Favorite Remote Cabin Purchases under $50

 Favorite Purchases under $50 for our Remote Home

 

(no compensation for any of the following testimonials) 

Living far from any store means that any rural or remote property owner relies on supplies on hand.  Some of our least expensive purchases have been worth their weight in gold because we use them over and over, or in a variety of ways, or they specialize in increasing our safety or comfort in a way that no other item can do as well.

IceTrekkers.com cleats

I have purposely NOT included obviously important items, like matches or an axe, that anyone should know.   

 

 Here, I just wanted to illuminate some of the “unsung” products that we rely on to great advantage in the categories of attire, home, yard, tools, and communications devices.  Perhaps this list will be of interest to readers considering a move to a rural location, particularly in a four season locale.

 

I encourage readers to respond with their own "best"purchase lists for various eco-systems and climates.

Windsock Value in an Era of GPS? Very, Sort of, Sometimes.

Our windsock in front of cabin and plane

A contemporary pilot, outfitted with GPS and other equipment, might understandably wonder why a simple, old fashioned airport windsock is still useful.  Who cares?   Bush pilots, among others. 

For one thing, even GPS systems rarely show ground speed at destination.  For another, ours conks out below about +10 degrees on winter flights in our cold Piper PA-20.

The first time this happened, my husband stuffed the tablet between his body and his quilted Carharrts to warm up, but it still did not turn on for 20 minutes, which happened to be the duration of the flight from the nearest airport to our home.  Fortunately, this was a familiar route.  But the mountainous terrain, rivers, glaciers, woods, and bogs result in very different wind, ice, snow, and temperature over very few miles, here.  It is not safe to presume a condition at another location.  The bright orange windsock next to a runway is, therefore, a welcome source of at least one piece of critical information.

Remote Alaska Healthcare

Among the top questions people ask us about living on our own in the Alaska Bush are,

“What do you do for medical care? What would you do in an emergency?”  These are insightful inquiries, especially since four months a year there is NO transportation to/from our cabin, except, when feasible, by an emergency helicopter.

Obviously, we can't take care of every awful scenario, but we have endeavored to assess health risks here and mitigate them where we can.  I imagine that our approach might be prudent for any home, anywhere, especially since national statistics indicate that about 30% of all emergency room visits are the results of injuries, https://www.nsc.org/home-safety/tools-resources/odds-of-dying/emergency-room-visits, particularly falls. For us, I imagine that dirty cuts by power and passive tools could be a problem, and possibly burns and lung issues, too, since we heat the house and hot tub with wood fires every day.

Alaska Earthquake Effects at Remote Cabin

Alaska is VERY seismically active.  At our place, we feel the earth shudder several times a year.  On November 30, South Central Alaska suffered a 7.2 earthquake, followed, in the ensuing month, by more than 6000 aftershocks, some of which were strong enough (above 5.0) to cause additional damage. 

Ceiling earthquake damage

At the time, we were out of state, so we nervously contacted friends in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley – on either side of the epicenter – to see how they fared.  One man said that everything on any shelf, wall, or mantle came crashing down, and his house is now riddled with cracks.  He was particularly devastated that his sons’ clay mementos, like their hospital footprints, had been smashed to smithereens.  A woman lost only one wine glass… and an entire 30 gallon aquarium (on carpet, of course!).  An acquaintance said that her home was fine but that her father’s house was totaled and he barely escaped when his two story stone fireplace buckled, smothering  the couch on which he had just been seated, seconds before.   The closest school to us – some 20 miles by air – is closed for the rest of the year.

Frugal Organic Savings to Do at Home

 

 

as seen on www.survivalblog.com

 

When people jokingly refer to Whole Foods as “Whole Paycheck” to indicate the price points, I wonder if they conclude that all organic products and foods HAVE to be expensive.

I have learned that it is indeed more expensive to raise meat on a small homestead than to buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco.  But so many pricey organic foods and products are quickly and cheaply made at home.  A frugally organic minded person can save thousands of dollars per year.  Below are some examples and sample price points.

HYGIENE/BEAUTY/CLEANING: 

a)           FACIALS and HAIR TREATMENTS: Pay $100 vs.  < $1. 

Honey and Beeswax

I love feeling really clean, and have paid $90 - 110 for facials in the US (and $15 in India). But you know the ingredients and labor are highly marked up.  Now, I give myself two facial/hair treatments a week, right before bathing:  one with 2 tbs of bentonite clay (bought on-line) for a detoxifying face and hair mask, and another with 2 tbs of honey, diluted, as a moisturizer for face and hair.  A pound of the clay has lasted me about 2 years (about $12) How is that for a substantial savings?

b)          SHAMPOO and HAIR RINSE: $20 vs < $1.

 I make ours with a few drops of castile soap (vegan liquid soap.  A $15 bottle has lasted me 3 years so far) (bought on-line), 1/2 and 1/2 vinegar/ water, and a sprinkling of herbs of choice, like rosemary or sage for brunettes, or essential oils for scent.  My hair feels squeaky clean and my scalp feels tingly.  Very pleasant.  Just don't get it in your eyes.

c)                  CLEANING SUPPLIES:  $60 vs <1

I use vinegar, baking soda, and salt for all cleaning (house and clothes), sometimes boosted with borax.  No more space hogging, smelly cleaning supplies.

WINE:  6 gallons/30 bottles for $450 vs $79 - 129 and

BEER:  6 gallons/66 bottles for $330 vs $39 - 69

We harvest both wild and domesticated raspberries

We make our own wines and beers.  Most of the ingredients are sold at home brew supply stores, including very regionally specific grape selections, such as New Zealand sauvignon blanc.  We also ferment mead and wine from our bees' honey, berries, and birch sap.  Neither libation takes much time to make or age. Beer takes longer to make because the wort (sort of a tea) is heated and the heat maintained for 2 hours, but less time to age (about 3 weeks).  Wine is not heated so it takes about 30 minutes to combine ingredients and then takes 6 weeks to a year to age.  Some special equipment is required, which can often be found, used, on Craig's List, for less than $100 altogether.  Cost savings? We ferment ours in 6 gallon carboys (glass jugs), which compute to 30 bottles of wine or 66 bottles of beer.  A beer drinker can save 70-90% and a wine drinker can save 50 - 75%, presuming a $15 bottle of wine and a $5 bottle of micro-brewed beer. ($15/wine bottle x 30 = $450+. 

$5+/micro-brewed beer bottle x 66 = $330).  

  

We pay $79 - 129 for kits of varietal grapes (nebbiolo, pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc) and $39- $69 for the ingredients to make a Belgian style tripel, which I've seen priced at $13/one large bottle.