most of the work myself. However, leave it to a cheapskate to find a solution...
I put an ad in a free online service saying I was looking for scrap wood, like dimensional lumber and such. I got two hits right away, a couple folks were giving away scraps of wood. I picked up a lot of wood the one day, although much of it has screws and nails in it, it's not a big deal, they'll just end up in the ash, and eventually rust in the compost!
Just as I was driving back today, after dropping it all off, I got a call from "Bob". His company has probably 4-6 cords worth of packing crates behind their loading dock, and he wants me to take everything I can get! I got there, and he wasn't kidding, it's a crapload of wood!!!!
I filled my truck and trailer with everything I could get, mostly the stuff that was broken up already. There are many full crates, but I don't have a crowbar, so pulling them apart would have been next to impossible. There is enough wood behind this loading dock for 2 winters, easily. I think we'll be ok for firewood!
On another note, we discovered just how big the land really is...it's massive! I have some pictures of crazy things I found on our property, which I'm going to post right away. It's almost like an ancient junkyard, with farm equipment from the 20's at least, and an old shed that's almost falling over.
I've made about 5 visits to the land since my last update, maybe even 6. Each time I fill in a little piece of the puzzle, and do a little bit of work.
We bought two large water cisterns, and dropped them onto a spot behind the shed. They hold 1250gal each, and I also bought a pressure tank to go with it, so we'll have running water! I just need to figure out how to get the water from the cistern tanks to the pressure tank, without having the pressure tank outside where it can freeze in the winter. Freeze protection is a concern for everything we do here. I've thought long and hard about it, and I think I have some solutions, but I'm also searching for others who have had the same problem and solved it. No reason to reinvent the wheel if there's a better solution!
We finally got possession of the mobile! The lawyer stuff and all the nonsense with the seller was sorted out, and we got possession yesterday! I need to make a trip out there to start pulling the skirting off, securing the cupboards, and making her ready for the 120km trip. The moving company should be able to get the move done around the 8th, or shortly after. Then I have to get the stairs and the shed there somehow, and we're in business!
We bought the woodstove (on sale too, sweetness!), and got it off the truck with some insane effort. I can't believe how freakin' heavy that thing is!! It's at least 400lbs, and cannot be lifted by the combined effort of me and my wife. I'm going to need four huge goons to get the sucker into the mobile when it comes time! Either that, or a hoist on my truck or something. Getting it off the truck was tricky. We ended up letting it fall a short distance to the thankfully soft ground, where it rolled onto it's top. I had already taken out everything I could grab, like the firebricks, the ashpan, and I pulled the door off too. It still nearly sunk into the ground when we were moving it just a few feet! Holy smoke. For $944, it seems like a pretty solid unit to me! It even has a blower motor on the back to distribute heat.
That brings me to the most recent activity - firewood collection. I cannot believe how expensive firewood is! For a cord of hardwood, the lowest price I saw was $490/cord!!!! Crummy softwood was minimum $220, and that's me picking up unseasoned, unsplit wood and doing most of the work myself. However, leave it to a cheapskate to find a solution...
I put an ad in a free online service saying I was looking for scrap wood, like dimensional lumber and such. I got two hits right away, a couple folks were giving away scraps of wood. I picked up a lot of wood the one day, although much of it has screws and nails in it, it's not a big deal, they'll just end up in the ash, and eventually rust in the compost!
Just as I was driving back today, after dropping it all off, I got a call from "Bob". His company has probably 4-6 cords worth of packing crates behind their loading dock, and he wants me to take everything I can get! I got there, and he wasn't kidding, it's a crapload of wood!!!!
I filled my truck and trailer with everything I could get, mostly the stuff that was broken up already. There are many full crates, but I don't have a crowbar, so pulling them apart would have been next to impossible. There is enough wood behind this loading dock for 2 winters, easily. I think we'll be ok for firewood!
On another note, we discovered just how big the land really is...it's massive! I have some pictures of crazy things I found on our property, which I'm going to post right away. It's almost like an ancient junkyard, with farm equipment from the 20's at least, and an old shed that's almost falling over.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Beware the Bobcat!
So, anyone ever use a Bobcat? Not me, not till today anyway!
I rented one to scrape the ground down where the mobile is going to be. I showed up on the land at 0900 today, and there it was, as promised!
I got in, and started checking it out. There was a set of keys hanging from the roof, so I pulled them down. Only one problem...no place to put the keys! I must have looked for 20 minutes, until I got tired of being stupid and called the owner. Turns out there's a code you punch in to start it...so what's with the keys?
