Our "Log Home" Savings Fund

[LogSurfer2]

So my 6 year old daughter just gave me a handful of pennies from her piggy bank, saying, "Mom, here's some money 'cause I really want to help you build a log cabin"!!! OH MY GOSH, it's too cute!

So on the serious side, my husband and I personally have very little in savings, and I am working on eliminating some debt I had from before we got married (we married last summer, but have been together for 12 years). Oh, yeah, and we have no land yet....

It's scary how little we actually have, we don't even have land yet, but I just know that some way, some how we will get this going.....anyone else out there start with very little and make it happen?!?!?!

Judy Rainey
San Jose/Santa Cruz Mountains, CA

[loghousenut]

Ya got the rest of your life... Make the most of it. One interesting "saving money" trick/exercise that has worked for me is to simply stop buying anything that costs money. Since I commute 35 miles to work, we decided to exclude gas from this exercise.

When it's time for lunch you eat what you brought from home (made from what was in the cupboard or freezer) or you don't eat lunch. Dinner comes from the same place lunch came from. New sheets and socks don't get bought just like coffee from the coffee stand.

If you are doing it right, you will have a ton of food socked away to get you through. This is the time to use it up and rotate it. Cook that rice every way you can and use up those black beans and canned tomatoes. Let the kids eat the ice cream knowing that there'll be no replacement. The easy breakfasts like muffins from Costco will go quickly forcing you to make pancakes, etc. You already have clothes... You could go months.

If you are a daily shopper like I am you'll be amazed at what a difference this little exercise will make in your spending after a week or four. You'll discover a few things about yourself that may come in useful as you enter the next stage of your life. For certain you will find one or two things that you actually ENJOY doing without.


On a related side note, we have gone for long periods our lives without access to TV, but gradually come to love it (we are Americans). A few years ago we gave in to peer pressure and enjoyed the heck out of Dish TV. When it was time to bring in the heavy equipment and hog out a bunch of real estate for a building site, the TV dish was in the way. Instead of moving it we cancelled it and went back to broadcast TV (one channel) that we can receive the old fashioned way. After a few months of withdrawel we found out how much we liked the extra $800 per year that we were saving. If you build as slowly as we build, $800 per year buys a lot of log house stuff.

It has always amazed me how much enjoyment there can be to life as an American without spending my hard earned dollars. I suppose you folks who are Canadians can feel the same way... Heck, I think most Canadians are fairly American whether they like it or not. Hahahhaa ha!

PS Take the pennies from the kids and add to it and keep it visible. I am the poster child for how valuable a kid can be while building a log home.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t55/loghousenut/Wow/Rafters9-2010442.jpg

[rocklock]

It's scary how little we actually have...anyone else out there start with very little and make it happen?

Well, nothing is hopeless. The best advice anyone can give some one that's in a hole - STOP DIGGING. Also good advise for our nation... but that's another story.
It sounds like everyone is working together, if your little one is saving her pennies, so now is the time for the eliminations of all debt and start a plan to save... The stuff LHN said is not extreme if you really want to make your dream happen.

I would suggest that your goal may best be accomplished by financial jujitsu, figure out where forces are leading you, and try to optimize on the idea maximizing these forces. What ever you do, don't get a loan to build.

Just as an example, my wife and I have maximized our potential. We both have Masters Degrees, worked our entire lives, and saved for our retirement. There is no magic to our lives, just hard work. We started with our selves. Our first two years ended with each of us graduating from FSC. We are a team. When I got my Masters degree, I also took care of our two children - Yes, I was a house husband some 35 years ago. Then I was able to get an engineering job in the state (Hawaii) where she wanted to go to get her masters. Long story short, we have worked as a team for 43 years so far. I will be returning to our log home next week to continue finishing many projects with no debt.

Just a note, It looks like your picture shows Yosemite Falls. I have worked at Camp Curry. I spent some very interesting times and have many memories of that location... but that was a very long time ago. I would go back but I know I would be disappointed.

Good luck

[lilbluehonda]

Well if it was a really long time ago then you must remember "Let the fire fall"

[LogSurfer2]

Thanks, Guys! LHN, we can always count on you to encourage, inspire and keep our thoughts on the right path!

I think we both (well, all of 4 us really) know what we need to do, and I think we just get so excited with every passing day, but we still need to take the class!!! LOL....we're both set to take the Sept. class, but waiting until then will be torture.....worse than the S.F. Giants! My 17 year old son is willing & ready to help us out and has seen & helped his grandpa build a stick frame home all by himself....my son actually knows a little more about building from the ground up than I realized!

