July 5, 2005 –  On Independence Day, we enjoyed our small-town parade and saw lots of friends. It seemed the fitting time to announce what we had recently decided for sure…

We are going to sell our home in Colorado.

This doesn’t mean that we are going to buy a place in Mexico anytime real soon. We aren’t yet clear about that. But when we go back to our rental house in Mexico in a few months, it will become our home base.

Why are we selling, when we love this rural mountain community so much? Ah, that’s why we announced it on Independence Day! By not having a mortgage, property taxes, property owners’ association annual dues, homeowners insurance, electricity, water, and propane bills, we will be financially independent.

That’s a term that has quite a pleasing ring to it! It may suggest a larger income — a WAY larger income — than we will have, but we’ll be fine between our social security and the income from our business. We are both looking forward to seeing what kinds of choices we make in our new life. We won’t exactly be retiring in Mexico but we’ll be living in Mexico in a perhaps semi-retired state.

It always amazes me how many people could do the same thing but don’t see it for themselves. One friend of ours bemoaned how much he is spending on health insurance per month. It’s more than what it costs us to live in Mexico!

Happy Independence Day!