You were not born with money and are not incapable of living without it. But certainly having at least some money to start will help. Most people can afford a few thousand dollars to get started. $2,000 will get you around an acre of country land and you can literally live off it, but perhaps not in the comfort you want. But complete comfort requires much less than you think. Nevertheless, this page will explain how to get started even if you have nothing.
Here’s the “basics” of what you need:
- Food & water: Food grows from the ground, and water falls from the sky. You require only basic tools, and only a few minutes of work each day for an abundant supply.
- Shelter: Thousands of years ago, people used materials sourced from their land. It cost them nothing but time and effort. In fact a lot less effort than you currently put into chasing money. Having money to build certainly makes things easier, but you realistically can build a reasonable residence for under $1,000 if you carefully choose your building design, and source your materials. It can be done for $0, but it is usually best to spend a bit to make a big difference.
While these are the “basic necessities”, you will also want a warm shower, a toilet, proper waste management and so on. But keep in mind you only need to start with the basic necessities. Start as basic as you need. You could even start in a tent, within a week, you could be in a “rammed earth” or mud-brick house. Then a few weeks later you could be in something even bigger and better. It just takes time and effort, not so much money. It is much easier than you think to start with nothing. You can even sell your excess fruit and vegetables to pay for anything you need.
Remember that you wont be spending most of your life paying for a mortgage, so your time and effort will be much more productive than if you had a 9-5 job. Put another way, what would you have after a year of 9-5 work?… Perhaps a spare few thousand dollars after the mortgage payments?… But what could you build in a whole year with your bare hands, for free?
If you are stuck on the concept that everything is going to “cost money”, just remember you can start as small as you want for $0, and build from there. In 1 year you will have more than if you worked 9-5, because you’ll keep it.
But what about land?
Many similarly-minded land-owners will allow you to freely use their land. As they often have hundreds of acres, it is not a problem, and you can easily trade with your labour if you had nothing else to offer. Alternatively, you can combine funds with others to purchase country land, and you can have access to an acre for less than $2,000. This is affordable for most people. The real problem is council regulations that legally forbid you from building whatever you want, or even living on the land.
There are various solutions for this. Some people ignore the “legalities” and choose to live free, and accept there may be authorities that may forcibly remove them from their residence. Outright ignoring the law is not advisable. It is smarter to build a residence that doesn’t even need a building permit. In some jurisdictions, you don’t need a building permit for any structure. But for most jurisdictions based in the country, the restrictions are reasonably easy to work with. For example, you may require a building permit for a permanent structure such as a “standard house”, but not for a building classed as “re-locatable”. And many eco-friendly houses can easily be re-located.
Choose your land and building carefully, and council restrictions will not be much of a problem.
If you believe you have the right to live off your land without unreasonable council restrictions, contact your local political parties and tell them you will vote for them if they relax restrictions on building. The restriction of land-usage is potentially the biggest problem on Earth, because the restrictions force us to be part of the system to survive.
You don’t need what you think you need
All of your life you have been conditioned to think you need more than you actually need. You spend your life paying for it all. For example, you have a job and need to live close to your workplace. And the nearby houses cost a fortune. So you need to work harder to pay it off, while giving around 35% to the tax office. And those funds mostly don’t benefit the community. Most end up in the hands of bankers because of how the global financial system works. It is not their fault. It is your fault for supporting their system. But perhaps you were not aware of your options, until now.
How to get started
DO SOMETHING. Otherwise nothing will change. Stop dreaming about it as a remote possibility in a fictional world, and actually do it. If you think it just can’t happen, then you are part of the problem. Remember people are already doing this. And the more of us that do it, the easier it will become for everyone. Here are some suggestions:
- SHARE this website and encourage others to look for alternative ways to live. Educate others about the options we all have. If you take no other action, at least do this. Be active about teaching others. Don’t just post a link. Talk about it.
- Contact your local council and politicians and tell them they will gladly vote for them if they relax land and building restrictions. They give us what we demand, but enough of us must demand it or the minority are ignored. Remember that WE are part of the 99% that want the chan
- Join the forum and discuss options with others. Ultimately you aim to combine funds with others, but there are always practical solutions that suit your goals.