So, I have long had goals in life that many would consider small by American standards: I want a tiny house of some kind, some kind of transportation (a ebike would be great if I stay in a city, but if I don't, I might need a car, which I've never had before, and I turn 40 in less than a month), solar panels for my power needs, and my basic needs not constantly in question (food for me and the cats, electric which would hopefully be covered by solar panels). I dream of my little tiny home, parked in the woods somewhere, happily click clacking on my typewriter and snuggling cats. I don't want a ginormous house that I can't maintain and is way more than I need; I don't want some luxury expensive lifestyle. I want a simple life, with plenty of trees and cats to hug. Maybe even a dog!

A what??

But the problem is, once you're in the cycle of poverty, it's really hard to climb out. I've complained about this viscous circle before so I won't get into it really, but suffice to say I am not one of those privileged people who is able to give up some good paying job I never had to life a simpler life and sell a big house I never owned to build a tiny like you might see in the media. That's all well and good, but for me having a low-cost-to-upkeep tiny house would be a step up, not a vow of poverty, so to speak.

People say to ask for help, but I feel like I'm always asking for help as it is, just for basic survival so I don't end up on the street and the cats have food and maybe I do, too. I've seen the upfundmes but I haven't done one myself because, I don't know, I guess I figure people are sick of me always needing a hand, and if I need to do one, it will probably be for cat food.

allergy-safe cat food so Yuan isn't constantly barfing his guts out costs around $3 per can, I shit you not. Unfortunately, he's still getting the poops

Anyway. So looking through the #upfundme tag today, and after seeing so many great fundraisers, I thought, maybe it's ok to ask for help in ways that might help me become more sustainable, so one day I need less help, and also so that I have a smaller environmental footprint.

Don't worry, I'm not asking you to fund a tiny house here, but I thought I could take a small step toward that overarching goal and do a smaller fundraiser for three things that would be a little strep in the right direction.

You might remember a while back I attempted to make an investment in this vein by purchasing a small solar panel + battery, with the idea I could charge my Kindle (which is my computer, and getting more glitchy by the day) and phone on it, putting a little dent in my electric bill. Unfortunately, the battery pack part works fine, but the solar panel is near useless. So item #1 is a better solar panel which can plug into the battery pack and make the system functional. It costs about the same as the battery pack did, at $32.98 plus tax.

Item #2 is a solar lantern. I mostly work by one lamp at night anyway, and (hopefully) this one charges itself so it wouldn't be a load on the solar panel, either (LED lights generally are easy to charge with their solar panels, so it shouldn't be a problem). These two things would take care of a fair % of my electric needs, besides appliances. This lamp is currently $18.99 + tax on Amazon.

Since shipping on Amazon is free if you spend $25, I added a book I've had on my wish list for years, because it will help me learn how to do more things for myself. The description, taken from Amazon: "Growing vegetables and raising livestock is only the beginning of a successful homestead — that fresh food goes to waste unless you can properly prepare, cook, and preserve it. Andrea Chesman shows you how to bridge the gap between field and table, covering everything from curing meats and making sausage to canning fruits and vegetables, milling flour, working with sourdough, baking no-knead breads, making braises and stews that can be adapted to different cuts of meat, rendering lard and tallow, pickling, making butter and cheese, making yogurt, blanching vegetables for the freezer, making jams and jellies, drying produce, and much more. You’ll learn all the techniques you need to get the most from homegrown foods, along with dozens of simple and delicious recipes, most of which can be adapted to use whatever you have available."

That sounds like a wealth of useful knowledge to me, most of which I do not know. It would for sure help me be more sustainable, but in a different way. The book is currently $8.53 plus tax.

I estimated 7% tax on everything, for a grand total of $64.74. So my fundraising goal will be $65, which at today's prices would be 52 SBD or 45.14 Steem.

I'm sure a lot of people would think this is a silly fundraiser, but just like whenever I got a tool from the list of tools to build a tiny house, I felt like I was a little closer to my dream, this would feel like that too. It would be big to me. 💚

Thank you to anyone who sees fit to upvote this fundraiser. I appreciate you! 💙

That Red Fish your momma always warned you about

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