US family ditch big city to live in self-built 'clay' home

A family who live in an off-grid self-built 'clay' home have paid no bills for over a decade - saving them $70,000 a YEAR.

Their niche lifestyle means their cost of living is a whopping $70,000 CAD less than the average four person household in their province.

Homesteading is vernacular term for a lifestyle of self-sufficiency and is characterized by subsistence agriculture and the home preservation of food.

Misty Murph'Ariens, 36, and her husband Bryce 46, have been expert homesteaders since deciding to pack up and move to the Canadian forests over a decade ago.

The couple originally met whilst working as chefs in Hamilton, but quickly realised they weren't suited to living in the big city.

After visiting Bryce's grandmother's cob cottage in rural Durham for 54 weekends in a row, they eventually moved there in 2006.

They spent three years learning how to lead the homestead lifestyle, before going out on their own and buying a piece of farm land in the local area.

Misty, from Dundalk, Ontario, said: "From the moment we met we instantly knew we wanted to live an alternative lifestyle.

"Bryce's grandmother's cottage was so peaceful and we were constantly disappointed when we had to leave and go back to the city.

"I've always suffered with intense migraines but when we moved to the countryside they started to become less and less frequent.

"Six-months after moving they'd stopped completely and I'm convinced it was the noise and the city environment which had been the cause of my discomfort.

"Rural living immediately made sense to us, and the idea of being completely self sufficient was really appealing."