701–710 of 764 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also, you just need to continually scavenge for "free" water and heat. Don't forget the free fishing rod/equipment.
In the article he mentions there is a well at the house. Also blankets and wood fires are free heat.
In Minecraft perhaps. Wood costs money to get, process and adequately use, the well also has maintenance costs.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wilderness adventures will be the only option within your budget.
Lest's say you are serious and it's only a lack of imagination [edit: or taste obviously but as the article author points out: it's only on you to choose what you like]: - 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…
My first time up there I met a lady in her 40s who had just worked 12 weeks at a mining camp. She was bummed because that was the most she’d ever worked in her life. Had 10 acres, three kids, monster log home. Great life.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But it is extremely important to point out that the American "rat race" cities 100% subsidize areas like this. It's even more important to point out that places like this grow the food and do the manufacturing that those "cities" you like would collapse without.
Don’t mistake my comment as being pro-city at the expense of rural areas. The author isn’t growing any food, they’re just living adjacent to those people. Most manufacturing happens in close proximity to major cities.
Farms need rural infrastructure which is what the anti rural subsidy people don’t seem to understand.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wilderness adventures will be the only option within your budget.
Lest's say you are serious and it's only a lack of imagination [edit: or taste obviously but as the article author points out: it's only on you to choose what you like]: - 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…
Musical instruments are the opposite of cheap, knitting materials and art materials (even the cheap stuff) costs money, you can’t legally form a NPO for free and you won’t be able to volunteer very well if you can only physically travel to the center of town on rural public transit or bicycle your way around a wide rural area.
The kind of biking and hiking at the amount of distance and time we are talking about isn’t free either, a decent bicycle that can do heavy mileage will cost money to buy and maintain. Plus all these sports will cause you to burn more calories necessitating more expenditures.
(Also have fun riding a bicycle everywhere on country roads with two narrow lanes and 55mph speed limits)
Cooking creatively for a group isn’t really a part of a $300 survival meal planning budget, and it’ll get pretty boring without some of the kitchen equipment that helps with that hobby.
In addition to that a lot of stuff that is cheap was not actually budgeted by the author of the article. In his example there’s no home internet or water budget, so even washing clothes or playing a game online isn’t in the budget.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lest's say you are serious and it's only a lack of imagination [edit: or taste obviously but as the article author points out: it's only on you to choose what you like]: - 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…
You pretty much listed all the things that “simple life” people in the Yukon and Alaska get up to in their spare time - which is ample. My first time up there I met a lady in her 40s who had just worked 12 weeks at a mining camp. She was bummed because that was the most she’d ever worked in her life. Had 10 acres, three kids, monster log home. Great life.
Alaska is also heavily subsidized by the federal government for strategic reasons.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any discussion of staying near family and friends on a forum predominated by startups out of the bay area is completely disingenuous. But that aside, I suggest this is front page and meaningful not because it brings up a third option (to stay home, move to a city, or move to rural NY), but instead because it advocates accidentally for just staying home . Your family probably already lives in an area that is more affo…
Yes, if you plan to have kids having parents or other family near is a big help. Big cities are fine when you are 18-25 and want to have fun. Near 30 and older you are just tired by the noise and other people being around ;)
I dislike having to drive long distances to do anything. In a city, my block alone has tons of stores I can go to.
Anywhere else I want to visit is just a subway ride away.
I do agree it's good to have parents and family around to help take care of your kids. That's even better in the city since the kids can just walk to there themselves once they're old enough.
I know some older seniors who can't drive anymore and it doesn't affect them at all because they can either take the bus or subway.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I will say, at this income level you're on Medicaid. It would be more than nothing but very basic, and if you're using government assistance than you aren't really "escaping" modernity, you're actually living off of the economic surplus of all the people working hard in the rat race. (Don't misinterpret me as saying that social safety nets are bad, I am all for them, but I'm just saying - if the author of this articl…
I’m not sure if the “rat race” actually produces real wealth to subsidize this. If anything you could say we’re able to subsidize this despite the “rat race”.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lest's say you are serious and it's only a lack of imagination [edit: or taste obviously but as the article author points out: it's only on you to choose what you like]: - 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…
Dude at least 80% of these activities you listed cost a significant amount of money. Musical instruments are the opposite of cheap, knitting materials and art materials (even the cheap stuff) costs money, you can’t legally form a NPO for free and you won’t be able to volunteer very well if you can only physically travel to the center of town on rural public transit or bicycle your way around a wide rural area. The ki…
You can get a OK used guitar for $300 that will last for years. That’s a few extra shifts at the gas station.
> Cooking creatively for a group isn’t really a part of a $300 survival meal planning budget, and it’ll get pretty boring without some of the kitchen equipment that helps with that hobby.
If you have your own garden, you can do a lot of creative cooking cheaply.
You don’t need a ton of kitchen equipment to enjoy cooking, and if you spend time searching for deals at thrift stores, yard sales, or on Facebook marketplace, you can get pretty much anything you need for almost nothing.
>no home internet or ware budget
Just add $1000 a year to the budget and make it $6k a year instead of 5. Adding in a few extra conveniences doesn’t materially change the author’s thesis.