By Calvin Neufeld
Briarpatch Magazine
May 2008
The plan: save money, buy land, build a house, grow food, heat with wood, quit jobs, and self-sustain — all without going into debt.
Although I was raised in the suburbs of Montreal, my life today resembles that of my Mennonite ancestors. In the winter I bathe in a tub of snow (melted and heated first, of course). I live in a one-room house without electricity or plumbing. I do my business in an outhouse, or sometimes, to my wife’s displeasure, in the great outdoors. I cut and chop all of my own firewood, and gather twigs almost daily for kindling. It’s hard work, but it pays off. The earth isn’t the only beneficiary of this lifestyle, either; this is my ticket to financial independence.
