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Bzzzzzt
Member
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2014 11:00pm
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Building my cabin has brought me in touch with just how much crap I have that I don't necessarily need. Things that I seem to be addicted to but I could live perfectly fine without. I'm about to make a serious list of "modern conveniences" that I can live without.... Permanently. I'm not thinking that a 12' square cabin is going to be my home from now on, but starting from there, could I survive off grid with some modifications? I'm gonna get my wife involved in this line of thought and see where it goes.
What things could you leave behind if forced to choose?
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2014 11:08pm
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My TV. I already do not get cable cause I can't see spending $80/month to have garbage piped into my house, so I get netflix, but I can do without that. I've seen every penguin documentary ever made, and I've concluded that penguins are essentially boring creatures that lead dismal lives. Why do I have to know about them?
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SubArcticGuy
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 01:08am
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Definitely good riddance to the TV. We ditched satellite 4 years ago when our first child was getting to the age to be distracted by it. We just got cable hooked up just before the Olympics so that my Mother-in-Law would come up and look after the kids for a couple of weeks while my wife and I were both traveling and busy with work. I called and canceled as soon as she was out the door...it has only gotten worse in the last few years! I will admit that I use Netflix in the peak of winter when it is -40 for weeks on end...but in the summer not a chance.
My vehicles could probably go too...I was thinking hard about buying a new truck or newer truck lately. I happened to talk to my mechanic the other day and he asked me how the last repair was doing (had to rebuild the rear diff)....I then realized that I haven't taken the truck on the road long enough to get it good and warm yet...and that was done almost a year ago!).
I sold my quad 3 years ago (to buy my 2002 truck that I haven't warmed up in a year) and don't miss it at all. It would be nice to skid firewood logs with but the extra work hauling wood and shoveling instead of plowing has been good for me.
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skootamattaschmidty
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 05:50am
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After a month at our off grid cabin last summer with no tv we came home and realized we had been home about 3 weeks and had not turned the tv on. We have netflix and watch that but we had not actually turned the tv on. Like the others I couldn't justify spending $80 a month on satellite when we weren't using it. So we got rid of tv altogether. We don't miss it at all.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 07:07am
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I like electricity ....I like running water.....I like my TV ( but I put the $85 dollar antenna from Radio Shack on a pole/picks up 20 channels)
.....BUT I refuse to have internet put at the cabin!!! ( when I have it on my phone) ...lol....OK...I admit it...I like my electricity the most!!!
what could I live with out...hmmmmmmmm......I don't have a mailbox there!!!!
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OwenChristensen
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 07:41am
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Oh I guess anything I have is, stuff I wanted, but I'd sure get rid of anything that is sold by the month. Phones, internet, power, car and truck payments. I still live in the burbs, but I've started the life cleaning already. Can't trim to the bone here, but I sure could at the cabin.
Owen
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 08:33am - Edited by: silverwaterlady
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I don't care for tv. Don't have cable. Watch movies from Netflix and the few shows I watch on Hulu Online for free.
I however will not go without my comforts in my city house because I spend my one vacation per year off grid for three weeks at the cabin and I drive a semi and live three weeks at a time off grid in a truck. So you can imagine I need some pampering when I go home. 
What I consider pampering is having a private, clean bathroom with hot running water, a full size refrigerator and stove, climate control, a room that actually has square footage.
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TheCabinCalls
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 11:03am - Edited by: TheCabinCalls
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Seem to be a lot of similarities in the group. We don't have cable either.
I had the same realization and started a thread a while back more in line with how much energy we consume unnecessarily.
Some things I would love to live without:
Car (would love to walk to work and grocery)
TV (Avoid as much as possible)
SMART Phone (had one for work and noticed how much I looked at it - worst tether ever! Got rid of it and love it. But I notice how much others are always looking at there's)
Air Conditioning - Unfortunately it gets too hot and humid
Wouldn't want to live without:
Electricity
Clean Water
Internet/Email - if family lived close we wouldn't have it
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hattie
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 12:00pm - Edited by: hattie
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Get rid of the cell phone and second car.
