If you live in the desert, gardening or growing food is not an option. The soil in the desert won't support life, not to mention heat and lack of water. If you manage to make enough good soil and then use enough water to keep veges alive, your water bill will be high enough that you could have just bought organic produce. Not that I, for one, could afford organic produce.
the straw bale van is an interesting and clever idea,....thanks for posting that. Never heard of that before, but why wouldn't it work. I wish the person who put the article up knew the difference between straw and hay, because they keep saying hay bales, and no one would build with hay bales.
I have always lived on less than lot people would think they could live on. But anyone can do it if they put their mind to it. I have never felt poor, just frugal. In this country you can have a decent lifestyle on very little if you know how and can be creative and don't mind cleaning up and using the cast-offs of other people, which this rich society produces in abundance. You can furnish a whole space, one on wheels or not, with things people throw in the dumpster or leave on the street in most cities and towns.
Just my opinion, but I don't think organic food is worth the extra money. Maybe it used to be years ago but these days it's not really possible to buy anything that doesn't have GMOs in it, even if the packaging says it doesn't, because they are everywhere. The seeds of GMO plants are carried on the wind and there's no place on the planet they don't go. Chemicals are in the water and the soil everywhere. Similarly, microplastics are everywhere and in everything these days - they have been found in so called organic produce, in deep sea creatures and in the far artic ice. In some cases, organic food tastes better and if a person can afford to pay more for it, great. But I personally don't think it is much of a health advantage.
I have always just avoided spending any more money than I absolutely have to, and I apply that to everything. That's the bottom line to living on very little money: don't ever spend money where you don't have to. Which doesn't mean you have to do without everything you want; you just may have to wait for it until you find it free or cheap or in a dumpster, or you may have to make your own. That's how I have lived my life and have never felt bad about it, just grateful that I can do it. And I value what I have in a way I have noticed that people who are rich enough to buy whatever they want any time do not. Delayed gratification is a skill I learned in childhood and most people in this country (not of course including nomads) would do well to learn it.
While we know one has XYZ with income to spend, we never know the expenses and the what ifs, our dollar can't even pretend to keep up and hold on..........all going down hill big time right now. Big economy and financial changes are happening, there is no 'before' anymore, just watch what comes and it stays and still gets worse as it all adjusts. Old times are over for sure. New life and financials are coming at us point blank.