It's very hard to save in this valley, since rent is SO HIGH, but we are praying to get some cheap land at one of a couple upcoming auctions, so we'll see if that is fruitful. If so, we can stop paying rent and live in a trailer on our land and build from there! If that doesn't pan out, maybe it's time to cash out the IRA's and 401K, and see what we can get for $30,000....around here not much hope! I'd really love to go way North or Northeast (CA), maybe Trinity county or El Dorado county....even Mariposa, aahhh....so close to Yosemite! But hubby is worried about leaving a good job with no guarantee of a job somewhere else. I need to be realistic, but at some point, we may just have to "up & leave" and trust the good Lord with our futures...

PS - Dave, it's hard for me to imagine that you could ever be disappointed with Yosemite, even now with the current tourism, but they've tried to limit it as much as possible, and there's no denying the beauty of that God given land.....even with the couple hotels and tourist signs.....but I do know they stopped doing the burning log down the waterfall, for environmental reasons I seem to recall.

[Shark]

Dave ramsey...if you practice what he teaches and mix with the lhba teachings you will be well off.

[logsurfer]

Well if it was a really long time ago then you must remember "Let the fire fall"

HA! And Muir spins in his grave at the mere mention of such 'fire' :D

[LogSurfer2]

Dave ramsey...if you practice what he teaches and mix with the lhba teachings you will be well off.

Thank you for the reference, we looked him up and bookmarked it! Growing up in our over-inflated area and having literally everyone around me in debt seemed normal...but now I know much better! I keep telling myself that being debt free and working towards this goal is biblical....so it's helping me keep the dream alive! ;)

[lilbluehonda]

HA! And Muir spins in his grave at the mere mention of such 'fire' :D
They stopped it years ago but when I was a kid we use to camp there a lot and look forward to seeing the "Fire falls" at night

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/ragdump/FireFalls3.jpg

[rocklock]

Growing up in our over-inflated area and having literally everyone around me in debt seemed normal
I was going to mention Dave Ramsey. I have heard nothing but good things from his approach. He has a radio show and I believe you can hear it over the internet.

Yes, I fondly remember the fire falls. It was a renewable resource that was extremely popular. It lasted every day for almost 100 years. This quote is from Wikipedia...
The ritual ended in January 1968 when the National Park Service ordered that the Firefall be discontinued due to the overwhelming number of visitors it attracted, and the fact that it was not a natural event. I believe, at the time, we were told that the tree was attacked by some beetle and there was no longer the bark to be had... OBTW, the ember fell 3,000 feet to a bench that was almost pure granite. It was a very safe activity. Think about it, it lasted almost 100 years...

I knew John Muir (III). He was a summer hire at Grant Grove...

[edkemper]

Just MHO, I think the two recommendations that helped us become debt free were:
1) Pay off completely one credit card debt at a time. The highest interest rate is first to go. Pay minimum payments on all except the debt you are eliminating). Once the credit cards are paid off, then pay of the vehicles. Then the house.
2) Pay cash for everything except rent and utilities.

Now that we're debt free, we've started buying our groceries, home supplies and gas on our CostCo American Express card. We pay it off each month. We get a healthy rebate check back at the end of the year. We also save 3% on fuel. (That's not 3 cents per gallon, its over 12 cents per gallon. We save over $4.00 per fill-up) We also buy our gas from Costco so I enjoy cheaper pump prices and save an additional 3% on gas. (CostCo is only 3 blocks away)

[LogSurfer2]

Thank you everyone! I guess we're not "in the hole" as bad as many around here are....it just seems that way when we look at our limited savings acct. and see the cost of land in our area....then it seems a little daunting, or in my husbands mind, it seems impossible! I have huge faith, and just trying to rub it off on him...hehehe....;-)

Our main debt at the moment, is a new truck we just bought! Aahh....back in December, about 1 month before I found the LHBA site!!! LOL....what to do, what to do....well we love the truck and plan to keep it forever, but now we wonder if we should have bought the full-size. With the price of gas these days, I'm glad we didn't! If we actually get some land, I may sell my Highlander, which is paid for, and use that money towards our building fund. I love my car, but not more than our dream to build our own Log Home!!!

[StressMan79]

I got a work truck... never drive it but to work, since it is not a race car and handles like it isn't. But I NEED it. the 4x4 is invaluable, and the full sized bed is needed, since you can't get a semi full of materials (or even empty) up my hill (25% grade at parts and windy).

Course it cost 6k. '96 F250 7.3L Diesel 4x4.

FWIW.

-Peter

[LogSurfer2]

Yes, I have been eying a very old looking truck down the street....but I don't know how much they're asking.....but I thought the same thing. Full size bed for sheets of plywood and/or loads of sand, gravel, and the like. Not sure if it's a 4x4, though. So if I sell my little SUV someday maybe we can get us a beat up old "work" truck ;-)