Thanksgiving was told to us in grade school as a fable of pilgrims and indians being friends. But what really happened was more like a bunch of colonizers showed up and murdered the indians and took the land they lived on to claim as their own. Thanksgiving is the celebration of whitewashing genocide, some may say.

So that may factor in here

For sure.

I moved to Detroit from a HCOL city I was established in. I was renting and the options I had to buy were not hopeful. The taxes alone would have kept me working for more money year over year for the foreseeable future.

I took what would have been a down payment and bought a place outright. I bought a project and it was cheap, only half my down payment fund.

Now I am all set up. I have no mortgage to pay. My house costs me taxes ($1700/yr) and insurance ($1500/yr) plus utilities ($50 internet, $150 gas&electric, $60 water) That is about $550/month.

In michigan, taxable value increases are capped at 5%.

I figure I can work any job and stay ahead of the bills. Yesterday I did a brake job for a friend of a friend for $200 and didn’t even need to leave the house. I can do things like this here and there and get by without even having a job.

I have never known this amount of stability in housing as an adult before. It is wild. I own this whole damn house and everything in it. I also made a bunch of equity right out the gate by fixing up an abandoned trap house.

Not trying to lay out a plan for others, just wanted to share how my plan has been a success and that Detroit is a place where home ownership is attainable.

Oh, couple other things. I have no kids and the schools were not a problem for me. Although the neighborhood kids are all wonderful.

I am not interested in living in “the country”. I am a city person, I want my resources close. I can walk to a hardware, grocery, and auto parts store from my place. No thanks on 30min drives to dollar general and TSC on the fancy days.

reduce, reuse, recycle.

That shit is in order of most impactful.

I buy as much as I can second hand. Doing so, I am not bombarded with trash. No boxes, no bags, no plastic wrap.

We should 100% just not be producing all this trash. Coffee at home has zero waste, no plastic cup, no receipt, no carrier, no lid,… do that shit everyday x millions of people. smh