JennifersLost Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Okay, this probably makes no sense. But do you know what I mean? I can't just decide to live in a tent for a year and save money. Even the cheap options are hugely expensive. Why can't I simply erect a yurt in a corner of my rental property and use a composting toilet? I know, I know...sanitation, disease, yada, yada, yada.... But do you ever feel like we're making ourselves poor with all our rules? I'm off to lunch with dh to discuss our plans for the future and I'm just annoyed at all the things we "can't" do. I'll try to clarify more when I get back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumbledeb Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Yes! I know exactly what you mean. I have fantasies of buying a piece of land (we could afford that) and just living rough on it (we couldn't afford to build a house) but there are just too many obstacles. It's a bit cold for a yurt (-12C) but if we build our own hut with a wood stove we'd be cosy enough, I think. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andie Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Absolutely! We've been trying to simplify our finances and personal matters for sometime, and it's astounding how much *stuff* we can't get rid of/cut out/have to do to "comply"...frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punkinelly Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Yes! You are speaking my language! I have often felt that our gov't's rules and regs make us poor. If I want one stinkin' chicken in my yard, why does that have to be a problem?? It is because we cannot count on people to be clean and sanitary, I guess. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5kidsforME Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Okay, this probably makes no sense. But do you know what I mean? I can't just decide to live in a tent for a year and save money. Even the cheap options are hugely expensive. Why can't I simply erect a yurt in a corner of my rental property and use a composting toilet? I know, I know...sanitation, disease, yada, yada, yada.... But do you ever feel like we're making ourselves poor with all our rules? I'm off to lunch with dh to discuss our plans for the future and I'm just annoyed at all the things we "can't" do. I'll try to clarify more when I get back. Yes! Dh and I talked about selling everything and living in a RV for a year or two. Even selling everything we wouldn't break even. AND have you seen the price tags on those RV's??? :svengo: Not to mention how a nice "cheap" campsite has gotten ridiculously expensive, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shenan Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Yes! Dh and I talked about selling everything and living in a RV for a year or two. Even selling everything we wouldn't break even. AND have you seen the price tags on those RV's??? :svengo: Not to mention how a nice "cheap" campsite has gotten ridiculously expensive, IMO. LOL! We HAVE a 28' tow behind camper. (the cheaper version of an RV) Over a year ago we thought about selling it to take a real nice family vacation. NOW...were holding on to it just in case we HAVE to live IN it.... My how times have changed.....:001_huh: Those campsites are so expensive because you have to pay for electrical hook-ups, sewage hook-ups and/or Internet services. So much for roughin' it...Huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Especially if you have a kid with medical issues or you have them yourself... :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 What's the worst that would happen if you did throw together a yurt and composting toilet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5kidsforME Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 What's the worst that would happen if you did throw together a yurt and composting toilet? CPS would take your children away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 But I have come to value the fact that I don't have to worry about getting some horrible disease from flies someone's poorly maintained outhouse or from inadequately composted human waste used for fertilizer on the local organic farm. I think that we tend to overdo regulation of individuals, and 'underdo' (if it's not a word, it should be!) appropriate regulation of our food supply via large companies. For instance, it is horrifying that a big pile of pig poop that reeks for miles, ruining everyone's air, is legal. It bugs me that crop dusters dust the air all over the place, making it impossible for organic farmers to keep their certification. It bugs me that Sally Fox's organic cotton cannot be grown in California, because other growers regulated it out. It bugs me that a marketing order forced a friend of mine with a kiwi farm to discard rather than sell as sub-class all of his fruit smaller than a certain size, or without certain cosmetic qualities. It bugs me that no really small cheese organization is really legal (cf Kingsolver, re. the Cheese Queen). It appals me that the federal government even considered allowing irradiated fresh goods to be called organic. We're just wrong, in so many ways, in the way and the extent and the specifics of how we regulate our food supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I think a great stimulus plan would be to deregulate a ton of areas and let people just figure it out themsleves for awhile. Not anarchy, just less hand-on gov't wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I would like to borrow my mom's camper for a year and just live in that and SAVE money/pay off debt/teach kids about SIMPLE living ;-) Dh has no interest, lol. Now, living off the land he would like but not my camping idea with a real shelter, lol. I was thinking the other day about the Great Depression and how people really migrated west in search of better things....will our society sit this out? or will mass groups of people move around in search of a better life?