Living on a boat is another strategy some have adopted to live un-ordinary lives and thrive within their means.
For the non-landlubbers among us, living on a boat is another strategy. Power boats, sail boats, house boats, canal boats (very popular in Europe)...as big or small as your budget and comfort allow.
In England and France, particularly, many have chosen to live, and ply the old shipping canals, in their restored canal boats.
Docking a boat in a marina in the U.S. can be expensive and the waiting list long, but there are off-the-beaten track spots if one looks that can be money savers. Look to large rivers and lake moorings to save money and the less popular marinas.
Boats may be purchased used for very little and fixed up to reflect the comfort, needs, and income of their owners.
Vintage and restored at anchor on a nearby lake, this boat is a comfy, floating home for one or two.
Gently rocked to sleep each night on somnolent swells is an idyllic way to nod off each night. Stress from work or a job would simply melt away stepping off the dock or rowing a dingy to your own floating mini-palace.
In the U.S. and many other countries a house boat can be an affordable option whether at dockside at a marina, canal, or lake. Many houseboats have no engine making their tie-up a permanent one unless relocated by hiring a tug or tow to a new location.
Seaside and lakeside communities are good spots to look for a mooring. Many boaters simply anchor their floating home off shore. States that have ocean frontage are good spots to look, as well. Check boating magazines for possibilities and places. And, for more information on living on boats and boat builds, books on the subject are a great resource.
Can't decide between that home with a picket fence and living on a boat? Well, how about this option...a literal floating house!
A house boat is basically a floating platform with a home built on top. Some enterprising folk have purchased or found a discarded barge, or even a boat hull, made it watertight, and built something to suit on top.
Junk yards near the ocean or a lake are a good spot for finding something for free or ultra-cheap that can be altered to fit your vision of life aboard!
While boating can be expensive, it can also be a very frugal option. Like anything else, the more money one throws at a problem or at a lifestyle, the more it will cost. But, as with anything there are always "back doors" to our dreams. They may involve learning a few skills, not shopping the showrooms and instead visiting Craig's List, junk yards, grabbing a copy of the Penny Saver, etc.
If the American Dream seems dead for most of us, it is incumbent upon us to find creative solutions to escaping - and staying out of -the debt trap.
Over the last few weeks, we've explored some adventurous and Electively Frugal lifestyles embraced by those who've framed their own dream on their own terms.
Upcoming will be an exploration of some of the other strategies for living a gracious, joyful, and debt-free life. To Elective Frugality we'll add the strategies of Simple Grace, Natural Abundance, and Easy Elegance.
These lifestyle tactics, when employed together as a whole philosophy, enable one to live and thrive happily, freely, and abundantly.
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Every dream, large or small, begins with an idea that is made real and tangible.
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Elective Frugality is the genteel recognition of having acquired enough, and that authentic abundance and real wealth are not money- or thing-based, but are instead, Soul-founded.
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