My Experience Hosting With AirBnB

    On April 16th of 2022 I listed our basement as a private room space on AirBnB. I wrote all about that in this post in May. I thought it would be fun to give you a little update on how it has gone.

    First of all with this whole experience I just feel like God has blessed us over and over and over again. I have heard stories of bad experiences hosting (guests that trash the place, guests that are hard to deal with and people holding parties at your place or having to deal with things like guests having their car broken into while they are at your place) but we have not. We have had 2 guests out of the 49 stays in 2022 that weren't completely positive about the whole experience of staying with us. One was unhappy about driving on a gravel road to get here, He couldn't find the fridge (nor did he ask me anything while he was here because I would have been happy to show it to him), there was a spider on the ceiling and our footsteps upstairs were loud. But still he left our place neat and tidy and wasn't a bother while he was here I just would have appreciated more communication while he was here so that I could have resolved issues as best I could rather than him giving us a low rating. But it doesn't really matter. Plenty of guests have given us a high rating so it balances out. The other unhappy guest arrived late and found our dog's bark scary (which does make sense and I am glad he pointed it out to me so that I don't leave Kitchi out when people are arriving) and he didn't like our patriotic stairway - I don't mind that he pointed that out in the review either as if people don't like that sort of thing it is fine if they don't book with us. Even though they weren't completely happy they still were respectful of our space and we didn't have any issues having them here.

   

   Financial blessings: Hosting with AirBnB out of our home like we do is not a get rich quick scheme but it has been a true blessing financially. We made just $4 shy of $6,000 in 2022 from AirBnB (and they take out all the fees that are needed above that amount). So I got nearly $6,000 deposited in my bank account. They usually put it in a day or two after the guest arrives. 2023 looks like it will be even more financially lucrative as I will, Lord willing, be doing it for the whole year. I already have over $4,000 worth of trips booked or already stayed with me and that is with nearly the whole summer and fall still open for bookings. I didn't know if this would be a year round venture but it seems to be. December was way lighter with only 4 guests but January is back to being fairly busy again. This earnings is made from using a space that our family used very little anyway.

   The blessing of opening your home to others: The Bible speaks of the need for Christians to be hospitable. And that word for hospitality has to do with treating Strangers like friends. Though when I do it for money it doesn't seem quite the same as simply inviting strangers in but I do still find it to be a blessing. I am not quite sure just how to explain the joy I experience from trusting mankind enough to let them come in and use my home, to have access to much of my stuff (though not all of our stuff nor all of our home as we did put up the door pictures below to block guests from our main living area). It is just another area where I have learned to be a little more vulnerable and open and when you find that others are kind back when you choose to be open and kind there is something so very beautiful about that.

  The majority of our guests have been from Minnesota but we have had guests from all over. We had a lady from Germany stay with us for a couple of days and I had a lovely long visit with her. It was so neat to visit together of the beauty of truly trusting strangers as she has done by staying in all sorts of shared spaces as she traveled across the USA.  A couple from out East was super friendly and thoroughly loved on Kitchi while they were here. Kitchi has been a favorite with many (though not all as I mentioned above) when they are here. One lady from Kansas had evidently read reviews about him (many mention the sweet dog) and she was so excited to get here and play with him. They brought him a frisbee as a gift and spent a fair amount of time playing with him.

   I do want to give you the whole picture in this post because all though I have absolutely loved having guests come and go the kids have merely tolerated it. It is not something that they enjoy. They understand that it is something we need to do financially but they try to avoid meeting any guests. The blue doors have been a very good thing for their sake. When we close the doors they feel comfortable to act as normal in our space and they try to stay out of the shared space if they think that the guests might be coming and going. 

