jeriatric junkland 2

JERIATRIC JUNKLAND 2

If you DON'T own an RV, off grid junk land living is much cheaper, cooler in summer and warmer in winter. But as good as any other shelter option is, none of them are “turnkey” like an RV is. As they say, if you want something done right you have to do it yourself. Same with shelter. You can build a much better home than an RV. Much, oh so much cheaper, and with improved insulation and a better layout. But if you are an old geriatric humper, that better option might not be available.

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I lived in RV's for many years and I loved it. You could buy one dirt cheap, usually under two months minimum wage. I had no problem leaving one behind, selling it for a quarter of that price, and getting another wherever I moved, cheaper than the cost of hauling the old one. Then, that old game became obsolete. Not in every area, don't get me wrong. But in my areas, the RV's started getting zoned out because cheap living was a threat to the Yuppie Twats who wanted several lifetimes of earning for their McMansions.

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Then, as if the greedy whores trying to warehouse minimum wage workers into the ghetto wasn't bad enough, the RV park owners joined the game of Hide The Salome. Suddenly, they only wanted Social Security flush Seniors in their parks and they started a minimum year model policy. No more cheap 70's or 80's RV's were allowed, only newer 90's plus. Those eligible RV's jacked up in price. Then, the older RV owners discovered they could get more money from the Off Gridders. After Hurricane Katrina, the new RV dealers had huge FedGov stimulus raising the prices.

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If that wasn't bad enough, after the crash of '08 the RV companies consolidated, fired all the old Union dudes, hired Mexicans and crackheads and as prices doubled or tripled ( to pay for the acquisition costs ), quality went into the toilet. Which gave all the older RV owners incentive to jack THEIR prices higher. Suddenly, ANY old or new RV owner was asking way too much money. Suddenly, RV's no longer held the appeal of Po Boy Shelters like they used to. Now you see a lot of Tiny Homes or Conversions, because the RV game is rigged against the poor and alternatives are being sought.

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And BTW, don't automatically assume a horse/cargo trailer is as high of quality as it was just a few short years ago. The in-laws bought a brand new cargo trailer and JUST going from east Nevada to Oklahoma trim was peeling off and the tires were showing steel. By the trip half way back, wires were hanging. Small things, but what large issues are hiding? Anyway, even though I WANT to dissuade you from an RV purchase, again, if you are an old humper and cannot build yourself, that is still probably the best bet to get out to your junk land, an extra cost you must eat.

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Once there, perhaps you can pay someone to build a steel barn over it with a south facing sliding glass door for winter ( and two side sliding doors for summer ), and they thing might be cozier than a house ( at one fifth the cost ). And/or getting a backhoe to dig your earth tubes ( do NOT use 4” pipe which is too small. Use sewer pipe. It can use 12v auto fans to suck in the air. The only longer term alternative to heating/cooling, for very little investment ).

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Now, you could in theory go with those pre-built and delivered sheds, but one, can they deliver to junk land and two, you'll still be needing to insulate and build patricians and such. If the whole idea is Turn Key, sticking with a used RV is your least worst option. You have all the appliances installed and all the holding tanks, giving you some time to get adjusted. If the land isn't barren desert, you'll have to clear out a path to park. If you are completely feeble, you can hire a backhoe with a bushhog.

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If you can do it yourself, buy one of the expensive gas weedwackers that have the circular saw attachment for clearing it yourself. You already have power, with solar panels and a generator. You are cooking with propane. Your crapper will accept your deposits for a little while. Then, buy a pump that attaches to your black tank that chews up and pumps the sludge up into your holding tank in the vehicle. Drive into town to dump it, picking up groceries, visiting the laundromat, going shopping and filling up the water tank that drains into an exterior water tank.

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The 12v pump brings that up into the RV water tank. The same pump that gives you showers ( if you are too feeble to use gravity feeds, i.e. hauling water by hand ). Why is hauling water so problematic when it is hooking up one hose in town, then hooking up a second hose at home? Water pressure, then gravity, do all the work for you. You even now have the option of putting some framing and sheet metal panels up ( a good bet would be to replace the fabric awning ) and having rain catchment.

