Planning, Scheming, and Dreaming

Sunset on Quadra Island July 2014

This week I have spent a lot of time scheming and dreaming.  Now that kid #4 has moved out we are free to travel again - except for furry kid #5 (Buddy the puppy, see prior post) who needs to be potty trained before we can have someone sit for him.  We intend to take the month of July off from working at our Company as it is the most beautiful weather on Vancouver Island.  We hope to do lots of beach walking, kayaking and relaxing.


Although I enjoy relaxing at home I love travelling even more.  There are funds that were originally saved for our cancelled trip to Mexico that have been percolating in the travel account - plus I keep adding more to it.

In the plans this year:
-at least 3 day trip to Tofino (taking dog with us)
-return to Taku resort on Quadra Island (taking dog with us)
-one out of country trip TBA (Greece?  France?  Ecuador?  Nicaragua? all possibilities - but must be paid for with cash saved)

We have also made another lifestyle change - bought a truck!  We paid cash and bought a 10 year old truck so we can - buy kayaks!  Yes, the money is quickly exiting the building but as we have no financial obligations other than a small amount of money to kid#4 who just moved out on her own until she is 18 or finishes highschool - it is financial freedom time.  No mortgage, no car payments, no paying interest to anyone.  This does not mean we are spending frivolously though.  When we dreamed of moving to Vancouver Island several years ago the dream always involved a truck, kayaks and a dog.  We now have two of the three and we are working on the kayaks in a couple of months.

Yes, we are still on a budget living within our means.  We just have a little more means and less bills. At some point it does pay to be frugal your whole life - freedom to do what you want when you want how you want!