How It's Done

When we meet people in Varna, they want to know why we're here of all places, why we chose Bulgaria. They start by asking if it's for work or for school. People are surprised by our response: "No, we're just living!" Friends and family have asked how we are doing this financially. I mean we own two homes in Phoenix and we haven't won the lottery.

When we made the decision a couple of years ago that we wanted to live overseas, we drastically changed our spending. I have always been a saver, so it wasn't difficult for me, but with a goal such as this it was even easier to make changes in our lives. Not once did I ever feel even slightly deprived. In fact, I think Brock and I both simply realized that we should have been living that way all along and that we will live that way from now on.

We still took vacations (usually camping in Rocky Point), we still ate at our favorite Phoenix restaurants, we still enjoyed life. We simply cut out the things we didn't need because we knew that the lifestyle we would enjoy would be worth it.

When we started planning this I basically stopped shopping. If I needed anything, I first looked at Goodwill, then Ebay, then I usually realized I could live just fine without that "thing". For the past two years, my only clothes shopping took place at Buffalo Exchange, Goodwill, or ConsignMint. If I really needed something for the house, I went to Qcumber or My Sister's Attic. I quit buying books and became a regular at the Arcadia library. If I bought a book, it was always used and I usually sold it right back for only slightly less. I purchased gifts for my niece and nephews at Urban Baby, where there are tons of brand new children's clothes with the tags on for a fraction of the original price.

I constantly equated the purchase of anything with the loss of a future experience and so the choice to not buy became simple. Before moving we spent months posting ads on Craigslist and Ebay to get rid of the many things in our lives we didn't need. Brock was much better at letting go than I was. I remember when a girl came to buy my cute little green bistro set and Brock talked her into buying our black contemporary (second-hand) set of bar stools and I was so sad to see these things go for some reason. But the more clutter in our lives that we shed, the better I felt and the less attached to all of this stuff I became.

As we watched our stuff go and considered how much we had spent and how little it was now worth, we immediately decided that we will always buy second-hand when possible, and it's almost always possible. The items we had purchased used were the only items we sold for almost as much as we had paid.

There are so many other things we did to save money, and they're all easy! I rode my bike, took the Light Rail, or carpooled to work. We bought minimal items at the farmer's market that we actually used instead of mindlessly filling our huge refrigerator with too many groceries that would go unused. We planted herbs, peppers, and tomatoes in our tiny patio garden and made meals from scratch based on these ingredients. While people at work would talk about how their frozen lean cuisine only cost $3 at Walmart, my fresh spiced couscous and beans (both purchased in bulk from Sprouts) meal cost about 25 cents. All of these little savings really do add up.

I wish I could say we truly sold all of our things, but my parents with a garage in ND filled with boxes would disagree. We did, however, make enough money in selling stuff to pay for our plane tickets here and about a month's rent in Paris. The sale of our two cars didn't hurt either. And we are in no hurry to buy cars again, even when we return to the States.

Living without all of those things I left in my parents' garage (and sometimes I have difficulty remembering what's all there), has made me want to live without. When I return home, I will probably resume my Craigslisting and Ebaying to shed even more weight. We have now been in Europe 5 months and living out of a suitcase has been great! Sure I will be happy to use my own pots & pans & dishes, and sleep on my own comfy mattress, ride my bike, and have an American sized closet, but I'm happy to know that I'm no longer attached to those things like I once was, because they're just things. And when I was back in Phoenix in my beautiful home, sitting on my cozy couch, watching movies on an HD plasma tv, I was dreaming about being where I am now. None of those luxuries could replace all of this.