How much $$$ would it take to get you to move off of your homestead?

I'm not afraid of cities, either. I just hate'em. Like I said before, I'd rather make less money and enjoy all the things now that some others are dreaming about while they kill themselves in jobs they hate trying to make "enough" to retire and move to the country.

Also, I just had to watch once as people tried to leave a big city to get out of the way of a hurricane to know I don't want any part of one.

For sure! My cousin is always saying to me, "How can you live out there, there's nothing to DO!" He spends most of his free time partying, etc. I'm just not into that. I don't care for SportsPlex's, the theatre, big fancy shopping malls. My niece keeps at me to travel with them to their summer place in South Carolina and I'm like, "Why, I'm happy where I am?" I guess I'm not much of a traveller. I have travelled to places like Tennessee and the east and west coasts.....was nice to visit, but again, didn't feel the urge to stay long.

I don't want any city folk to take this the wrong way, but I tend to see city people as being more cold and self-centered. It's all about "me" and "what can you do for me" and "showing off my material things". Again, in reality this is not what all city people are like, but it's the image I get. Out here, people raise their livestock, tend gardens, and help their neighbours in times of need. Again, THAT is also another fantasy, 'cause there are lousy people in the country too.

Or maybe it's because I was raised in the city when I was young (spent a lot of time in the country though). I love the peace and quiet out here. No honking horns, shrieking firetrucks, screaming drunks walking down the street at 2am, people fanatically locking their doors against intruders, afraid to open it if a stranger knocks on it......what am I really saying? I think the city is too busy and tightly wound for me. Country life seems more laid back and genteel. That doesn't mean everyone sees it the same way.

sullen, I'm glad you are happy wherever you are, though. You sound like you prefer the city to the country and there is nothing wrong with that.

DD

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"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap."

Since we are currently renting our place (last 7 years here), we are considering moving back into town to our now empty house. Since we wouldn't have "critter/garden" chores, I'd have the energy and stamina to get a full time job. We can then save all the money for the next 5 years and pay for a place in cash.. no debt, no other overhead.. no landlord <G>.

The only really sucky thing about the plan is giving up the critters we have here now... and we have to finish the remodeling of the house in town to get it liveable at ALL (no plumbing, etc is hooked up at this point).

Bottom line, is that we will do all it takes in whatever form it takes to own our own homestead.. even "take a break" from it for a period of time. While I HATE the idea of moving back to town (pop 1000 <G> but 30 min from a larger town with jobs), I will do whatever I can to make our dream a reality. The place here is simply out of our budget to buy.. and with all the improvements we have done, it is worth 2x or more than it was when we moved in.

Terri

I could not live without dirt. I like everything about good, rich soil. I like the way it feels, I even like the way it smells. I like the miracle that happens when you plant a seed. Living without dirt is not an option for my life.

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Cities aren't inherently bad. Much history has been facilitated and centered about cities. And there were some good things I enjoyed about living in a very big city.

That said, there's no need for a $30,000 meditation station when you've got the beucolic peace of a verdant pasture (or lawn) to enjoy.

Then again, I get my best thinking done when I cut the lawn ... though I thought it might have been neater had they given Dana a new Dixie Chopper to show off as her 'convertible.'

Still, how much to move? Enough to retire to a smaller 'homestead' somewhere in a state that has close enough to access to the ocean (an hour's drive is okay) and has no state taxes!

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I'm not afraid of cities, either...just don't like them. I've lived in good sized ones over the years, including Atlanta. But this is about Choice, isn't it? I would not choose to live in a big city apartment. I could do, have done it, and will if I have to, but I don't. Money could entice me back to a subdivision, but no further. I would not choose money over happiness. I can stay happy in a subdivision, as I said in my previous post, but I couldn't in a high-rise. It's that simple.

Perhaps as an Army wife I've had too much practice adapting to where ever the Army sends us. Now we've got our own place, and hubby is getting close to being forced to retire, I'm focusing more on what I want rather than what I have to orcan do . It's MY time! And big city livving just isn't a part of that!

Meg

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All life requires death to support itself. The key is to have an abiding respect for the deaths that support you. --- Mark T. Sullivan

I had to go to New York on business. Thought I would absolutely hate it. Talked myself into hating it. Went there, and while I didn't love it. It wasn't that bad. One I got over the sticker shock of how much they pay for things, I actually had a pretty good time.

I guess I could be bought for the cost of living up there plus $100000

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Double post...how'd that happen?

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I was raised in Atlanta and it was okay when I was young.I still would escape to the country and camp and hike.
Now though I don't think there is enough money for me to leave my dirt.I can take a walk down my long drive after dinner and watch the birds and discover some plant or bird I have not seen and be happy.Hear the goats holler,Just not the same in the city.

We lived in Minneapolis when I was very young, and had a farm in the "sand dunes" (thats by Zimmerman CF) that we worked on the weekends. We bought a different farm when I was 4 and we moved there. I was the happiest kid on the planet.

