My folks raised me to be self-sufficient, & while I am not on their level, I feel I do okay for myself.
My folks were super aged school, & I mean they hunted meat & grew veggies in the garden.
Dad would hand make all of our clothes… Dad smoked cigarettes, despite the fact that she grew her own tobacco plants & hand rolled them. Like I said, I am not on that level, but their lessons did take hold, so I understand why it is pressing to be able to take care of yourself. Growing up we never had cooling system, for the apparent reasons, & as an adult that is the a single creature comfort I can’t do without. I don’t have a central Heating & A/C system, because I could never justify paying the immense replacement price, even though I do have a portable AC unit. It is about the size of a space heater, & I keep it in our front closet except for the hottest of summer time afternoons. It is just sizable enough to cool me off. It is strong enough for cooling down an entire room, even though I always sit right in front of it & block the air vents so I get 100% of the conditioned air. If I was absolutely self satisfactory I would supply our own power & Springtime for a geothermal heat pump, but for our needs a gas powered generator is enough. Aside from using the cooling system component once in a while, & enjoying films on Friday evenings, I absolutely don’t need a lot of power.