We downsized. It took me awhile to get used to not living on saltwater - - we now have a very moderate home on a freshwater canal -- I can sit and watch the migratory birds, herons, otters, various fish, ducks, and other wildlife. We are very comfortable and we aren't shelling out $$ every month for something that we don't use.
There's something to be said for living more simply. Money does not buy happiness.
I hear what you are saying... It's a different economy than mine, but yeah. Insurance? Nah. If the cabin burns down, you do just what I am doing now... and build another one. One just suitable for livin, and no more, or you will break your back trying to saw up the wood to keep it warm every year... Not to mention breaking your back building it in the first place... Only to have the forest burn it down again.
There's a reason why folks down your way used to live in grass huts. Hurricanes don't mean as much if you don't care if it blows all your crap away... A couple days to build a new hut and life goes on.
Now, where I am, the grass hut thing don't work. You need a substantial structure that don't mind 4 ft of snow on top of it... I switched gears out in the holler... I might have a mill up there by now, but I had to stop to protect the tent. Winter is around the corner, and without me being there all the time to get the snow off the tent, it would just collapse.
Built a proper floor and moved the tent on it, and now building a roof over the whole show. funny how that works. the main roof over the tent, with the tool shed as a lean-to on one side, and a lean-to on the other to keep a couple cords of wood dry... By the time I am done, I could pretty near board and batten the gable ends, tear the tent down, make a door and a window or two, and have a cabin. All that would be left is the porches and the stove.
It ain't how I set out, but it's how it went. All of a sudden, wait a minute... That's almost a cabin...
