>>So do people tell you that it is cheaper to buy it than to grow it and how do you respond? Yes, they do. They are not, however, always correct. I grow fresh berries far cheaper than I could possibly buy them, and I can have them when they're not available fresh at any cost (I have everbearers that produce 2 crops or sometimes even are true day-neutrals that trickle out their crops; farmers prefer single-croppers because of their harvesting overhead). Cane fruits and strawberries are, by the way, quite cheap to grow; the cost at the supermarket is due to the fact that they are difficult to mechanize their production, expensive for the farmers to harvest, and hard to ship intact. I am also cost-conscious. I always ask myself how I can keep my costs down, build my own productive infrastructure or do without, recycle, and make use of out what would otherwise be wasted. For example, I always grow some nitrogen-fixers in order to save on fertilizer costs. I try to salvage the minerals in kitchen scraps by composting them. We're going to have chickens next year to convert our scraps into valuable eggs and, um, fertilizer. I plant a high ratio of semi-permanent crops, because it gets labor-intensive to till the soil every year. My fruit trees, berries, artichokes, asparagus, perennial herbs, and rhubarb don't need annual tilling. I use the best hand-tools I can find. Cheaper to buy and operate than mechanized tools, and more effective and longer-lived than shoddy tools. My produce requires far less processing and handling than its commercial counterpart to reach my table. Pick, pick, waddle over to kitchen sink, rinse, and it's at the point where the commercial produce was after days of processing and transport. So, they are not always correct that it is cheaper to "just buy it". But savings on fresh produce is not the only objective, as many of you have already pointed out. There are crops I want but could not get fresh at any price, but can grow, there is a quality factor to consider (my produce is fresher and my fruit is fully ripe), and the garden keeps me off the streets and is cheap recreation.

We actually ended up with someone buying the house next to us and they ran an escort service out of the house. You wouldn't believe how they trashed the house and the filthy pictures that were scattered all over the place when they left. To make it even worse the woman had tricked an old man into marrying her ( he was in a nursing home) and she took him for all his money. They (the woman, her boyfriend) lived in the house for a couple of years but often would have the electricity cut off for non payment. What was really scary when the day that my young son saw a car come down the street and throw a rifle out into the yard and speed off. The house was finally foreclosed on and luckily we never saw them again.

Depends on where you get the flour, if you grind it yourself from wheat that you get a good deal on, what else you put in it besides the usuals. I started making the recipe on the link. I make one batch just about every week. Freeze one loaf..keep the other out. I use Bob's Red Mill Organic White Flour 4.19/5lbs and bulk yeast I keep in the freezer from Costco. The bread I buy for the boys is by Franz (I think they are a "local" bakery though. Whole Grain White-No High Fructose Corn Syrup I buy it when it's $2 a loaf and stock up. They eat it or homemade bread now. I make these for hamburger buns, dinner rolls and sandwich rolls. Depends on size. I do the dough in my bread machine. Honey Wheat Sandwich Rolls I have made it in a big free form round 'loaf' for a layered "stuffed" sandwich and baked it in a bread pan. Tonight it was burger buns for turkey burgers. I use Organic White Whole Wheat and the above mentioned white flour. Delish Here is a link that might be useful: White bread thread

So $45,000 for a 600 sq ft unit. That is JUST the home with no land. I am not happy with that price. I JUST MAY BE better off on a GENTLY USED single section mobile home. I like the smaller single sections because of the smaller area to heat, and I will be by myself, or maybe I'll have a man in my life in the future, but a smaller home will be best, BUT, if I can get a slightly larger home CHEAPER, I will go that route. I MAY have mentioned owning a DW Dutch housing MH years ago. My Hubby and I at the time got the DW because it was so close in price to the SW homes they had. I really would not buy a single wide for the asking price new now. I would throw out there my first choice of a NEW small single wide, but, I should just ask for a NEWISH used single wide that is smallish for those cheaper heating bills. I would imagine that these dealers selling new single models don't EVER sell the small single units if they expect to get the same price for them as the larger models. I emailed the retailer/dealer where I and my first hubby got our double wide from, inquiring about the small single wides. Of COURSE they need me to come in person and speak to the "right person", because the person who replied to my email wasn't the "right person", so I am supposed to go in person, just to talk to this, high pressure nosy selling agent,........ I mean salesguy, they have. My area, and the piece of land I plan on putting the single wide on is rural and beautiful, but my parents home, with the land the trailer will eventually be on, and their land where their BRICK home is on is ALL TOGETHER listed as $75,000 in value. This is a brick home of about (rounded off) about $1,000 sq ft (just under) and the 3 acres (rounded off) that it has been on for years, being $75,000 on the tax website. I am in a dinky town in SW Pa, just 40ish miles from Pittsburgh. So You can SURELY understand that a TINY 600-700 sq ft single wide home at around $45,000 on an acre or 2 of this land in my boring area, the land is SURELY WORTH AT LEAST $15,000. So $60,000 for a PUNY SINGLE WIDE in my very poor area. I would be paying taxes on a single wide on 1.5 acres or 2.0 acres, that is definitely TOO MUCH, if I have an acre or 2, and a small single wide MH. I would NEVER pay MORE than $15,000 on a 14X65 or for lack of the right demensions, a 600-750 sq ft single wide home, BRAND NEW. To be honest, I HOPE TO FIND a Windsor single wide 80's model with NEW WIRING, which I can move to my property here. However, I NEED the utilities put in and a concrete pad. But, too be clear to anyone reading this, if I am gonna buy a used MH, I will be looking for a Windsor, or another well built used MH single wide, maybe Pine Grove or Dutch, with the price lower than $15,000 if it isn't TOO OLD, if it is an 1980's model Windsor, I will pay according to age, and condition of the home. I REALLY FEEL that i will not be getting many replies that fit my standards, though. I am not in any hurry, I need to pay off some debts before I can put a down payment on a new home anyway. I owe about, $2,000 bucks. I will need about a year to pay it all off, THEN I CAN save enough to put a down payment on a MH. However, I am thinking that my area is TOO Hillbilly to be equal to the "General locations" when figuring "Property values" and the correct selling price for the average manufactured single wide home.