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Nibbana

Young, not much money, options?

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Excellent post Woodwoman, with the world fast approaching a food shortage, farmable land will be a valued commodity, I can envisage many heading back down the green route

The more society rams society down our throat the less people will accept it devaluing what it offers,

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Hi Nibbana, just stumbled across this thread and had a read through. Where abouts do you and your girlfriend find each other now? Did you end up going on that road trip up the east coast?

Like I'm sure many on this forum, I can relate to much of what you wrote. Those same questions, dilemmas and desires have been rattling around my mind for many years now and over that time personal realisations and conclusions have been touched upon.

After many years of doing the equal parts work than travel thing, I've realised that's (for me at least) an unsustainable way of living, as I always end up having to come back home and working (most of the time) an incredibly uninspiring job again, which saps the life out of me to such a point where I'll reach my threshold, and then simply quit and go travelling again: an ultimately unfulfilling cycle, although very fulfilling initially. So by all means go out and explore the world if you have that urge, just don't make it a go-to when the boredom and oppression of the 9-5 job-centric lifestyle finally grinds you down again. So now I'm knuckling down and saving for that block of land which you spoke about and the one I've been dreaming about for the past 6 or 7 years now, and hoping to create a much more satisfying and fulfilling life which will allow me time to breath and pursue my interests whilst keeping the demands of society to a bare minimum. Luckily two very good friends of mine are on the same page and we're planning on buying land together to cut down costs, with each of us building our own modest home on different parts of the property. This will give us the privacy we want, give us plenty of land to grow all our own food, and allow us to come together whenever we wish. We're also planning on building a shared building which would simply be one big room with a kitchen in it and fire place, and a lot of space to hang out, share meals, and so on. So that could be an option for you and something to think about; finding a block of land which you can buy with others. Of course that would come down to that issue of "finding the others" as you mentioned earlier. But trust me, they're out there. We've been looking in the north island of New Zealand and also down in Tassie, and land in both of these areas can be anywhere between 80 thousand to 200 hundred thousand depending on what you're after (we're after as much land as we can afford), so divide those numbers by three or potentially more and you actually arrive at an achievable amount of money.

In terms of work and the travelling life. As others have already mentioned I would look into seasonal fruit picking work all over Australia, which you can find through this site here https://jobsearch.gov.au/job/search/harvest as well as others, and I would check out the facebook page Travelling Winemakers - Living the dream! (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2883325456/), or also WOOFing. With those kind of jobs you're bound to meet other like minded individuals as well as people from all over the world, you may gain some useful knowledge on growing different crops and when to harvest etc., and you'll also be able to explore more of Australia. I'm about to start doing seasonal work similar to this which will see me working in the Northern Territory in winter and Tasmania in the summer, and jobs in this vain usually have free or very cheap accomodation, and food may also be included, thus all the money you earn you can save and put away for that future self sufficient farm which we're all aiming for, or/and some home on wheels in the intervening years.

And lastly being part of a good community and having wonderful people in your life who understand and support your ideas and dreams and motivate you to make them happen really can't be understated. Luckily you're in the right place and I'm sure you'll be able to meet up with and get to know many people here. Also simply by following and pursuing that which inspires and animates you will guide you to people of similar mind. It's cliché but true. If you currently find yourself in Sydney, I'll be around for another week or so before heading off should you wish to catch up for a coffee and talk about these ideas and the possible options, or if you would simply like to meet up with someone of a similar mind from this community.

Hope all's well and glowing

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Hi Nibbana,

I'm all too familiar with your frustrations.

I am sort of at the other end of the journey it sounds like you are on.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get the approval for my offer on a piece of land I want to live on. Its very exciting for me, but it really has been a very long journey. I figure maybe I can offer you some insights.

It has taken a lot of doing work for money to save and buy some property.for myself. I did not want a mortgage so, I spent a lot of time saving.

I really dont like having a normal sort of job, but that is generally where the money is. I try and get skills and work in jobs that get me apocalypse skills - ie, skills that would be useful in an apocalypse scenario or outside of a situation where you can just buy what you need or par someone to do it for you.

Tradie skills are very useful for instance. Gardening, permaculture, medical skills, theres all sorts.

That way at least the time spent working is learning things you will use when you dont have to work at a job.

Having a realistic goal is important. The cost of a piece of land is not the cost of getting out there and living. There is stamp duty, conveyancing fees, probably a car, something to live in, emergency funds, food budget, all sorts of things. Trying to figure out what a realistic number figure for your saving is a good idea.

I found it motivating to know what i was aiming for and figuring out percentages. Big numbers dont mean so much for me - but when i know i just saved 1% of my total I feel pretty good and know I am getting closer.

Figure out other ways of making money besides a regular job. Can you make things and sell them? Do you have skills you can charge for? Can you buy things and resell them on ebay for an outrageous price?

It may not feel ideal for you to be living with your parents, but rent is the biggest outgoing expense I have had in my life through all my saving. It will make a huge difference in your savings if you dont have to do the rent thing.

Cutting down on expenses is a big one. Don't eat out. Find the local markets and cheap food stores. Eat leftovers.

Learn how to make your own booze or intoxicants if you want to do that. Booze is outrageously expensive.

Knowing where you want to live can make a big difference in your planning process.

Will it be cold? what will the rainfall be like? will you need a bore? water tanks? fences? what can you grow?

what sort of shelter will you need? how rough are you willing to live? Do you want to be off the grid? will you need power?

Knowing where you want to live is helpful as you will be able to collect things you will need later, clothes tools heaters, whatever. Over time it is easy to collect useful bits and pieces for free or for birthday presents.

Realisticly you will probably need some kind of income even if you are off the grid and growing your own food. There are council rates and property maintenance etc etc, theres always something. So in choosing a job, or skills, it is good to consider what you might be able to do to make a little cash even if you are living quite remotely.

All this might sound a little bit overwheming, but really I found it useful to help me stay motivated. bored senseless at work i would spend time researching or thinking about what I could do to get there faster or what skills i needed or figuring out business plans. Theres lots of possibilities for making money outside of a structured 9-5 job. I spent most of my life in the 9-5 and never really saw past that until I really commited to this process... then a load os possibilities began to present themselves. Even an extra dollar is a step in the right direction.

Having said all that, I did my best to try and keep my plans vague and broad. The last thing I want to happen is to get so set on an idea that I become inflexible and can't make it happen. I know I want to not have a job, I want to live in a country setting, I want to be able to grow food. I want to be warm. I want to be able to grow my cacti.

Those are the main points of the plan I had clear in my mind.

That gave me a fairly broad set of possibilities to get excited about when looking for land or an area in which to live.

Im sure there is a lot more to say on the subject but Im feeling pretty vague today. Its hard to put it into something coherent.

There are some interesting possibilities besides owning freehold land.

Other people have mentioned communities and multiple occupancies, these could be good options, certainly something to investigate.

Up near Kyogle there is an interesting community starting out that is more about participation than financial input.

I can tell you some more about them if you like.

Do you go to bush doof? It is a possible place to meet people and find some likeminded community, and hear other peoples ideas of alternative living.

That is how I met many people who have helped me on my jounrey with ideas and contacts.

I still have lots of things to figure out and I am just about to put together a post looking for advice from people on here who know the Northern Rivers area that I am moving to.

Ummm... so thats it for the moment i think.

Feel free to contact me if you want to talk about stuff.

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