I noticed most here are saying no tv. I can understand that, but I wouldn't recommend getting rid of tv and the internet. Choose one. The reason is that you will find after awhile you will miss that connectivity with the world for news, etc. I guess internet would be the better to keep as you can order items online, keep in touch with family members via emails and also keep up with news.
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Gregjman
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 01:33pm
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Debt. Being slave to someone else for money. When not essential for living, it's just that, not essential. I wrapped my head around that and then learned very easily/quickly what I could do without. Have a little way to go for the freedom yet but It is not far off.
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TheCabinCalls
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 01:53pm
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Debt is a good one until you realize that even debt free is not free from taxation. And you can't keep it from rising - every year!
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PatrickH
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 01:59pm
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I could leave behind all the rules and regulations that tell me how I should live my life and All the people that want a piece of what I earned off my back doing jobs there not willing to do. Yeah I could leave that behind.
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 02:14pm - Edited by: cabingal3
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i dont know if living off the grid means doing without...its just a different way to live.i dont know if getting water and power in the alternative way will never be perfect as getting those things from the power grid and connection to the sewer in town.
i am willing to have oil lamps and my camp stove and wood stove.i am willing to not have the computer or tv.fine by me.
we do have to have a car.no mail comes out our way so we will be going to town to get our mail.20 miles to pick up mail.60 miles to the cheaper food stores.
i would like some kind of way to do laundry that we can agree on.i am willing to do the plunger in the five gallon bucket way.
i admire the mister trying to get things like power be up to the power grid perfection of things instead of looking at it as we have oil lamps but thats not turning on a switch.he wants to turn on the switch.i love that he does want to be up to snuff to the point of getting good energies going at the cabin but still not be on the grid.
But i am fine as it is.oil lamps,wood stoves and l.e.d. lites.
i want a solar wind up radio out there just to hear if storms are coming or what the condition of the highways are.
we have to get out there and see what we really need and want...
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Bzzzzzt
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 05:08pm
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Quoting: Gregjman Debt. Being slave to someone else for money. When not essential for living, it's just that, not essential. I wrapped my head around that and then learned very easily/quickly what I could do without. Have a little way to go for the freedom yet but It is not far off.
I've been working on getting rid of my debt as well. Only debt I have now is one car and one house. The cabin and it's land is all ours, free and clear.
We've been talking for a while about building a "real house" down on our land where the cabin is and the reason I started this thread was because while we build said house I may very well live in the cabin for the interim. That means a real bathroom and a real shower and we need more space than that. But what other things do we use every day that we'd have to go without for a while? Like laundry facilities. I'm sure there's a laundromat somewhere nearby down there. There will definitely be other things we will end up living without if we do such a thing. I'm just trying to wrap my brain around what.
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hattie
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 06:35pm
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When we first moved to our cabin, we didn't have a laundry room built yet. For the first year we used the Laundromat in town (19 km away). It got old really fast and boy was it expensive!! I was a happy camper when we put on our addition and had a real laundry room with a washer and dryer (although I mostly use our drying rack for indoor drying in the winter and a line outside in good weather).
You will also be giving up fast food and coffee shops. I understand people spend a lot of money at those places. You will also be living without the convenience of running to the store if you forgot to buy something. A good pantry and food storage area is a must have as is a well-equipped shop to fix your own breakdowns. Repair and delivery people don't usually go to remote areas. You will be able to give up buying fancy clothes. You will trade them in for practical, durable clothes and footwear.
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beachman
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 07:26pm
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I agree with Owen. When at the camp, we can live quite simply. We have no electricity or running water. We have installed a hand pump on our kitchen counter and it works great. We used to lug in water in jugs from an outside pump. We are getting solar this summer so should be a little more comfortable. Definitely no TV. There is little or no reception where we are but I am sure we could get a satellite set up if we wanted - don't want.
However, when back at our house we are totally reliant on power, running water andTV. In the Maritimes the are long dark nights and TV is a good thing then. We just got another foot of snow and still pretty cold here. Beer, wine and good scotch are essential any time of the year. We need the vehicles to get to our camp. We need a boat to get to our camp. Not sure what I could give up.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 07:59pm
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The way I see it we already do without a lot of things others have...
