Category Archives: Financial Freedom

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A Used Camper: my New Home (in pictures)

Where the camper quest began: sitting beside Dad, my brother and sister and their families.

My camper quest started around the campfire, this past Memorial Day weekend at my Dad’s house in Vermont. My brother and sister in Massachusetts, and their families, came together with me to our old homestead. We had a great time together catching up and enjoying barbecue food. The burgers were cooked over the open fire, and absolutely delicious.

At that point, I was seriously considering taking our family’s vintage camper and making it my new home.

living in a tent

In 2021, I had lived in a tent near Mount Desert Island up through November 5th. As a result, I felt brave enough to try something more sturdy. Perhaps I could make it through the winter this time!

Then my brother-in-law, the handyman in our family, looked it over. He concluded that the camper was uninhabitable. Mice had gnawed it down from roof to floor… and damaged it in so many other ways.

Since this option wasn’t a possibility, I started looking for other campers. As I considered what was out there, I pored through Craig’s List and Uncle Henry’s to find them.

In the end, I didn’t find my new camper home on a website… but looking over those possibilities helped me find it. Since in my mind I was in search mode, when I passed it on the road, I saw it.

And here is the camper I found:

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The Tent Life: Why I Love Living in a Tent

Is it just me, or is there a social stigma associated with living in a tent?

Tent Life is a great way to live!

As I went to the polling place to vote in the Maine midterm elections last week, the poll workers asked me for my physical address.  When I told them that I live in a tent, they were visibly concerned for me.

They encouraged me to get in touch with the Emmaus Shelter in town.  As they saw it, no one who lives in a tent does so because things are going well.

My sister Nicole’s friends jokingly like to call the camping they do for vacation “playing homeless”. 

They would rather enjoy their vacation in a beautiful hotel. They just can’t understand why anyone would want to spend their days off from work in a tent!  And yet, many do!

As for me, even though I have a good paying job, I have several good reasons to be back in my tent again.

Great Reasons to Tent

  1. My “home” is paid off! (and cost me less than $100!)
  2. When you need to “cut the budget” to accomplish a big goal, getting rid of your rent payment is a great way to make it happen
  3. I have a safe place to camp, with a Christian Family, not far from where I work
  4. The weather’s good this time of year
  5. Others pay hundreds of dollars to come camp in the Mount Desert Island area for a week!  And I have the opportunity to do it all summer!
  6. No matter how my day goes at work, when I get home, I’m on vacation
  7. This is a great chance to strengthen my skills, to live anywhere in the world He may lead when the “season” changes

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Is it time to quit, or time to stick around?

Move from the job you hate to the job you love

If you don’t like your job, you really should quit as soon as possible. Find out how, below, by clicking here.

More than 70 percent of those in the workforce aren’t happy with where they work. If you do the math, you spend 30% of your waking hours at your job. So you definitely need to love where you work.

Dead end jobs are not meant to be a place to settle down. They are stepping stones as you make your way toward a great job you can pour yourself into with joy. 

When we left the story last time, I was on the journey from Financial Disaster to Financial Freedom.

Then in mid-July of 2019, my transfer from Walmart Chicopee to Ellsworth allowed me to be closer to my family. I jumped right in to a full-time position at Walmart, with benefits. The move came with a big plus: I arrived just in time to enjoy the Maine summer weather I missed so much.

A “comfortable” position

Walmart was a step forward... but eventually, I had to quit.
Yes, I really did work at Walmart Chicopee!

Working as a CAP2 stock worker at Walmart is like a gym pass where they pay you to work out all day. I was in the best shape in my life! And I was really good at unloading the truck, so I did it a lot. God blessed me with a lot of great friends among coworkers and customers, friends who are still my friends today.

Before I continue, I must say that this move back up to Maine would not have been possible without the help of Ellsworth Assembly of God. A family in the church allowed me to live in their trailer in the church parking lot. What a blessing it is to be part of a church family that truly cares for strangers, and each other!

If you don’t have such a family, I really encourage you to find one as soon as you can.

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