For starters you’ll need to put together a plan. Sit down and start writing out an itemized list of everything you own. Such as how much you have in savings and checking accounts, 401k’s, stocks, bonds. Personal items such as furniture, appliances, tools, guns and so on. You get the picture. Because your going to need money to purchase land, (not a Texas sized ranch) although that would be nice! I recommend at least an acre, maybe a little less, but, i’d shoot for an acre or more.
Start searching the web for land, craigslist is a good place to start, as well as real estate offices. Check with family and friends, ask if they know of any land for sale. They are good resources. Also one of the places you might look for land is in the state of Alaska. The state will even finance for you with a small down payment. Alaska also has a program that pays a yearly dividend to people that have established residency for at least one year.
Go to dnr.alaska.gov for land sales, and go to pfd.alaska.gov for information about the permanent fund dividend.
For now my advice while you getting your plan together is to stay with your current job and save all the money you can. If necessary take a part time job in addition to your current one. When the time comes and you have located a suitable property, and you've got everything you need in place such as shelter, tools, stocked up on food staples, and your ready. Go ahead and pull the trigger. Quit your job and start living for you and not for the way society wants you to live.
Here is a list I put together to help you get started, although you can add to it or change it to suit yourself.
- Lighting, using a combination of solar power, kerosene lamps/lanterns, candles.
- Water, you need to be near a source of water, e.g. spring or a seep. Also take advantage of rainwater collection systems.
- Space heating, use a wood burning stove, south facing windows for solar gain.
- Cooking, use a wood burning cook stove, if inside during summer, you’ll need really good air flow to vent away the heat. Use a standard gas cook stove or camp stove. Any one of those will achieve the same end, although wood will be the cheapest.
- Cooling, take advantage of shaded areas and air flow in a structure.
- Water heating, heat water on a wood or gas stove, and consider converting a gas water heater into a wood fired water heater.
- Refrigeration, construct a root cellar to take advantage of the earth's natural cooling, for storing root crops, canned goods and eggs. Also consider constructing an evaporative cooler.
- Sanitation, construct an outside compost style privy. Disposing of trash is easy, because you shouldn’t be producing near as much, but what you do produce, practice recycling and burn what you can't recycle, just keep in mind where you are with local regulations on burning.
- When it comes to TV, put up an antenna, over the air is free.
- Washing & drying clothes is easy, take 2 five gallon buckets, one with detergent and one with clear rinse water and a clothes plunger. Hang clothes on line and let nature dry them for you, no power required, no laundromat, no washing machine, no dryer.
Other useful ideas about being independent and ways to generate passive income and extra cash.
Start a YouTube channel, Write a Blog, Sell things on craigslist, eBay, Amazon, Start an online Etsy store. Think about writing a book and getting published. So by now you're wondering, if I don’t have much money, how do I pay for internet service? it’s easy, look for places with free WiFi. Public Libraries, and most businesses have free open WiFi. In addition, a number of other things can be done. Such as keep chickens for eggs. Sell the surplus eggs for extra cash. Grow a garden. Sell fresh vegetables for extra cash and do home canning. Gather wild berries for making home canned preserves. Hunt and trap (observe legal hunting and trapping seasons) wild animals for meat. Then sell the furs for extra cash. Grow and gather wild herbs. Gather wild greens for salads and cooking. There are some great online resources out there available on gathering wild edibles. Just be careful with your identification of them.
If you happen to homestead in a remote area that’s quite a distance from a town, and you feel you need a vehicle then do it. Just keep in mind the expenses involved with operating a car or truck. I suggest that you consider a moped, ATV or bicycle. Check with local police departments about the regulations on ATV’s. Some jurisdictions will allow ATV’s to be driven on some secondary roads for short distances. Remember ATV’s are prohibited on any limited access highways anywhere in the United States, Use common sense. There’s not a thing wrong with walking, besides that, it's good for you. As of right now in most states you don’t need insurance or registration plates for mopeds and ATV’s. That’s a really big savings over having the expense of a car or truck.
Note: An outside privy to most today is laudable, but don’t let that phase you one bit. Especially when you consider how much water flush toilets use. A compost toilet is a great idea, especially when water use will be at a premium.
I hope these ideas have sparked an interest for you in how to live off-grid, debt free with very little money, with no job, and find the freedom that you deserve.
~Chaz~
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