I've Lost My Independence

Getting back to the original intention of this blog - my musings. A little about life, and the ups and downs.

As you may already know, the past two+ years of our life has involved a lot of reflection and changes. This was all precipitated by my medical diagnosis of a very rare disorder called Ataxia for which there is no treatment or cure.

The diagnosis did not come as a shock; in fact, I think I knew for many years that it was coming of age. My father had been diagnosed many many years before and we (his children) were told that there was a 50/50 chance we would develop it too. For some reason, I always knew that I would be one.

So far, I am the only one of seven children to have developed the disorder. Hopefully, I will remain the only one.

Although I had underlying symptoms for many years before the actual diagnosis, we think the prominent symptoms (the ones that have resulted in my "recognized" disabilities) were triggered by a particularly extremely stressful situation in our life.

When I was officially diagnosed in January 2012, after careful consideration we made the decision to make some big changes to our life and lifestyle. It took the better part of a year to make the changes come to fruition, but by September of that year we were on our way. Without going into detail as that is a long story in itself, our lives are so much richer (in many ways) and healthier. We cut living expenses and have a little more breathing room. We have no regrets.

The worry...

I am no longer able to work, I can't drive anymore, I can't go anywhere alone - but I have a wonderful husband who carries those loads these days without any complaints.

Most of all, I can't contribute to our monthly income like I used to.

Although my life is good despite the disability and the knowledge that the physical things will only get worse - not better, I continue to keep a positive attitude. There is no point in dwelling on the negative as that would only make life miserable for myself and my family. I live day-to-day, making the best I can of each.

However, because I can't work, money is tight. We've had to adjust our living and living expenses considerably. I do get a small pension from my years working for the government but we also know that that won't help a whole lot when my husband is no longer working for whatever reason.

When it is time for CPP, that will replace my pension, not add to it so we will be no further ahead.  At that point, we will have to live on an extremely small amount of monthly income.

My one big worry is for our future. We lost a lot during the recession - mostly our savings (the money that we had set aside for our retirement has dwindled) for various reasons.

Which brings me to a disappointment -

Our Government doesn't help much. It is extremely confusing to navigate through their websites (and I am computer literate) for the purpose of finding information on disability, our rights, any benefits that would help, etc... After many attempts, I have found very little information. Supposedly, I qualify for the Disability Tax Credit but no one seems to know or understand exactly what that gives to the disabled, what it is for, how it helps to make life easier, or anything. Believe me, I've asked many people and no one really knows. It certainly hasn't done anything for me with regards to taxes...

All I want is to continue to live my life without stress and worry over finances, to feel like I'm still contributing to our income so that the burden isn't solely on my husband, to be able to afford to get help and aid when I will be in need, and to know that we will be okay.

At this point, I don't feel confident that we will be okay in our future.

Is Affordable Housing Possible?

Tiny Affordable and Small Houses

A few years ago I would have said "no way" - it is virtually impossible to find Affordable Housing, but today I know better.

It is not common knowledge (although it is becoming more of a good trend) that you can build or buy and live in a tiny (or small) house. For many years it was considered the norm to have a big house - it was a status symbol, an acknowledgment of your succcess. The only problem with a big house is that it uses up all your resources leaving you with very little, if anything, to actually live your life.

Big House Pros and Cons

Typically, a big house is a display of wealth and status - that is all. Who really needs all that space? In most families, many of the rooms in a large house are not even used.

A big house usually requires more than one income to afford - both parties need to work full-time. In many cases, even that is not enough to keep up with all the expenses which is part of the reason why so many Americans found themselves in financial difficulties in recent years.

Cleaning, maintaining, and the upkeep of a house that is more than what you really need is simply a suck of your spare time. It takes hours to clean and tidy a house that is big. There is regular maintenance and upkeep chores that need to be done which uses up even more of the time that you could be using to do something that you really love and enjoy.

The cost to heat and cool a large place adds up. Not only does that unnecessarily use up precious resources, but it is money that you will never see again.

