Selling out or staying in

I would like to share my veiw from personal experiance. Years ago I was a small farmer/ diesel mechanic having a hard time making ends meet. My wife knew an old Mom and son who she looked out for. After a few years each passed a few months from each other. She then found out they had left her a boat load of cash and some high dollar land with a home on a private lake. So now I went from driving old tired trucks to buying a new Power Stroke and writting a check. Need a better tractor or baler, write a check. Few years down the road the wife took off for greener pastures. Then got a high dollar lawyer and I got to pay her back for every dime that was dumped into this farm. She then took the payment and invested it in the stock market and it crashed in a few months. She lost it all in 2008. Now I had a farm that was deep in debt again. I lived alone for 4 years while being advised to sell out because of my bills. I met a good farm girl who rolled up her sleaves and helped me get my head strait and get back to business. We are now on good ground once again, but 14 years later. My point to this story is I once had a thick wallet and money was no problem, but I was not happy. I have also been in over my head, but enjoyed my life as a farmer with small kids. Sometimes its worth a lack of money to be able to spend quality time with my kids here on our land. They are asking me to pull the planter out of the shed and go back to row cropping and dig out the combine. I have deceided that if I can break even, or not loose to much then it would be worth it so my kids can grow up working along side of me and their Mom farming. I Have to try to hunt up some ground to rent(all of ours is in hay), but the kids will be in the truck when we go knocking on some doors. Farming is a lifestyle. Its not always about money. You can be happy with, or without money. Some of us find it hard to be happy without farming. Al

Sometimes.a blind sow.finds a acorn. Good story

I must be different, I have been in debt and debt free, had money and lost money, had two nice ranches and gave them up, had several wives that turned out to be totally worthless, and I can say with certainty, that never once in my entire life have I been happy.

I don't think its all about being rich and living the high life.

I don't think its all about being poor and trying to be happy doing just what you want to do.

I think it is all about moderation. Be happy that you can do what you want to do by making good choices and avoiding the things that drag you down. Stick to the things that make you happy, work hard at it and there will be plenty of good times in life to enjoy!

Money is just a means, not a means to happiness. It took me a while to realize this and at times still have to remind myself of it.

We can read a 500 word story here but many times still not know the individual when it comes to mind and heart. Because we fear judgment we often delete key points of information that might make the readers here form a different opinion. Regardless of the advice here offered to the previous poster he still needs to reflect on all that has taken place in his life, what the bank has told him, the local rental situation to name a few points of interest. Hope this makes sense.

Well I never figured on getting rich, I only ever wanted to make a living. Things have always worked out. For years we never had two nickels to rub together farming through the eighties. Got very lucky with a wonderful wife the first time and she gave us four very good boys. I look back at our lives together and feel very happy. You are doing the right thing.

Money won't buy happiness, of course, just like lack of money won't give you happiness. But it is just as easy to be unhappy in a Corvette as in an old truck, and the Vette at least surrounds you with something nice.

All this talk of quitting, I am having the thoughts myself, not farming but the dairy part of it. My dad owns the farms but I am going to start to buy them some time soon and milking cows and trying to pay for them doesn't look to promising. Been running through my head going back to the mine and work nights so I get 2 dollars more per hour plus I can do chores during the daylight when I get home and sleep during the day. Iowa is nice because you can work as much as you want to. I would still have my rented ground along with my dads farms and just feed out steers, do that for 10 years and see how much I get paid off on the farms then maybe look to go back milking! Just been rolling through my head is all!

Happiness comes from within, it is a personal choice.

That's a sad story I am sorry to hear that. I hope things improve for you.

Without having any valid statistics to back me up, I would say that a lot of problems that people or families experience nowadays is tied directly to their financial situation. There are exceptions of course, but generally I think the availability of money has a lot to do with stress and everything that goes with it.

Having been both broke and having a few dollars I will add that having some extra money is way better. When the wife and I got married we did not have much, just a job and each other. Over the years, 61 of them, we began to gain a little until eventually we began to prosper. Not rich mind you but just well off and no worry about paying our bills.

