I would love to live off the land I'm only 24 and think about it every day . There should be more laws to help !!

what happened to the rest of the posts??

I would only do that if it was going to be cheaper. If money was no object I would still be connected to the grid but maybe not use it.

Mike, I live currently in a 20.000 condo(It's really a 700 sq foot apartment converted to a condo) which costs me 300 a month for maintenance fees. I have been here for 10 years. That's 3600 a year x 10 years is 36.000 dollars. I have spent a total then of 56.000 dollars in the past 10 years. I'm 44. I will have at least 50.000 to spend on this project which I plan to spend no more than 25.000 on total including land, 1500 sq foot house, solar, wind and perhaps a used hydro system for power. I have alternate cheap or free ways to heat this house, cooking and lighting so I wont need the solar or wind power for those. The solar and wind will only power two laptops, a dish type internet connection and a refrigerator/freezer. Using used materials, doing the work myself and careful planning, I believe this is totally do-able and I will live in comfort. But then, I have no kids or needs that would require me to stay connected to the city utilities. Your situation may be different. If I live here for 10 years, that will be half the price that I spent living in the city and I'll have way more freedom. Most people pay in mortgage and utilities way more than I do currently. I'd say, if you need a cheaper way to live, you cannot afford not to consider this but you have to be smart about how you do it.

Beast...I don't know...we had two comments and they disappeared ??? cheers