Pot belly Pigs Are The Pits!

Well, let me start off by saying that God sure has a way of teaching lessons I obviously need to learn. It started out with me and my sister deciding that we want to be more self sufficient. I've been on this kick for a while and I guess I finally convinced her to join me in this little adventure. I've been reading lots of blogs about farming on an acre and backyard homesteading. Me and Becca got to talking and we were like Hey yeah we could do that! We figured it'd be soo educational! The kids will love it (and it will get them out from in front of the T.V.), what could go wrong? So she decided to raise rabbits. Supposedly rabbits are excellent for small farms because they produce an awesome amount of meat with very little work (yeah right). And I found some potbelly pigs super cheap. I did a little research, you know read all of two articles, and I learned that pot belly pigs are raised for meat by the Vietnamese. I figured hey if they can do it so can we! Donna's house has a cyclone fence around it. It's even divided into different yards. She has a front yard, back yard, a seperate side yard and a little chicken pen. She was cool with us throwing the pigs in her side yard. Now let me take a minute to explain my reasoning, OK? I figured pot belly pigs are kinda like medium dogs right? I mean they are kinda small like a dog? And if you can raise a rabbit to eat well a pig would have more meat than a rabbit. It wouldn't be a lot of meat but it would be enough and it won't cost any food cause I  can feed them slop. Between Donna , Becca and me we should have PLENTY of slop to feed them. It all sounds so reasonable. No. Not so much. We got  3 pigs, a momma, daddy and baby. a sweet little family, awwww. No! Right off the bat we had to separate them because the dad and baby was fighting. The baby of course was a male. Then we learned the momma pig was probably pregnant. Well we couldn't keep the momma pig in with the baby because apparently he will kill the babies. We also can't put the momma in with the papa pig for the same reason. And we can't put the baby pig in with the papa because they will fight. So after alot of reasearch we decided to get rid of Baby pig. No problem. Everyone wants a baby pot belly pig. Baby gone. Now I start to notice these pigs look a little weird, I mean Papa looks like he has tusks, is that normal? And their hair looks like I don't know weird and kinda wild. These don't look anything like the pictures of potbelly pigs I've ever seen. Then I find out you gotta keep the babies almost a year before you can slaughter them out. So not worth the hassle for that little bit of meat! And then they start digging under the fences and getting out. And they seriously are rooting up Donna's whole yard! This IS NOT what I had in mind! So I decide to sell them. $20 bucks apiece and they are gone! Easy Peasy! Nope, not so much. Nobody wants them so after a week or two of them steadily tearing up her yard and getting out and driving me crazy I decide to just give them away! I just want them gone! Any takers? NO! Seriously! I listed them on like 10 Facebook groups! FREE Pigs! Come and get them! Please! Nope. Not one call! So then a cop shows up at my door, "Hey Lady you got some pigs out?" Yes officer I do. He tells me he is gonna call animal control and get them. Now I guess he thought I wouldn't be happy about that but I tell him that's great I been trying to get rid of them. Please call animal control. Please come get them. So he tells me well, if they get them they are going to fine me. Ok this may still be a good idea, at this point I'm willing to PAY to get rid of them so I say ok, how much? He kinda looks at me then says "I'm not gonna do that, go get your pigs". Well! Bummer! There goes that! So we jump in the van just like we know exactly how to catch pigs and drive down to Donna's. We actually get them pretty easy. Kyle just jumped out with the pig bucket and they follow him right into their pen! Yeah! Piece of cake! Um... NO! While I'm going to get Becca and her husband because now I've gotten the brilliant idea to turn them loose on Becca's hunting land They get out AGAIN! I come back with Daniel and Ricky ( her husband and son) and we spend the next 3 HOURS chasing these 2 pigs all over the neighborhood. The kids are now hot, thirsty and tired and haven't even had breakfast yet. Ricky and Daniel are aggravated and decide to just shoot them. By now even the little girls are agreeable to this. Anything to just stop having to chase them. But Becca who hasn't been chasing them for 3 hours brings reason and sanity back to the group, and we call Animal control to find out seriously how much is the fine . I will gladly pay it! Please, Please! And they say... wait for it.... it's FREE! Free if you let them have the pigs! Seriously? Really? You couldn't of mentioned that 3 hours ago before we chased them 80 miles in the 150 degree Texas heat!? Let me think? Yes please come get them and you may certainly have them for your trouble. Ya. Turns out "Animal Control" is a 70 year old man and his grandson with a few pig traps in their pick up. They have a bunch of land to turn them loose on. O well. At least they are gone. And what do I find when I get home? At least 10 different people, emailing, texting and messaging me begging for the pigs! Now for the lesson that I learned. When I got the pigs Shane told me it was a bad idea. We aren't supposed to have pigs in the city. I'm gonna regret it. It's a hassel. Now I could of said "You're right dear, lets take this money and go to Rancho Grande instead, or even hey, let's go buy some pretty flowers. I never heard of flowers tearing up a yard. Did I say that? Did I listen? Nope. Will I next time? Probably not. No seriously, I have learned my lesson! Sometimes husband does know best! I seriously am done with animals, I may even get rid of my fish. I'm. Just. Done.

