[henners]

Yes, shipping containers are relatively inexpensive. You must prepare them in advanced, mainly painting them internally to make them brighter. They are naturally air tight and water proof when new.
Just found this site that has someones project with several pictures to show their progress.

http://earthsci.org/education/fields...container.html

There are many ideas about burying containers underground.

Using shipping container, and a hill side. my thought is, you would need 3 to 4 acres on a hill. dig into the base of the hill. dig far enough so that the container is 3x the width of the container (so if your s is 10 feet wide dig in 30 to 35 feet) before you just drop the box on dirt lay a foundation and a back wall 4 to 5 feet wider than the box set a good gravel layer down under and on top of your foundation, under for good water flow and on top for air flow. before you set the box their is a rust-inhibitor paint called por-15 this stuff is amazing but not cheap. paint the box set it weld load bearing stanchions down the center. cover with gravel then foundation and gravel again.... put a good ventilation system, water holding tank, waste water leaching system, electric, solar rechargeable battery packs, and propane electric power, then cover with the earth you moved out of the way in the first place............