How do you do it??? ( Homesteading - General)greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread |
Okay, all of you 'died in the wool' homesteaders out there. You know who you are! :-) The ones that live on several hundred acres, miles and miles from a PERSON let alone PEOPLE, and you live 'off the land', and don't have to 'work' (now, I don't mean sitting around twiddling thumbs, I mean your 9-5 thing) Love to hear how y'all do it!
Tracey
-- Tracey (foralltimes@hotmail.com), January 22, 2001
Tracey, I look forward to seeing if anyone on this forum actually would qualify for what you are calling a "died in the wool" homesteader. Most people I have visited with on the forum, unless retired with income, have at least a small job off the homestead. Living "off the land" is an ideal that many of us aspire to but in all reality is very seldom done, even among my Amish neighbors that don't have insurance, or utility bills.
-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 22, 2001.
Took years of planning before ever bought the farm then years of work getting it set up. Worked at a job for 34 years untill we had a small retirement and some medical insurance. I don't think living on a farm making a living is possible for many people anymore. It would just be harder than most could imagine. We have 100 acres most of which we don't really use. Sold part last year and then bought it back when the young couple had a change of plans, their job left the area and they had to follow. We do organic gardening in raised beds have 141 raised beds 40 in the vegetable garden and 101 in the herb/experimental garden. Last year we canned over a thousand quarts of food. We can chicken, venison, turtle, fish and of course all our vegetables and fruit and grape juice. We don't raise domestic animals found they were just too much trouble. I can hunt and fish all our meat needs anyway. That is of course a personal thing, I just don't like to have to take care of the animals. Its kinda like raiseing kids, been there done that. We have too many hobbies and spend lots of our time doing them. ] For the people that are starting out to homestead, take your time finding the right location. If you get the wrong one it will be a desaster. I looked for almost 10 years before I found ours. Its at the end of a county road, the only house on the county road and we own all but 10 acres of land along both sides of the road. I really like North Alabama for homesteading, it has lots going for it. I am originally from Atlanta Ga. and the wife is from Gettesburg, PA. We found our place and here we will stay. Don't get discouraged it will happen it just takes time, work,planning and it will take money. I worked two jobs to just get the down payment, and then had to continue for a while untill I got the second morgage paid off.
-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), January 22, 2001.
In my case i had to make a few basic commitments or it would have never happened. One was to become a vegetarian, if i had to have meat then i would have to depend on someone else for it and I'm not willing to do that. I do have a pond on my 80 acres so I'm a fish eating vegetarian, whatever they call that. One of the other commitments is that you don't need "several hundred acres," actually 80 is way too many. When you look at what people got by with before 1950 compared to today, we have way too much of many things from telephones and tv on down.
-- Fred Taylor (fjcoalco@wetv.net), January 22, 2001.
Hi there-from lost in KY.Here's a few thoughts.Short & sweetLearn & Plan.
Plan it so you can retire early
Do this by living simply so you have few needs.
Also by working really hard,preferably at something you really love to do.Who needs free time when you enjoy your work,whether it's accomplishments you do for yourself, or someone else?
Learn to enjoy solitude.No,learn to thrive on solitude.
10 years-one income-one person sick most of that time.We managed.You can too if you want it badly enough.
Forewarning.Most people love the romantic notion of what we do, but hate the reality.Way too isolated for them for the long haul.Visitors have told us "beautiful property you got there,but I couldn't live here." Yes well, that's good.Leaves more room for me.
-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), January 22, 2001.
Sharon,Oooohhh! You made me laugh! My feelings in a nut shell!
I am just so amazed and bewildered at how some people stay a-float today! EVERYTHING is so expensive. I mean, I put some mail in the mailbox Saturday, and when I went out later to check it, I had a note on my letter saying that stamps are now $.34!!! I laughed and told my dh that it's pretty bad when you had no idea!!!
Seriously though, we live very frugally. Started out that we had to, and have just continued. My dh works hard. We NEVER go 'out'. We don't eat out, order out, rent out movies, have take out (okay, you get the idea!). We have 2 young children that we homeschool (I buy what books we need second hand and use the library). All of our clothes (except under garments) are bought second hand (costs more to sew them nowadays). We raise about 95% of our veggies. My dh hunts and fills his tag each year, but we still have to buy meat (can't afford to build a barn yet). We have 3 years to pay on our house and property, but our mortgage payment is under $300 a month. We have a small amount of debt that we hope to have paid off in a years time.
With all that said, I look around me at times, and see people our age or younger (we are 32) living in these HUGE houses (I wouldn't want them anyways; not my style) with 2 brand new vehicles, designer clothes on all the younguns'.....and a partridge in a pear tree.:-) Now, are these folks aware of some big secret that we don't know about? I'm by no means jealous, just puzzled as to what we are doing wrong. We would love to buy more land and 'drop off' of this materialistic world....but can't afford it.
