What we’re about
For many years now, I have been interested in developing a prototype home and lifestyle and a financial model that focuses on financial independence and environmentally sound practices that incorporate renewable energy, sustainability, and a gardening/farming/fishing component amenable to self reliance. My idea begins by underscoring the concept of financial freedom and the necessity for affordable living for low to middle income people and families and the ability to obtain a home and lifestyle without going into lifelong financial debt. As a self proclaimed environmentalist, I would like to construct an archetype dwelling that is relatively small and utilitarian in nature that incorporates state-of-the-art technology for energy efficiency, that utilizes wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources, that incorporates a greenhouse for cultivating vegetables and generating seedlings for outdoor growth, an electric car port/charging station for electric vehicles, and enough land to grow foods to sustain the person or persons in residence.
On the financial side, I would like to build this home for 100K - or to determine the minimum amount needed to complete a project of this nature. Here, I don’t include the cost of the land, which could vary widely and is a major talking point in and of itself. To address the accommodations - to me, clever home architecture, landscaping, and design can provide a small cost effective, energy efficient, and comfortable heated/cooled indoor space as well as deliver uncontrolled temperature areas that merge the inside and outside worlds. The land area must be enough to grow fruits & vegetables for vegetarian/vegan residents and to produce enough livestock for those that eat meat. There should be consideration for those that might fish. Ways of freezing and preserving food stocks should be incorporated into the general plan. This concept is for a home in the NY/New England area and the climate conditions that exist in this environment.
My concept is not homesteading or living off the land per se. I intend the idea to be for people that have jobs and in that sense earn a living. In fact, any financial freedom concept would include investment and retirement components. My question is this: how can a person (or couple or family) of modest income, own a comfortable environmentally minded home and be relatively self reliant (energy, food, shelter) without going into incredible debt, and ultimately to have the financial means for retirement when they enter that chapter of their lives? This often doesn’t happen for millions of people around the world or at the very least is a lifelong struggle. Here, together, we may be able to generate some ideas and principles that tilt the scales in a more positive direction. A roadmap for success.
Through this meetup, I hope to find some like minded people who are interested in the concepts presented above. It seems to me that these ideas bring together environmentalists, conservationists, gardeners, farmers, financial experts, fisherman, energy efficiency experts, landscape and residential architects, designers and those with creative minds. Of course, those that have done these types of things before would be remarkably valuable. If you are interested in these ideas, please join. Thank you for reading. Joe
