Two week Homestead Challenge

[Hiltonizer]

Is Hiltonizer drunk again and rambling? Maybe... we'll see what morning brings.
Does he have a point worth reading any further? Most likely.
Should I think long and hard before posting a douche comment? Yes.

As many of you may recall, the wife and I have been carefully weighing our options for a second property to eventually migrate to up north... and by up north we're likely talking the North Woods of Maine. We have been for the most part leaning towards options some of you would probably consider bet-hedging, traditional house commutable to job centers like Augusta, Bangor, and Waterville should the need arise. Traditional of course requiring with a larger up front cost that's fanciable and relies on something resembling real work once we make the great bug-out.

Truly off-grid options are however showing their benefits both in terms of up front costs and long term costs, cash friendly, customization options, but with the caveat of opportunity costs. No daily access to job centers.... and... wait for it.... a Walmart. We're possibly talking a mile or two of sledding to a car port in January... possibly worse during mud season.

We're all aware i'd hope of our NEEDS for extended amount of time, that's not the question... its the WANTS of day-to-day living we need to get over in our minds. Having a conversation we pointed out each others weaknesses in this type of scenario.

I like to Microwave food and/or generally succumb to take-out way too often.
Not an option off-grid.
She likes to find reasons to leave the house, for such BS as only a woman could find.
Not an option off-grid.
The drive-thru for breakfast... god damn drive through.
Not an option off-grid.
Generally lax attitudes towards energy consumption
Not an option off-grid.


To each other we issued a challenge. A two-week "live like we're homesteading it in Maine" challenge.
Our grocery cycle starts on Mondays (shopping day). For two weeks, we will both:
- Have to eat like we would in a Maine winter, canned and frozen goods only... no Microwave, Toaster or Take Out.
- Not utilize any off homestead resource (commute to work, gas for commute, home, that is all... no family, no grocery stores, no drive-thru... nothing)
- TV time reduced to no more than 3 hours a night.

Now before you start talking shit about it only being two weeks... think long and hard about how often you stop for something as simple as a coffee and a bagel, order a pizza... make a quick pop into the store for bread or milk. IT'S ALL OFF THE TABLE. We're doing this also not homesteading, but being out of the house 12 days after commutes. To stretch the feel of the two weeks, baked goods are off the table for our pre-challenge shopping.... all breads/pastries etc will be baked from raw ingredients.

One second after occurs tomorrow? No problem... its going to suck but we'll live. This is practice for somewhere in the middle. We're obviously going to do a special shopping trip first to emulate home-canned and goods and frozen goods since we aren't self-sufficient in the burbs... and try to plan a menu. Again... we're not practicing for SHTF, we're practicing for abandoning the comforts of suburbia.

My question for you: Have you done it? Any pro-tips? Haven't done it... on board for trying? maybe group updates? Any other input?

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

If you can keep a sense of humor you'll be fine.

I lived all last summer basically camping, no fridge(ice only), no microwave, flashlights(although I had temp electricity on the site), cooked on a propane stove, heated my bathing water by the sun and dipped it out of a barrel with a pitcher.

I had running water but no water heater until I had the power connected to the building. June through Sept was solar hot water only and that was just a brown plastic olive barrel. I did suppliment that with a pot of water heated on the stove. Actually it was quite comfortable.

If you've got heat, hot water and a toilet, the rest of the stuff will be easy. You'll adapt quickly if you don't cheat.

 

[Rider]

You should look at filming it or treating it as a documentary. Your Opsec may go to hell, but you may also get good funding, it could be fun to watch, etc. my wife and I have watched some of those shows where the people live like they would live in the 1700's, and by day 3 invariably the womenfolk are trying to sneak away from the cameras to find a shower with hot water. The one where the family is trying to farm in Maine is a train wreck; it's astonishing we survived given how hard it is to grow stuff in such rocky soil on a short season.

 

[coastie]

3 hrs of TV a day? Thats a lot of TV.

 

[Hiltonizer]

3 hrs of TV a day? Thats a lot of TV.

whether or not its being watched, its generally on from when she gets home to when i go to bed... even if its just background noise. Not viable on a battery bank.

 

[P-14]

We lost power for 5 hours during the previous snow storm. The Wifey and I almost had to start talking to each other after the battery died in our cable modem.

We eat out once a week or less as a rule. Grocery shopping once a week; Costco once a month. Cooking in our house rarely uses the microwave and uses the stove or oven daily. Grillin' is fun for me and we us the gas grill all year. I make the coffee for her, and I even don't drink it. TV averages an hour a day. We are not off the grid because we like to heat the house.

