Minimalist Homestead Requirements To Live On $500 A Month In Oregon.

[The Heretic]

Just went back and did the math, I would "give up" 10 months of SS payments for about a 1.5% bump, and it would take just over 15 years to 'earn back' the monnies I didn't take for those 10 months!

And if you die tomorrow, your kids won't get any of it.

 

[lucusloc]

And if you die tomorrow, your kids won't get any of it.

Hey, at least some of you will get your SS payments. I am young enough that I will probably get bupkis. There are not enough people my age and younger paying into this pyramid scheme for my generation to get a payout. So we will either have to dip into yet more taxes to get ours or go without. As with most things, eventually you run out of someone else's money.

 

[Indy62]

This is a good show about people buying minimalist properties in Alaska and the choices they make as far as cost vs comforts.

https://www.youtube.com/show/SC_oBz3qu0psxfIeYxJEQAiw

A well 5 miles away means you are going to have to have some way to get the water from the well to your homestead.

Do you ever want to take a shower?

Where are you going to defecate? Is an outhouse allowed on the property? Or are you going to have to get a porta-potty? If it is a honey pot someone with a sanitation truck is going to have to empty it.

What about electricity? On the grid? If off the grid what are you going to do for light when the sun goes down?

What are you going to do for heat? Most places you need a $permit$ to cut wood. A chainsaw needs $fuel$.

What are you going to do for food? A couple hundred a month for food doesn't buy you much.

Are you going to try to grow your own food? A garden? Are you going to be a vegetarian? A garden takes water. Hauling water 5 miles just to dump it on your garden takes work and fuel.

Are you going to hunt? How are you going to store your game so it doesn't spoil? Refrigeration takes electricity. A root cellar will preserve vegetables for many months but it won't be cold enough to store meat.

I recommend checking out a few episodes of "Buying Alaska" that I linked to above. It will give you some choices to consider.

How about internet? You will need electricity for internet. How will you tell us how you are fairing if you don't have an internet connection? You have made about 25,000 posts on this board alone. Are you going to give up internet?

Are you going to buy a property? How much does the property cost? What is the property tax? Even if you buy the property you are only really renting it from the government until you can not pay your property taxes. Or are you going to squat somewhere? I think most homeless probably get $500 a month in government assistance. At $500 a month it seems like you are going to live a life similar to a homeless person.

Great post.

For the average person, thinking (or dreaming) we could live off-grid is much different than the reality of living off grid.

If anyone's curious, just stop paying your water, power, gas, internet and cell bills for a few months. Try it in winter.

Water is heavy.

 

[Nosferatu]

One of the major reasons the spousal unit and I haven't relocated to MT permanently yet is we're trying to build out the property with no mortgage and no long-term debt.

It would be easy to get a construction loan and hire a general contractor (most banks require it) buku bucks to take care of everything. That also adds significantly to the build cost, which adds to the mortgage you end up with. We're both early 50's and don't want a mortgage hanging over our heads into our 70's and 80's.

By being my own GC, I get to pick what parts I work on and what parts I'm willing to pay someone else to do. I will say at least 90% is being done by me. Besides, I enjoy it.

Once we're out there fulltime, our salaries aren't going to be what they are here in WA. Being nearly debt free opens up a lot of possibilities for income flexibility.

Now, $500/month is nowhere near reasonable, but sub $3k/month is easily doable, perhaps even just taking some seasonal jobs.

Ideally one of these damn Nigerian Princes actually follows though and sends us the money we inherited.

 

[Joe13]

If I had to do the $500 then I would exit the Oregon part.

There are much more affordable places to live in this country with more moderate climates which will cut living costs for heating and cooling.

 

[Nosferatu]

If I had to do the $500 then I would exit the Oregon part.

There are much more affordable places to live in this country with more moderate climates which will cut living costs for heating and cooling.

I'd move to Mexico.

 

[Joe13]

One of the major reasons the spousal unit and I haven't relocated to MT permanently yet is we're trying to build out the property with no mortgage and no long-term debt.

It would be easy to get a construction loan and hire a general contractor (most banks require it) buku bucks to take care of everything. That also adds significantly to the build cost, which adds to the mortgage you end up with. We're both early 50's and don't want a mortgage hanging over our heads into our 70's and 80's.

By being my own GC, I get to pick what parts I work on and what parts I'm willing to pay someone else to do. I will say at least 90% is being done by me. Besides, I enjoy it.

Once we're out there fulltime, our salaries aren't going to be what they are here in WA. Being nearly debt free opens up a lot of possibilities for income flexibility.

Now, $500/month is nowhere near reasonable, but sub $3k/month is easily doable, perhaps even just taking some seasonal jobs.

Ideally one of these damn Nigerian Princes actually follows though and sends us the money we inherited.

This is exactly what I wanted to do here in SW WA.

Live in a trailer on the property and I can do the expensive stuff and sub out the labor intensive things.

Wife won't hear of it and honestly, with my responsibilities here in town it would be easier to stay in the area if not ideal for our dream home.

