Living Free On A Shoestring

[srqrebel]

Thanks for sharing this experience with us, srqrebel. I really enjoy reading about this kind of stuff, and wish I was as adventurous as you. I've wanted to live the self-sufficient life since before I was out of high school, but ended up getting distracted by work and the pursuit of material wealth. Congrats to you for having the gumption to go out and actually do it. 
There's been a lot of good suggestions here, so I won't try to offer too many more, but one thing did come to mind when someone suggested buying a camper with heat/cooking facilities/shower, etc. I was talking to a welder on one of the projects that I was working on this past year, and he said that while he was once working in Colorado, he lived in his travel trailer in a campground in the national forest (apparently it wasn't extremely far from where he was working). There was no fee, but you couldn't occupy a spot for more than three days. So he would stay in the spot for three days, then get back from work and move his trailer to another spot. Apparently, the folks in charge of enforcing the three-day rule had no problem with it at all, so he got by rent-free for several months until the project was over. I don't know if that's really helpful to you at all, but I just thought I'd throw it out there for consideration.
Anyway, good luck with everything that you're doing. And keep us updated...if nothing else, at least I can live vicariously through you.       Stay warm!

Thank you, Mike!

Hey, there's something to be said for pursuit of material wealth.  My self-sufficient, low-budget, low-income lifestyle certainly gives me a degree of freedom in a tyrannical environment, but I'm realizing more and more that it often takes a lot of money to accomplish great things.

[srqrebel]

I'm still waiting to see a Ridleo of this - that should help show the "it's too cold" crowd that it isn't really a problem.

Isn't there a Ridleographer out there somewhere in that area?

Agreed!  A Ridley Report of this sometime in late January or February, right at the harshest point of the NH winter, would probably best serve that purpose

[srqrebel]

We should do one of those 1960's How-many-people-can-pile-into-Menno's-truck things.
Maybe with clowns.

With enough people radiating BTU's, it would get fairly hot in an enclosed space like that.

OK, all the polyamorous people can just settle down now.

[sfchik]

Ok I am finally posting on here like I promised I would. I keep wondering how you are doing, epically after being down here in our 80 degree  winter. Hope you are doing well.  The cookies were great, please tell your friend thank you for making them.

You and I both know that here we put jackets on here when it is 60 degrees and everyone acts like the sky is falling when the temp is in the low 30's so clearly I have no place for suggesting this however have you thought about buying some of that foam spray insulation stuff that people put in their attics and spray the roof of your camper. I figured it might not hurt unless it froze during the night and impaled you while you slept. 

Glad you made it back safely.

[srqrebel]

Glad to see you found your way here, sfchik -- welcome to the forum!!!

Everyone, this is my good friend Mary from sf  

(btw, for a while I was wondering why the hell you would call yourself "San Francisco chick" -- then it occurred to me what it really means)

__________________________________

Back when I was still stuck in political mode, I administered the WSPQ on sfchik, and was pleased to discover that she was pretty well "one of us".  I'm not sure that she has fully accepted that yet, but it's true

So sfchik, although this is not actually my forum, I think I can safely say that your presence will be welcome here.  Feel free to speak your mind -- some folks (including me) get a bit lively on here, but that only means you will fit right in!

[srqrebel]

You and I both know that here we put jackets on here when it is 60 degrees and everyone acts like the sky is falling when the temp is in the low 30's so clearly I have no place for suggesting this however have you thought about buying some of that foam spray insulation stuff that people put in their attics and spray the roof of your camper. I figured it might not hurt unless it froze during the night and impaled you while you slept. 

Glad you made it back safely.

Another great idea!

You know what though, it's the middle of January already, and there have already been a number of nights with below zero temperatures.  In spite of this, the only time I was cold inside the sleeping bag was on a relatively warm night, after all the accumulated frost on the ceiling had melted and dampened the sleeping bag.  Lesson learned: Always make sure the bag is good and dry by bedtime!   On milder days, I now leave the windows of the topper open to let the moisture air out, and that alone has kept the sleeping bag dry so far.

Of course, one of these days when I have the windows open on a 'warm' day, I may return from my indoor job to find a rain-soaked sleeping bag.  Because of that, I tend to keep a close eye on the weather!

[Lloyd Danforth]

Any friend of Menno's who has an embarrassing story about him is a friend of ours!

[srqrebel]

 

As if I don't do enough already to embarrass myself in front of y'all!

[srqrebel]

So I haven't been posting much on this thread lately... because there is really nothing new to report

The past few weeks have been unseasonably warm for the most part.  There were a couple of nights in the slightly below zero range, but the lowest temp I experienced all winter was 10 below, right after I returned from Florida.

I'm told both January and February can be brutal here in the Shire, but so far it's been smooth sailing!

[Pat K]

Glad your doing well.
I just returned from Flowda it
was nice and warm there. 

[srqrebel]

I just returned from Flowda it
was nice and warm there. 

...but now it's just a fading memory, and you're free once again to enjoy the peace and pristine beauty of the north country winter

[Raineyrocks]

Glad your doing well.
I just returned from Flowda it
was nice and warm there. 

I loved Florida in January!  What part of Florida did you go to?

[Pat K]

Port Saint Lucie, the weather was perfect.
Hi 70's to 80 during the day . Hi 50's
to 60's at night. With a few evening
rain storms of biblical proportions.

I ate, I drank, I fished, I read,
I thunk thoughts. It was good. 

[Pat K]

I just returned from Flowda it
was nice and warm there. 

...but now it's just a fading memory, and you're free once again to enjoy the peace and pristine beauty of the north country winter

Yeah, I am coming over, Make some soup. 

[srqrebel]

Yeah, I am coming over, Make some soup. 

Okay, but unfortunately we'll have to make do without the garnish.

There is no poison ivy available till springtime