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Quarantine Madness: Don’t Strangle Those you Love, Create a Flexible Home Economy – PART 1&2

flexible home economy

2 PART SERIES ->  Video & Audio Replays Available  – Flexible Home Economy Equitable – Exchanges when Cash is Tight and Things are Weird (Enjoy the first in the series!)

I will be hosting a Zoom series starting April 14th @ 4:30pm Pacific. Over 2-3 meetings I plan to expand upon the ideas and provide the templates for the system I created. People can adapt and customize them if they find value in it. Click play below to watch or listen the first in the series. 

I will be hosting a Zoom series starting April 14th @ 4:30pm Pacific. Over 2-3 meetings I plan to expand upon the ideas and provide the templates for the system I created. People can adapt and customize them if they find value in it.

AKA: “The Not-So-Empty Nest” or I Got You Through High School, Why are You Still on my Couch?

The quarantine has many silver linings, and… it is forcing us to find balance and create equitable exchanges in novel ways. Luckily, the creative thinking involved in owner financing and notes can be adapted to solve problems within our homes and communities.

I originally commissioned the above cover art (by: Lars Nielsen) when I wrote a book about the custom home economic system I created when my daughters, 17, 18 & 19, were all post high school but not yet out of the house.

It occurs to me that now would be a good time to finish up, flush out and actually publish that book. As people are cooped up together, some with jobs, some without, everyone needs a way to contribute to their respective households with time, money, or some combination of the two.

When I quit my nursing job to pursue the note business, there were some very stressful times (see previous post). Money was tight, I was working hard and sleeping little. So… every time I would walk from my garage ‘office’ to the bathroom in the house passed young adults watching Netflix, playing computer games, or on the couch with a book, my brain would get steamier and steamier,

…until one day, like Little Miss Teapot, I got red hot and exploded.

That morning, I put all regular business activities aside and like a mad scientist concocted a completely new system that would become the new law of the land… abide by it or make other arrangements.

At the end of that day, triumphant, I marched into the kitchen and plastered 7 interrelated documents all over the refrigerator. The message was, “Here’s how much it costs to keep this roof over our heads. If you like living here, then you need to do your part and here’s how.”

If you have more money than time, then here’s the dollar amount you need to pay given the square footage of your room as a percentage of the overall size of the house. If you have more time than money, then here are the activities that qualify.

It was a blend of time banking and traditional ideas of financial fairness.

At first, they found it quite offensive, but it wasn’t long before they got on board. Later they would thank me profusely for teaching them valuable life lessons. They appreciated having a quantifiable means of contributing in tangible ways. It gave them self respect and personal pride. They knew that they had earned their place, that they weren’t deadbeats.

They knew when they were falling short, and just as importantly, when they had done enough. Then, in good conscience, they could spend their additional resources on personal pursuits. It worked beautifully.

It allowed me to drop my identification with species who tend to eat their young.

All successful relationships come down to two things:

  1. Direct nurturing
  2. Clear boundaries

I had spent almost 20 years cultivating sweet and tender relationships with my children. It was nice not to have to ruin the rapport in order to shield myself from resentment and exhaustion.

The concepts herein can be extrapolated for application with tenants and borrowers if your investments are local. Right now we’re all in this economic pandemic together. It’s a time to be as generous and creative as we can. Cash isn’t the only way to create a fair exchange of value.

“You can’t pay your mortgage this month? Can you mow my lawn? Paint my fence? What about sharing the tomatoes you’re growing in your back yard?

I will be hosting a Zoom series starting April 14th @ 4:30pm Pacific. Over 2-3 meetings I plan to expand upon the ideas and provide the templates for the system I created. People can adapt and customize them if they find value in it. ->Video & Audio replay of first in the series available at top of post!

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