691–700 of 764 posts
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Not saying I agree with the premise of the article at all but making life decisions based on how much others will respect it is a terrible way to live
Yes, it seems the only thing the world around me respects is conspicuous consumption. It's better for your own wellbeing if you can avoid indulging that.
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I live in a pretty rural area. We have a hospital and urgent care 12 minutes away, though for anything that isn't immediately life threatening I'd be driving an hour for much better hospital care in a larger city.
That honestly doesn't sound very rural at all.
This area is unincorporated and the nearest towns all have a few thousand people or less.
When we moved here I was actually surprised that we had a hospital in one of those small towns. Its part of a larger network that and the city an hour away has a big training hospital and med school, I assume that's why there's a smaller hospital in our area.
For reference, our only "grocery stores" withing 45 minutes are Walmarts and Dollar Generals.
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I assume that buying a machine gun to single handedly murder a biker gang is outside the scope of most of our experiences so not worth mentioning. The real end for me was him alone in a cabin with a barrel of cash. To me that was a more realistic ending. If anything, your correction proves my point. Most people don’t want living alone in a cabin as their ending.
Actually, I'd forgotten about the New Hampshire hideaway episode. The (actual) final episode was much more memorable. And I'll agree that "living alone in a cabin" ... while you are the object of a nationwide manhunt ... is not how people want to live!
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> a young man working at a Walmart or a gas station will struggle to attract a stable partner or the respect of the world around him. From personal experience I can tell you confidently you are wrong. The part you are missing is you only need to work 10-20 hours a week MAX. That means you have an enormous Amount of leisure time to do what you want with your life. Trust me when I say plenty of young women love the ide…
Wilderness adventures will be the only option within your budget.
- learn music instruments, perhaps join a local band or share samples on the net with enthusiasts
- draw, paint, sculpt, all of which has many options of techniques and cheap materials. As with music, the only limit is yourself and the the expense of your instrument but you don't need to use expensive techniques to enjoy
- make a year-round vegetable garden, thats' often time consuming and you won't need much terrain
- read tons of books, learn philosophie, math, history, whatever makes you find interesting. And in 2025 there's the option to read blogs for those that feels like it. watch movies, listen podcasts.
- cook whatever you eat, get creative and share the food with your neighbor or the receipt with the internet users
- do more sport. 1.5h/day practice of yoga, tai chi, swim or whatever will influence the rest of your day
- participate in local NGO or crate the one you want to, from homeless shelter to business and startups free guidance, animals caring and astronomy enthusiasts.
- to support your cheap live, learn to like the chores: hand wash your dishes and clothes. Sounds super boring, but how boring is an Amazon warehouse job ? I'd choose the dishwashing+podcast.
- use the bus or walk or bike to the wilderness, you got time. You don't need to get to the super-far-and-wild spot to enjoy the nature anyway.
- in the wilderness you can: walk, run, off-road exploration, climb trees (yes, that's still a hobby), listen and learn to recognize birds, mushrooms (beware), plants, insects, draw (that you can do anywhere), get aromates for cooking or leaves for tea, sleep in a tent, collect fossils and minerals. Become a local guide.
- get a cheap computer and play (not that) old games. Bonus if you live somewhere where internet is cheap, try some MMORPG (ok not too long to stay sane). Here in France unlimited 1Gb connection is 25€/month.
- learn to knit, wave, sew. Some people find those fun, and make extra money on local handmade shops.
There is a little bit of a sleight of hand going on in this article by claiming the lifestyle of boomers is within reach, but then actually using boomers' parents and grand-parents as the standard. It would be more honest to say "Most of us can't have the relative wealth of our grand parents, but with some sacrifices and creativity, the lifestyle of our great-grand parents is attainable." Even that is only true in a…
Like even the framing showed how a ridiculous premise it was.
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Social things are free! You just have to understand that being social is what you pay with.
Even hosting friends at your house incurs a cost, however small: for extra food and drinks. Literally every human activity incurs a cost. Well, you can become a Hikikomori, so your only expenses will be electircity and internet.
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Then the value of the place would go up fast. This is one way gentrification happens.
That seems to be pretty good for the group of newcomers! They all buy together at lowish prices, then prices go up enough that they ~make their money back on housing appreciation. And it's not bad for existing homeowners either, since they get the appreciation too.
>Though I and my wife do not presently live in Massena, we live nearby, and we’re doing exactly this — we do not have an automobile, nor do we want one. We use the rural county transit bus, which we have found to be extremely cheap and quite reliable; and it has certainly saved us thousands and thousands of dollars by liberating us from the onerous expense of keeping a car. This part has me screaming shenanigans. Unl…
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Those are both vague and completely different ways to handle heating. Also, conveniently, neither appear to have an associated cost so we don't have to worry about whether the financial math works out.
It's because when you live rural like this, wood stoves are common, and wood is free. I live in the northwest, so I can't speak to upstate NY, but downed trees on state and federal land near roads is free to take. Every day there's people posting rounds of wood for free to take. It's hard work, but it's good exercise and rewarding. There's some upfront investment: $200 chainsaw, an old maul, and an old pickup truck,…
I live in a country where for half of the population wood is the default fuel. There's a reason it's a lot of peoples job.