Tiny or Small House Pros and Cons

Many people have proven that living in a small or tiny house can be just as comfortable and luxurious as a big house - just on a smaller scale. What I've noticed is that people who have downsized (usually considerably) are living happier and healthier lives because along with downsizing their living arrangements, they find that the stress load, financial worries, and strain of living has been eased.

When you have a small house, you will have the time and the money to enjoy your life rather than being a slave to it.

A tiny house does not cost much to live in. It doesn't cost much to heat or cool a little space.

It takes a lot less time to clean, maintain, and upkeep a small home. Generally, you could be done in one-hour or so.

Which leaves you lots of time to do the things that you really love to do, time to do what you enjoy.

Your expenses will be cut down considerably which will leave you with extra cash to put away for a rainy day, to pay off debt, save for education and/or  vacations, and your retirement years.

This is what living your life is all about. All this is what makes living in a small house affordable. This is what living in affordable housing does to improve your life.

Big Changes - Okanagan SEO

Life Changes 

A Little History

Instead of writing about what I do these days, I thought I'd give a little history of how I got here. The long journey of getting to the point in life where my work and my job (SEO) is actually something that I love to do.

During the past four years, we have had to make changes to our life due to one job ending and finding another in a different city. There were many challenges that came with that move; not all favorable.

Two years ago, after careful consideration we made a decision to make considerable changes to our life and lifestyle, Although it was nerve-wracking to make the changes it turned out to be one of the best decisions we've ever made.

These days, we both work from home doing work that we love.

 A New Business Is Born

I have always loved computers and internet work. I dabbled in all kinds of things online for many years while working full-time for the Government (in IT) so it was no surprise that when I left my full-time job that I gravitated back to what I've always loved to do - internet marketing and SEO.

These days I'm considered to be an SEO expert. I have a number of websites with keywords that are in the #1 place in search engines, and many others that are somewhere within the first page of search engines. I belong to an elite group of SEOers where we discuss the newest strategies for ranking and keeping the rankings we work so hard to get. 

I recently opened my doors with my own search engine optimization business to help other businesses to reach top rankings in search engines. The business name is Okanagan SEO - named after the place that we love the most in Canada. Despite the name of the company, we are able to help businesses throughout North America. 

As a search engine optimization expert, I apply the same principles and strategies to your business when as I do to my own. The first step is analyzing your wants and needs, and then planning an SEO strategy that is specific to your needs.

If you would like to learn more about what SEO is and what we do, please visit Okanagan SEO or SEO services.

Downsizing and Debt Free

Three Years and Counting

In 2010, Denis got a new job in a different city. We put our house up for sale but it took us 18 months to sell it, and at a loss just so that we could get our lives back in order. We were virtually separated for all those months although he did make the 7 hour trip home every second weekend. I made the occasional trip to visit in the new city. Needless to say, it was a very difficult 18 months for both of us.

November 2011

After finally selling our house, we were so discouraged (and disgusted with the bank where we had our mortgage - but that is another story) we decided we didn't want to "own" again for awhile - if ever.

We rented a house that was within an hour drive from where Denis was working (we didn't want to live in the city) and so began another chapter of our life.

But that chapter was short-lived.

Soon after the move, I was diagnosed with a life-long neurological disorder called Ataxia. My father had it and I had always suspected that I would inherit it too. We suspect that the stress from my last job, living apart for so long, and the disastrous sale and move triggered it earlier than we expected.

After a lot of thought, we made the decision to simplify our life and make the move to our dream retirement while I am still able to enjoy it.

Denis gave six-months notice at work (he wanted to stay to the end of a project he was working on). We gave notice to the owners of the house we rented. And we proceeded to get rid of almost everything that we owned. The few things we kept are being stored with family.

Our plan was to move into our RV full-time, travel, and see all the places that we had always wanted to see.

Best Laid Plans

Six very busy months later (September 2012) we were on the road to the location we had chosen for the winter months. We were Victoria, British Columbia bound.