We won't give up the TV, but we use OTA with an antenna on the roof. We don't have cable or satellite, but use Netflix over the winter. No fancy smartphones. No fancy RV or boat. The major kitchen appliances do not match and their ages vary. We redid the kitchen counters recently in Formica, not granite, not Corian or whatever. Same house we paid cash for in 1985. The last time we got a new(er) truck it was already 7 years old, but 7 years newer than the older one. We can get all our clothes in a standard size closet. I don't have a plasma cutter but wish I did. There are a few tools that see only sporadic use but would not bring in enough cash to pay for a rental when they are needed.
Everything we currently own, including the house was bought without debt; no loans or mortgages, no revolving credit. So instead of paying a bank, mortgage company or credit card issuer interest we spent our cash money on stuff we had a use for. As uses changed some things were traded, sold or passed along to other relatives and sometimes charities.
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2014 10:11pm
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I am downsizing. Had a month off and spent that entire time getting rid of stuff. Donated our second car, two truck full loads of stuff and three huge recycleing cans of junk.
I feel much lighter now. One can have to much " stuff" that stuff ends up owning you. I am very close to debt free after 30 years of hard work. I must be debt free for future plans I have to dedicate myself to further education.
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countryred
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# Posted: 4 Apr 2014 06:37pm
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Debt, brand new cars, cable or dish tv, dishwasher, a bass boat, fast food.....
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Martian
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2014 10:45am
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Quoting: countryred Debt, brand new cars, cable or dish tv, dishwasher, a bass boat, fast food.....
And you can throw in financial security, comfortable retirement, health care insurance, ... The list goes on and on.
What I'm not willing to live without is contentment!
Tom
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2014 12:33pm
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And some people are content to recieve a paycheck every week....
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Martian
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2014 01:06pm
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Quoting: silverwaterlady And some people are content to recieve a paycheck every week....
That's true.
Tom
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neb
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2014 07:10pm
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Quoting: Martian And you can throw in financial security, comfortable retirement, health care insurance, ... The list goes on and on. What I'm not willing to live without is contentment! Tom
Yep Martian I like that a lot!!!!
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adakseabee
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2014 07:57pm
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Bloated government bureaucracies and useless, corrupt, and drunk with power politicians who bit by bit are eroding our liberty.
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TheAnswerIs42
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2014 11:13pm
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Hard to do without the microwave.
Gotta have the internet.
Gotta have the tools.
No TV, phone, debt, or spouse. Don't miss them one bit.
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SandyR
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2014 06:38pm
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I really could live without many things and try to live with as less as I can in my main home.
We have a little 13 inch tv, but it's not hooked up to anything. The kids once in a while borrow from the library, we plug the tv into the outlet and put the dvd in.
We don't allow video games in our home.
I have a "flip phone" as my main home phone.
We chop wood and do not have a furnace.
No microwave.
Little electricity.
Little pre packaged foods. I mostly cook from scratch.
No bosses. God, we hate people telling us what to do.
I could really do without some of my neighbors.
Other that that I think that I have gone to bare bones more and more over the years.
I too feel that we need the internet.
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Borrego
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# Posted: 8 Apr 2014 12:03am
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Don't need TV, phone, microwave, etc....do want truck and Jeep, guitar, guns......
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Bzzzzzt
Member
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# Posted: 1 May 2014 10:36pm
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All very good suggestions. You guys are the awesomest. LOL
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silverwaterlady
Member
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# Posted: 2 May 2014 04:11am
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I would like to know how one can go without someone telling you what to do? I don't care who you are or what you do for a living or where you live it is unavoidable.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 2 May 2014 06:58am
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Quoting: silverwaterlady I would like to know how one can go without someone telling you what to do? I don't care who you are or what you do for a living or where you live it is unavoidable.
I am retired...no one tells me what to do......
my wife tries...lol
I ONLY answer to my 2 dogs...when they want to go outside...when they want a treat...that's it!!!!
I answer my cell...IF I want to talk to that person...if I do not..it just rings...I also learned how to say NO after I retired...people want this and that...I simply say NO...
and my home and camps are GATED..no one just drops by for a visit etc!!!...which is awesome....LOL
I decided when i retired....I will ONLY associate with who I want to ...no ole coworkers...just family and my hunting buds or old friends.
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