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabrett Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 LOL! We HAVE a 28' tow behind camper. (the cheaper version of an RV) Over a year ago we thought about selling it to take a real nice family vacation. NOW...were holding on to it just in case we HAVE to live IN it.... My how times have changed.....:001_huh: Those campsites are so expensive because you have to pay for electrical hook-ups, sewage hook-ups and/or Internet services. So much for roughin' it...Huh? We have one too, that is new. Dh bought it with vacation and "we can live in it if we loose our house" in mind. I keep looking at what we could cut in our budget and there is NOTHING that would make much difference. I could cut out cable and internet and save about $125 a month. That's about it. I can't cut off power or water or stop paying off our mortgage, car or CC's. What is one to do? Even if we could get our house sold to drop that payment, apartment rent where we live is about the same as our mortgage. Renting might save us $250 a month (including lower cost of power). So if I rented and didn't have internet or cable we could cut our expenses by $375 a month. WE would still struggle and it wouldn't help us get ahead.:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andie Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 ...we could cut our expenses by $375 a month. WE would still struggle and it wouldn't help us get ahead.:confused: But...if you put that $375 on your ccs, and got rid of those, and then took the $375 plus what the cc payments were and paid off the car, and then took the $375 plus the cc pymts plus the car pymt... I'm not saying you *should* do any of that, just pointing out that you just mapped it out! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy loves Bud Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Yes! We paid off our house last year and it still costs us $900 a month in property tax and insurance. I OWN the place and it costs me $900 a month to live here! Insane. (Disclaimer - we live in Texas where there is no state income tax, so we pay higher property taxes.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janna Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Yes! Dh and I talked about selling everything and living in a RV for a year or two. Even selling everything we wouldn't break even. AND have you seen the price tags on those RV's??? :svengo: Not to mention how a nice "cheap" campsite has gotten ridiculously expensive, IMO. You know, actually, dh and I *are* considering this. We would *love* to get an RV for a year. We don't have a house that we need to sell and we don't have debt except for the medical bills we're still paying on from the birth of our child 8 months ago. Since dh is without a job, we do seriously consider this option. We just can't figure out how we would get income doing this - enough to pay for the RV rental (no way would we buy one! The depreciation on those are worse than cars!), food, gas, and all that would be needed just to make it work (monthly storage for our furniture etc would be one thing to consider also). It would just be such a wonderful experience for all of us. It's a dream. A weird one to some, but gosh. To think that it's possible if we could just figure out how to get income.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 What's the worst that would happen if you did throw together a yurt and composting toilet? I wonder this too. It goes down to 30 below, Celsius, in Mongolia where yurts originated. They're plenty warm. Composting toilets are just as effective at eliminating waste-borne pathogens as a flushing toilet, so long as you use it properly (just as with a flushing toilet). Neither will CPS take your kids away, as Meg joked (I think); I've personally known seven homeschooled kids in three families who lived in yurts or had only composting toilets. The sky won't fall if you install a composting toilet, honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catalinakel Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Heck, I can't even have a clothesline where I live due to homeowners association rules! A clothesline, for pete's sake...I lived in the woods in a tiny trailer without electricity or water one winter.....and in a chicken coop not soon after that...it was easy when I was single, but now, what with the kids and the computer and the car...I have learned to be content with what I have or don't have.....but in a sec, if I could see how it could work, I'd "blow up the tv, throw away thepaper, move to the country and plant a little farm. have alot of kiddos, eat alot of peaches......you get the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catalinakel Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I wonder this too. It goes down to 30 below, Celsius, in Mongolia where yurts originated. They're plenty warm. Composting toilets are just as effective at eliminating waste-borne pathogens as a flushing toilet, so long as you use it properly (just as with a flushing toilet). Neither will CPS take your kids away, as Meg joked (I think); I've personally known seven homeschooled kids in three families who lived in yurts or had only composting toilets. The sky won't fall if you install a composting toilet, honest. Those yurt dwellers in Mongolia, me thinks, live to survive. Meaning that most of each day is spent providing and maintaining food and shelter....our lives are so much easier thanks to all our comforts, that we don't have to work quite so hard just to eat and clothe ourselves. When I lived in a house without electricity, toilets