Family who live in off-grid clay house have paid no bills for nearly a decade

With the cost of living getting higher and higher, more and more people are having to severely cut down on their expenditures. Or, they are looking for an alternative, more sustainable, way of living. Living offgrid is the dream for many households, which one family seems to have mastered. They have been living in a self-built clay house, off-grid, for 12 years.

Offgrid experts

If ever there were a modern-day offgrid expert, it would be Bryce and Misty Murph’Ariens. The couple had been getting tired of living in the city for a while before they changed their lives for good. They would go visit Bryce’s grandmother in her countryside cottage and felt sad every time they had to leave again. Eventually, they had enough and decided to make the necessary move to live offgrid so they could live more sustainably. With a lower impact on the environment.

“From the moment we met we instantly knew we wanted to live an alternative lifestyle,” Misty said. “Bryce’s grandmother’s cottage was so peaceful and we were constantly disappointed when we had to leave and go back to the city. Rural living immediately made sense to us, and the idea of being completely self sufficient was really appealing.”

Bryce and Misty knew they still needed to learn a lot before they moved out to the countryside. They wanted to do things properly to ensure they didn’t fail. So, they spent a few years learning tips and tricks from their relatives living a rural kind of life. Then, when they felt sufficiently clued up, they bought some land and their offgrid journey began. The house they live in with their daughter cost them $10,000 to build and it’s a traditional house, made of clay.

What their house includes

The house’s electricity is supplied by solar panels and their water comes from rain storage tanks, with an additional well-point. Their kitchen is spacious and well laid out with a wooden stove for cooking, and their bedrooms are bright thanks to the big windows.

When it comes to their food, they are just as self-sufficient. Their offgrid house has a large garden that is equipped with a vegetable patch. They try to grow everything they eat, so their expenditure is very low. “We’ve worked out over the years that our annual living costs amount to approximately $15,000 — and that’s with raising two kids,” Bryce said. “We try to be as self-sufficient as possible, farming and harvesting all the food we eat. We do get the occasional shopping delivery to the nearest road, but that’s only for a very select range of essential items.”

They also have a variety of animals on their land from horses, which are also their form of transport as they do not have a car. They have cows, ducks, chickens, and more. All of which play a vital part in their off-grid way of life.

Offgrid is easy on their health

City life is definitely not for everyone. Some people are more sensitive to the pollution that hangs in their air which negatively affects on their health. Misty suffered from migraines, but according to her, moving into their offgrid paradise helped a lot. They eventually became less frequent. “I’ve always suffered with intense migraines but when we moved to the countryside they started to become less and less frequent,” Misty said. “Six-months after moving they’d stopped completely, and I’m convinced it was the noise and the city environment which had been the cause of my discomfort.”