if you had no mortgage or rent
there was just 2 of you

you would still have the usual bills
elec
gas
phone
insurance
rego
fuel
and a bit for maintenance

and you had a good veggie patch chooks etc

I don't know, is anyone out there doing it now?

Would depend on the 'etc.'. If we had solar power, were close to services so didn't have to drive far, then maybe. I guess if we had to we could, after all, most of the world's population probably live on less.
P

yes we could cos it costs me about that now and there are 5 of us here (and we help out our DD and her BF too sometimes)

SO yes - and I look forward to when I only have the 2 of us to deal with for the same amount of money - oh the things we could do!

I live by my self but survive on $280 a week. I suppose if the extra person didn't use $120 extra power/food etc you could be alright....don't forget to try and put some asside for emergencies. Thats the bit I always bugger up on:shy:

Hmm no mortgage or rent, we would be doing it easy. If I took out the weekly cost of our mortgage from our weekly income it leaves almost $400. I cut corners where ever I can. I avoid going to town as it is only temptation to spend money on things that are not needed. I only do the groceries when I absolutely have to and I take a list of what is needed and stick to it. I buy the basics and make things from scratch. Much cheaper, not to mention being healthier. I use wee wipes so we don't use so much toilet paper. I grow as many fruits and vegetables as I can and I don't have a lot of success yet, but that will come with experience. We have chooks but we don't eat a lot of eggs so I sell them at work for $3 a dozen and that tends to pay for their food. Wow, sorry to be so long winded but just wanted to show that it is definatley possible and is also a much better way of life. We are in no way miserable about the way we live. We see ourselves as being rich. It's just not in money terms. Oh, that is with 2 adults and one 11year old boy who likes his food, two dogs, around 18 chooks, 2 pet sheep and a horse. (I dont' think I left anyone out). GO FOR IT!!

Hi Kooka, Narelleh and Kirsty
are any of you guys using alternative power? or just conventional bought in elec?

easy! the four of us on are on that much a week for groceries, power, fuel, rates, insewerants etc

Fatima
that's inspirational, I think for me, it's just getting the courage to jump! the time is getting closer......

and Jaymes you're doing it too
this is encouraging:tup:

We have no option but to do it!
Mains power - and we pump our own water from bore and pressure pump at house, in summer we selectively use a/c
But there are soooooo many places that we cut costs (I won't call it saving cos if you saved it, it would be there and it ain't!)

$250 each per week for myself and SWMBO

Without a mortgage? Oh yeah, no worries. We were living on about that for the first year here, spending over $100 a week in mortgage repayments. Only thing was that it made purchasing big ticket items very hard. We took money out of redraw to pay for solar hot water, water tanks.. the idea is to save money in the long-run. I think it'll pay off.

We're big op-shoppers, and we love to eat from the veggie garden.. and in general, have a frugal outlook on life. Mind you, Marty bringing in some extra money now is being taken advantage of (we paid the solar without taking money out of redraw!! wow! and we're splurging on some other things - some that aren't designed to save us $ in the long run either.. )

But yep, it's certainly doable! Especially with no mortgage or rent.

Yep, we do it too...sometimes it's less than $400, because of the US$ though. ( DH is retired US Military, his pension is our only income)
We shop once a month ( 65Km to town). Grow what we can, have chooks ( chicks too soon, we hope).
We tend not to go anywhere much in between the shopping because our Troopy chews the juice. Luckily for us, we're both hermits so it doesn't matter if we don't go places/visit etc.
It is doable without the mortgage, I guess it's more a frame of mind- you decide to change your focus is all really.

We do it too. No mortgage (we downsized) , small farm, chooks, kids all left home (sigh!! well sort of - they just keep coming back!!) But we don't go out a lot - brew our own alcohol and pretty much eat what I grow. Our choice not going out, by the way, we like staying put after hectic life in city ,love the quiet pace of country life.

we are on a pension ans we live on about that amount of money, we only have small yard so not much room for vege' garden would like 3 times more garden then things would be lots better, no room for chooks that would be great if we could, but we get through often having to ask for extension to pay bills, not a breeze but we have no extravagances, no chance of a day at the movies, and we don't maintain a large wardrobe just enough to ge through on.

and looks like it could get harder ahead.

len

Yeah, I've been doing it for 9 years now, only one person though. Petrol is my biggest cost because I'm not so much of a hermit. After 11 years of driving on dirt roads though, I need a new car.
Next year I'm hoping to move to the NT to work for a year so I can afford a new car. I work part time here, and it's not really probable that I can run this place and work full time.