It didn't take me long to scrape down the soil, and it was kind of fun too! I like heavy machines. The Cat is an easy machine to use, but it's not heavy enough to move a lot of dirt. It's better for smaller jobs. I'm going back tommorow to try and start digging a pond, but I don't think I'll get too much done on that. It just doesn't have the capacity to do what I need!
We're 5 days away from possession on the mobile, and everything is moving pretty smoothly, except for the mortgage.
The mortgage company is giving me the runaround about a certain aspect of the title. They insist that there's no problem, but I found out that to do it their way would cost an extra $400-500 and accomplish nothing! I tried to call the specialist, but she never returned my call. Again. I also have to find some time in my schedule to sign the documents, which might be difficult since tommorow we hit the streets for the first time! We graduated on Friday.
Lots of work still to be done. I need cement, gravel, a driveway, and a winch for my truck. I'm going to be burning a lot of gas in the next month!
I rented one to scrape the ground down where the mobile is going to be. I showed up on the land at 0900 today, and there it was, as promised!
I got in, and started checking it out. There was a set of keys hanging from the roof, so I pulled them down. Only one problem...no place to put the keys! I must have looked for 20 minutes, until I got tired of being stupid and called the owner. Turns out there's a code you punch in to start it...so what's with the keys?
It didn't take me long to scrape down the soil, and it was kind of fun too! I like heavy machines. The Cat is an easy machine to use, but it's not heavy enough to move a lot of dirt. It's better for smaller jobs. I'm going back tommorow to try and start digging a pond, but I don't think I'll get too much done on that. It just doesn't have the capacity to do what I need!
We're 5 days away from possession on the mobile, and everything is moving pretty smoothly, except for the mortgage.
The mortgage company is giving me the runaround about a certain aspect of the title. They insist that there's no problem, but I found out that to do it their way would cost an extra $400-500 and accomplish nothing! I tried to call the specialist, but she never returned my call. Again. I also have to find some time in my schedule to sign the documents, which might be difficult since tommorow we hit the streets for the first time! We graduated on Friday.
Lots of work still to be done. I need cement, gravel, a driveway, and a winch for my truck. I'm going to be burning a lot of gas in the next month!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Regulatory Nightmares!!!!
Ok, I'm irritated with socialism! I just went down to the permit department the other day to pull some of the permits for the mobile. You'd probably think "Hey, what could possibly be so difficult about putting a mobile on your property?" Oh boy, let me tell you!
Woodstove - You can't just put a woodstove in your mobile. It needs a permit. Yay.
Solar panels - You need a permit to collect electricity. Whoopee.
Gas - Propane needs a permit. This might be a good idea, since it can explode.
Private sewer system - This not only needs a permit, it has to be built by a certified contractor! We're not even dumping real sewage, just the shower and sink water! And it costs $10,000!!! Minimum!!!!! Holy Flying Monkey Crap!!!!!!
Then, you need a plumbing permit to (gasp) hook up the septic to the mobile! Just to hook it up!
Ok, enough rage, sorry.
Obviously this project is going to soar over budget by a bunch. We need more money, but we can't qualify for a line of credit, because of the two loans we have already. What I'm trying to do is to increase one of the loans just a bit in order to cover these ridiculous expenses that I can't get around, of which the biggest is the stupid septic system. The loan we're getting only covers the mobile, the cost of moving it, and electricity. We still need another 20k for other stuff, minimum.
I just want to get this over with. I'll feel better once I've secured more financing, and I can start doing stuff.
I will be going to Vulcan to pull more permits on Friday, and maybe I can talk about some alternatives to septic tanks. The system I have in mind would cost a fraction of a septic, but it would have to be approved. Imagine that, getting approved to do something on my own land.
Here's the real kicker...
I was thinking of doing some chickens for cash, just on the side. Haha, no dice dummy, you have to have a LICENSE to produce chicken OR EGGS! WTF???????? Why would I need a license for that? When I read that little gem, I wanted to stab someone in gov't with an ice pick.
You also need a license to produce honey, and there's a yearly inspection involved. Honey is a little bit more complex, because there are some diseases floating about that you can spread to others if you aren't careful.
I think I'll stick with beef. Beef is good. Mmmmm, beef.
I'm hungry.
Woodstove - You can't just put a woodstove in your mobile. It needs a permit. Yay.
