Live your dreams! You can do anything! If only you believe you can jump real high and touch the moon! I believe all these statements, minus touching the moon, and yet this hype should come with this disclaimer — living your dreams may cost you.

To be candid, vulnerable and 100% honest we’ve been guilty of feeding the, “live your dreams” hype without showing the sometimes grim costs and sacrifices. Here are some of the sacrifices of living our dream:

BAREBONES BUDGET

A big part of our journey was paying off debt, saying, “no” to unneeded stuff and securing an income to support our modest lifestyle. We worked hard to payoff debt, build an emergency fund and invested thousands of dollars in a business that we banked our future on. The business did not produce the income we expected which left us financially vulnerable. Thank God for that emergency fund! We have pivoted and developed other income streams but this has left us living on a bare-bones budget with very little margin.

TRAVEL

We hoped to travel the USA exploring foot-loose-and-fancy-free. We envisioned warm winter destinations, beaches, salty air and sun. Instead we travel and park out of necessity which is far from glamorous adventure.

DEPENDENT ON FRIENDS

We have spent the past 18 months semi-dependent on friends and family for shelter or parking to make our Livin’ Lightly lifestyle work. (Thank-you: Miller’s, Anderson’s, Shaw’s, Larson’s, Rodriguez, Cress’s, Roques, Bill and anyone else that has supported us!)

ALUMINUM CAN

The airstream is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Neighbors complain about our presence (we’ve even been called trailer trash) and RV parking can often costs as much as we paid for our house.

Anything worthwhile in life requires sacrifice — giving up something good, for something better. These sacrifices are not easy…by saying, “yes” to one opportunity we say, “no” to another. I am not sharing these sacrifices with any regret, discontentment or longing for our old (more comfortable) way of life. The good things we gave up (steady salary, retirement matching account, outstanding health insurance, comfortable house and plenty of stuff) made room for even better things! Like:

• Shae is able to stay at home full-time with Paisley.

• We get to spend the majority of everyday together as a family.

• We both get to experience the daily joy as our daughter learns and grows.

• Our possessions are minimal and we can be portable.

• We see our family more than a few days during the holidays.

• We can pursue work we love and are passionate about.

While we definitely have experienced deep sacrifice the result is worth every hardship! In the end each of these hardships have transformed into a blessing.

• Living on a bare-bones budget has brought us a sense of contentment and we have more than enough!

• Parking in the mid-west out of necessity has given us time to S-L-O-W D-O-W-N and enjoy the moment.

• Having some dependence on loved ones has brought us rich community.

The moral of the story? Live your dreams but be aware and intentional because every opportunity has a cost. Don’t be afraid of sacrifice — the best is yet to come! (In more ways than one!)

Thoughts? Comments? Add them below – we love hearing from you!