Day: January 31, 2026

It seems hard to believe it was a year ago I took a drive out to Grandma Moses Country – you know along the Batten Kill and NY 40 – Buskirk, etc looking at land that way to potentially buy and build my homestead out there. I still can’t believe a year came and went, and while I looked at houses and explored my options so little happened. Still just a dream, as I put away more money, boosted my savings and investments.

It’s now a bit tough when I look back at what seems like a wasted year, when I could have had land. I could be getting chickens at this point, planning a garden. Doing on my own composting, heating with wood not freezing in my dumpy apartment. My net worth has gone a touch since the market declines, and it’s painful as I could have baked in some of that by buying something.

But as I’ve said time and time and again, In my mind, a rural suburban subdivision that smells like cow shit is really no better than living in the city. So many of the options I looked at were essentially that, a lot of money, not a lot of land, a long commute without much of a value proposition.

If heaven wasn’t so far away … I keep telling myself.

It’s fine, and I know it will be fine for now. But I feel like I’m wasting time, though I think when you run the numbers, it actually come out ahead staying where I am even with higher rent. Small apartments are cheap to heat and light, and bicycling to work saves a lot of money. I can put off replacing my pickup truck for a while.