"If I knew then what I know now....."

I would have traveled alone more, I would have gone out of state for college, I would have saved up longer to get land and a house thats closer to my relatives, not 6 hours away from everything thats familiar, I would have taken more continuing education classes for electrical and wood working before buying a house, I would have done most of my early adult life differently

I would have joined the military and married a whole lot smarter - or not at all

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Momma's don't let your cowboys grow up to be babies!

My Mom always told me there's a lot of difference between having fun & being happy-- this was supposed to be attached to the post about the person thinking if they joined the party they'd be having fun--

I guess I wouldn't change anything, it's the only way I could've gotten here. I wish my husband would have taken Diabetes seriously, he wouldn't have passed away a few month ago at 54.

I would have planted an orchard first thing & made raised garden beds higher off the ground. Being single & 62 really bites getting down on the ground much. I guess the main thing would to be "Bloom where I was planted"! When you pick a place start working on it when your young so you've got the major part of it done (mostly) before you start getting older. Find a spot & stay there!

I would have planted a lot of trees when I got my place.

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Momma's don't let your cowboys grow up to be babies!

Preach it, sister!

Years pass and we all change...a lot of what we're doing now would have been so much easier when we were in our early 40s than in our mid-50s.

What "I" should have done was hit the ground running 14+ years ago when we first moved out here instead of focusing SO much on my "job" for all the good it did me.

But life happens, good and bad, and we all make choices, for better or worse...all we can do is make the best of the time we have left.

ETA...

Just realized how depressing that sounded! Egad!

I would have worked harder earlier to become debt free. I would never have gotten involved in the rich man's game (Stock market). I would have invested in myself earlier. I put trust in others instead of in myself.

I lost my wife hours after the birth of my daughter in the 80s. I fell apart for over 25 years. I retired disabled in a chair with no investments. I bought a home I couldn't really afford a year later. I lived frugally and became debt free in 7 years. I met the most beautiful and talented woman in the world at Starbucks. I married her with her two kids, one autistic, less than a year later. We continued to live frugally. Had a bunch of surgeries over 5 years and got out of the chair and finally danced with my wife. I got an inheritance and decided we could either be rich for a few years or buy a chunk of land in Oregon for cash so we wouldn't spend all the money on toys or loose it in the stock market or the banks. The next best decision was to move out of CA with every penny I had left. We buy nothing we can't pay cash for.

Bought a house in town for cash 45 minutes from our property. Bought a few pieces of heavy equipment. Now we (wife, autistic adult son and I) spend time working together at our leisure, on our property and will soon start building our (real log) home, by our own hands, together. Sell our home in town and then live off grid and continue living debt free and a long way away from the city.

Everything I presently have and love is because of my past and the decisions I made. Good and bad. The only thing I now have that I would hate to loose out on is my wife, kids and debt free living. Love and personal peace is what life is about. I believe am the luckiest man on this forum. It just took until my 60's to get here.

PS: Stay healthy without pharmaceuticals. So much healthier to let nature provide naturally. A downhill health and financial slide is to fix things via a pharmacy or a liquor store.

I would have had my homestead 5 years earlier if I knew what I know now about my home business.
I would have shared my homestead blog with more people with the same interest.
here is blog
Paid more attention to what older folks told me.

Would have never got rid of my 20 in the middle of nowhere.

big rockpile

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I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.



If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock!

I'm in 8a as well.....Snows one day and it's 68 the next day??????

I would not have worked so hard to prove I could when I was young.
I would not have grown the farm so big.
I would have cut back sooner. If I would have known how sick I would get.
I would have stayed retired.
10 years later I would have retired when the City Manager did, but I wasn't 50 yet, should have anyway.
I would not have become Supervisor. I gave my health for a City that didn't appreciate what I gave up, to stay.


The good part is I banked that money early and can enjoy it now. Just not in good enough health to do what I thought I wanted to do, after retirement. But, I am getting stronger every day and now I know what is really important. I have been given a third chance and hope it is the charm....James

??? explain please?

i would have realized I only needed 1 goat, not 17...

