a change of plans

For the last two months I've been pushing a loosely planned vacation back 1-2 weeks at a time. The reason being personal life and/or work related stuff kept on coming up. The time finally arrived where I could take it (next week) but escaping the city wasn't really feasible any longer. It's getting hot in Texas and the rising of cost of gas are big detractors. I'm also not feeling the burning desire to escape the city any more. Had I gone earlier as planned I would have spent under budget on the trip, but now it'd cost way over budget. This is due to the heat and how it affects gas consumption. Yes, I'm that strict about budgets. --> Asian <--

What are you gonna do with that money now? Glad you asked! Remember that .22 rimfire rifle I talked about getting a few months back. Well that kind of changed too. I decided to get a .22 air rifle first. Unfortunately it costs a bit more than the rimfire, but the upside is that I'm able to use it in more places. The total cost is temporary too since I'll start to hunt rabbit and save on the cost on meat. Just for fun I shopped around for whole rabbit meat and found a place that charges about $6 per pound. The average weight/cost for a large rabbit is 3 pounds/$19. Jackrabbit is also on the menu but I wasn't able to find prices on them. They weigh about 9 pds average so figure about half to two thirds that weight after field dressing them. Game birds also figure into this equation depending on season and hunting license costs.

Ok so how does this tie in with full time living Steve? Budgeting is self explanatory. Vacations are also a null issue because work and free time are measured differently then. However travel costs and seasons are still an issue. Were I out there right now, I'd have already moved northward or into higher elevation to escape the heat. Most likely I'll either be workamping for a few months or making short bunny hops every two weeks from camp to camp. As for hunting, that depends on location and what's in season there. Rabbits are open season year round in the southwestern states, but I'm not sure about up north. I still doing research in this area. Worst case scenario I make my diet vegetarian during the summer months. Farmers markets are everywhere so I expect I'll be eating even better than I do now.

I can't wait until I the day I win my freedom but for now I'll keep working, paying off debt, and saving.