or heat and was taking care of kids, it took most of my day just to feed, clean and warm us....I'm not saying that is a bad life-I liked it, but we live so much more,uh, what is the word.....sophisticated-like now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5kidsforME Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 You know, actually, dh and I *are* considering this. We would *love* to get an RV for a year. We don't have a house that we need to sell and we don't have debt except for the medical bills we're still paying on from the birth of our child 8 months ago. Since dh is without a job, we do seriously consider this option. We just can't figure out how we would get income doing this - enough to pay for the RV rental (no way would we buy one! The depreciation on those are worse than cars!), food, gas, and all that would be needed just to make it work (monthly storage for our furniture etc would be one thing to consider also). It would just be such a wonderful experience for all of us. It's a dream. A weird one to some, but gosh. To think that it's possible if we could just figure out how to get income.... Right after our third ds was born dh and I were at a Japanese Steakhouse with a very interesting couple. We got to chatting and they told us when their 3 ds were younger they traveled all over Europe in their car. They sold all of their stuff (all of it, they did not store anything) and lived off what money they got from selling everything. Then when they needed money he would work here and there just to get them by. They did it for about 3 years. They said it was the best thing they ever did and looked back on that time fondly. Obvioulsy that wouldn't work for everyone but it was really cool listening to them talk about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Those yurt dwellers in Mongolia, me thinks, live to survive. Meaning that most of each day is spent providing and maintaining food and shelter....our lives are so much easier thanks to all our comforts, that we don't have to work quite so hard just to eat and clothe ourselves. I think this depends on how you go into it. I believe it was David Holmgren who said that traditional lifestyles are human labor intensive, contemporary industrial lifestyles are energy intensive, but a whole set of solutions exist which we're not tapping into which are, instead, design and information intense. Put the window in the right place, use the right type of material to make your yurt & window, and you'll have heating in winter and cooling in summer with only the effort of ten minutes of curtain closing & opening twice a day. Similar solutions are being worked out for food production and greywater systems and implemented all around the world, and the people doing this are sharing information at light speed (well...) and will be until the energy intensive technologies can not be run anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabrett Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 But...if you put that $375 on your ccs, and got rid of those, and then took the $375 plus what the cc payments were and paid off the car, and then took the $375 plus the cc pymts plus the car pymt... I'm not saying you *should* do any of that, just pointing out that you just mapped it out! :001_smile: But that would only happen IF we could sell the house, which is very unlikely. If we could sell the house, we could pay off all our debt,(we have equity in our house) but then we would have to live in the camper till we saved up enough money (again) to buy a house. Also, our house payment is low "relatively speaking" and we would not be able to buy a house equivalent to what we have and have as low a payment as we do now (we got a good deal and a good intrest rate). I've already done that, we lived in a camper for a year and a half. I really don't want to go through that again. Also, dh works from home. I can't imagine living in a camper with 4 children and dh working there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5kidsforME Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I wonder this too. It goes down to 30 below, Celsius, in Mongolia where yurts originated. They're plenty warm. Composting toilets are just as effective at eliminating waste-borne pathogens as a flushing toilet, so long as you use it properly (just as with a flushing toilet). Neither will CPS take your kids away, as Meg joked (I think); I've personally known seven homeschooled kids in three families who lived in yurts or had only composting toilets. The sky won't fall if you install a composting toilet, honest. I was kind of joking. Seriously anymore I feel like people have to have certain things or the govment feels like it isn't "fair" to your child. Too many rules and regulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Mm. My brother chose to be homeless for about a year and a half. He sure saved a lot of money that way. It's not really the responsible choice for people with kids though, is it? Rosie- who likes indoor plumbing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5kidsforME Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Mm. My brother chose to be homeless for about a year and a half. He sure saved a lot of money that way. It's not really the responsible choice for people with kids though, is it? Why isn't it responsible if all the kids basic needs are covered, why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5kidsforME Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Wether it is or not, homelessness is reason enough for DCF to take your kids away. You can live in a campground or a shelter but not in a tent under a bridge. I never said we would live under a bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennifersLost Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 Yeah, there is