 How does it actually work? I made a listing on the AirBnB site which over all is quite easy to do. Their site is pretty easy to navigate and they have instructions about everything. There are also people you can contact if you need help. I got some bookings in about a week and then less than a week later I was hosting. I have it set (You can choose setting according to your comfort level) so that if someone is verified as a real person (they have to submit some documentation) and they have a 5 star rating from their stays at other places then they can book automatically as long as the dates have not been booked by anyone else and I have not blocked them (I block dates that are busy and I don't want to have guests or when I am out of town  or we are having company that needs to stay in that area). When someone has booked a stay I get a text, an e-mail and it shows up on the AirBnB host site. If people don't fit the qualifications that I set up they can send a request to book. Or they can do that if they hope to get some dates that currently look unavailable. Then I have to go on the site and either approve or decline their stay. I do some communicating with the guests before they arrive to let them know who to check in and such and I will give them contact info for me and ask if they have any questions. That generally does not take that much time. I have a general instructional letter that I have in a document on my computer and I just copy and paste it.  Before they come I made sure the bed(s) are made and that it is neat and clean. It usually takes me 1 to 2 hours between guests to change sheets, clean the bathroom, clean floors and sanitize things. I also change the lock code on the door that they use. They are able to come and go as they like and generally we don't visit a lot. I do try to meet them if at all possible and let them know that I am available should they have any questions. I do have coffee and tea available down in the AirBnB and have occasionally set out fruit, granola bars or some other snack but usually I don't have it and no one has complained. Most stays take less than 2 hours for me to clean, communicate and do anything else needed for their stay.

Do you have any interest in hosting? I know it is not for everyone but if you are looking to earn some extra money and you have some extra space it could work for you. I personally have found it to be a very fun and easy way to make some extra money. The work is fairly minimal. Most things can be done when you have time and you can make it work around another job. If you are interested in doing it I would love it if you would sign up by following this link for AirBnB. If you sign up and host a stay within 90 days (of signing up) you will get a little bonus payment and I also will earn some money. 
 

Lovely Wintertime

Temps are supposed to get below zero tonight and that is fairly normal for January in Northern Minnesota. It can be cold but it is oh so beautiful and invigorating too. I truly love it here. Even when the wind feels a little nippy and my eyelashes get frosty - I love living here. 

 I thought I would share a few of our winter doings so far this season....

The top picture is of Malcolm and Thomas - biking in the snow. People heavily discourage me from doing that after my tumble last winter but I guess it is okay for Malcolm when he has his Daddy's help.

Several weeks ago my parents brought their wood splitter and my brother Peter and Niece Jatan over for a Saturday morning. Thomas, Malcolm and Jonathan also came and they along with Aaron, Megan and I worked on doing up a nice amount of wood for us and some for my mother-in-law, Sharyl too. What a blessing that was! We love having our cozy fires and wood is needed for that.

Mom and Dad make a pretty good team! They have been working that way for over 50 years now.

We got two loads like this for us. Yay!!

I am not sure how much this guy did to help but he sure is cute!

He, Megan and Jaten were the stacking team.

A couple of weeks ago I invited my friend Amy over to hang out with me on a Saturday when the kids were busy doing other things. We enjoyed breakfast (Aaron was here for that) and then a lovely walk in the woods followed by sewing on a quilt together.

The woods were lovely but even more lovely is friendship. I am so blessed.

We have gotten quite a lot of snow this year and we have really been able to enjoy the winter wonderland look!

The next day after church and lunch Aaron and I decided to do some back country downhill skiing. Aaron had checked out this area the week before with Megan.
There was a trail from the road that we were able to follow to get to the hill. 

Once we went down the hill of course we had to take our skis off and climb back up. It was fabulous exercise.

It was around 2 degrees that day but the sun was shining, I dressed warmly and with all the exercise I got so hot!

Kitchi is always happy to be a part of things.

Aaron is a great skier and sometimes seems like he has endless energy.

A few days later I got this picture of Megan when we were out on a walk. It was pretty chilly that day (below zero I am pretty sure) so she wore a trench coat over her snowsuit. I guess there is a book out (which I have heard is a good one) called "There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather" (by a Scandinavian Mom) that then also says that there is just bad clothing. I generally agree. If you dress for the weather you can truly enjoy time outside in all kinds of temps.

My goal is to get outside and get some exercise of some sort at least 5 times a week. I think it is really good for you - mentally and physically. 

How is your winter going? Are you enjoying it? What sorts of things do you do outside in the winter time?
 

Thanksgiving 2022

I know we just had Christmas but I had still been wanting to document Thanksgiving so here we go....

   Thanksgiving morning found Megan and I hard at work in the kitchen working on Butterhorn rolls and pies. I am thankful for children (my girls especially) that are very capable in the kitchen. Megan especially enjoys baking.