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Frugal Friday- Update

It's been so long since I posted about our families journey of getting out of debt I thought I'd post a little update. We are doing so much better than we were two years ago.Back then were living paycheck to paycheck, a lot of times we were already into our check before we even got it. It took a LOT of work, sacrifice, and patience but it is so worth it! Both of our vehicles are paid off and we hope with maintenance to keep them a very long time.  We ended up having to buy a new washer and dryer and that was a huge expense that we didn't count on. And we bought Ashley a car which we paid cash for (using our tax refund). We were so tempted to go to a dealer and get under a note but we stuck to our cash on the barrel plan and paid it straight out. Unfortunately she ran the car with no oil and blew the motor up! So we went back on our plan and borrowed the money to fix it. We have been very aggressive about paying it back and only owe about 9 more payments. Even with these setbacks though I'm very proud of our progress. We still use the envelope method of budgeting. I am really amazed how well it works! We have adapted it a little bit though. Now I try to only pull out the bare minimum that I need for bills and leave as much as I can in the checking account. Then the night before payday I check our balance and transfer whatever is in the checking account to the savings. By doing this we finally have money in our savings account for the first time ever. It's not a lot yet but it is slowly building up. And the kids all opened a savings account and we even opened one for our grandson. I took a tip from The Automatic Millionaire and called our mortgage company and did two things, first I set up our mortgage payments to be paid every two weeks instead of once a month, Second I set up to pay a little extra each time to go straight to the principle. Just by making those two small changes we will knock almost a year off our mortgage which means our house will be paid off in a little over two years! Yeah! I have to admit since money isn't as tight we do eat out a little more often, but try not to eat out more than twice a paycheck. We were able to reduce our phone bill nearly to half but ended up getting Hulu and Netflix (less than $20 for both) so we still came out ahead. Ashley graduated so we were able to save $70 a month on her school. I think the hardest thing is not making any new bills. It's so tempting to just go buy it on credit, but it is so nice not to worry every single payday how we are going to pay everything when we have more going out then coming in. We were even able to use some of the extra to start a retirement fund! So that's where we are, It took along time and we aren't where we need to be yet, we still have set backs, and Shane's job is so up and down but at least now when he gets a low paycheck it's not such a stress it usually means there won't be any left over to save instead of there won't be enough to pay all our bills.

Poetry by Edgar Albert Guest- On Quitting

On Quitting

How much grit do you think you've got?
Can you quit a thing that you like a lot?
You may talk of pluck; it's an easy word,
And where'er you go it is often heard;
But can you tell to a jot or guess
Just how much courage you now possess?
You may stand to trouble and keep your grin,
But have you tackled self-discipline?
Have you ever issued commands to you
To quit the things that you like to do,
And then, when tempted and sorely swayed,
Those rigid orders have you obeyed?

Don't boast of your grit till you've tried it out,
Nor prate to men of your courage stout,
For it's easy enough to retain a grin
In the face of a fight there's a chance to win,
But the sort of grit that is good to own
Is the stuff you need when you're all alone.
How much grit do you think you've got?
Can you turn from joys that you like a lot?
Have you ever tested yourself to know
How far with yourself your will can go?
If you want to know if you have grit,
Just pick out a joy that you like, and quit.

It's bully sport and it's open fight;
It will keep you busy both day and night;
For the toughest kind of a game you'll find
Is to make your body obey your mind.
And you never will know what is meant by grit
Unless there's something you've tried to quit.

Edgar Albert Guest


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