the problem of all six of us being home all day, LOL. Well, I'm a little calmer now, but it seems like a common theme to want a "simpler" life, doesn't it? We are working toward the goal of living a more "sustainable" life in many ways. I need to remember my goal: figuring out how a family of six can do this in a reasonable way. Every once in awhile I just want to throw caution to the wind and go crazy, but it's not the right thing for us to do right now. I want to be contributing to the larger nationwide/worldwide "discussion" on how people can live better - more sustainably and more satisfying lives. That's why I started blogging - to participate in a conversation about it all. It's hard for me not to want to do something dramatic (sell everything!), but I do believe it's more helpful for me to document one path toward a more sustainable way of life that's within the reach of other people. Also, as much as I like the idea of "dropping out", there's often a hidden price tag to that idea that isn't talked about it. If I sell everything and live out of my car or in a tent in the woods, subsisting on my proceeds, what happens if my daughter needs an emergency appendectomy? Other taxpayers end up funding the hospital bill, right? If I lived that way all my life and then spend 10 years in a nursing home run by the state, the taxpayers have to fund that, too. I guess that's one reason why we good citizens buy into all the rules and regs. It's frustrating, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 If I sell everything and live out of my car or in a tent in the woods, subsisting on my proceeds, what happens if my daughter needs an emergency appendectomy? Other taxpayers end up funding the hospital bill, right? If I lived that way all my life and then spend 10 years in a nursing home run by the state, the taxpayers have to fund that, too. I guess that's one reason why we good citizens buy into all the rules and regs. Oh, I didn't realize you were also talking about giving up health insurance or a retirement plan! No, I don't think that's a good idea at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Yes, I feel very tied down to my house. Dh and I seriously wish we had not bought a house when we moved. We would be traveling and living in an RV now. We were supposed to do that very thing this spring but because of the economy we are holding off. I want to be like Samantha Brown and travel the world. That was my goal in life, why I didn't follow it is beyond me. Dh and I both bought into the status quo of stability & success coming from owning a home. I do believe there is stability in OWNING a home, not just when you and bank agree to a 30 year mortgage. Okay, that's my rant. JMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennifersLost Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 Oh, I didn't realize you were also talking about giving up health insurance or a retirement plan! No, I don't think that's a good idea at all. Well, I was getting all philosophical there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I wonder this too. It goes down to 30 below, Celsius, in Mongolia where yurts originated. They're plenty warm. Composting toilets are just as effective at eliminating waste-borne pathogens as a flushing toilet, so long as you use it properly (just as with a flushing toilet). Neither will CPS take your kids away, as Meg joked (I think); I've personally known seven homeschooled kids in three families who lived in yurts or had only composting toilets. The sky won't fall if you install a composting toilet, honest. I think that really depends on where you live and who knows about it. My EXMIL and her dh built a home from the ground up, themselves. (actually, they've done this twice) Anyway, after they had the basement built, they lived in it, before there was any electricity or plumbing. Someone from Family Services actually came out there to check if children were living there because if there were, they'd have to stay with other family or be taken away. I don't know if someone called them out, or what the whole deal was, but I know that where they were living, you couldn't have a child live in a home with no utilities or plumbing. This was in a city, though, so it could be a whole different thing if you're doing this out in the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Indeed Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Kinda did that. Lived in an rv at a state park for a while with my 4 kids and dh. It cost us just as much to do that with $20 a night for the spot, then laundry, storage (unless you truly sold everything) and extra $ for a few more convenience foods. I would do it again if we needed to, but truly it cost us as much to live there as in a house and I am a frugal person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Anyway, after they had the basement built, they lived in it, before there was any electricity or plumbing. Someone from Family Services actually came out there to check if children were living there because if there were, they'd have to stay with other family or be taken away. You're right, Michelle. This does vary from county to county. In our county, social workers are instructed that the national "best practice" standard should be that, if a home is not up to county code for an occupied residence, parents are given a certain amount of time to fix it, and if it's still not fixed after that, the children may be removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Yes, I feel very tied down to my house. Dh and I seriously wish we had not bought a house when we moved. Dh and I both bought into the status quo of stability & success coming from owning a home. I do believe there is stability in OWNING a home, not just when you and bank agree to a 30 year mortgage. Okay, that's my rant. JMHO