Right at this moment I would take a half million cash and be gone. Pack what I could into the truck; load up the horses, my dog and their stuff; SEE YA! It would take a couple of trips to move the horses and I would expect to be able to get the hay in the loft too. One strange thing that I realize that I would miss is the gardens and then having to start all over again. I would not be moving to the city though – just have to find another little spot in the country for me and my critters. Even with 500,000 to buy a small place around here and start a retirement plan I would have to work full time to stay afloat. Guess I need to up my price or move to a less expensive area.

I liked what Melissa said “I could not live without dirt” – Me Too.

This has been an interesting thread. My two cents.

As a child, grew up in a small town, lots of time in the country, with friends, hunting boating, just hanging out in the woods and fields. Was great.
Move to a small industrial city as a young man to "seek my fortune". (Jobs)

As I grew older purchased a small house on the outside of the "city", good area, fields across the street. Plenty of room to garden, compost, generally enjoy the outdoors.

I have always treated the home as "My homestead", building, fixing, planting, pay as you go living.
Didn't fall into the "bigger house trap", as a lot of my friends did.
The dream was to "buy land, build a cabin and get back to the land".

So after saving, planning, learning, we did just that. Paid for everything as we went along.
Cabin is close to being done, out buildings are in the works, fields are being cropped, and retirement is close at hand.
I guess my feeling is that the journey is most of the fun, and I guess I need to look real hard at "the end".
Then again I guess I will be to busy to think about it when the move time comes.

Over time the "city homestead" has been sucked into the "city", busier, traffic, malls going up around us etc. Progress.

At "The Place", it was a farm that was divided up into 6-10 acer farmettes.
People would come and go, a lot of them had the same idea,getting back to the land. Most packed it up after a couple of years (months).
They would buy the land, start building, ran out of money, marriage break-ups, health problems, and poof they were gone.
Did buy the farmette next door at a good price to let them "out of the hole', so to speak.

Now we are in a new round of sales, building etc. All "city people", look like they will be around a while, with the chain link fences across the fields, "posted signs", complaints about shooting, and planting trees. Guess it's a rule, buy land plant trees.
The deer like it.
Bottom line is that it's getting built-up the same as my "City homestead".
So like I said, need to think about "The end". Maybe time to go deeper into the woods.
First $1,000,000, TAKES IT.

125k (2.5x what I am making now) - but only if rent was ~600/mo for a clean and safe apartment, or if I could purchase a clean well maintained home in a safe neighborhood and have the P&I work out to that amount.

It would take an" UNDERTAKER" to get me off this farm.

Since my Dh and four children (who no longer live here except baby son) built every last inch of this place by ourselves, there is no amount of money, no job, nor any reason that would make me ever leave. Too beautiful, too many memories and the realization of finally having that dream come true...I ain't crazy afterall...

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I was just thinking that maybe there are some people that are afraid to live in the country, too?

One time we had some city friends visit us and when they were leaving at night, the big batch of coyotes out here started to howl and yip. The wife made a beeline for the car and the hubby was like, "Uh, was that wolves?" I said, nope, just coyotes. His response was something like, "How on earth can you stand that? Aren't you afraid to go out to the barn in the dark?" LOL Another comment was made that since I only have one motion-sensor backyard light on, at the driveway, much of the yard is in the dark. Didn't I worry about walking into a bear? "Nope," I replied, "I would be more concerned about walking into a skunk, but I've been lucky so far."

When we were checking out buying this property, I said to the realtor that I wanted to take a walk out back and see exactly what we were buying, so to wear hiking boots. She showed up with fancy casual shoes, but was game, so out we went. The trees are very close in spots and the land is hilly, and after a good rainstorm, very mucky. Her shoes got ruined. I also made note of some tracks (probably coyote). "Are there bears around here?" she asked, looking somewhat timidly around. Of course, there had been a recent article in the paper about one in someone's backyard. I assured her that no doubt there was, but since we were noisy, they weren't likely to come for a visit, so long as you didn't come between a sow and her cubs. I think my "bear talk" scared her more than not knowing about the bears at all. She was very relieved when we got back to the driveway.

And then there's the looks you get from city folk when you tell them that you butcher your own animals: "How can you do that, they're so cute! I could never do that!" Nope, you just pay someone else to do your dirty work for you.....but let's not go there.

So it seems just as many city folk find the country life intimidating, what with the thick bush, lack of eye-blinding blazing lights, and dead quiet nights (or worse, unknown 'creepy' animal sounds).

To each his own! Personally, I like people staying in the city where they belong. It makes it that much more peaceful out here for me!

DD

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"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap."

Okay, but where would we pasture our milk cow??? Growing & raising our own food is a major part of our farmstead.

I couldn't do it for any amount of $$. Just driving into the 'burbs of Chicago & staying for 4 days for work gives me major anxiety attacks. No way could I live in town again

Live without dirt?? I NEED dirt to survive! We don't live this way because we HAVE to, it's in our blood and we are happiest living in the dirt!

That's what I'm talking about!

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If I hear one more person call "soil" dirt, I am going to blow a fuse!

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

We have had big $ offers to move to a few big cities. We gave them a $ amount & they wouldn't match it...oh well. The $ amount was too high for them & we didn't want to move to a big city anyway. Then I go through a summer in a tourist town & am extremely happy to have our place in the woods and winter coming.

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~Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Aw, lighten up, CF. Don't sweat the small stuff.