How I, a single mother working full-time making $8.00 - $10.00 an hour and raising two children, built my dream home for under $20,000! My dream was to build a self-sufficient home with cash so I could live debt free and off the grid. FREEDOM Is what I was seeking for myself and my children and FREEDOM Is what I accomplished. And a whole lot more!!!

My thirst to "live free" began back in the early 90's when I saw a show on PBS about earth rammed homes. The show featured Dennis Weaver, who had built a large house out of earth rammed tires. It looked exciting and provided an independent living that I had been searching for. I purchased the book Earthship and began researching and planning for what I thought at the time would be my plan for "later" in life. My two children were three-years and five-years-old at the time. I passed the exciting information on to my dad and lent him the book. He became hooked on the idea and wanted to build himself. He searched and found twelve acres of land that suited the specs needed to build a house "outside the box." Most importantly, land that required very little or no building permits. Approximately two years after my dad found the property, he had heart surgery and gave up the idea of building his house. I bought the land from my dad and decided not to wait until "later in life" to build. Thank goodness I didn't wait! I jumped in with both feet, mind (crazy as it was/is Ha!), body and soul and packed myself and my two children up for our journey. I had a savings of a whopping $3000 and had collected used building materials that I bought from garage sales and recycle places. We headed off into the wild blue yonder.

Tami Standridge lives in Nevada on her ranch of over 20 acres with her husband. They both enjoy homesteading and reaping the benefits of living a simple life. When not working on the endless "to do" list, she enjoys welding and creating yard and garden artwork, selling at art shows throughout the year. Contact author at: [email protected]