Twelve Ways to Become Rent or Mortgage Free

One of my primary life goals is to live mortgage-free. To be free from the burden of living with a lifetime of debt. The term 'mortgage' is derived from Old French, "mort" and "gage", and literally translates as "death pledge". The word itself sounds like a bad thing, like a Mortuary. Debt until you die. Not my kind of thing.

A great article from Wisebread describes specific steps you can take to move closer to this dream. It's definitely worth a read.

Quonset House

I am fascinated with the Quonset Hut. These portable structures were used by the U.S. military extensively during WWII, as temporary barracks, medical facilities, and airplane hangars, among other things. The Quonset hut's advantage is that is was inexpensive, portable, and easy to deploy. Today, there are several steel building manufacturers that fabricate an updated variant of the Q-Hut. They are being used for worksheds, shops, carports, and yes, even residences. I came across these nice examples of residences incorporating Q-Hut-based architecture (Q-Homes?). I'm interested in seeing how suitable one of these might be for use as a dining hall up at Rancho Cielo.

Ecopods from Canada

The Ecopod is a portable 160 sq. ft. bungalow made from a standard 8' x 20' ISO shipping container, the kind you see stacked on huge cargo ships coming in to port from China. The Ecopod is fabricated entirely out of eco-friendly materials, and comes complete with a fold-out deck that is raised or lowered by a hydraulic system, using a remote control. The Ecopod is one of the structures i am considering deploying on Rancho Cielo, to be used as an office and guest bungalow.

A vision statement

I found this great quote from a poster on TreeHugger.com...it sums up very well what my long-term vision is for the Rancho Cielo living philosophy, minus the economic pessimism. Combine this eco-plan with a Burning Man vibe / artistic-creative aesthetic, and concepts from the Living Neighborhoods folks and you pretty much have it:

"By reducing dwelling size, super-insulating same, using solar fed LED lights, solar refrigeration in modest practical fridges, microwave cooking techniques, using ground heat, wind turbines, and passive solar technologies, the dreams of a "zero running cost, zero upkeep dwelling" are shifting from an unrealistic dream to a practical reality. Combined with gray water/rainwater conservation systems, composting toilets, fast growing bug proofed, disease proofed GMO'ed veggies in an attached greenhouse, mega-composting and some aquaculture for fish protein for a better diet, we have a survival system based on current technologies feeding the masses including retired folk with limited incomes - no hardship necessary! Science will save us from destructive forces of the great depression we are going to suffer, the "family Farm" was refuge in the Dirty Thirties, it no longer exists! Technology will save us this time! Super efficient solar cells will pave the way. We will need power for our lighting, cooking, cell phones, computers, and solar cells will provide most of it - free!"

Introduction

Rancho Cielo is an off-grid development project currently underway on a secluded acreage in the Santa Cruz mountains near Boulder Creek.