I truly cannot say I'd change anything most people call "living" because decisions I've made brought me to where I am now. As for where I am, i.e. being on a 6-acre homestead raising dairy goats and fowl. I should have spent excess monies on nutrients for the soil; however, be that as it may, I am thankful for what I was able to create on this farm while I was yet strong and flexible.

However, in the spiritual realm, I would have self-examined more throughout my life toward the ultimate goal of pleasing a Heavenly Father who has been a constant in my mundane existance. Still, now that I'm retired and have much time to do with what I want, the opportunity for this self-examination is prominent; and my gratitude for this time is often overwhelming with blessings heaped upon blessings for contemplation of His love.

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I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com

Not realizing at an early age to try live by this:


Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen

Absolutely valid in all things, except politics.

Not in any particular order …

I wish I would have checked in to the people who have become my neighbors more thoroughly. Some are great, some are bad, and one of them I might have to kill some day. Wish I wasn't kidding. I'm not alone. Half of our neighbors feel the same way, and even our Sheriffs Dept has told all of us "we wish you'd just shoot the SOB and do us a favor. We're tired of coming out here to deal with him." (Ya gotta love Texas).

I, too, wish I would have put more rock down. But there's still time.

I wish I would have built a shop with living quarters first, then the home.

I wish I would have studied electrical wiring sooner and saved myself $3500. It really isn't all that hard (thanks YouTube).

Better yet, I wish I would have taken the $2800 it cost us to run power to our place and used it to put in solar and just gone completely off-grid.

I wish I would have been in FFA as a high schooler and gotten into Ag in my 20's rather than in my 50's.

I wish I would have listened to my Pop more and not thought he was a old fuddy-duddy. The older I get the wiser he becomes. For someone with not much education, was he ever smart.

I wish I would have bought my 35 HP tractor with FEL and backhoe the moment we bought the land.

I wish I would have read Dave Ramsey's 'The Total Money Makeover' 20 years sooner (if it was even in print then). That book changed our lives.

I wish I would have bought land and started a rural lifestyle back in the 80's.

I wish I would have had a better golf coach at a much younger age, I might have been able to have gone Pro. I don't even play any more, working on my property and animals is just way too much fun. And golf hurts too much to play now..

I wish I would have been a better husband when I was younger. Thank God she has stuck with me through thick and thin, because now, after 35 years, it's incredible. But those early years …. I could have and should have been better to her. I didn't beat her or cheat on her, I just never fully realized how great she was until after 20 years or so. Too wrapped up in me. Life gets mighty precious when there's less of it to waste (thanks to Bonnie Raitt for those lyrics in her song 'Nick of Time').

I wish I would have been by my Dad's side as he passed. It will haunt me forever.

I wish I would have been with my Father-in-Law as he passed. That, too … dang it.

I wish I wouldn't have been so tough on our oldest daughter. Things are great between us now, but did I ever waste a lot of time being angry. I should have been a better father.

I wish I would have put in our wood stove before we put the metal roof on. This leak is killing me. Got to get that fixed.

I wish I would have paid more attention in Auto Class in high school.

if i had avoided marrying my ex-wife, i would not have the two wonderful children i have now. they came at a great price, but they have proven well worth it.

I had a very small order on my screen to buy F @ 1.56. I hesitated, and then the phone rang. When I got back to the computer, and logged in again, F had moved up to 1.83.

I was definitely being penny wise and pound foolish. I decided to wait for the price to fall back into the mid-1.60 range. It never fell after that point; the stock just kept going up...and up...and up.

I was nowhere near your investment level, but I could have banked some nice coin, nonetheless!

Sorry, I almost missed your question. I saw your summary at post 27 above and felt good about your conclusion. "I'm thankful for what I have." To really get to this point is GIANT. Less really is more.

It makes me feel good when I see someone discover it and take stock in what they have. That is a whopper of a foundation to build on.

As a boy, I bought a Neill Sedaka LP and the title cut was Hungry Years. "I miss the hungry years..." I enjoyed the music then but the message means something to me today.

To me, wanting is better than getting and having when it comes to material things. When I imagine what I want in a moment, I as much have it in the now and I don't need to see it depreciate after I have moved on to the next thing.

Nice to visit with you on the trail. Thank you asking for my rambling.