More Independence

Today is a big day for us.

We're 100% debt free as of yesterday. Everything we own is free and clear. Now we're on a mission to eliminate all of our utility bills and other expenses.

I ordered an Engel 40 liter fridge (thanks to my friend Alan's suggestions last time we were able to visit). The new fridge will allow us to stop using propane or 110V electricity for keeping food cold. basically we will have free refrigeration (the 3rd largest electrical expense in the average home). The other two expenses (hot water & cooking) we already have solar solutions for.

I also ordered 2 more 64 Watt Uni-Solar panels for the roof of the RV. The price has gone up nearly $100.00 per panel since we ordered them just 1 year ago, so this was a big purchase for us... The new panels put us at the limit of our current charge controller and battery bank capacity. The extra panels will run the refrigerator with a bit of extra power to spare, so we're fairly confident that we'll be able to stay off grid indefinately as long as we don't purchase any more electrical appliances...

We're getting close to being back where we were in the bus when our total expenses for a month were near the $600.00 mark. I'm pretty sure that we can beat that if we get a piece of property.