Poor Man
Survival
Self
Reliance tools for independent minded people…
ISSN
2161-5543
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
“Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them, but none are fun when you
set about retiring them.”
-Ogden Nash
You’re Never Too Old to Be Debt-Free
by Diane Smith
We are both in our 70s and are just finishing our home
that was built out of pocket with no debt.
We were fortunate to have purchased our lot as a package
deal when we bought and built our former home. This lot — 2 3/4 acres with a
well and septic — came with the deal. We had to purchase both lots or nothing.
We let this lot sit for about 10 years while we finished the other home. This
time we wanted no debt so decided to build as we went.
We sold our former home too quickly and had to move into
our new house way too early. It was just a shell. We stayed in a hotel for the
first two weeks while we got some plumbing done.
We decided on a log home and bought our logs from a mill
down the road that was milling "beetle kill" logs. We paid $4,500 for
the total package. Each square log had to be routered (to accept chinking) and
set into place. We used a "cherry picker" that my husband rigged with
a small motor to help us lift our logs into place. Some were more than 20 feet
long. It worked quite well for us. The two of us put the entire two-story shell
up alone.
We have built the entire home by ourselves over the past
six years, metal roof and all. Our kids have come down some weekends and helped
with some of the heavier jobs.
Our two-story home measures 30 by 20 feet — just under
1,450 square feet. It has two bedrooms and a bath upstairs, as well as a great
room, kitchen and bath downstairs.
We have spent approximately $50,000 finishing our home.
It is still a work in progress, but nearly finished.
We live in rural Alaska and do not have to deal with
building codes or building inspectors, so that is a big plus for us.
“I’m in debt. I am a true American.”
-Balki Bartokomous
At our age, we probably would not do this again, but it
has certainly been an interesting journey. We live a better life without a
mortgage hanging over our heads.
Unless you have unlimited funds (rare these days), my
advice to anyone building as we did is to be prepared to camp out in your home
for an extended period of time. Be patient when you are still installing all
your plumbing and have to wash your dishes in your bathroom sink because the
kitchen is not ready. Learn to live with particle board on your floors until
you can get carpet or tile down. (We stained the particle board to be able to
scrub it). Enjoy your particle-board countertops (we used three coats of
varnish). They work great until the permanent tops are installed.
Each new addition to the house is a joy. Not everyone
would do this, but if you can live in the mess of construction, the joy of a
debt-free home is worth every day of building.
Excerpted from MOTHER EARTH NEWS, the Original Guide to
Living Wisely. To read more articles from MOTHER EARTH NEWS, please visit
www.MotherEarthNews.com © 2014 by Ogden Publications Inc.
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Banks are hunting for new sources
of revenue, so bank fees are rising and free checking is increasingly hard
to find. But there are ways to avoid paying so many bank fees.
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Another batch of home grown goodies
for you!
Homemade Massage Oil
I work in a gym with massage therapists. I was talking to
one of them about what kind of oil she uses for massage. She told me to avoid
using baby or mineral oil as it can clog pores. She uses a very light olive oil
mixed with a bit of more expensive massage oil or scented essential oils.
Find More DIY and Homemade ideas here:
How to Get Out of Debt & Prosper
Grab our
Useful Library of How-to Reports to Reboot Your Income
67 Real Companies That Hire
The Company Promo Report
How to Survive a Job Loss
Urban Survivor-45 Ways to Make a Living - Without
a Job
Escape the Rat Race
How to Prosper – 3-Volume Set
Recession Recovery System
Debt Beater System
Develop Your Financial IQ
Plus many more – 67 in all! Format=DVD
$10.95 ppd. Beats being broke!
Go to our main page and scroll down a bit:
Yours in freedom,
Bruce ‘the Poor Man’
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Shallow Planet Production
1 comment:
Outstanding advice and resources...your posts are invaluable!
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