Comment by delbel

I've been able to do this after re-arranging my life over the past 5 years. I bought 7 acres of bare land for $35k and built a 200 sqft tiny house for $4,000. I homestead as much as I can and my bills are approximately $40/DSL, $40/Electrical, $35/Car insurance (I drive a 90s Honda), and approximately $30 a month in property taxes. I spend about $40 in propane for heat in the winter and my air conditioning bill is an extra $15/month in the summer. I'm halfway between Portland and San Francisco and do telecommute node.js/angular work. I'm saving up to build a nice house and a this summer backhoe. Some projects I'm working on this summer include a biodigester to supplement my propane for cooking gas, a rocket mass heater to eliminate my propane, a backyard blacksmiths area, drip irrigation and cistern system, and more fencing for livestock. My property search took me several years and I had no experience in construction but learned most of it from youtube and asking friends. I lived in a camper trailer while I built my place. So to answer your question, about $200 a month is the cheapest I can survive on.