How did we do it? By being frugal and driving old cars and not getting into debt. Then there is the go to work everyday thing that possibly contributed to our success. Going to college and getting a degree and a teaching certificate did help some although teaching is not a high paying job but it has it's perks. I can assure you that it has been a team effort with my wife helping me all of the way.

"never" wow. I hate to hear that. Hope and pray you find happiness .

Depending on others to make us happy is often disappointing And happiness is sort of an abstract idea that man could only think about when he got the extra time from trying to keep from starving. I don't believe anyone is happy all the time, but being unhappy all the time is frightening.

I have never really had money, and I have never been broke either. Married a wonderful gal at 21, and we have had our share of success, as well as our share of disappointments. But we devoted our lives to each other as kids, and have stood strong sids by side throughout our married lives, always as equal partners. It has been the two of us against the world for over 35 years now, our parents are long deceased, have not been around to back stop us, or bail us out of trouble. Doesn?t take a lot of money to be happy, good health and companionship are far more important than money. Money is just a tool, just like a pitch fork or a wheelbarrow, but folks seem much more eager to use the money tool. And all too often end up just buying the kind of stuff that you would pick up with the fork, and carry in the wheelbarrow.

Never like to see someone have to give up on their dreams, And I get the impression you are a diehard dairyman. But who could fault you? Why should you work for little or nothing, providing a high quality product, while other parts of the system, processing and retailing make good profits. All the best to you Brown Swiss, in whichever choice you pick

Once your basic needs are met, more will not make you happier.

That is what I have always thought too, but so far it hasn't happened.

Would be nice if they did improve, but I am not holding my breath yet.

Well said Bruce! My wife and I never buy loto tickets for that reason,that much money thrown at our laps would inadvertently cause many more problems than it would ever solve. We work hard laugh often and love each other always. We don't need to be rich to be happier.

Crazy horse,you are right. When living on fixed income and health ins.,meds.,gas,etc,etc,etc, keep costing more the more the stress. Never ending battle.

I've found that to be not true,the more I have the more the more things I able to do that I want to do.

I think it was Will Rogers that said people are as happy as they want to be.

How many raises did Will Rogers turn down? It was Joe Louis that said "I been rich and I been poor,rich is better". I've seen a lot of poor people trying to get rich but have never seen
a rich person trying to get poor.

Oh, man, a lot of rich people couldn't wait to get poor! Have it all away on dumb ideas or up the nose or blow it on stuff and all gone.

Paul

The thinking is to pay off the farms or most of it in 10 to 15 years and then go back to milking, I would be 45 to 50 by then, some dairying left in me I was hoping and the kids would be pushing their 20s!

I agree completely. People need to learn to live within their means. Many don't and that's when the problems start between couples.

Retired Farmer, not talking about you, but I've lived a few years and have noticed that some peple are not happy unless they are making someone else miserable. Maybe your exes fit that category. I'm glad most of you guys gave good wives, cause I can tell you there are a lot of bad ones out there. I'm sure bad husbands too. I have gotten pretty well aquainted with the Bible, and it is full of truth, especially when it comes to humans. I look around me and see people that are just determined to be miserable and/or make everybody around them miserable. It amazes me, including a big ole dose of the misery spreaders today. The Bible is full of instructions to make things better, but people refuse to obey. And if you point them towards the words of life they turn on you like a fighting couple turns on the police when they answer the domestic dispute call. Retired Farmer, I hope you find that happiness that has eluded you. I promise, you aren't the only one hunting a little happiness.

well said mrs 730's daughter thinks the more something costs the happier she will be.
as most of you know mrs 730 is very sick i'm afraid some night the phone is going to ring and person on other end is going to say she is gone.
her daughter has never learned the value of a dollar she asked her uncle what will I do without my life line.
her uncle and i think she was asking what will daughter do without mom's money to pay for the stuff she doesn't need.
she has messed up so many jobs and realtion ships it isn't funny she doesn't learn maybe the problem is with her

They weren't trying to get poor they still want money bad to buy more drugs they're just stupid.