I agree - owning a home is presented as being the American dream, but nobody ever tells you that you could be tied to it forever and never be able to leave unless you walk away or rent it out to be destroyed (of course, we're doing a pretty good job destroying it ourselves!) I wish I had not been so gung ho to buy a house. As soon as we started homeschooling, I felt like I needed a house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie in NE Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Rosie- who likes indoor plumbing... :iagree: :iagree: And furthermore..... I might have been able to "live off the land" pretty handily when I lived where there was actually a growing season..... but here in Wyoming, the saying goes....."If summer comes on a week-end, we'll have a picnic"....... Oh, what I would do to be able to grow my own beefsteak tomatoes again :drool:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 :iagree: :iagree: but here in Wyoming, the saying goes....."If summer comes on a week-end, we'll have a picnic"....... . That's kind of what we say here in NC - except about winter! Usually winter coincides with MLK Jr. Day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CactusPair Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Pretty content with current shelter arrangements as they are. Thankful for a roof and a yard the kids & dogs can play in. And lights, running water, furnace that works...these rock. This *is* the simple life for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virginia Dawn Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Pretty content with current shelter arrangements as they are. Thankful for a roof and a yard the kids & dogs can play in. And lights, running water, furnace that works...these rock. This *is* the simple life for us. I have to agree with this, for the most part. I think about the discomforts and inconveniences of not having a home, heat, plumbing, and clean water, and am very grateful. Simplicity is often not simple and can be very inconvenient. Have you ever looked at the faces of those women of the past who lived "the simple life?" Every time I do, I thank God for the life I have. However, I do agree that there is a level of simplicity that is almost impossible to maintain, even in your own home and on your own land, because of government regulations and societal expectations. Goodness, we are now told where, or if, we can have a clothesline and a garden. Sometimes we are even told when to mow our grass or how to landscape our yards. We are urged to recycle, but tons of reusable building materials and edible foods are dumped everyday because of government regulations. My guess is the people that are hurt by these regs. far outnumber the potential hazards. Of course I could go on and on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 We've been re-reading the Little House books (for the 4th time :tongue_smilie:), and dh and I have been talking about how little it took to live and how much it takes to live now. We choose to live as simply and frugally as we can within the laws and regulations. We do it not only to save money but also because we both feel more content and satisfied with less. But we are limited in what we can do because of the rules and because of society. Oh, I'm not saying I'd want to live like Ma and Pa - love my indoor plumbing, but I do fantasize about living a sustainable lifestyle. Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiloh Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 When we renovated our house a few years ago the whole back of the house was removed. The kitchen, family room and powder room were simply gone. Everything salvagable from those rooms was stored in our dining room and for nearly a year we lived and homeschooled out of a pile of stuff in the formal living room. It was shocking to the casual observer, I'm sure. Because we were trying to conserve money I cooked on a borrowed single electric burner and a microwave. After the first week or so we used only paper plates, bowls and cups but still used metal utensils. I mostly cooked one pot meals and rinsed the pot in the garden before washing it. Through four seasons. My children were young and I think we all enjoyed the stripped down simplicity of that year. We had a great year homeschooling mostly because I didn't feel so obligated to provide amazing homecooked meals and maintain a well ordered house. In hindsight, the one thing I would do differently is I would have bought my friend a brand new replacement electric burner instead of returning the original. It worked fine but it had been used hard. With age comes wisdom, I guess. The first meal we ate in our new kitchen was a frozen pizza (still no countertops.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Perhaps we also need to define what 'simple' is... In our married life, we've lived on a farm with acreage and livestock, a house in town, an apartment in a city, and, now, a home on one acre in the 'burbs. By far the simplest life we led in all those years was the apartment in the city. No lawn to mow, no garden to water, weed, or harvest. No livestock to water, feed (2x a day!) or protect from blizzard/drought conditions. No pets to care for. Just us and the boys. For several months, we didn't even own a car. We shopped at a weekly market for fresh produce and chicken. Walked everywhere we needed to go...use mass transit for places we couldn't walk. Had great meals cooked in a tiny apartment, read, and traveled. Travel opportunity was the reason we were living so simply. Since I now have an acre, I have a garden which gives me great pleasure. It also means I spend time caring for it and putting up the harvest from it. Time and effort. If I could have chickens here, I would. More time and effort. If I could raise some