Ever since we bought our property back in 2010, we desired to have a tractor.  We wanted a tractor with a backhoe attachment, and we should have bought it back then, but I was stubborn about not wanting to go back in debt. If we had done this seven years ago, our tractor would have been paid off this year.  However, with payments, money would not be as flush and several projects would have probably not been accomplished during that time.

“What ifs” is no way to look at the world.  All our lives are full of what ifs.  Possibly, in the next seven years I will be thinking what life would have been like if we had not bought a tractor.

We crunched the numbers using a spreadsheet, and we found the tractor payments feasible for us.  Follow this link to download a free copy of our “tractor; monthly payment calculator”. Pauper’s Candles “Freebies” page.

We are diving in and trusting we are making the right choice.  What convinced me was when our generator went out of commission this past January, and we bought an emergency backup generator.  However, the backup generator did a poor job integrating in our system.  It was not a true 5000 Watt generator.  We decided to return it back to the store, but my wife and I could barely lift it.  We hoisted and strained to get the generator into our high-lift Suburban.  Our backs were wrenched and we felt sore for the next few days.  A tractor with pallet forks would have done it without breaking a sweat, and here we were killing ourselves.  That was the defining moment that I could make one back breaking mistake and injure myself to the point in which I would be in debt to several hospital bills and would no longer be able to work the homestead.

Being young, I arrogantly used my back, now that I am middle aged, I am becoming more cautious in protecting my body, which protects my freedom. That became the tipping balance for my wife and I to take the plunge back into debt.  Our tractor arrives this afternoon.

If you would like to suggest a name for our new mechanical mule, please leave a comment below.