Issue 9: House-sittingIssue #9 - May 11, 2010 The solution? House-sitting. But first, an announcement: Platinum Mastermind Group Starts June 7th!The long-awaited Mastermind Group is launching on June 7th. Karen Burke of Mobius Coaching is the facilitator. This is a 6-month program. Please contact Karen directly (978 844 2555) if you are interested in taking your business to the next level. And now back to the scheduled programming... A Glut of HousesConsider the following facts: At latest count, there are 105 million households in the US and about 129 million "housing units" (USA Quickfacts from the US Census Bureau). That's 24 million housing units that are not occupied year-around! Many families own two homes: one primary home and one second vacation property. The vacation property gets used only sporadically through the year, but still needs to be looked after when vacant. There are also the "snow-birds". They live in the northern parts of the US in Summer and parts of Spring and Fall. As it starts getting colder in the north around October-November, they head down south to warmer climes - just like migratory birds. And they head back up north in April. Over one million snowbirds do this every year in Florida alone! This creates a great opportunity for somebody to house-sit. You can mind their house in Massachusetts during winter and take care of their condo in summer in Florida! And these are only US numbers. Worldwide numbers are bound to be much bigger. Why Hire a House-sitter?It makes sense to hire a house-sitter if you have a house that is going to be vacant for a significant period of time. In exchange for free accommodations, the house-sitters typically take care of the property and keep it running. An occupied house keeps away vandals. I did not know this, but apparently you lose your insurance coverage if your house is unoccupied for long periods of time (typically 60 days or more). Naturally it is in your best interest to have a house-sitter if you are going to be away. Why House-sit?Mind My House lists many benefits to house-sitting, ranging from free accommodation and cheap vacationing to making friends in all kinds of places. It was the last one that really caught my eye: Going all the wayNow that's what I have been talking about! I could not have said it better. Can you imagine the possibilities of true freedom this kind of a lifestyle offers? ExamplesI came across Mind My House when I was researching this topic. I was drooling over all the globe-trotting opportunities as I perused the house-sitting ads. This is just a sample of locations:
The latest - and coolest - feature of this website is a map that shows where the house-sitting assignments are. Just move the map to whichever country or continent you want to house-sit and you see all the possibilites right there on the screen! Radical SimplicityThis lifestyle is truly radical. You have effectively cut your ties to most possessions. Of course this does not need to be a permanent step. You could just sell your house, put away your prized belongings into a self-storage vault and then roam the world minding other peoples' homes and experiencing the nomadic lifestyle. And if and when you are done, you come back and pick up your pre-nomadic way of life. Or not! This brings up the issues of freedom and what you really want out of life. This is likely to result in some serious adventures. And on the flipside, it could also create a few existential anxieties! Where am I going? Where will I be next year? Is this all there is to life? If I don't own a whole lot of stuff, am I a failure? Who am I anyway? In fact writing this issue has made me ponder these questions for myself. I don't see myself doing house-sitting in the near future, but I am definitely doing it in a few years as the kids get older. More to Come!We will look at another radical solution to controlling living costs - and have a ball at the same time. A hint: it's called "full-timing" and a million-odd people already do it (with an emphasis on "odd"!). Update on My ProgressAnd here is my latest personal financial update:
Jars UpdateThe Jars System is billed as the world's simplest, easiest and most effective money management method. My wife and I started following it recently, and I plan to publish them here every month. Here are our numbers for the last quarter (compared to the percentages recommended as targets):
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