Alpaca Farm Girl » Lifestyle

401K on 4 Legs

Katy — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:20:05 +0000

This farm breeds alpacas. In this video they talk about approaching alpacas as an investment. “Beats watching the market tank.” Take a look.

Our family has been raising alpacas as lifestyle and an investment for the past ten years. Our farm, Fairhope Alpacas, specializes in helping new alpaca breeders get started. Contact me at alpacas (at) bellsouth.net for more information. You can also leave me your thoughts and questions in the comments section!

Why Would Anyone Want to Raise Alpacas?

Katy — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:46:16 +0000

On a recent search through my favorite new medium, Twitter, I found that several people were asking this question. They had seen the commercials and couldn’t understand why this would be an appealing choice for anyone.

I thought I’d take a stab at answering their question here. People buy alpacas for many different reasons. If you ask 100 alpaca breeders to tell your about their journey that lead them to alpacas, they will all tell you a different story. Here are some of the top reasons why a sane human might invest tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars into livestock.

Financial Reasons

Investing in alpacas has great tax advantages. (read more here and here)
Alpacas can be insured for theft and full mortality. How many other investments can you say that about?
Alpacas compound, growing your investment regardless of the stock market’s performance or the economic climate. (read more)

Lifestyle Reasons

Own your own business. Work for yourself.
Get out of the rat race, set your own hours, work at your own pace
Rural or semi-rural lifestyle
Work with animals
Work outdoors

But why alpacas?

They are easy keepers. You don’t have to be a 25-year-old cowboy to handle them.
You don’t have to kill them. (No slaughter)
They don’t try to kill you. (Passive animals)
They have a luxury fiber, perfect for making yarn, fiber arts.
Have you seen them? Never underestimate the power of CUTE!

I hope that clears up the mystery a bit about why people invest in the alpaca business. If you don’t like animals or if you love the city life and never want to leave it, alpacas probably aren’t for you. My husband and I formerly lived in the concrete jungle. Now we are in a semi-suburban area less than an hour from two different cities. We have had alpacas for nine years and have found it to be very rewarding, both personally and financially. Feel free to contact me, Katy, for more information at alpacas@bellsouth.net. Visit our farm website too!

If you’ve ever thought of raising alpacas (or if you do) leave a comment as to why YOU would do it?

Are You Happy?

Katy — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 10:07:00 +0000

Several of the bloggers I read have been pondering happiness this week. At Friday Night Playdate, Susan’s son got her thinking about it. At Notes from the Trenches, Chris wonders, “Is This a Mid-Life Crisis?” With my background as a Psychologist, I find these issues riveting. What makes us happy? or not?

Our circumstances do play a role in our happiness. But the way we view life is one of the biggest pieces in determining happiness. As humans, we have a tendency to be expecting/hoping/waiting for the next thing to make us happy. For example, “When I get that raise next month, then I will be happy”, or “When we go to Bermuda, then I will be happy.”

Personally, I have grown into my happiness. As I have gotten older I have become happier. I am more accepting of others’ flaws, a bit more laid back, and I am more comfortable with who I am every year. (Though I would like to be thinner, much thinner.) How did I become happy? I was a very mixed up, directionless young lady until my mid-twenties. Three things turned me around, helped me get my life on a purposeful track. The support of my husband. He believed in me beyond anything I had ever known. The birth of my first child: Yea, I know this is a magical event for everyone on the planet, but it had a special significance for me. It told me who I would become. When I became a mother, it was like bells and a light show went off. I knew what I was supposed to do with my life: be a mother, and more broadly, a nurturer. Ok, I admit I didn’t know at the time that this would translate into farming, but it did. That brings me to the third thing that has made my life the happy one it is today. Discovering alpacas. These creatures were a perfect fit for me. I was able to take my earth shattering calling to be a mother, and channel that energy towards a business with lovely, fabulous animals I can nurture. The fact that the alpacas have babies every year is what keeps me from having 15 children of my own. I can sublimate that urge and enjoy the alpaca babies. (They go through way fewer diapers and don’t talk back so it works pretty well for me.)

Career choice and satisfaction with that choice affect our happiness significantly. Before I was an alpaca breeder, I had a sadistic boss who made my daily life challenging. Today I have trials and disappointments to be sure, but I find myself reveling in the day so much more as I operate my own business. Things are not always rosy and I can never get everything done. I don’t spend much time on guilt. I don’t get bogged down in worrying if I’m a good enough mother, just because I don’t think it helps. We do the best we can, try to keep communication lines open, pray, and occasionally pull out the old psychology tricks. (That doesn’t work, it just gives me a false sense of power over these little people who are growing and changing at an alarming pace.) Being there, being present, for the kids is what I think benefits them the most. (In psychology we would call it “providing a holding environment”. There’s your 2 cent psych term of the day) And I think the farm and the alpacas help with that. It keeps us grounded. Nothing like birth and death to keep things real.

Often, we find happy lives when we step back and look at ourselves, but we may not feel happy on a daily basis. Don’t settle for that. Take the time to “stop and smell the roses”. Make a point to enjoy yourself in the moment. Stop and remind yourself of the people and things you love and why. Renew your commitment to love and take care of yourself. And if you aren’t happy in your career choice, rethink it. Life’s too short. Find your bliss!

I would love to hear your comments on happiness!