You can read Part 1 of the Wendover Effect HERE.
Living here in isolation has had several other effects on us. Some would probably have happened anyway but being here changed us more quickly. Writing this blog changed things too and I probably wouldn't have spent so much time on my blog if we didn't live here. We changed our life when we moved here so that one of us was with Trey all the time. That put an end to our social life. We also knew that Wendover was a temporary stop to regroup and so we haven't gone out of our way to create new friends that we'll just be saying goodbye to.
One important lesson that we've learned is that we don't really need much stuff to live. We don't buy very many things because we just don't need them. We see things that seem nice or fun to have but by the time we get to town, we don't remember what it was. If it's something that we really need, that need will keep coming back, reminding us.
We also focus more on the quality of our purchases than we used to. If you have to drive 120 miles to buy something or wait for a week for FedEx to deliver it, you don't want to buy something that's going to break during its first use.
Being in isolation and on separate shifts has helped keep us focused on our financial goals. The way we live is a daily reminder of what we want.
We also see money in terms of freedom instead of possessions. We want to be able to do what we want when we want. Part of that equation is making more money but having less debt has proven to be more important and much easier to control. We have a house payment and a $120 car payment. When those are gone, we can do just about anything we want and go anywhere we want. A lot of people find themselves stuck in lives they don't like because they are trapped by debt. We aren't that way and other than buying another house and paying it off as quickly as possible, we'll never carry debt again. It's too expensive, in dollars, energy, and emotion.
On a personal level because of our schedules, our dates are usually about finding time to visit. Next year, we'll probably take Trey to a babysitter for a couple of hours each week and then come back home to visit in peace. There aren't any quiet places around here to go out and eat. We do that once in a while but it's not a great environment for visiting.
We have changed how we think about our house and cars too. We are much more concerned with efficiency than before. We've never had gas guzzling cars but now we are even more careful. A plug-in hybrid would be perfect out here. We'd never use gas except when we went into the city. We want a house that's *just* big enough for us so that there isn't extra to clean or heat. Our time has become very important. Our last house was huge and it took a lot of work to keep it clean. This one is much easier and would be just right if there was one more room or a basement for my exercise equipment.
These are all lessons that we will be taking away with us when we move to our next house. Wendover has been a great place for us and even though it's not a long term answer, we are thankful that we moved here.
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