URBAN JUNK LAND
A loyal minion sent me a cool link to an article on a guy in Detroit living the frugal life. An urban lot with a travel trailer parked on it, the guy didn't have to work and only needed to concern himself with food and kerosene.
http://www.detroitblog.org/index.php?paged=2 (scroll down to "Solitary Man" story Sept 17 2008 entry ).
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Now, reading this story the first thing to keep in mind that the guy is not a survivalist. He is merely living the frugal lifestyle. Pissed on the Rat Race, drop out of the consumer lifestyle. Obviously he was a lot less concerned with shopping than preppers are. There are a few obvious points you might make, such as it would be cheaper for him to buy a water filter instead of buying water from the store. Or, his breaking zoning laws and being at the mercy of the city parking an RV there. But there were other obviously brilliant things such as his unconcern with sewage. He just walks the bucket to a sewer drain and dumps it in. And he can survive with only sparing use of fuel ( no small feat in Detroit ). He might need a pointer or two, but on the whole he is doing a much better job than the rest of us transitioning himself away from dependency.
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No need for any utilities. No need for transportation. No need for land payments. How many survivalists can say the same? He probably didn't move, other than from one part of the city to another. He bought a cheap lot from a tax sale ( I would wager from almost zero to only a few hundred bucks, given the condition of the city and the property values ). This is one of the success stories we should pay attention to, along the lines of the former reporter that moved out into the Mohave to a $300 lot and built a sandbag hut for a few bucks ( and commutes for seasonal employment and water/food in a gas sipping Geo ). Anyone can transition away from the Rat Race very cheaply and very easily. An urban lot in the ghetto might not sound as appealing as a farm in the mountains, but it has the benefit of not having a mortgage. And staying close to home ( Easterners can move a short distance to numerous distressed areas ).
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Life is not about living in comfort and security. That was ended the last generation or two ( and they will soon feel the sting ). Life is about living the best you can with the means at hand. In case you have failed to notice, the means are rapidly shrinking. I won't beat around the bush, you are simply a moron if you wager on a mortgage. You might win that bet, and I might lose. But if you lose you are destitute and might die. I only have to suffer a bit of comfort by doing without one ( yes, I might be making lot payments now for land closer to work, but in an emergency my paid for lot is 17 miles down the road ). You don't need more than a minimum wage, if that, to realize this kind of dream. Okay, calling it a dream might be a bit much. Living with a feeble 12v light and crapping in a sawdust bucket while eating Spam might be more of a nightmare. But the dream is the Independence and much lower stress level.
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Give the above article a read. You will be inspired to imagine the possibilities for yourself.
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14 comments:
I like the guy, he really has adapted and is just going with the flow. Gosh he is happy,,, how about that!!!. He has removed himself from the system. Good for him.
Old fart
He's got it figured out. Many are doing this across the country.
Keep up the good work!
In this article you mentioned a "former reporter that moved out into the Mohave." That sounds pretty interesting. Do you know where I can find out more about that reporter's story?
Thanks
Wayneburg
Jim,
would be much interested and helped by you dascribing day to day life off the grid .....details in detail please..... maybee in diary form.
just a thought as I have found myself imagining your life off the grid in Elko, and its challenges.
have been there for a short time and can see it happening in the future.
see you as dedicated, resiliant,down to basics
best to ya!
mr. 5:03
the reporter guy you were asking about wrote a book about his experience called "Rancho Costa Nada". and IIRC Jim did a post about it a year or two ago.
http://tinyurl.com/6e5vns
Rancho Cosa Nada : the dirtcheap desert homestead by Phil Garlington
Have you guys seen the post about the Fundamentalist Mormans who have taken to living in the caves in Utah. The Houses are actually quite nice. I am wondering how they and for that matter YOU Jim are getting Potable Water.
and the Wifes(yes Plural) are pretty hot looking...LOL
Old Fart
I wonder what the guy does for heat?
It's cold up there in the winter.
Here is actual link to the article:
http://www.detroitblog.org/?p=549
It gets old up north. How did the eskimos keep warm?
http://www.duffyslaw.com/current14.htm
My life with the ESkimo Stefansson
excerpt
ESKIMO HOUSING
Eskimo houses were constructed with a hole in the roof to allow in light. The hole which was most often left open was covered with Bear intestine. The base of the house was five to six foot thick made of earth and sod and tapered and thinned out towards the top which was about six foot square. The top had about six inches of earth on it. The center of the house was about nine feet high and the walls at the edge were about five feet high. The opening on the roof was about three foot square. 3 or 4 lamps burned continuously and one of the most important duties of the wife was to make sure they didn’t smoke or go out. The entrance to the house was a twenty to forty foot shed-covered tunnel about four feet lower than the floor of the house.
The cold air in the tunnel would not rise into the house which was kept warm by the four lamps at a temperature of sixty to seventy degrees fahrenheit even when the outside temperature was fifty below zero! They would sit with only shorts on in the house. So they would be bare below the knees and above the waist. After five months Stefansson began to enjoy the boiled fish they would eat for supper. The entryway and the hole in the roof were kept open most of the time, but especially during cooking. The only time the entryway would be covered would be to prevent a baby from falling into it or puppies coming in from outside and this was only rarely. Stefansson would usually sleep next to the tunnel entryway to get more fresh air. Each corner of the room had an elevation for sleeping that was covered by skins as was the floor. The houses at first smelled bad but soon you realized that it was the cooking of food that gave the smell to the house. The lamp is a halfmoon soapstone about two or three inches deep kept almost full and the wick is a powdered ivory (walrus), sawdust, dried moss ground in the fingers, manila rope from the whalers with a strand taken and chopped into tiny pieces. The wick is made from the powder laid in a strip which the oil soaks. A piece of fat is suspended over the flame and when the wick dries the flame gets brighter and hence hotter and more fat drips into the halfmoon lampbowl which then fills and wets the wick more which cuts down the height of the flame and this works by itself for about six or eight hours.
It's not a crappy life to live like this. Think FREEDOM!
Think of all the fools in careers they hate, golden handcuffs, only to reach the end of life not even knowing who they are.
For me, I love to "camp" and have lived in similar circumstances, very rural, for many months at a time. No toilet? No big deal. I mean come on - how long do you sit on a toilet every day? Two minutes? A log will suffice. In fact, it's better because nature takes care of cleaning the toilet bowl.
Much of what people think would be hardship is simply because they have never really done it, or done it long enough to compare with the so called "luxuries" civilization offers. When you count the real cost of modern life you are likely to see the advantages of living simple and close to the land.
Thats a great reference to that urban homesteader in Detroit. He chose to seperate his ties to society's needs and live his life the way he wants to. That takes lots of courage - good for him!
That Garrington book is great - I 'd purchased it at Loompanics before they went belly up. I'm sure others here would also vouch for that book TRAVEL TRAILER HOMESTEADING FOR $5000 - lots of great ideas if you're looking at living in the boonies, rather than the city.
Survivaltopics is right - camping out is a state of mind, the first days being the hardest. Try living outdoors for a week - by that time, your attitude on what you thought was necessary changes. Really bad weather - you better practice near home and learn the ropes before going whole hog.
Imaginative. Proof that with a little effort, one can live anywhere free. I guess I'm spoiled feeding myself off my farm.
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