   This year for Thanksgiving there were a lot of family here in town and so some thought it would be to crowded at our house (where we usually have it) and so we should have it at the church building instead. Our family struggled a bit with not having it at home and changing that tradition but in the end where we get together with our loved ones, and the purpose of this Holiday to give thanks to our Creator does not require being in a certain place. We had a lovely day!

   Decorating is important to me in making a holiday special. So I packed in a bunch of stuff to work at making the church building seem a little more homelike and special. I was blessed to have people willing to help me in the decorating. Working at a Florist shop is always a nice thing as I frequently get to take home (for free) flowers that aren't sellable but still look lovely for our table.

We had a very large L shaped table for the older people and then a shorter kids table as well. The kids were eager to help with the decorating and so their table got heavily decorated. I had so much fun with them and helping them with flowers and finding vases. The arranging of the flowers and everything else was totally their doing.

For me it is the people that make any holiday special....

Heidi and Tati

Mom and Dad and their youngest grandchild (that is born - there is another grandchild and another great grandchild on the way)

Dennis and Karen (my Brother-in-laws parents)- They moved to our town this summer and we are loving having them at church.

Brandt and Jennifer.

Heidi, Molly and Dakota

Plenty of pie for all!!!

Malcolm, Mara and Thomas

We had like 2 turkeys and 2 hams. Way more food than we could ever eat.

What a fun bunch of kids!

It was lovely to have my brother Peter and his family in town with us this year for Thanksgiving.

These two had fun playing with the rockers in the nursery and taking care of "their babies".

Thanksgiving is a holiday that reminds us to be Thankful but we truly have so very much to thank God for all year round.
 

December Goals/Challenges

We have a grocery store in town (which is actually in the same building as the Flower Shop that I work part time at) that gives out "Gas stamps". You get 1 stamp for every $5 you spend and then you put 20 stamps on a card and that is worth $1 to buy either gas or groceries. I collect stamps and will use them occasionally but I don't shop there real often normally - especially since ALDI came to town. But one day not long ago my boss brought 3 zip lock bags into work and wondered if I wanted them. I guess their family had been collecting them for years but hadn't used them. I said "Sure"!

   When I got home the kids and I guessed on how much they are worth. I guessed $45, Megan $50 something and Aaron $180. I haven't gotten them all glued together yet but using up two bags plus a little more I am up to $190. What a blessing! So that brings about December's financial challenge: Use only gas stamps to buy all of my food and gas for the month. I also don't plan on doing any other shopping except for I have a $12 rebate check for Menards, $30+ in credit at a local second hand store (where I get pretty much all of my clothes since I can sell other things there and then just use money that I have made to buy what I want) and a $20 gift certificate to another 2nd hand store. Other than that I don't plan to do any shopping. The grocery store  where I will use the gas stamps does limit your spending to ten filled cards (worth $10) at a time. So it is a good thing that I work right next door. I can do a little shopping and getting of gas every day that I work if need be.

  My goal is not to spend hardly anything else either (other than giving or extra on my mortgage - the reason I want to save is for those purposes) but I do leave it open to pay money for activities if that seems the best way to spend time with those I love. That could include skiing, rock climbing, going out to eat, etc. I don't currently plan to do any traveling this month but if an opportunity should come up I would be willing to do that and pay the money for trip expenses if it seems like a wise thing to do.

    You may wonder how that works with Christmas coming. We have a very simple Christmas and this year we are trying to make all handmade gifts (and I will use the many, many things I already have on hand to make things with. Most of those things (fabric, yarn, etc) have been given to me as people know that I like to make things. I will be sure to tell you about the gifts I made but probably not until next month. So making homemade gifts is one of my other challenges for the month. I have ideas for everybody but I still would love to hear about any cool handmade gifts that you have given or received - especially for men. I can always use some new ideas.

 Another challenge is to clean out 2 spaces each week. This will help to get our house into a cleaner and tidier state and helps in the decluttering process as well. 

  Another goal that I hesitate to state because I am afraid I can't get it done - is to finish the challenge that I started at the beginning of this year to record a song on 12 different instruments in 2022. I rather dropped the ball on this one but I would still really like to do it. So I am going to try.

   I had a lovely week that I really would like to share more about but it truly is time to head to bed. I will leave you with a couple of pictures from this evening. We watched Malcolm while his parents went bowling and had a delightful time.

