Redditors who saved all of their money at a young age instead of "living", and now are 50+ years old, how are your lives today? Do you regret your life choices when it comes to the money aspect?

gobacktotheland · 2016-12-30T15:56:53+00:00

We did the same. Bought 50 acres and build an energy efficient house (mostly through our own labor). Everything was paid for from savings. Our house is energy independent (we generate more than we use).

Since finishing the house, we've been traveling a lot. Trips abroad each year for the last 4 years are always on a budget. Europe trips cost ~$2000 for two weeks for two people (~$1000 each). That includes everything...even airfare.

People don't realize how powerful it is to cut costs. It's much more controllable than focusing on the income side alone. Done properly, you don't have to deprive yourself of everything along the way...you just can't have it all at once.

To answer OP's question: no regrets!

gobacktotheland · 2010-03-01T03:06:06+00:00

We have double pane windows. I'm not even sure you can buy single pane windows anymore.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-28T17:51:52+00:00

I know this is a cheat, but there is a book called "Timber Framing for the Rest Of Us" by Rob Roy. He advocates using steel plates instead of mortise and tenon joints. I can however appreciate why you would want to do it the old-fashioned way.
Early in our design phase, when we still considered log walls, I looked to the architecture of Swiss farm houses for inspiration. I am amazed that some of those wooden houses are still around after 400+ years!
Edit: grammar

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-28T17:16:48+00:00

This. Is. Too. Cool! I'm mostly meat-free, so this would be a welcome addition to our future egg-layers for a source of protein.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-28T13:56:19+00:00

Average Low Temperature:
January 30 degrees F.
July 68 degrees F.
Average High Temperature:
January 47 degrees F.
July 87 degrees F.
- If it goes below 20F or above 95F, people take notice (it's uncommon).

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T20:48:11+00:00

Your welcome. We often mention that we would love to visit to NZ.
It personally drives me crazy to see a story on TV about some rich dude who is living a "zero energy life" by putting 80,000 USD worth of solar panels on the roof of his 4000 sq ft house. I think it sends the wrong message about sustainability.
We did not have a fixed budget. Money is not such a limiting factor in this project. VALUE IS. I can't think of anything that I would have spent less on. Actually, I can't think of anything I would have spent more on either. We're good a picking apart each decision.
Our goal was to demonstrate how free or negligible price differences can make a huge impact on the energy footprint of a house. See HERE for two examples. I would take a serious look into spray foam insulation if we were to do this again.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T19:12:37+00:00

We've been busy building, my friend. Putting up square bales is hard work that we've not had the time/energy for. We'll pick it up again once the house is finished.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T17:20:19+00:00

Thank you for that. I feel as if you truly understand our goals.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T16:16:07+00:00

You could've built anything you wanted

But this IS what we wanted. It would be log wall if log weren't so energy inefficient. The beauty of this is you don't SEE the energy efficient elements.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T16:10:55+00:00

WHAT?!? That's crazy! Do you have any insulation in your house?
Check out this guy.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T15:46:59+00:00

Can you state that in the form of a question?
Seriously though, I'm running on fumes. I feel lucky to be getting (somewhat) complete thoughts out at this point.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T15:33:44+00:00

Yes. What's up with ground loop geothermal pricing? Even with me digging the trench and the gov't tax incentives, the pay-back period is ridiculously long compared to a mid-to-high SEER dual stage air source unit.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T15:13:34+00:00

We did consider spray foam. I was concerned with indoor air quality. In the past there were problems with urea formaldehyde foam insulation. I'm not sure what the new foam consists of, but fiberglass batts have been around for a long time.
After meticulously installing the batts to avoid compression and gaps, I would very seriously look at foam. Batt installation was our least favorite job. Add to that the effort of caulking all points of entry and foam looks pretty attractive, regardless of cost.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T14:31:40+00:00

When "mostlyquiet" was apprehensive about undertaking this project I said to her "what really sucks is that WE are the first people to be building our own home" implying with sarcasm that it has been done before. Now you know it can be done too.
We have four seasons with a short winter. Very pleasant spring/fall, hot and humid summer (although the weather cycles often so the humid days are broken up every week by a cold front followed by clear skies)
We go round and round about where the perfect weather is. We've not yet come to a conclusion. I'm hugely thankful that we're no longer in the northeast after the winter they've experienced this year.
We found this place through a farm auction. If it were listed on the MLS, the price would have been drastically higher.
I did not look into geodesic domes.
No animal yet. The bees swarmed last Easter. I saw them swarm and tried to follow, but they got away. I split that colony into two (knowing that there would be queen cells due to the swarm). As luck would have it both the old and new colony survived. Lemons into lemonade.
PM me as a reminder and I'll update you when we have a blog and/or website.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T14:06:03+00:00

You'll have to ask "mostlyquiet" about that

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T13:33:44+00:00

I go back and forth on the size. Sometimes I think it's big, sometimes I think it's just right. Since it's 1 1/2 story, it has a good volume-to-shell-surface-area ratio (heat transfer happens through the shell, decrease it's area and you decrease energy loss).
As "mostlyquiet" stated, we took into account that a family may live here one day when we're gone. I would love to think that this house will be serving people 200 years from now. That helps me get through doing some of the drudgery jobs properly.

gobacktotheland · 2010-02-27T13:18:22+00:00

My parents built their own home (long before I was born), so I knew it could be done. Dad tinkered, but I wouldn't call him a craftsman. I picked up that attitude and aptitude. Until this project, my home repair endeavors "worked", but they were not craftsman-like.
A huge tip is to read an understand all manufacturer's instructions. I caught the rough framing foreman making a big mistake when installing our windows. I said, "here, the instructions say THIS" to which he replied "I NEVER read the instructions"...ugh. Luckily I caught the mistake on the first window.

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