Why Paying $12 a Year in Property Tax Doesn’t Make Me “Unfree”
People sometimes tell me my lifestyle isn’t truly free because I still pay property tax.
That sounds convincing on the surface — until you look at the numbers and the trade-offs.
I pay about $12 per year in property tax.
No mortgage.
No car payment.
No monthly rent.
No utility bills tied to a grid I depend on to survive.
Here’s the short video that sparked this conversation:
The mistake people make is confusing symbolic obligations with actual dependence.
Freedom isn’t about eliminating every responsibility. That’s unrealistic.
Freedom is about minimizing the parts of your life that require constant income, constant compliance, and constant stress.
Most people who criticize this lifestyle pay thousands per year in property tax, carry long-term debt, and rely on steady employment just to stay afloat.
That doesn’t make them wrong — but it does make the criticism incomplete.
For me, the trade-off is simple.
I give up a tiny annual fee in exchange for keeping my time, my flexibility, and my autonomy.
I don’t measure freedom by having zero obligations.
I measure it by how little of my life I have to sell.
If you’re curious about the broader thinking behind this — how I structured my life to keep costs low and independence high — I talk about it more deeply in today’s video.
This lifestyle isn’t about escaping responsibility.
It’s about choosing which responsibilities are worth carrying.