BRENT HATCH

Another vacation?  How do you do it? 

We have been raising our family of 9 in our 700 square foot house for the past 20 years.  Two of our kids have spent their entire childhood in this house and are in college now.  I think if you ask them, they would tell you that they didn’t feel deprived of anything growing up.  We have enjoyed living in a great community in southern California with some of the best schools around.  We have enjoyed several vacations a year.  We live frugally in some respects but I believe that we have enjoyed much more in benefits compared to the sacrifices we have made.

So many people have asked us how we do it.  So I want to share with people some of the things that they can do.  Will it mean a change in life style?  Probably.  But I don’t think people should fear this.  I think they should look forward to it with excitement.  Why?  Because it is a great feeling of empowerment to be in control of your life and enjoying it too.

I want to start with the bike for a couple of reasons.  First, because what was already a big expense for us has become ridiculous due to the steep rise in gas prices.  On a trip too Solvang, Ca a couple of years ago, my family rented these multiple rider bikes for fun to cruise around the little vacation town.  As gas prices started to rise I remembered that trip and thought it would be great if we could have a bike like that to replace all of our short run drives around town; to school, the grocery store, the post office, soccer practice, etc.

I found an old beat up one for a bargain and renovated it.  We began riding it all over town.  People were waving and smiling at us where ever we went.  It was fun and we were getting exercise.  But that bike is heavy when someone is not pulling their share.  So I designed an electric motor attached to an assist wheel in the back.  It was like night and day.  With that assist wheel, we could drive everywhere.  Now the problem was that the motor would only last for one hour per charge.  So I had a friend put on a solar panel that would keep the motor charged indefinitely as we rode.  Now we can ride the bike around town for hours on end.  When my relatives from England came to visit us, we rode this bike up to the Rose Parade in Pasadena.

We have literally cut our gas bill in half because of this bike.  So, financially, we have not really felt the impact of gas prices.

The second reason I started with this bike is because gas consumption in America has gotten to the point where we are so dependent on gas that rising gas prices severely cripples our life style.  My comment to that is “Come on, we are Americans!  We are the innovators of the world.  We can beat this thing!”  I’m just a regular guy that knows very little about motors, efficiency, etc.  Man, some engineer should be able to have a field day coming up with all kinds of solar powered alternatives to our mobile lives.  I should be able to see some wacky professor on TV showing off all this stuff.  Everybody is getting more conscious about making small contributions to a “greener” community.  So I think people would be willing to consider some lifestyle adjustments, if presented with some alternatives like this bike.

We cut our health insurance from $800 a month to $500 a month by switching to a Health Savings Account (HSA). That is a savings of $3,600 a year!  Investigate your options.  The time you spend on this is well worth it. 

We still have to drive our cars to work and on long trips.  But here are some things to remember in order to save gas. 

Check your tire pressure.  The optimum pressure is printed on a sticker on the inside of your door.

Make sure your Gas filter and Air filter replaced regularly.

Drive speed the limit.

Can you car pools with someone? 

Use coupons!  There are all kinds of websites that explain how you can cut your cut your grocery bill in half by using coupons effectively.  A family can easily spend $600 a month on groceries.  By cutting it in half, that’s a $300 savings.  That’s $3,600 a year.

Don’t let pride get in the way of some great savings through hand-me-downs.  They’re FREE!  I can’t remember the last time we bought clothes for our 2 youngest kids.  Many of our friends that have kids just older than ours have given us great clothes.  Some have never been worn and they grew out of them.

You can find some great bargains at the 99 Cent Store and the Dollar Tree.

The latest fad for teenage girls is to shop for clothes at thrift stores.  This can save you a bundle on buying clothes for your kids.

This is truly the age of do-it-yourself.  Stores like Home Depot have almost everything you need.  Some of them offer classes.  When I got the estimate to paint my house, I was floored.  I saved $6,000 by doing it myself.

The internet has a wealth of information on home repairs.  There are chat forums where regular folks share their experiences and knowledge.  I fixed our oven and clothes washer by picking up a few tips online.  That saved me $200~400 in repairs and $600~$800 in a new unit.

Your network of Family and Friends is probably your greatest asset.  Through this network will come some of the best opportunities in life.  Opportunities for work, a deal on a home, a set of furniture, some cash in a pinch. 

We have lived in this small 700 sq ft house with all of our 7 kids for the last 20 years.  We have never traded up or borrowed against it.  And so our payments are really low.  It is in a great neighborhood and our kids have gone to great schools.  We have lived a very happy life in this house and would have no problem staying here for many years to come.  The point is, we stayed within our income and ability to pay and did not increase our debt.