How to have a home with no house payments and no utility bills! Video

I am going to live like this is a few years when I move out of my parents house, but I will build it mostly from scratch and recycled materials like pallets and plywood.

Double post

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


I have watched his videos and I bought one of his books.
This man can inspire others to do the same.My husband's
future retirement home,just want it a wee bigger.

I've seen this before not a bad idea but how do you keep your personal stuff, storage? The apartment I share is so small now can't afford storage on top of other bills, we're pretty cramped now. We moved here from a 2bdrm and all ready got rid of stuff. Otherwise it's a good idea.

reply to post by 1loserel2


If its your land and you're not going to create an eco farm with non permanent shelter so you can have as many as you want, you would simply build it bigger, preferable out of cob,and add more rooms as needed, ie. children come. Temporarily, you could erect a yurt for 3000 as overflow space and storage or work space.

These semi permanent tent/canvas homes, also are non permanent though any home can be if built on pallets.


yurt tour


NH Chronicle - White Mountain Yurts

This one I like the best, no tent windows, and sturdy interior walls (bear proofing). I would play around with alot of different types of yurts.

1. twig or slender log frame or just PVP pipes. Could use layers of fabric, with hemp or wool or straw interior for insulation, or of course their high grade insulated fabric they've used here. I almost saw real recycling where you would have fabric slots in between the layers with recylce bottles or coffee filters filled with wool, straw or hemp, or with the bottles, and a possive solar you could probably have a layer of their aluminum tape, possibly over a few layers of felt.

Just whatever you can adapt that you have access too.

Recylce any wood you can, ie. dont cut down trees, but take fallen or drift wood, recylce.


Spirit Mountain Yurts 2

reply to post by Unity_99



I've been looking at the Yurts and pricing. They can range from 4000 dollars for the smallest 10 to 16 foot to 22,000 for the larger 30 foot diameter yurts depending on which company you choose. 30 foot diameter is not that big and it's one big open space, no walls or loft. You can have a lot of un-used square footage if you don't spend extra money for walls. Cheapest one I found was here with an 18 foot for 3600.00 redskyshelters.com... You can get this 18 foot yurt in kit form for as low as 2.300 dollars. redskyshelters.com...

I doubt they would be hurricane proof which is what I need - they would need to withstand winds of up to 130 miles per hour where I live. If it's big enough for you and you don't need hurricane proof it might be what some folks are looking for.

Here's another video you guys interested in this should watch. It's a documentary called, " We the Tiny House People"

This showcases many types of tiny houses around the globe. You may not need a really tiny house but depending on how much space you have to get off the grid, there are lots of space saving ideas in this video. This is necessity breeding innovation.



I plan for my place to be at least 1500 square feet. About 1000 sq feet is the average size of a home in Europe and most other places around the world. Most American homes are 3 times that size. Why is this? It's a scam. Bigger homes were pushed on the American public by bankers, construction companies, lenders, city planners etc so They could make more money off of You. People bought into this scam and now think they have to live in a really large house - all the while they are in debt, getting worse all the time. The housing bubble burst and now people cannot afford houses of their own or even to keep he houses they have. In other parts of the world, they realize that this is overkill and one only need housing to be affordable and comfortable enough to suit the needs of the home owner.

The problem is people want more than whats necessary(im guilty of it too).. the more money you make, the higher your standard bar will go up.

If i compare my teen life to now, i could never go back.

Originally posted by luciddream
The problem is people want more than whats necessary(im guilty of it too).. the more money you make, the higher your standard bar will go up.

If i compare my teen life to now, i could never go back.

That's great if you can afford it. I don't want a Tiny House myself only one big enough to afford comfortably. When I build this place, I will have 2 homes I own already, one, a 700 sq foot condo and one, a 2,400 sq foot home on a 50 by 60 lot. These I will rent out and live in my 1500 sq foot home I build so I can fish, hunt, go boating, camping, travel and sit on my butt and collect money as well as run my electronic cigarette business from home online. This will allow me to have a lifestyle of someone in the upper middle class. I'll have all my needs met cheaply and have money left over to enjoy life.

If you notice half the people in that Tiny House documentary are not trying to get off the grid. They still have city utilities hooked up and are dependent on them. They just want a small house they can call their own. Some of those houses admittedly are illegal. The system doesn't make affordable housing available for people who are just starting out or who have to move to something more affordable due to this economy (in debt). For the price of renting an apartment for a year, they could own their own home and have time to save for something better with more money to do it. One guy in that documentary is paying 800 a month for a 96 square foot walk in closet he calls a home - not for me.

this is awesome. We have discussed sustainable living somewhat off the grid and the sig O and I decided that shipping crates would be our best bet. Given our family size, 2 crates would be ideal. I have done some research and found that I can get a 40' crate for only a couple grand and with in house carpentry and electrical skills, we can save lots of money on labor. I love the idea of utilizing solar and wind power and because I am quite the gardener already, the plan would include an aqua/hydroponics system as well as a traditional garden.

I used to dream about building a place like this and then when I finally had built up my business enough to start on it I got sick and stayed that way. I couldn't get up and down that ladder without killing myself and where would I put my drum set(s)?
I'd build my house from rammed earth and cob with a nice garden, some fruit trees, a little pond, goats, chickens and maybe a small draft horse. Live next to the National forest and hunt deer, turkey and squirrels. Would've been great.
Anyhow, I hope some of you can live this dream and I have to say I'd love to live in a small community of DIY people. Communal dinners (cookouts if you like) and bonfires and jam sessions every week!

a reply to: JohnPhoenix

excellent video