Plus it is close to her work and hospitals and her brother we have to look after so we are stuck where we are and I've made my piece with it.

Seems like most everyone I know is looking to retire in another state and I can't really hold that against them because I probably would too if things were different.

 

[Benchrest]

Medical care, get older and it's a thing.

We're in a position to sell it off, bail, and move to remote eastern Oregon or norther Idaho.

But we ain't spring pups. Medical care in the greater Vancouver area is pretty darn good (Complete Xrays, two cat scans, and an MRI in the past 8 months, didn't drive more than 6 miles ).

 

[arakboss]

I have to wonder how people lived and continue to live happily with meager surroundings and little to no healthcare.

These people seemed happy even before they had a nice place.

View: https://youtu.be/R1MNE6RUdgg?feature=shared

 

[arakboss]

A few things I don't like are big government, taxes, for profit healthcare industry, for profit utility companies who keep jacking up rates, traffic, dense populations of people, cooking.

Things I like are cheap internet, solitude, trimming trees, animal watching, hiking in secluded forest, living simply, shooting without having ROs present, and getting back more return for all the taxes I have paid over the last 36 years of working full time+

Living very cheaply on the cabin property would minimize my interactions with dislikes and increase interactions with likes.

If my wife passes before I do or kicks me to the curb, the cabin property will be my new home.

In the meantime I will enjoy the property as much as possible while working to support big government and for profit corporations.

I realize the shack lifestyle isn't for everyone but I have owned my place since 2008 and I have no regrets about buying it.

Given the beater gun collection I own, the Adam Sandler style of clothing I wear and the jalopy I drive, it shouldn't be a surprise that I feel at home in an off grid shack.

 

[Joe13]

I have to wonder how people lived and continue to live happily with meager surroundings and little to no healthcare.

These people seemed happy even before they had a nice place.

View: https://youtu.be/R1MNE6RUdgg?feature=shared

They died a lot younger

 

[Idaho44]

OK, easy test for "living off the grid": spend a month or two living in the backcountry (tent or cabin) with no electricity or running water and no porta-potty!

 

[arakboss]

OK, easy test for "living off the grid": spend a month or two living in the backcountry (tent or cabin) with no electricity or running water and no porta-potty!

My idea of off grid means no grid supplied power is wired to the lot.

 

[arakboss]

They died a lot younger

I suspect the reason the healthcare industry is keeping us alive longer is so they can earn more revenue. Social Security would be better off if we didn't last so long.

 

[Camelfilter]

A few things I don't like are big government, taxes, for profit healthcare industry, for profit utility companies who keep jacking up rates, traffic, dense populations of people, cooking.

Things I like are cheap internet, solitude, trimming trees, animal watching, hiking in secluded forest, living simply, shooting without having ROs present, and getting back more return for all the taxes I have paid over the last 36 years of working full time+

Living very cheaply on the cabin property would minimize my interactions with dislikes and increase interactions with likes.

If my wife passes before I do or kicks me to the curb, the cabin property will be my new home.

In the meantime I will enjoy the property as much as possible while working to support big government and for profit corporations.

I realize the shack lifestyle isn't for everyone but I have owned my place since 2008 and I have no regrets about buying it.

Given the beater gun collection I own, the Adam Sandler style of clothing I wear and the jalopy I drive, it shouldn't be a surprise that I feel at home in an off grid shack.

Is there any way to do some type of cistern / water tank storage for your cabin?

Yah, you still would have to fill it. However it might increase your comforts, while decreasing your frequency of water trips.

 

[arakboss]

Is there any way to do some type of cistern / water tank storage for your cabin?

Yah, you still would have to fill it. However it might increase your comforts, while decreasing your frequency of water trips.

I have a 275ish gallon truck bed tank and some large IBC totes but unless I order water delivered they won't do me a lot of good. Getting water at pump house will be my socializing time

 

[Camelfilter]

I have a 275ish gallon truck bed tank and some large IBC totes but unless I order water delivered they won't do me a lot of good. Getting water at pump house will be my socializing time

What's your daily water usage at your cabin now, in gallons/day?

 

[arakboss]

What's your daily water usage at your cabin now, in gallons/day?

I haven't calculated it but it's very low, less than 10 gallons for sure. I might have to make a trip a week to the pump house if living there full time.

 

[Camelfilter]

I haven't calculated it but it's very low, less than 10 gallons for sure. I might have to make a trip a week to the pump house if living there full time.

How many trips would it take you to fill all of your on site storage yourself, and how long could that on site storage last you?

Could you do it in a single day?

-ie, figure out fuel consumption & time used in your costs.

 

[arakboss]

How many trips would it take you to fill all of your on site storage yourself, and how long could that on site storage last you?

Could you do it in a single day?

-ie, figure out fuel consumption & time used in your costs.

I can only haul about 100 gallons per trip in my Corolla. It could be done in a weekend. I would be double handling the water though. It would take some effort to figure out fuel cost per trip.