Ooooohhh, don't mind me. Probably just frustrated because I had to go out 'in the world' today, and it makes me want to step out all the more. (And that 'world' was a small town of 300 that is 15 minutes away)
Love the answers; keep them coming! :-)
Tracey
-- Tracey (foralltimes@hotmail.com), January 22, 2001.
We used to have the same experience when friends and acquaintances would come out for a visit , they would say, We love it out here but we could never live here. Eventually I wanted to put a sign up over the drive way saying: " Welcome to: We are not asking you to move out here Ranch"
-- Esther Zablotsky (estherzablotsky@hotmail.com), January 22, 2001.
Well....we only have five acres, but the cost of land is so dear around here, we would have to hit the lottery to afford much more! As we age, too, this will probably be just the right size in a few years!) It IS getting too crowded (according to densities which we are used to; might seem spacious to some others, I dunno.....)but we have a contingency which involves moving to property in another part of the state, should we think it's getting too crowded here.We have been working on a 20-year plan, of which I have referenced at least twice on this forum, so I won't bore you with the details again. My husband and I have both worked jobs off-farm most of that time in order to build equity, pay cash for everything except our mortgage, and make investments. And, subsequent to those jobs in town, we have also learned/are still learning everything to operate our homestead. It has been challenging sometimes, coming home from a long day at an office 40 miles away with an hour-and-a-half commute each way wrapped around it!!
In addition, we have always tried to sequence our employment selections based on the kind of work that would also permit us to have enough energy to manage at home, being that such was our first priority. For instance, we didn't acquire bigger livestock (i.e. sheep, goats) until we knew we could be home enough to deal with not only them, but all the attendant chores, deliveries, etc., that goes along with owning them. Acquiring bigger critters was in conjunction with my taking a job closer to home/part-time/school and finally working-from-home phase.
We are now working on the last ~10 percent of our 20-year-plan (almost can't wait for the next 20-year one, btw!), which involves working from home (me: medical transcription for now, and a small cottage industry of sheep products; my husband doing construction estimating, and odd jobs. We have both invested time and *significant* money in doing so and are beginning to enjoy some successes.)
Our objectives are based on values we had/have and tasks and goals we set for ourselves when we were first married. It is very gratifying to see them coming to fruition. We started picturing what we wanted our lives to look like in 20 years, and worked backwards from there.
btw, I never did get the 9-5 concept. I have NEVER known anyone around here who ever worked 9-5 at any paying full-time job. Minimally, the hours were 8-5, but most people I know worked 7:30-5 or even an hour later. My husband works 7-5, 5 days a week, for example. Is there some part of the country where people actually DO work such slacker hours as 9-5???? :-)
Anyway, I think we are all "doing it" the best we can, and at different stages. But I thought I'd share some of our stuff with y'all.
-- sheepish (WA) (rborgo@gte.net), January 22, 2001.
Sheepish, I was reading somewhere that the hours worked have been increasing gradually since the phrase "9 to 5" was coined. Closer to 60 hours/week is more common than 40 hours/week. I think that 9-5 business ALSO included an hour for lunch. Anyone still get a whole hour for lunch?
-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 22, 2001.
Usually around 11:30, I would go down to the company refrigerator and get my lunch (packed from home.) Then I would keep working at my desk! Sometimes, though, "working" was surfing the web...however, if the boss walked by, I always looked busy! (btw, his job was surfing the web all day, I swear! LOL!) I can see why nobody in his right mind would want to farm for a living...you might have to actually work!! ;)
-- sheepish (WA) (rborgo@gte.net), January 22, 2001.
How do you do it? Simple, make home life most important, don't let an employer think they have you where they want you,make them realize they need you more than you need them. Have confidence in your own abilities. Whether you have 80 acres or one as Lynn and I have doesn't matter. The "homestead attitude", living with less not only gives you confidence, when you reduce your income requirements, you can easily walk away from controlling employers without ever looking back if neccessary.
-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 22, 2001.
Hi Tracey: Patience was my virtue. I worked and lived in the city very simply. Somehow managed to save half of my income for 20 years till I had 1200 a month then split to the mountains at age 50! I don't have much but OH MY GOD I"M FREE!!!!!!....Kirk
-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), January 22, 2001.
Tracey - That "secret" that enable 30-somethings to own their very own McMansion, in their very own McVilliages, is that as long as you are capable of churning out 60 and 70 hour work weeks, the banks will lend you all ofthe high-interest debt you care to take on. The more you borrow, the more you qualify to borrow later. Most of these folks are so far in debt, they will die that way. Trust me, it ain't worth it.