other livestock, I would. But I'd be trading time and effort for my sustainability. There is a reason we hardly ever went on any long vacations when we lived on a farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 My grandparents had an outhouse and kept chickens in a village in Hungary. Let's just say this was not the sweetest smelling spot. It's livable and my grandparents were very glad to have a water tap in the kitchen, but it makes the daily grind more grinding. We've lived with semi-permanent water outages in Caracas and 2.5 weeks without power in Houston. We managed in both situations, but I'm glad that's not our normal life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfarm Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 (edited) We live in a situation that many of you would consider cheap. Our home and 17.5 acres cost $44K. Dh makes much less than that a year. We have no furnace, we heat with wood. We have well water. We do have electricity and plumbing. I paid my taxes and homeowner's insurance this week--$389 for both for 6 months. You can choose to live cheap, but you will pay a price to change to this lifestyle. Our new car, for example, is a '93 Mercury Tracer that we bought for $1100. We can't afford and don't want a monthly car payment so we save up and pay cash. So no one will ever be positively impressed with what we drive. Most of our clothing comes from thrift stores. We are fine with that but we are rarely fashionable. We have had one expensive vacation in the last 10 years. The rest were either at home or short weekend trips to locations a couple of hours away. We are very happy living this lifestyle but to be honest, I think many people would find it hard to give up a lot of things in their normal life to live like we do. Unfortunately, I think that a lot of people may have no choice in the next few months/years. As has been mentioned before, living frugally or cheaply does not mean living simply. Life can be very complicated at this level. I think simplicity can be found at any economic level. Edited February 11, 2009 by hillfarm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Perhaps we also need to define what 'simple' is... Simple is going to be different for different people. I think simple for us is just less, less of everything. For instance, dh had his retirement in several different places with different people. We were getting 4 or 5 different statements every month. He simplified by consolidating keeping an eye on return. I had 5 sets of dishes; I gave 2 away and will give another to my dd this summer. We view clothes, toys, furniture, magazines, all items, the same way. Simple for me is being able to go out to our garden and cut lettuce, pick a tomato and cucumber to make a salad instead of driving the car and fighting traffic to get to the store. Simple is also not having too many outside obligations. We limit the girls to one extra activity and I try my best to combine them. There's many different ways to simplify and unclutter ones' life. Simple usually costs us less, but in some cases it might actually cost more. Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanga Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I agree with the above posters who said there is a difference between simplicity and self sustainability and I am constantly trying to find a balance between the two. Here is one of my favorite web sites: http://www.motherearthnews.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennifersLost Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 LOL - I was blogging about that today here after reading a book about a guy who built a "sustainable" eco-shed. I think that sometimes sustainable isn't simple at all, but I also think when people make "sustainable" too darn expensive or complicated than it really isn't sustainable, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountainViewMama Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I receive the magazine Mother Earth News and I love reading about all the cheap and natural ideas they have in there. I have often gone to my husband with ideas from the magazine only to have him point out that "that isn't up to code in CA" :glare: Very frustrating! We are trying to cut out what we can and we plan to garden this summer and can the extras. We too are feeling the pinch and hoping it will all work out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I receive the magazine Mother Earth News and I love reading about all the cheap and natural ideas they have in there. I have often gone to my husband with ideas from the magazine only to have him point out that "that isn't up to code in CA" :glare: Very frustrating! We are trying to cut out what we can and we plan to garden this summer and can the extras. We too are feeling the pinch and hoping it will all work out. You might want to check with the folks up at Common Ground, in Menlo Park. (I think you live in Mountain View, yes? so not far away.) They are very creative, and know all about organic gardening, harvesting dew for drinking water, solar energy use, raising ducks in a city--and all about how to do it legally here in Northern California. Those guys really walk the walk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I know exactly what you mean! You hear of immigrants coming over from places where people get paid a nickel an hour,and thinking, "Wow! I'll make $25,000 as a cab driver! I'll be filthy rich and will be able to bring my family over!" But then, once they have to pay for rent and gas and all the stuff we have to pay for, they realize that $25k is nothing at all. I feel like we juuuuust start to get even with things, and then health insurance goes up $100 a month, and taxes go up $50 a month, and well, you get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.