[Mal Kapwn]

I've had experience with self-sustaining lifestyles fairly closely. I stayed with a family for a while that led this sort of lifestyle. It was a mother, father and daughter. Around the time the mother was in her late 30s, she decided she was done with city life and she divorced her rich husband and used all of her money to purchase a large piece of land in rural West Virginia. She met a man who was an experienced farmer and married him. They collected sap from the trees on their property and sold maple syrup to help support their lifestyle. They kept chickens, a milk cow to have milk in the house, and a couple horses (they rode horses instead of using vehicles) and they fished their pond and worked their garden. They did a lot of canning and freezing to put back food for winter.
They had electricity, which they paid for by selling off the eggs, syrup and garden food that they didn't need. They bathed every day with well water by filling up the bathtub with hot hot water, and dad would take a bath, then mom, then daughter and then the water would be siphoned out the window and into the garden.
They also collected all of their waste and their animal's waste and used it for fertilizer in the garden.
They bought only organic food with the money, and for the most part only shop at co-ops and farmer's markets or trade with neighbors.
The dad was experienced with construction and could use that skill for money as well. I believe the mother was also a professional dog trainer and made a little side money that way as well.