Alternative Shelters

2010 will be the year Penny and I purchase our land, our "little piece (or peace) of heaven"!  We have been thinking a lot about how to make the transition from our present home to the land as painless and hassle-free as possible.  Penny has been researching ways to have a temporary home on the acreage while we build our forever home.  During this research many types of solutions have come to light, been discussed and most… eliminated.  Everything from living in a tent for six months to a year (not for us!) to shipping container homes.

Our reason for a temporary home instead of the easy "stay in the present home and wait till the new home is built" is based on the fact that we do not have the deep pockets needed for that.  We refuse to add any new debt to our lives and will pay as we go.  We want to own our land, the buildings, and everything else outright.  No more enslavement to a cold, cruel creditor.  To us, the short term discomfort and disruption of our lifestyle is worth it because we know that in the end freedom will be worth it.

By our calculations of the mortgage payments we make every month, the house we want to build will be completed and fully paid for in two years.  That is if the house we are now in is eliminated and the payments are put to building  the new home.  I heard on the CBS news last night that home prices were up 0.3% for the third quarter this year.  WOW… I got all warm and fuzzy when I heard that.  They were so happy about it.  Good times are here again!  The report then went on to say that at this rate it would take 10 to 15 years for those folks who are under water with their mortgages to get back to where they were.

Now Penny and and I didn't get hurt on the "housing bubble burst" as some folks, but we are smart enough to know during these times, if you have  a mortgage at all,  that we could be living in a money pit and that is unacceptable!  Many, many good people are choosing to, or have been forced to,  just walk away from their homes and take the credit hit.  At least then they can start to rebuild their lives and recover.  I commend people that make these types of harsh choices - they will come through victorious on the end!    We are lucky that right now we won't have to walk away from our home in order to pay the mortgage.  When the time is right we  are going to  sell  it and maybe get a little of the equity back.  Rest assured though; either way, we won't take a loss because, that will be the time for drastic measures.

The podcast we bring you today is important to the 2012 end of the world scenario in that you can prep for any upcoming change.  Penny has tried to bring you alternative shelters for a quick bug out or get home situation and goes all the way to a semi permanent shelters you can use for long term living.  Like I mentioned above we are seriously considering shipping container living to get onto our land inexpensively and quickly.

Here are some links to give you some ideas for creative container living:
10 ideas
Container bay
Zero Cabin
Bob Vila
Green building
ISBU Association