Cheap ass or smart?

You know about the camper I have been looking at, more for the appliances than the camper itself. Cheap in price, but functional.
What about building supplies? Block, cement, board, screws/nails aren't cheap. What about that you ask. Well, its really not as bad as you would imagine.

Lets take block for example. And cement for that matter. There is a local company that makes cinderblock. I went and asked about block and they happen to sell 'broken' skids on the cheap. Its easier for them to sell of an entire skid where one or two blocks have been damaged instead of unstacking the entire skid of block to remove the broken ones. With the size house I am building, three skids will be more than enough. Cost:$5/skid. There are roughly 80 blocks per skid.
As for the cement, they will be providing that too. The machine that packages cement is rather sloppy. I can bring a shovel and get what doesn't make it into the bag for $1/yard THAT is a lot of cement. Gravel is another matter but even it isn't all that bad in price (thats a different company though)

Fact is, once all is said and done, I will probably only spent about $6000 on everything for this house. There are ways that you can get what you need without 'breaking the bank'. It takes some leg work, and obviously quite a bit of hard labor to get to the end product but the savings are well worth it. The fact that I will out right OWN this compilation of labor when I am done is of far more value to me than going the easy route. NO more mortgages for me, EVER! I will pay the property tax as that is the only way they will 'own' me. Once I have the shop in place, the job will go the way of the dodo too. Work for whomever is willing to pay, but only if they are willing to pay under the table, preferably in silver. Raise my own food, generate my own electric, have a local water source, maybe even go the route of methane generator for heating water and cooking(I am still up in the air about that one. I have options.) Other than internet access, completely off grid. ( My internet access right now is 'borrowed' from my cousin) Funny thing about living like the above description; unless there is catastrophic annihilation, Chances are, I would probably never notice societal failures.(except loss of internet)

In some ways, that is a freedom most will NEVER experience.

Lets talk about freedom.

Meet Bob.


As you can see, Bob is a dog. Bob has an interesting history for a dog though. One, he doesn't have an owner. His 'owner' left him in the hood a few years back when he foreclosed on his house. Bob stayed while dude left. Bob has never had a collar on his neck, has been to the vet to get shots and patched up on occasion but never been 'tagged'. He runs the neighborhood making puppies, being friendly to EVERYBODY (well there is one person he doesn't like but they deserve it), eats where he wants, gets taken care of by anyone that finds an issue with him, sleeps where he wants, and all because he is a nice dog. Once, he strayed into an area that he should have stayed out of and had the shit kicked out of him by a pair of Bulldogs: My dad and cousin took him to the Vet to get patched up. When he got sick once, my aunt took him to the vet for that. No one claims Bob, he just lives here. His choice, and no one runs him off.

Bob is FREE. What does Bob do that makes him accepted? He barks. That is his job. When the Coyotes are running, He barks. When some vagrant is walking on the tracks, he barks. But that's it; he doesn't go around making a nuisance of himself, he only barks when something needs barked at. The other thing he does is shows his happiness. He is ALWAYS happy to see you: Tail wagging, ready for a good belly rub.(and you can see in the pic, his tail is going a mile a minute LOL )
He is free to come and go and happily provides a 'service' in return for the things he does get. He is free.

How many of us, in the land of the free can say we are free? There is no way that any of us can be Free like Bob; not in todays society. Too many obligations, bills that need paid, taxes. Of course, we also have to feed ourselves. Bob is given his food and I guess you could say that is the leash that holds him here. There is that little darkness in Bob's story. I don't think it would be the worst though. I am sure that Bob would do ok no matter where he decided to curl up.

How many of us can say that?

Well, the old truth of "what you own, owns you." probably applies here. Bob owns nothing, owes nothing, gives are receives freely of immaterial though substantial things and lives his days without ANY stresses. I would imagine, being human without tooth or claw, we would have a hard time doing the same. Guess its just the nature of the beast. (no pun intended)