-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), January 23, 2001.
You do without the trappings of American society. We can live here because our land is paid for, so is our house and our cars. We garden and put up the produce for our use and then sell the rest. We raise goats, milk them and make all our milk products. We raise cattle and sell them for a profit. We raise poultry, eat the eggs, sell the rest and sell the birds. We gather from the forest. We heat and cook with wood.If we cant afford it we dont buy it. We buy or trade for a lot of goods and many services. It isnt easy and it is a change of lifestyle for me but I love it. Some months I am not sure we are going to make it but God willing we do. We take short term off site jobs like maintence, photography, carpentry and teaching craft classes. In short we do what we have to do. We make almost eveything we use and eat. You can too but not if you think you cant live without something. You have to think out of the usual way that people think but you can do it. Its a lot of hard work bu worth it
-- Norman and Susie Stretton (nightsong@beci.net), January 23, 2001.
Norman and Susie,It sounds like you two have 'got it going'! If you don't mind me asking, do you have children?
In 2 years (3 years tops) we will have EVERYTHING paid for here. However, even after all that, it wouldn't allow us the room to have my dh quit work.
As far as living without certain things, the only thing that comes to mind are my kids and dh, and I guess you wouldn't consider them 'things' :-).
Thanks everyone for your answers!
-- Tracey (foralltimes@hotmail.com), January 24, 2001.
Sometimes I wonder what life would have been like had we just decided to jump in and "do it" and cast our fates to the wind, instead of doing all the planning we did. I think it's great that folks can be so comfortable with the concept. I think we were just so analytical, but that's our nature!For us, some of our goals were: insure some kind of income after we "retire" at age 50; have all of our stuff including our mortgages paid for; be able to afford medical insurance; be able to travel while not having to finance it, as well as having resources for folks to take care of our place while we are traveling; and of course, being able to take care of ourselves by being as self-sustaining and frugal as possible. Combining that with the ethics we have held has been challenging sometimes, and certainly working for other people has been tough, but we have learned a lot....and in a little over a year, if all goes well, we will be kicking up our heels just like Kirk! I sure hope so, as we have worked hard to achieve this, but you never know!
Eighteen-and-a-half years ago, 20 years seemed like an incredibly long time....now looking back, it seems like just a wink...
Good luck to all of you, no matter how you do it!
-- sheepish (WA) (rborgo@gte.net), January 24, 2001.
There is a very good book called "How to Survive Without a Salary", basically what he says is get debt-free, grow as much as you can to feed yourself, if you can't grow it don't buy it, do without. He takes occasional odd jobs but nothing that ties him down. They have 2-3 children and have enough money to travel, albeit very frugally, in Europe. He certainly makes it sound possible. Most people just don't want to give-up as much as you would have to.I wonder how much out-and-out cash Helen and Scott Nearing spent a year?
-- Artie Ann Karns (rokarns@arkansas.net), January 25, 2001.
We are working hard here in our corner of the world too, to pay off our mortgage. No other debts. We have 2-3 years to go if all goes right, then I get to retire first. I wish we would have seen the light sooner, but perhaps it wasn't the right time for us. Planning seems to be what helps us. I am wondering who is the author of the book mentioned in the message above, "How to Survive Without a Salary". I would like to look for a copy. Good luck to us all !
-- cindy palmer (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), January 25, 2001.
The author of "How to Survive Without a Salary" is Charles Long. The updated 1996 version is even better than the original. It's a great book! and certainly one of his main points is the importance of being debt free. I have the book checked out from the library now, for at least the third time.
-- Darcy in NW WA (gatecity@tenforward.com), January 25, 2001.
I am going to see if our library has or can get a copy of that book. Thanks for the info. I have read and re-read this thread so many times ! Such good info and so nice to hear how others reach success!
-- cindy palmer (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), January 27, 2001.
I would be interested if there are any "homesteaders" out there on hundreds of acres. Ranchers, yes, but homesteaders? I would be grateful to have 30 or 40. Right now we only have five with a horendous mortgage that requires I work at a 7-5 job. (Salaried. Boss expects 50 hours/week). I agree location is paramount. We want to trade down to raw land in the boonies where we can become mortgage free within ten years. We've been researching locations for over a year and will continue to do so. Whenever we get the chance, one of us (we can't go together because of the animals) hits the road to explore nearby states. Meanwhile, we are learning the skills we will need on our "practice farm" of five acres with the big mortgage and accumulating tools and equipment while there is a salary to pay for them. Once we find the right land, it will probably be a year or more of land payments on top of home mortgage until we can actually make the move.
-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), January 27, 2001.