  

Megan is working to change the mantle from fall to Christmas and decided that Malcolm made a nice decoration.

Malcolm (on the Ukulele) and Aaron made some music this evening.

  Jonathan also joined us for supper this evening. My heart is full - I got to spend time with all of my kids today.

 

November Goals Report

I made my goal of getting rid of an item (or many times a lot more) for the number of each day. That was a total of over 475 items. That is pretty impressive when I calculate it! I did take pictures of pretty much every day but I didn't get around to blogging and I decided that you probably didn't need to see pictures of all my rejects. I did choose to share a few pictures to highlight some of the areas that I went through. I did do a lot of cleaning out in paper areas so that doesn't tend to make as big of visual difference. There is definitely still areas in  my home that could use some decluttering. I am super thankful to have gotten to the areas that I did however - some of them especially were good to work through mentally.

Cupboards were one area that I did clean through. I found French dressing that was outdated. It isn't a surprise - only Ken liked that dressing and he hasn't lived here for nearly 2 years. I hate to waste food and wish I would have thought to give it away a long time ago but at least it is out of my cupboard now.

I had a chance to make some Thanksgiving Cards and envelopes from things that I already had on hand. I was able to go through my card making scraps some with that project and then give away the results (which took them out of my house) and burn leftover scraps.

The pictures above and below were really good for me to go through. It was letters that Ken and I had written when we were engaged, lots of cards that Ken had given me and cards we had been given for our wedding (and I think I am sounding a bit like a hoarder now - I did have a cute little chest that they had a place in) as well as other various paper things from our wedding and bridal showers. I dealt with some sorrow when going through it but mostly it just felt good to get rid of it.

I had a burning time last night to get rid of a bunch of this stuff.

I am pretty excited to have gotten my new will all witnessed and notarized yesterday and so I burned up the old one. 

So, all in all the decluttering goal went well and was quite helpful!

Goal number 2 was to have a really low spend month. I would only buy groceries 2 times - at the Amish Bulk Food store and then one other time when I got needed things for the Thanksgiving. I did also mention that I might need to buy catfood. We did need it and I was planning on buying it but when I went to Aldi to get Thanksgiving stuff they were out of the cheap catfood so I didn't get it then and I found some bones and old meet in the freezer so I have been making cat food instead using up old food. 

At the Amish store I did spend $252.47 but I got a lot of baking supplies that will last throughout the year as well as over 12 pounds of cheese (which will last quite a while - I freeze it). 

I did also have that one trip to Aldi where I spent $34.47 to buy a turkey and a couple other things. I may have cheated a bit in that I did buy a gallon of milk and some whipping cream that we didn't actually use for Thanksgiving itself.

That is a long way from the lowest amount I have spent on food in a month but with so much of it being stored away for the future, I am quite happy with it. 

This month has been one of my favorite cooking months in a long time. I have just loved the challenge of making do with what we have and enjoying some pretty delicious meals in the process. Whenever there seemed to be something lacking I would think through what we did have and what else might work and then I would just get overwhelmed with the abundance that God has given us. We are incredibly blessed and are a long way from going hungry - even if we didn't go shopping for a while. :-)

These pictures are from a couple of yummy breakfasts that we enjoyed. By the way we were blessed to be given 5 dozen eggs from a couple of friends and my parents. That was a lovely addition to our diet. We would have been baking with flaxseeds for eggs if it weren't for those gifts.

This is a Brazilian Cheesebread that our exchange student from 2020, Debora, introduced us too. It has a different texture but I think it is super yummy. Here is a recipe that seems to be the same as what I use.

   I have had to make do with deodorant and toothpaste (I had some but discovered it was giving me canker sores. I was going to make some but haven't gotten around to it yet so I have just been using baking soda - it works). 

  I did also buy gas this month. I spent $69.73 along with a $25 gift card. 

