As I write this, I’m sitting at a wooden dining table in a comfortable chair while my daughter prepares breakfast. My wife has already fed the chickens this morning, and now she’s in the conservatory with our indoor vegetable garden.

The front door is open, a gentle breeze blows through, and my dog begs for some attention with his head on my knee. I can’t hear anything outside, except an occasional rooster crowing.

No traffic, no loud neighbors, no sirens… just birds singing, and a gentle breeze. We’ve built an off-grid homestead on a shoestring budget, always maximizing what we could achieve with the absolute minimum financial investment.

The results have been about a 90% savings over the cost of purchasing a similar home. Our total investment thus far comes to about $28,000 for a 3-bedroom home on 5.

5 acres with a well, septic, two barns, and 4. 5 KW of solar power.

Similar lands nearby are valued around $250,000. All of our bills (literally everything except food and fun money) total $4,000 annually, or $334/month.

With such low expenses, I work outside the home 2 days a week, volunteer at a local art cooperative, and still get to take 3 days off every week to goof off with my family. We spend a lot of time in the National Forest, or on a nearby lake.

My wife and I exercise twice a day on some home gym equipment, and are in the best physical shape of our lives, as we approach our forties. Since we have more time at home, we are able to eat a healthy diet of scratch cooking, with virtually zero processed foods.

So, how did we do it? Read the book to find out!. .