Falling into the Trap

The first rental...

I would never say we did everything right. We are survivors that react to problems rather than solve them. We come up with solutions but generally it is under much stress and with little thought of their impact on our future. We live less in the now and more in the “what do we do now?” I am learning that we are not alone. Many others have fallen into the rat race and begun running with the crowd so as not to get run over. But today we stop. Today we ask what are we running from and where are we running to?

Some four years ago after many a layoff and the birth of our second child we took a chance on a career change in a part of the country that was not only expensive but virtually unknown to us. British Columbia, B.C. my husband jokes means “Bring Cash." Our first home here was a huge beautiful brand new $800,000.00 home. We rented. It was far bigger than anything I ever lived in and too much house to make a home. But we had a basement suite we could rent out to supplement our costs.

Our furniture barely filled half the house. And we had no desire to fill it as we have always been simple at heart and we couldn't afford it. We occupied this residence for 3 years. After a short notice on our summer vacation we quickly returned to town and found a new townhouse to rent. It was marginally smaller but still unexcitingly modern. We spent a little bit of money on picture frames and curtains to make it feel like home but it remains mind-numbingly dull. And just not us.

With commuting costs, children’s activities, and a rental property in another province we can’t sell we continue with life’s daily demands with shrinking hope of achieving any of our past dreams. We have been one step forward and two steps back for four years. With our job prospects proven to be very stable there is no desire to move away. Our kids have a great school here and we have met the most amazing friends. 

Only recently have we begun to dream again. To have hope for a future that resembles more of who we wish to be. Dear friends have found an opportunity for us to rent a small cottage at a very reasonable price that will in turn give us a chance to recover from the past four years of high living costs and build a better future for our family. When many people hear about our cost of living here in British Columbia they say “I don’t know how you do it” and the truth has been that we are not doing it. Every year spent here has cost us. It is with a light heart and so much enthusiasm that we begin our journey by purging the last ten years of stuff. As we begin to strip away the accumulation of our mistakes we are eager to uncover a renewed sense of family, simplicity and optimism. 

We cannot move into the cottage until September 1st. So we are forced, for once, to take our time and really analyze this choice. With all this time we begin to ask if this is all too good to be true…will it fall through? Either way we are committed to a downsize and we will soon begin our elimination process. Keep posted for our progress and hopefully you can view more successes than failures.