Goals in Relocating to Maine

Our goals for moving here were several. First, we wanted a place in the country. Second, we wanted to be able to spend time with our two kids before they began going to school. Third, we wanted to acquire at least 50 acres. Fourth, we (okay, I) have always dreamed of building my own house. Fifth, we wanted to avoid working for “the man” if we could until we reached retirement age (10 years for me).

In one year, we have managed to fulfill almost all of our goals. We managed to save enough from the sale of our west coast property to buy a home here and invest the rest. The investments have been keeping the funds from slipping away quickly; they are, however, slipping away slowly. After losing 60% of my retirement savings by using an investment broker at Mass Mutual, I decided to do my own investing. Once my investment balance recovered, I removed everything and placed the funds at Vanguard (www.vanguard.com). Both my retirement and non-retirement funds are there. I earn at least 20% on my investments by choosing my own mutual funds and stocks.

My wife and I split our time equally; each of us spends 50% of our time with our kids. There is also time set aside as “family time” where all of us do stuff together.

The other half of my time is spent working on our land or doing miscellaneous carpentry. I started bartering my skills for my daughters riding lessons and a deck for the Horse Farm owners has turned into a job repairing two neglected barns. I am able to work when I want for lessons or cash and there have been other inquiries for my time as well from stable clients.

My wife has turned a hobby into a business. She started out making gift baskets for family birthdays, Mother’s Day, etc. and, with encouragement from family members, decided to turn it into an internet business (www.appletonbasketcompany.com).

I take the pictures of the baskets and do the internet marketing. Her sister does our web site and she creates and makes the baskets. We started slowly in October and received a few orders during the Holidays that paid the marketing bills. With that behind us, we are looking forward to a successful new year.

Owning a small business is a good way to establish some legal write-offs. Our cell phone bills and our internet bills are now business expenses. At $65/month and $47/month respectively, this adds up to $1344/year we can deduct. We will need a new computer soon and because we are using our basement as our company store, there are also some deductions there. Mileage is another deduction. One of my kids favorite parks is a few miles from my favorite lumber yard. Making sure those trips coincide isn’t a big deal and I can write off the mileage. Because we will be managing the timber and harvesting some of our forest land, there are deductions there I haven’t yet investigated. Maine also has a cost-sharing program where they will reimburse landowner expenses for pruning trees, etc. If you have something you can do for a small amount of extra income, the deductions you can take make this even more worthwhile.

As a former scientist, I like to evaluate and over analyze just about EVERYTHING I do (ask my wife). As a former educator, I enjoy sharing my knowledge and experiences so that others may benefit. Through this blog, I hope to chronicle my thoughts and my adventures as a modern homesteader and rock farmer.