Once upon a time I had zero bills. I once lived aboard a sailboat with my wife and while we had expenses we had no bills. Our vintage 1967 sailboat was paid for and all we needed was money for occasional repairs, food, clothes and entertainment. We actually got by pretty well on ten dollars a day, though that was a decade ago.

Even if you don't live on a sailboat you can still strive for a bill free life. That is our current goal and things are proceeding nicely. This past year we got rid of over five hundred dollars worth of bills. We still have the mortgage to go, but are paying extra payments when we can afford it.

How To Have Zero Bills

It may take you several years to achieve, but you can live without most bills, especially if your home is in a rural setting. If you are in a typical tract subdivision chances are you will still have some basic bills, such as water and sewer.

The first step in having zero bills is to pay off all of your debt, including credit cards and car loans. From then on save money for your next purchase, including big ticket items like used cars.

Next try to become as energy independent as possible. While we are lucky to live in a city that offers a very generous incentive for installing rooftop solar panels, you can find rebates in many states and federal tax credits to help you pay for the system. A three kilowatt solar panel system, which can power a very spartan house that uses gas for cooking, costs just over twenty thousand. Now federal rebates for solar panels will pay for thirty percent of that cost, plus whatever credits you can get locally. Wind generators may be the way to go depending on your area. Northern Tool and others are now selling do it yourself kits for wind power. You can sell the excess power back to the utility, or spin your meter backwards for zero power bill.

A solar hot water system is a good companion to solar electric. In fact a typical solar hot water system saves as many kilowatts as a rooftop solar electric system makes, if you now use an electric water heater.

You can get by with wood heating and a whole house fan for cooling in much of the United States. If you live in the southwest it is more of a challenge to keep cool but a well insulated home, such as straw bale construction or insulated concrete form or ICF can stay pretty cool with minimal air conditioning even in summer.

Gardening For Zero Bills

While this article is more about getting rid of fixed bills, a vegetable garden can help reduce your food expenses. A good sized garden can supply much of the food you need for the year. Partnering with other gardeners to trade for produce that you may not grow is a good way to have variety.

Insurance

If your home is paid for you have the option of dropping your insurance. I don't recommend this unless your home is completely fire proof, such as an all concrete home. You need to carry liability insurance if you have any visitors at all. Car insurance is required in all states so unless you walk, ride a bike, or take public transportation, you will always have these bills.

Water Bills

Another advantage of living in the country is the ability to drill a well and have free water. While wells do have certain expenses, you can still save a lot and not have a fixed water bill. You can use a solar powered water pump and overhead tank for storage. Consider rainwater collection if the water table is too deep or not potable. For more ways to save water and energy see: Savegreenly

Cable and Satellite

You really can live without cable and regular satellite. There are many good programs on plain old over the air TV and you can pick up free movies at your local library. Consider a FTA or free to air satellite dish for a wider variety of free satellite programming, especially if you live where broadcast TV is not available. FTA channels include all the major networks plus religious and educational channels. Systems start at around two hundred and up. See How To Get Free Satellite TV Legally

Zero Phone Bills

You can use an Internet based phone provider, or VOIP service like Skype. For about sixty bucks a year you can have your own phone number and make and receive calls for free in North America. The only catch is you need to have Internet. We share an Internet connection with our neighbors, who are good friends and don't mind us piggybacking on their broadband. I should add that I do free welding for him to pay for sharing the connection. They live over a mile away where the broadband line ends but we pick up their WiFi with an Engenius high power WiFi adapter and a high gain panel antenna. So we get both free Internet and nearly free phone with a couple of off the shelf gadgets. See How To Get Free Internet And Phone With Long Range WiFi Antennas

While it may not be possible to get rid of all your bills such as insurance, you can begin heading in that direction by paying off everything you can and finding ways to live without the services you are currently paying for.

If you make having zero bills a major life goal, as I have, you just might get pretty close.