Possom Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) No Money

This is one of my favorite books.  Dolly Freed and her father lived for four years on $5,800 (today's dollars) per year.  Her family worked for several years and purchased a fixer-up house with cash.  They had chickens and rabbits in their basement, their own garden, and employeed some creative techniques to provide everything else.  I have been in love with the book ever since I read the .pdf format that was circulating the web several years ago.

Since I am recommending the book, you can assume that I agree with a lot of what is in it.  I am going to list some of the things that are not feasible for my family.  The author herself has also spoken against the last two bulleted items below either in her afterword in the book or in her blog

• I still believe that you need homeowners insurance and medical insurance of some type.  Read today's post in the UltimateMoneyBlog   for an alternative to medical insurance. You can also read as Leigh and I discuss the insurance dilemma in the comments of  A Farm?
• I will never eat a cat or dog that has been killed on the side of the road (or otherwise).
• Most everything in the "Law" and "Necessities of Life" chapters.

One thing that stands out to me in the her book and her blog is that she was unschooled from the seventh grade on.  She went to the library and read books that she was interested in. She learned skills that were useful around the house.  She kept a journal which, I'm sure, is what made her such a good writer. She went on to become a NASA aerospace engineer, a business owner, and a college professor.

In my opinion, this is not a book for children to read but it is an excellent resource for adults who are striving towards self sufficiency.  There are several versions of the book and if you can get a new copy, the afterword is worth it. Old copies may still be at various libraries but I've heard that prior to January the old copies were about five to ten times the cost of a new copy.

Have you read this book? What do you think? What are some of the things that you agree with or disagree with?