One year into a ten year Plan for self-sufficiency
One year ago this week, we broke the curse of twelve years renting. We affectionately called it or time in the wilderness. During that time – unable to plant anything, improve things around the house or even have a pet, we planned our escape. We had a dream. That dream was not a fabulous architect designed home with ‘bells and whistles’. It was a place that would also enable us to be self-sufficient and even earn income. A place with a ‘homely, comfortable’ feel about it rather than a ‘don’t dare to spill anything’ atmosphere.
Our dream was very pragmatic:
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A permanent place we could develop for at least ten years
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A home that would lower our living costs
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An opportunity to be self sufficient in food
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A plan to earn money from the land as part of a portfolio income stream into retirement
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A property that could ‘learn and grow’ by adding buildings as we could afford it.
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A place to live with animals and become a retreat from daily life
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A project that would engage us both in creative thinking and planning together
In order to achieve all this we needed land but we did not want a mortgage to carry. We were prepared to put all of our money into something that offered us longer term security and potential income as well as capital appreciation. A house in the suburbs could never offer this. On the other hand, we could not buy land without potential to ‘pay’ for itself, so it had to be good land.We also wanted to be in close proximity to a village community, shops and walks, but rural.
That was a difficult combination, but in 2009 we found that piece of land within walking distance of Matakana village we and bought it. We then spent seven years before we could afford to build a house…but we could continue our dream…
