What did this young couple learn after 12 months of being homeless?
Meet this young couple that have been homeless for 12 months and love it. This is what they have learnt in 7 key points.
The world has changed, technology has rapidly evolved and the traditional lifestyles are being ditched for alternate living, minimalism or tiny homes and these are just the beginning. One couple have chosen homelessness as their way of life, giving up everything they own and their home to be homeless, yes homeless, but it not quite like what you think.
Meet the Bragg’s!!!!
In late 2015 the young married couple started a journey that would change their lives. Sitting on a stunning porch overlooking a lake on the Gold Coast the couple enjoyed a wine and pondered the possibilities of an alternative lifestyle. They were house siting a lovely 2 story home than boasted a beautiful lake view, cinema room, alfresco dinning, spa baths and open spaced living. However, the real joy of the home was delivered by way of a 50kg, tan and black Rottweiler. The couple did not own the home, it was not a hotel, nor did they rent or hire the property, they were house sitting. Living in the home whilst the owners were enjoying a holiday.
A few more wines later and the question was passed around, why can’t we live like this always. Rent free, mortgage free and providing a valuable service to home owners and their pets, no more kennels or worries while on holidays, perfect.
And this is where the journey started. (You can hear more about the story here).
Now after being homeless for over 12 months this is what a young couple have learnt:
- This “Minimalism” thing has some massive advantages
Most people have heard of minimalism, whether it be on Netflix watching (link documentary), through bloggers (list a blogger), on a ted talk (list) or from friends and family, either way minimalism is on the rise. The main advantage often discussed being is connecting with people not things and the feeling of being less stressed as you have less things to be concerned/consumed with.
It turns out that when you sell everything you own besides what you can fit in your car, you join the minimalism club. That’s what we did when we started house sitting full time. It’s true, its liberating, its exciting, yet scary, but most of all it’s freeing. At first you find it shocking and difficult to even comprehend, imagine all your prized possession walking out the door! Then you realise that, well, it can all be replaced, then you get used to not having any of it, then that feeling becomes normal and you reflect and think, bugger me, I use to own so much useless shit that cost a fortune. A fortune that I busted my back to hold, was it worth it? NOPE!
You worry about money less (consumer debt mainly – credit cards), you shop differently (you only look at what you need to live not what you need to feel good), then things like your relationships and outlook change. It turns out minimalism and all the things that the minimalisms specialists talk about become reality. The way you look at life really does change.
- Consumerism is a trap
When you give up everything you own and live using other people’s possessions, you start to get a massive understanding of consumerism. You go from: I like that TV, I wonder if we can get it on interest, its only $25/week, I’ll have one thank you, week in and week out.
Transforming into: holy shit that is a massive TV, it’s great to watch but I don’t need to own one. (Plus, the bonus with our life is we can provide a service to homeowners and have the luxury of watching a massive TV, without paying a cent! WINNING!)
You also learn that advertising no longer works on you – You start to produce rather than consume and see the trap for what it really is. After a while of house sitting we realised that advertisements on TV no longer appealed to us, in fact no advertisements worked (holy moly advertisements are everywhere, when you consciously start to listen/watch for them – seriously! Try and count how many times you are marketed too in one day – crazy amounts!!!). We didn’t need to buy anything, besides we had no room in our car, even if we wanted too. As a result, we didn’t need to pay back consumer debt, we then could work less and so the consumerism trap was revealed. Now we are certainly free from it
Backed up by some light reading of books like: Rich dad poor dad, The millionaire fast lane, The four hour work week and the $100 start up the real issue with consumerism was revealed. You want it? You can have it! Forgetting that money is a trade for time (work), consumer commonly known as keeping up with the Jones’s. With a little more reading we have learnt to be producers (value into others’ lives) rather than consumers.
- Being homeless improved our relationships
Our relationship as a married couple has improved. It had to. We talk more, share more time with each other, we dream together and then achieve these dreams together.
On that warm summer night over a couple of beers, when we decided to start house sitting who would have thought we would be here. We are and we did it together. That strengthens a relationship like you wouldn’t believe. We now trust in our path and know that if we dream of it, it is likely we can achieve it.
- Most homely possessions can be easily replaced a little to no cost
We sold it all, it wasn’t much but it can all be replaced and quickly. In a consumer based world people are upgrading all the time. That 50-inch plasma is too small, UPGRADE. That HD TV isn’t good enough, I NEED 6k, UPGRADE. Where do all the old possessions go? Ebay, Gumtree and Buy, Swap and Sell my friend, or similar sites.
So if in the future we feel that we want to be in the one place in our own home we won’t be concerned about the replacement cost, everything you can possibly need will be available on these sites at most likely half the price (if not more) than what the people originally bought it for.
- You don’t have to buy a house and settle down
I always thought that I had to buy a house, settle down and play happy ever after. Thank goodness I didn’t. I was so close on several occasions on doing it as well, but why did I always feel I didn’t have enough money or I couldn’t afford it. Maybe it was the thought of taking out a massive loan. Or the idea that realistically a house isn’t yours, it’s the banks until the mortgage is gone. Or the people that always want a bigger home or a new renovation, they never seem satisfied. Once you get into a home you are always looking at ways to improve it or make it more yours which usually equates to more debt.
Did I mention interest? Ohhhh yeah that’s right, on a $400 000 mortgage over 30 years you pay $294,971 in interest*…..WTF! Now we invest that in money that would have been used for rent or mortgage repayments into the market to create our wealth.
*based on a rate of 4.09% which is also historically LOW at present!
- Time to appreciate moments, not things.
The simple equation goes like this: less stuff = less debt, less debt = more cash flow, more cash flow = decreasing the need to work, less work = more time, more time = spontaneity, spontaneity = experiences that you normally wouldn’t be able to have grinding away during the 9 to 5. There is a heap more that goes into this, but I’ll keep it simple. We meet new people every day, we explore, travel, work and live like we never could have believed. We are grateful and appreciate everything we have.
- Technology makes it all possible
10 years ago and this would have been extremely hard to do. Now we have Uber, housesitting websites, remote work spaces, homestay and Airbnb, just to mention a few. TECHNOLOGY has made it all possible. Use it to your advantage, if you think it can be done with technology, it most probably can. Go find it, ohhhh and if it doesn’t exist well maybe you can make it? Work online? Mobilise your lifestyle? Can you sense the possibility?
If you are interested in learning more, contact the Bragg’s they are always happy to answer questions and provide information on their lifestyle.
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