What great stories!

This lifestyle I've taken on the last few years started as a necessity (loss of job when the corporate world melted down and the outlook of a new job was (still is) very slim or null here in MI).  Then with all the new things I was learning, I was able to actually decrease what money was needed to keep the household running.  I'm certainly not rich (would be considered poverty), but the bills are paid and I am able to stay home to work.  It's much easier when you figure out how to cut the monthly bills in more than half.

I'm not totally self-sustaining. 

I'm still dependent on City DPW for electric, water/sewer and garbage (they make me pay the same $ for garbage even though I've figured out how NOT to have much garbage going to the landfill with recycling, chickens, composting). But I've learned ways to cut those costs.  Just washing my hair differently adds to shorter showers.

I'm still dependent on DTEEnergy for my heat (we do have a supplemental wood stove–free wood–in the workshop that is piped into the colder part of the house so it stays warmer in the winter, keeping the thermostat down), gas stove and gas hot water heater. But I've learned how to keep my heat in and not let it outside.  I'm saving for an on-demand hot water heater, so I'm not constantly heating water that is just standing…because I've learned to conserve water (which saves on my water/sewer costs).

Even though all of our meals are made from scratch, I still depend on the grocery store for the ingredients (except the vegetables I can grow, supplemented by local farm markets).  But ingredients are cheaper, healthier, and better tasting than processed foods.

Also with staying home, I don't have as high car insurance cost…I'm no longer a commuter.  With MI's no-fault insurance law and the cost of it, this is quite a savings.

I'm an ingredient reader.  With the list of ingredients that is demanded on EVERYTHING, anything can be duplicated…from food to body lotion.  Ingredients are cheaper…and the internet is a lifesaver (still paying for internet service!) to look up what any of those words you don't know does for whatever you're trying to replicate.