We are brought up thinking that money can buy happiness, but freedom of time is what really leads to happiness. Yes, having money can give you the ability to choose how you spend your time, but this has more to do with your cost of living than it has to do with how much you make. If you can reduce your cost of living to the point that you are living substantially within your means, can stay as debt free as possible, can build savings and wealth, and can find ways to earn money that either doesn't require your time (like residual income) or is time you would be spending doing what you love to do anyway, then that will lead to true security, personal freedom, and happiness. Think of it kind of like a business. In business, you want to generate profits and invest those profits to build more profits. Here you want to generate time savings and invest that time to generate even more time savings. To generate that savings, you need to first consume less than you produce, then s
This year I had my best Concord grape harvest yet. I picked a total of 15 lbs of grapes from one bush. And I still had several grape bunches that I couldn't reach or left alone. However, I ended up picking too much for what I could process in my off time. I ended up throwing away about half the batch due to the grapes turning moldy before I could turn them into juice or freeze them. This post is about lessons learned for processing grapes to avoid making similar mistakes in future years. Grapes should ripen around mid August. Tools needed are some sharp kitchen scissors and a 5-gallon bucket or similar. Also some garden gloves to prevent bee stings. Pick early in the morning or late evening to avoid bees and wasps. They like to suck the juice out of the grapes and get active when the sun is up. Probably best to pick before 7am or after 7pm. Even during these times, watch out. I ended up getting stung by a small bee that I didn't see when I reached for a bunch to cut. Pick only