Solar panels - You need a permit to collect electricity. Whoopee.
Gas - Propane needs a permit. This might be a good idea, since it can explode.
Private sewer system - This not only needs a permit, it has to be built by a certified contractor! We're not even dumping real sewage, just the shower and sink water! And it costs $10,000!!! Minimum!!!!! Holy Flying Monkey Crap!!!!!!
Then, you need a plumbing permit to (gasp) hook up the septic to the mobile! Just to hook it up!
Ok, enough rage, sorry.
Obviously this project is going to soar over budget by a bunch. We need more money, but we can't qualify for a line of credit, because of the two loans we have already. What I'm trying to do is to increase one of the loans just a bit in order to cover these ridiculous expenses that I can't get around, of which the biggest is the stupid septic system. The loan we're getting only covers the mobile, the cost of moving it, and electricity. We still need another 20k for other stuff, minimum.
I just want to get this over with. I'll feel better once I've secured more financing, and I can start doing stuff.
I will be going to Vulcan to pull more permits on Friday, and maybe I can talk about some alternatives to septic tanks. The system I have in mind would cost a fraction of a septic, but it would have to be approved. Imagine that, getting approved to do something on my own land.
Here's the real kicker...
I was thinking of doing some chickens for cash, just on the side. Haha, no dice dummy, you have to have a LICENSE to produce chicken OR EGGS! WTF???????? Why would I need a license for that? When I read that little gem, I wanted to stab someone in gov't with an ice pick.
You also need a license to produce honey, and there's a yearly inspection involved. Honey is a little bit more complex, because there are some diseases floating about that you can spread to others if you aren't careful.
I think I'll stick with beef. Beef is good. Mmmmm, beef.
I'm hungry.
Monday, September 1, 2008
More progress...
Another trip to Vulcan today, and a little more progress. I built a canvas garage, which turned out perfectly! It's huge inside, I could park my truck in there if I was so inclined!
When we got out there, I found our little shed was blown over, and all our stuff was strewn here and there. I wasn't surprised, since it wasn't staked down. I was glad to see that it wasn't destroyed, however! It took about 20 minutes to fit it back together and put it back in place. Then we took some monster stakes and pounded them into the hard ground. After we attached the poles, we sunk the stakes right into the ground an inch or two. Let's see the wind get those out! Wait, no maybe I don't want to see that.
My good buddy Terry was out there to help me, and the work went fast, and I really enjoyed it! It's a nice drive, and we were chatting all the way about stuff. He and his family are going to move out there with us by next year, hopefully. The whole family is very excited to leave the city, as is ours.
I now have a cruiser motorcycle, which I bought yesterday. My other bike just wouldn't start, no matter what I did! Maybe with some more work I can get it going, but it's just not an appropriate bike for highway commuting. Too light, too tall. My new bike is a 94 Kawasaki Vulcan 750, sits nice and low, and has cruising pegs and can reach highway speed fast. I just need to transfer the registration over, and we'll be all good! I plan on fixing the old bike somehow, and selling it off. It was a nice bike, just not reliable enough for commuting.
I need to go now, and prepare some documents for the permit application, which I need to send TOMMOROW! I've waited too long already.
When we got out there, I found our little shed was blown over, and all our stuff was strewn here and there. I wasn't surprised, since it wasn't staked down. I was glad to see that it wasn't destroyed, however! It took about 20 minutes to fit it back together and put it back in place. Then we took some monster stakes and pounded them into the hard ground. After we attached the poles, we sunk the stakes right into the ground an inch or two. Let's see the wind get those out! Wait, no maybe I don't want to see that.
My good buddy Terry was out there to help me, and the work went fast, and I really enjoyed it! It's a nice drive, and we were chatting all the way about stuff. He and his family are going to move out there with us by next year, hopefully. The whole family is very excited to leave the city, as is ours.
I now have a cruiser motorcycle, which I bought yesterday. My other bike just wouldn't start, no matter what I did! Maybe with some more work I can get it going, but it's just not an appropriate bike for highway commuting. Too light, too tall. My new bike is a 94 Kawasaki Vulcan 750, sits nice and low, and has cruising pegs and can reach highway speed fast. I just need to transfer the registration over, and we'll be all good! I plan on fixing the old bike somehow, and selling it off. It was a nice bike, just not reliable enough for commuting.
I need to go now, and prepare some documents for the permit application, which I need to send TOMMOROW! I've waited too long already.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