Get ready to read a lot of books or play non-electronic games. YMMV.

 

[ShadeWPI]

First, I'd recommend taking a look at the Power Hutt 12V Microwave Oven - Amazon.com: Power Hunt Portable 12 Volt Dual Powered 660 Watt Microwave Oven Kit: Everything Else

660W for 7 minutes = 77W-h or about 6 1/2A-h from a 12V battery pack. And 7 minutes will cook just about any meal you could want, so you do have the option of a microwave in a off-grid homestead.

Second, it's a great experiment, and I wish you the greatest of luck with it. If I was home more than 3 waking hours a night, I might propose a similar experiment to my wife, but currently I'm not.

 

[at99sy]

I spent 5 1/2 months in the woods hiking the AT. You can certainly do 2 weeks. Cheers

 

[Tater]

Toilet paper and birth control..... no one wants dingleberries and with limited TV and Internet more time for "Extra-curricular" activities.... so birth control is a must unless you want kids....

 

[MisterHappy]

I had this, kind of, when Irene came through.

Sunday 10 AM - Wednesday 9PM.

No deaths. Missed the garbage disposal most. Had a genny, ran the fridge and clothes washer (kids learned about clotheslines ). Used a combo of propane and liquid fuel Coleman lanterns, Kero, candles, and flashlights.

Gas stove, camping percolator, so coffee was no problem. I like books, no TV was not a problem.

Played cards with MsHappy by Propane lantern light, just like the pioneers.

 

[Sparkey]

Do this for 2 weeks every year at deer camp no problem

 

[Squire]

12 years ago, I floated the Grand Canyon with my wife (we got married in 2002) with a private float trip. 3 weeks, 3 coolers of dry ice and food, campfire only (in a fire pan), pack out your waste (EVERYTHING), biodegradable hygiene, solar showers, tents and sleeping bags. The first day on the river we had 6 inches of snow. By the time we got to Lake Meade, it was 100 degrees at noon.

The water was pretty much a constant 50, so beer cooling was easy, and we drank a lot of it! We "borrowed" some gas from the Havasupai as the water stilled in Lake Meade, but we paid them well for it!

 

[pernox]

Please don't take it as snark, but as an honest observation/thought; You're going to save a bunch of cash by not eating out, grabbing coffee, using microwaveable meals, etc - and may be so pleasantly surprised that you adjust your habits correspondingly even after the experiment. I see that this isn't the intent of your project, but I find myself getting used to spending less money on things sometimes and rue the idea of going back... Coffee, for instance; I was drinking three cups of D&D coffee a day about ten years ago. If I was doing it now that would be $40/wk easy (unless prices went down in the intervening years) which comes out to more per year than we usually spend on vacation!

 

[Hiltonizer]

Please don't take it as snark, but as an honest observation/thought; You're going to save a bunch of cash by not eating out, grabbing coffee, using microwaveable meals, etc - and may be so pleasantly surprised that you adjust your habits correspondingly even after the experiment. I see that this isn't the intent of your project, but I find myself getting used to spending less money on things sometimes and rue the idea of going back... Coffee, for instance; I was drinking three cups of D&D coffee a day about ten years ago. If I was doing it now that would be $40/wk easy (unless prices went down in the intervening years) which comes out to more per year than we usually spend on vacation!

no doubt... that's a nice little side benefit. We used to be really good when we started "prepping", quickly unburied us from a lot of debt, put a bunch of money in savings. We're still leaps and bounds better than we used to be, still putting plenty of money away, but have gotten a bit complacent. Could definitely tighten the belt a bit.

 

[NHAtHeart]

This is pretty much how I live year round. Should make it a permanent change just to ease the transition when you get ready.

If you don't hunt yet you should get started and learn, good skill for living off grid.

 

[jmjkd]

I've been North for 25 yrs now starting w/raw land in hopes to homested someday and we are getting there.. This is something to keep in mind.
“the WANTS of day-to-day living”

I can only speak for myself, but I never really have time to miss the d2d. There is always something to do. If you think in terms of not just surviving the 2 wk's but during those 2 wk's do all the work it would take to maintain the following 2 wk's and so on and so on. It never ends.
Clearing land, felling trees, getting a structure, septic etc. it's a huge undertaking even using modern equipment, but worth it.

It's a great experiment, good luck with that.