  I did also spend some money on Entertainment. I spent $36 for Aaron, Megan and I to go to a musical at the community theater. I was reminded later that I could have checked on ushering to see if I could have watched for free (as they called me to see if I wanted to do that later on) but I don't regret spending it. We enjoyed it. I also spent $5.39 for more texts on my Tracphone. I guess that is kind of entertainment too :-). The other expense I had this month (besides the normal electric, internet/phone, etc) was $40 for going out to eat TWO times! I rarely go out to eat but for some reason or another the kids really wanted to a couple of different times (once on a Sunday after a busy Saturday and the other time to satisfy the cravings of my pregnant daughter, Mara. The adult children paid for themselves but I did pay for Megan and I. I am putting that in the entertainment section too but I know that is rather cheating. :-)

  Over all it was a good month of setting and achieving goals. What I am really excited about is the progress I have been able to make on paying off my mortgage early when I work to save money in our day-to-day expenses. Today I was able to go in and pay the principal of the Mortgage payment on two extra months. Paying just those two months of principal only today saved me $800 in interest. That is pretty exciting to me. I am now 14 months ahead of schedule in paying it off. Having both that and saving up for going with my kids on a mission trip is a good motivator for me in being careful in my spending. It pushes me to figure out and take the time to pack a lunch each morning when I head of to work instead of running and picking something up in town. It pushes me to try to use what I have instead of buying new - and I have a lot of fun in the process. 
 

I am hoping to share with you soon more about what I am doing to save money and make extra money. Is that something that you are interested in?

I hope to share my fun goals for December in this post also but it is time to head to bed so I guess that waits for another day.

Some Challenges/Goals for November

    I am in the mood for challenging myself. I think that is a good sign. I love a good challenge but the last couple of years have seemed challenging enough with working outside the home and being the main provider for the family, being in charge of all the upkeep of our home and just dealing with all the emotions and challenges that come from going through a divorce myself and having children who had to deal with that as well. I am so incredibly grateful to God for the way He has taken care of us physically, spiritually and emotionally. I'm also super grateful for the body of Christ - the church who have been there for us in so very many ways as well. I can truly say that life is beautiful and I am ready for even some of those made up challenges! Yeah!

   One more thought on challenges. I think why I enjoy them so much is because they often put restrictions on me that force me to think outside the box and to be creative. Because I love to be creative that is super fun for me that it pushes me in new ways.  I am really interested to know - among those reading this - who of you enjoy challenges (it could be in finances, cooking, physical exercise, art, etc) and who like to avoid them at any cost? Or where are you in between? I would also love to know your why. Thanks so much! I'm a curious person and I love to hear why people think and act the way that they do.

  So, my double challenge for this month is:

1. To declutter things from my home and get rid at least as many items (and yes an item can be a single sheet of paper, this is the prime time to do some heavy paper decluttering - it builds up so easily) as the number of the day. Today is November 2nd so 2 items were required.

Here is the photo from day one. It was pretty easy to be an over achiever and I have a broken ice cube tray,  a driver's Ed book (I actually got rid of two of them-they are in my van to go to a friend who wants them) and a unlabeled bag of seasoning that was in my cupboard. I was able to go through a couple of kitchen cupboards which was nice.

Day 2. Cleaning my desk is an easy way to come up with some extra things to get rid of.

Getting rid of clutter is a very important goal for me. When my house gets to messy I tend to get stressed more easily as do some of my kids. It also wastes time. My over all goal is to "Have nothing in my home that I don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful". Things just sitting out all the time become silent to do lists that are telling me that I need to do something with them. I have worked on this goal for years and I have made progress but there are also some times of digression. I have never made it to perfection (and I may never) but any progress is good.

Challenge 2. To not buy anything this month except for One planned trip to the Bulk Food Store (where I can buy things- primarily, if not entirely, food), needed Gasoline to get around and if I need additional food for the Thanksgiving Holiday (but I will try to use what I have if possible). I also may have to buy cat food but this will be a good motivation to try to get rid of some kittens. Also, I will try to keep it pretty limited but I am allowing spending on experiences. Also I can give away money if I want but not buy things to give away - if I want to give gifts I can make something hand made or give something from my gift box. I will also still pay my Mortgage (plus extra), electric bill and things of that nature.

 I am planning on following it up with another very low spending/buying month in December. I am excited to tell you about that later.

  I will try to give updates somewhat regularly so that you can keep my accountable. Feel free to join me if you like! :-)

  Oh, if you would like another challenge... Do you have a will made yet? I am excited to report that I got a new one (needed since I went through a divorce) done tonight! Well I do still need to round up some witnesses and take it to be notarized but it is primarily done. I used FreeWill.com to make it and it was quite easy. That is something important off my to do list!

  I would love to hear what things you are working on accomplishing in your life!