If You Had $20,000...

Great thoughts; you've really given me plenty of food for thought, and I'm going to be considering my options in the coming days. Thanks so much, all of you for your input.

Good luck n stay safe right back atcha, bro...

 

one important thing to eventually setup is this if one wishes to travel is this: a trade circle. travel in a circle. & trade things back & forth. all the time keep in mind an eventual goal would be to end-up with less but more valuable stuff. i`ve dicscovered that no matter what i may never get rid of a giant internal frame backpack. the advantage of these are great, & i haven`t found many used ones. when empty, they "roll' up really small. most people don`t think of that aspect of a backpack. i`ve often had to move one from one place to another, & frame packs are ridiculous for this. in fact i`ve thrown a few away bcuz of this aspect. & internal frames are better for bicycles. i`ve backpacked on foot for many miles, & tho i still like it wheels are better. one can carry more with wheels, although wheeels must then be maintained but, maintaining wheels is far better than maintaing parts of one`s body, which happens after too many yrs of hiking. & even better than bicycle can be water. one can carry more on water than land. but of course water, can have some disadvantages. water can sometimes unpredictably change "course". & springing a leak can be worse than a flat tire. hence a step up from bike or boat, being kinda best of both worlds. a van being a step up, of course. it is still possible to maintain a vehicle nowadays while being off grid as it were. although the day may come when this is no longer possible.

 

20 000 is not nearly what is necessary to make a sustainable lifestyle. You would need around 200 000 minimum to make a serious self-sustainable lifestyle, even with cheap land costs.

I would just make a business, if i had that money...right now im stuck as a promotional agent for an NGO.

Fucking sux, but beats out some stupid gig at a telecom company...

 

But look at it this way.

If he joins a commune with $20,000, he could already join an established community and then ADD value to that community.

We're not meant to be nuclear families. We're not meant to be isolationists. Not every person needs a personal car, a stove, t.v., etc. Depending on your goals $20,000 can be way more than enough.

 

id go pick homeless people up off the street. offer them a place to live, invest 600$ in each of them to get them cleaned up, nice cloths, get them a full time job. Have them work a full time job, and i get 1/2 there paycheck and they can have half intill they are able to move out, take the half i collect. replace the 600$ that i spent on them, then the other half id get them there own place and get there lifes back on a good path. so not only can u make profit, you can help people get there lifes back togeather. its a brilliant idea. id love to do it.

 

That's an extremely risky investment. Plus a lot of homeless people could have jobs if they really wanted. He ain't rich, leave it to the big guys to carry out projects like this.

 

ive met alot of groovy homeless people, but then agein a few ive met where homeless by choice haha. so. but theres some good people out there who shit gets flipped upside down and need help getting there life back on track

 

With 20k.

Possibly put some money in some stocks and bonds. Take my money out relatively fast.

Keep working even though i have money

Get a nice stash of goodies

Turn over some

Manage money correctly and end up with 50k in a few months

edit: Misread a bit, either way make some money and use some to benefit the people around me that need it as well.

 

well , i'd rent 40 acres of cow pasture near a river for cheap
and make a simple little hut ,
drink deeply from a springhead ,
and a grow beans and corn and squash
to eat free
and give food
to anyone

for income i'd craft something clever to sell ,
a thing made from sticks and rocks and
clamshells and those old cow bones -
or perhaps a little home-made book

then , communally , i'd make an open invitation
to people to gather in council on the land ,
in the full light of day

after that i'd figure how to spend what
remains of the 20,000$ .

 

what would you like to do if you didn't have 20,000?

personally, i would do the van thing. But I dont have a van, I have a corolla. So ill just get a tarp and string, couchsurf and travel to some communes. I have like 1,000 and thats my plan.

 

it sounds nice on "paper' to invest in existing busnisses. but i think in this scenario, someone would try to do things differently from the start. barter will obviously be a future method of exchange. but of course the question always comes up, how do we trust someone? & this is the main dilemna here as i see it. these two lines from hank jr: my grandpa taught me how to live off the land, & his taught him to be a business man.

 

I'd definitely buy land. Preferably a property with a well and a building. Something with low taxes. Having an address makes for less hassles especially when traveling the country and/or world.
If you like the water or coasts a sailboat is ideal. You can live on it. Travel anywhere under wind power. Docking it doesn't cost a lot.
If your going to take a long continental divide hike get a mule or donkey to carry some of the load. A horse and a covered wagon would be a cool trip.
Bike traveling is a great way to to travel. Its slow but steady and everybody loves cross country bike riders.
What I think would be perfect is get a van or small truck w/topper and buy a property or lot you could keep your things at and do vehicle maintenance.
Lots of city's are practically giving tax defaulted property's away. They're not always advertised. Realitors arent going to tell you about them. Banks don't want to keep foreclosed distressed properties. They don't want the liability and tax burden. A property with a house can give nice income renting a room or garage.

 

buy some cheap land close enough to a city where you could work part time as you improve the property.