Water- Gah! I lived without running water for five years. There was a natural spring about 200' back of the house and the water was very good. In the winter it could be a bit of a drag to walk through the snow, crawl into the oversized doghouse that covered the spring and then chip through a foot of ice to get to the water, but you got used to it. Always, always terrible to have not saved enough water from the day before to make your morning coffee. Waking up at sunrise and having to trudge out there at -20 just to get enough to have coffee and make breakfast is horrid. Doing it when you have the flu is right up there with sticking your head in a blender.

Phone - Off and on for years. It can be a drag. You get used to it though. Makes for a very quiet house when you live alone.

Electricity - Close to a year. (No water or phone either.) You get used to no electricity very quickly. You cook outdoors in the summer or on a propane stove inside. You keep your food fresh in a cooler that you fill with cold water from the spring everyday. You put your food in bowls that float in the cold water. In the winter the house did get dark fast, but you had your propane lamps and you read a lot. The wood stove was a lifesaver. Breakfast on the wood stove is beyond comparison. Hint: cook potatos inside the wood stove, not on top. Put the pot right into the stove on the coals and close the doors most of the way. You get a mean boil very quickly.

Also, one gallon of boiling or very hot mixed with two gallons of ice water water makes for three gallons of water that is hot enough to wash with and enjoy.

Once you get the hang of it, living without the "essentials" is a breeze. Mind you, after five years with no running water, when I moved into a house that had it, I took three hot showers a day, every day, wether I needed it or not.