Victoria was not our first choice but changes in our circumstances necessitated a change of plans. Originally we had planned to go Southern USA (warmth and sunshine) for the winter but before Denis left his job, he was asked to remain on in a part-time capacity - working from wherever we call home. We really couldn't pass up that great opportunity but it comes with a restriction - he can't work this job in the USA. So, we decided to go to one of the warmest places in Canada for the winter.

Ontario To British Columbia

On our way across Canada that fall, we stopped in many places visiting friends, family and places we were interested in seeing. It was wonderful to see people that we hadn't seen in years - in some cases, many many years.

We spent six months in Victoria and loved everything except the rainy days, and there were many.

In March, we slowly started to head East again. We spent most of the summer back in Ontario because our kids were scheduled to move to Alberta. We were there to help them prepare and to visit family. Because our boys were moving West, and we don't want to be too far away to be able to visit so we decided to make BC our permanent province of residence. We visited family knowing it would be the last time that we would see them for a few years.

In July, our boys moved. We stayed in Ontario for another two months then started our trip West once again.

We are now in BC. Winter 2013/2014 location is Osoyoos.

We Have Fallen in Love with the Valley.

We are taking this opportunity (fall, winter, and spring) to travel around the Okanagan Valley to see where we would most like to settle as it is most likely that we won't be able to continue living in and traveling with our RV for much longer; my mobility is slowly deteriorating.

For now we are just enjoying a cold (although not as cold as Ontario), dry, sunshiny winter.

I Did Mention Debt-Free...

A pleasant side-effect of our simplified lifestyle has given us the opportunity to clean up most of our debts. It started slowly but has a cumulative effect.

Let me explain.

We were able to quickly pay off one debt. Then we used the money that was put against that debt to increase the payment to another. We kept doing that since we left on our journey and after 1 1/2 years, we only have a three debts left to pay; two of which will be paid off by May 2014. At that time, we will be left with only one debt (the biggest one).

When you downsize you also downsize your expenses. Our new lifestyle comes with so few expenses that we can put much of our spare cash against our debts and still have a little extra to spare.

For the first time that I can ever remember, we actually aren't living entirely paycheck to paycheck. What a wonderful feeling that is!

When We Settle Again

We still haven't decided whether we will rent or buy when we find where we want to settle again but we do know that the house that we choose will not be very big.

We like living in a small place - a tiny home. It doesn't cost very much (small place = small expenses), it doesn't cost much to upgrade and maintain, it takes very little time to clean, and yard maintenance is virtually non-existent.

Which means that cost of living there will be minimal and we will have time to do what we really like to do rather than what we have to do.

We downsized, we simplified our life, and are happier than we've ever been!

I'm Back

Honestly, I had forgot about this blog. I came across it a few days ago and remembered how much I used to enjoy posting here. How did I forget about it?

Well, I'm back now...

A lot has changed since 2011.

New job.
We moved.
New style of living.
Health issues.
Improved our life/lifestyle.
Our kids moved.
Improved our future outlook.


Too much for just one post so what I'll do is divide it up into numerous posts. I'll have the first segment posted by tomorrow.

You won't want to miss these. They'll be full of great information...

The Best Ottawa Bakery - Delightful Tastes

TradeForgeFX - It's Almost Over

It's almost OVER!

TradeForgeFX has been "red hot" and the limit on the charter members has almost been reached - in just two days!

TradeForgeFX Demo Video

If you participated or watched the webinar, you'll have seen that when all the charter licenses are full, the price will go up to $5,000.
No exceptions.

So, if you haven't had the opportunity to see TradeForgeFX in action yet, go here while you still have a chance to become a charter member.

TradeForgeFX Demo Video

Listen, over 37,000 people signed up to see TradeForgeFX in action and when the remaining licenses are gone, they're gone.

This is not one of those product launches that will go on forever - I can promise you that it'll be closing the doors any time now.

When you watch this quick demo video you'll understand why.

There's literally nothing else like TradeForgeFX.

P.S. The price will instantly increase to $5,000 the moment it closes for charter members.

Posted via email from Greyt Musings