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To me, and excuse the holy living crap out of me if I'm forgetting anything here, it seems that the only physical work being done here is climbing up and down a few steps to enter or exit the RV. How is this any harder than living in town? How is it any more primitive, or Low Tech? You have all the amenities of home. Sure, the water pressure and volume is lower. Big whoopie pickles! Can't have a lawn? So what. One less maintenance item. My dad is too far gone to mow the lawn ( upper seventies, with the ton of medical issues from the bike wreck and heart attack ), so that is an added expense.

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Worried you can't have a freezer or deep fryer? You don't need those Fake Foods at that age anyway. I can see wanting to buy meat in bulk on sale. Surely, even old pukes can pressure can? Or, Mountain Guerrilla uses a freezer at his solar powered doomstead ( don't tell him I called it that, he is a HOMESTEADER, by gum ). He takes that plug in gizmo I tell you to use for a solar refrigerator ( HERE ) and sets it at 20 degrees ( as opposed to the standard freezer zero ) which keeps food frozen but the power consumption way down.

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Have the chest freezer ( or the chest freezer turned into a fridge, or both ) insulated and in the shade and the power consumption is even lower. My old neighbor ( who was old as dirt ) didn't even run anything 12v or energy efficient in his off grid mobile home, but instead had a big battery bank ( still limping along eight years later ) charged weekly by a cheap generator. Normal fridge, regular coffee maker, regular lights. He just used on-grid home appliances for zero stress power use ( one shudders to think of his battery cost, but with zero solar, living on a crappy lot right next to the rail tracks, and a used mobile home, he did it all cheap ).

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Off grid living is dirt cheap, the only difference being you pay up front rather than paying monthly. I lived five years in Carson City prior to moving to Elko, and all but two months were in an RV park. I spent fifteen grand in rent, to be “on-grid”. My land out here, which I paid extra as it is closer to town for a bicycle commute, plus close to the river, was about seven grand. The truck, land, the RV, solar and everything else was WAY below that fifteen grand and I got seven years use out of it ( I still own the land and the RV is still there, I just moved into town to live with my new honey. The solar and other items were stolen, but I'm a six mile U-Haul trip away from a fully functioning off grid home again ).

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Now, you noticed this article was NOT on how to live on junk land cheaply. It was how to live a lot cheaper, but without sacrificing in any meaningful way your standard of living, and even if you are physically challenged. You can easily live for almost nothing. Land far from power, a ferrocement dome, camping appliances, a sawdust toilet, a bike trailer for hauling water. Two months minimum wage, easy. But even going Full Retard Crippled, you can get away with less than one years minimum wage.

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Even paying high interest rates, you can make payments on the land, and a older used RV and it will most likely be under half what an apartment costs, or about the same as an RV park rental. But the light is at the end of the tunnel, just a short period of payments before everything is free, shelter wise, other than property taxes ( always look for extremely low taxes, then buy enough silver to cover that the rest of your life ). Why wouldn't everyone want to do this? The cheapest land is in the desert, and old bastards love heat.

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If the old lady will complain about the RV being too small, have a shed or two for your crap, and leave the RV totally uncluttered. It makes a huge difference in standard of living, believe me. If you are worried it is too far from a hospital, don't be. Call the ambulance ( have road signs up. Even the county ambulance drivers don't know the dirt roads even close to town ) and they send a helicopter. Then, you make payments based on income and die shafting the taxpayer. Easy.

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When I lived in Carson, my RV park payment went up without fail 10% a year. The asswhore had the only park in town that accepted 80's RV's ( the rest were 90's up. This was '03-'08 ), and could charge what he felt like. I was paying way over half my take home pay. That was overtime, working seven days a week, AND my writing income. Do you REALLY want to be in that situation when you are retired and medical costs skyrocket each year? Go off grid, granny.

( .Y. )

( today's related Amazon link click HERE )

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note: if you didn't read this as a "free for today" book, you can still get it on KU ( HERE ).  Told from a non-prepper standpoint, a grid down.  Well written.  Since there are no hero's, super ninja's or crystal ball gazers, this has a great feel for how normal Shmoe's go through a collapse.  
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note: luckily I needed some Super Glue for around the house, and found my bike bag kit glue had dried up at the nozzle ( never an issue the first few times I needed it ).  You never think of the simple stuff. Now I have a sewing needle taped to the container.  You probably aren't as absent minded as I am, but a heads up regardless ( remember the bike tube fix with glue and paper I told you about? ).
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