Author Topic: costs of fuels etc. Juneau and points south?  (Read 1064 times)

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Offline hansg/Ups

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costs of fuels etc. Juneau and points south?
« on: February 12, 2014, 10:40:50 AM »
I'm seriously looking to relocate to Juneau or points south.No jobs so far. If I have to just survive on my SS&pension,it'll be <=$1K/month!
What are the prices for fuel for: heating,cooking,refridgeration if I'm off the electric grids? I see kerosene or propane powered refridgerators and freezers[at least from Lehmans].
If I can find a site with potable surface or shallow ground[hand pumpable] water,a few acres for a garden and some nearby accessible land for hunting and fishing,I may be able to "drop off the grid". Realize things will be very basic but such are these times.
Appreciate the advice.

Offline Winter Hawk

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Re: costs of fuels etc. Juneau and points south?
« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2014, 05:54:17 PM »
I would seriously suggest that you take a trip up and check things out for yourself.  All you are going to find in SE are a few acres with a high price.  Cost of everything is going to be a LOT higher than in the lower 48.  Medical expenses for anything serious will probably include a trip to Seattle

Check out www.alaskaislandrealty.com for what is available on Prince of Wales Island.  Also www.gatewaycityrealty.com has prices for Ketchikan.  Going North from there you will find the prices similar or higher.  Remember, while there is lots of land there, most is locked up in the Tongass National Forest, and the Feds are doing their best to pick up any private land not within the boundaries of designated cities and towns.  I was land surveyor for the Forest Service there and got to mark boundaries of parcels they picked up.

Go to Bellingham, Washington and catch the ferry up.  Spend time in the various towns along the way, talk to folks and then decide if you can really go live there.

One way to go is to buy a boat in the Seattle area big enough to live on, then take that up.  The state has moorages available for very reasonable, or you can anchor out.  Live on board (lots of folks do) while you spend a year or so looking for a home place.  A 27 foot Catalina sailboat will run you less than $10K and can be comfortable for one or two people.  Just make sure to get a heater in it!  My wife and I brought one up to Ketchikan with a 10 horse Honda outboard so she could be with me when I was out in the field with my job, so I know it will work.

~WH~
"All you need for happiness is a good gun, a good horse and a good wife." - D. Boone

Offline Dand

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Re: costs of fuels etc. Juneau and points south?
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2014, 03:03:28 AM »
Unless you have a substantial nest egg for initial investments and can live VERY frugally, or plan to pick up work, $1K / month would be very tough to get by on. Winterhawk has a lot of good suggestions. Spend a lot of time online checking news outlets of SE communities - maybe find some Facebook Groups for that part of the state. Soils can be poor, rocky etc in SE.  I think it would take a while to really get to know the country to find the right spot.  I'd encourage you to consider farther north around Haines where there might be a little more open country, a bit dryer, and I know of some good gardens in the area.  Why only S of Juneau?  Look how wet it can be around Ketchikan - DRENCHED - I think they get close to 200 inches of precip a year.
NRA Life

liberal Justice Hugo Black said, and I quote: "There are 'absolutes' in our Bill of Rights, and they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be 'absolutes.'" End quote. From a recent article by Wayne LaPierre NRA

Offline Winter Hawk

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Re: costs of fuels etc. Juneau and points south?
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2014, 06:33:02 AM »
Look how wet it can be around Ketchikan - DRENCHED - I think they get close to 200 inches of precip a year.

153" in K-town,  92" for Thorne Bay on POW Island (both places I have lived).  Be sure to bring your rain gear!  Red Rubbers (aka Ketchikan sneakers, Sitka sneakers) are your best bet for footwear.  They have an amazing sole for clambering on slimy, wet rocks along the shore.  Actual name is XtraTuff.  Gardens are tough to keep going.  The rain leaches the nutrients out of the soil unless you have a greenhouse.

Instead of the panhandle, look at the Interior.  Around Tok and Delta Junction you can pick up land fairly reasonably, and gardening isn't a big problem.  Hunting is a whole lot better than in S.E. except for deer and bear.

~WH~
"All you need for happiness is a good gun, a good horse and a good wife." - D. Boone

Offline thxmrgarand

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Re: costs of fuels etc. Juneau and points south?
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2014, 02:04:40 AM »
The advice given you here so far is exactly right in my opinion.  You might not know that outside of organized boroughs (AK has no counties) there is no property tax.  So Prince of Wales, Tenakee, Gustavus, Hoonah, etc. have not property taxes.  And of course AK has no state sales or income tax.


I urge you to research your ancestry and if possible sign up in a Native American tribe before you come.  That will give you free health care, including eye care and dental, at modern BIA contractor facilities.  You need a BIA card that says you are a member of an federally recognized tribe and you would do best obtaining one from the place you live now.  Those cards are obtainable.


Coming by ferry and looking the place over is great advice; the ferry is inexpensive unless you bring a vehicle.  Living on a boat could be a good idea if you're experienced on the water.  Don't be discouraged by unavailability of large acreage to purchase.  Don't expect anything to be inexpensive in any remote place, including Alaska.     Coming in the spring so you have time to be settled by fall if you decide to remain in AK might be a good idea.  To me, frugal living means burning free wood (free for the cutting and hauling), putting up enough salmon over the summer to get through the winter, having no utility bills, and having no property taxes.  Food staples plus gasoline for hauling wood and harvesting food will require a major portion of that $1,000 per month. Thousands live in Southeast doing one variation or another of that.  Register to vote as soon as you arrive.

Offline Dand

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Re: costs of fuels etc. Juneau and points south?
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2014, 07:04:26 AM »
just be aware that interior Ak from say Copper Center/ Chitina north can be brutally cold in winter,  -40 down to -60 (espe around Tok) in most winters and winter is mid Oct to mid to late April.  And so fuel costs could be substantial.


fewer and fewer places can you get free firewood - lots of places some sort of permit must be bought or at least applied for. Lots of rules these days every where so take time to find out.


NO way around it, it isn't cheap or easy in Alaska.  There are spots all along the highway where people have tried - usually a pile of junk and rag-tag cabin, trailer etc now mostly abandoned.


It can be done but it takes a lot of hard work and hustle.  Some places see a  such steady parade of folks trying that the locals may tend to be a bit stand-offish until a family proves themselves for a few years.
NRA Life

liberal Justice Hugo Black said, and I quote: "There are 'absolutes' in our Bill of Rights, and they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be 'absolutes.'" End quote. From a recent article by Wayne LaPierre NRA

Offline Drilling Man

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Re: costs of fuels etc. Juneau and points south?
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2014, 07:38:46 AM »
  I lived in Alaska for 25 years and there's no place in Alaska that's cheaper to live than the lower 48!

  Where I live now, the hunting is better/cheaper and I can easily grow any amount of food I want, plus the fishing is good here, including salmon.  I even have all the firewood I could even want, right off my own property...

  Look around, the lower 48 is MUCH better than it get's credit, for being a cheap place to live, it's all about YOU, NOT where you live!

  DM