We are going on 16 years living in Eureka Springs, Arkansas out on 15 acres in a 132 year old 600 square foot cottage. 16 years. I never thought we would live in one place so long, but the idea of putting down roots and giving back to a place just started to sink in with us along the way. This post is the story of how we have less, by most standards, but we have so much more. I’m hoping to inspire you where you are and if you aren’t get you where you need to be.
The Back Story
We left San Francisco during the dot com bust and because I was freaked out by having National Guard all over the place with machine guns because of 9/11. It was scary stuff seeing businesses shutter, companies relocate out of downtown and the fear based on a very real event that might have been headed our way. We left for Eureka Springs, Arkansas, sight unseen, because we believed we could find a community that would support our lives and that we could enjoy. I took one client with me – The Pampered Chef – and then after that gig ended had to find work on the ground. We left an $80,000 a year job and my husbands job at Sunset Preschool as a teacher. About $100,000 a year. Please know. It was never enough. San Fransisco was a very expensive place to live even then. We wrote a rent check for $2200 every month. It sucked every penny out of us. We came with a little money and, hopefully, some useful skills.
Let’s Jump Forward
I now am the part time executive director of our Main Street program and I make about a quarter of what I made. I also do branding, consulting and speaking throughout the year to round out our finances a bit. Maybe we are at half of what I made. My husband is a wood worker and jumps into projects for folks when they need his carpentry and big guy skills (strongest man ever!). Our mortgage is a third of what we were paying in rent.
Not Rolling in Dough
Ok. So now you know that we aren’t rolling in dough. I make enough money. Let me say that again. I make enough money. It isn’t a lot, but it is enough. As the primary wage earner I can pay our bills and feel good at the end of the month. Are we saving enough. No, but I’m working on a plan for that for 2017.
I could drive 45 minutes away and easily make the salary I made in San Francisco. I have killer skills and they are needed over there, but I have something that is more valuable to me. Time is my currency. It is the most finite thing that we have and we just run out – and that drives me. It has for years. I’m the first person who wants to run home to her husband or daughter and do something fun. If I can finish early on a project – I’m done because there is so much living to do!
Here are the Two Secrets
I don’t value things as much as I value relationships and experiences. I’ve buried everyone in my immediate family and you don’t get to take one god damned thing with you. Not one. It all stays here for someone (me) to deal with. Those things you covet aren’t that important if you are sacrificing time.
2 Real Secrets to Feeling Rich When You choose Less.
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The other secret its that I truly love what I do. It isn’t work. It’s my life. I’ve always loved what I do for work even when I was designing proposals to run the Nevada Test Site or building packaging for HP. I love it. I love working with teams, planning new projects, and engaging in every aspect of the work I get to do. I’m lucky and I know it.
Would I love it if I drove an Uber, washed dishes or made beds for a living? I don’t know. I’m not very good at those things on scale, but if that was where I was I would sure as hell try to find some way to at least like it. Life is just too short to hate what you do to pay the bills. Yes. That’s a privileged point of view – there are literally shit jobs out there – but if one place treats you badly go somewhere else where they are nicer. Don’t stay in things that make you unhappy.
What Does Having Less Look Like?
We don’t go on many vacations, but we have built a life in the Ozark Mountains that is like living on vacation every time I step out of my front door.
We pay cash for things. If we need a new washer we don’t put that on credit we save or pull from reserves and buy it. That way we aren’t worrying about paying bills.
We enjoy one another. Honestly, my husband is my best friend and I like spending time with him.
We, to my frustration, still buy too much stuff. We have iPhones, Macs, iPads, internet and all the goodies of life in a tech world – which sometimes means that we buy too many impulse purchases, but nothing completely insane.
We use the library. A lot. Before I will buy a resource book for whatever interest I have at that moment I will check it out or interlibrary loan it to see if it is worth it. 90% of the time it isn’t. I get a lot of value from our local library.
Our home is in constant repair. It is old and built with zero code. So every project is bigger and more expensive than I can afford at one time. So, our floors are currently (for the last 4 years) plywood subfloor that is new. I just can’t commit to a flooring I will like. Our exterior is being stripped and painted one side at a time because we are doing it ourselves. My bathtub has vice grips for hot and cold handles because the knobs stripped off and I was frustrated and that seemed like a great fix. It has central heat and air, is clean and filled only with things I love… which makes up for the constant work it needs.
This year I broke down and bought a new to me car on payment. I had to. Our old car was costing a fortune to fix every month and payments made sense. This isn’t something I did lightly because payments mean full insurance and that is costly. But goodness it has been so worth it. Harriet the Chariot is a dream!
We buy the best food, mostly organic, that we can find and afford. Food has always been our big expense because that is important to us.
Feeling Rich
My friend, Damon, will tell you that Eureka Springs is a special place where true capitalism hasn’t exactly landed. We are in a bit of a bubble. Sure people make money, but the goal isn’t always that. And some people have a lot and some people can barely rub two pennies together and we all mesh together in community. There are no haves and have nots – it’s just one big melting pot of people.
That is a special thing right there. If we lived just an hour away I’m not sure I could live this simple lifestyle. The need to keep up with the Jones’ would be too great. I’d have to spend more on clothes, my home would be larger, and the opportunities to shop would be greater. I get that I’m in a special zone of vacation life 365 days a year, but that is what we were going for – California Surf Bum life without the expense, crowds, or ocean (we miss the ocean part).
We wanted a lifestyle all those years ago and, crazily, we found it in the middle of the country in the Mid-South. Who knew? I’m thrilled that my values to have less coincide with where I live and, honestly, I feel rich in so many ways.
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