Let's discuss "cutting corners". Homesteading doesn't mean moving out to the boonies and giving up all the niceties of life. It means, at least to me, living a life free of the rat race, being self-sufficient as much as possible. Living simply and living well.
Nick and I had been reviewing our manner of living over the past ten years, and although our income has doubled, so has the stress and our personal cost of living. This was when we decided to call an end to the madness and return to our previously slower paced life-style.
Take some time and review your spending habits. It's amazing how much money we waste without realizing it. The daily trip to the coffee shop, buying magazine subscriptions but actually reading only a few of the issues, paying for hundreds of television channels when we watch only 2 or 3, etc.
The tricky part here is training ourselves to not only cut the unnecessary expenses but to actually take the money we didn't spend and put it into our special "Homestead" account.
The "Homestead Savings Account"
It's exactly what it says. Saving for the homestead. Whether it be saving to purchase your bit of land, or just maintaining your current homestead (repairs, vet expenses, etc.)
Example: We have decided that although we love our home and our bit of land is sufficient, we are tired of making that mortgage payment each month, the high property taxes, and the increasing crime rate in our little town, we want to sell out and buy acreage where the weather is more comfortable, has a longer growing season, and plenty of space for our homestead.
To accomplish this we have cut all unnecessary expenses and are working toward being debt free. At that point, which we expect to be in the coming year, we will sell the house. When we locate the land we desire it must be within a price range which we have determined we can afford to pay cash for. We will also need enough cash on hand to drill a well, install a septic system and a solar power or wind system for electricity, and build a small home.
Raising the cash for all these will be accomplished by saving all the money we no longer spend on useless things, selling off everything we don't need. If we haven't used or seen it during the last year we don't need it and it goes into the yard sale. The largest amount of cash will come from the equity at the sale of the house.
"Stop Buying..."
Stop buying new clothes. Odds are you really don't need any new clothes, you just want them. Check the closet, get rid of anything you haven't worn in the past year, doesn't fit, or you have no intention of ever wearing. Donate them, sell them at yard sale or in a consignment shop.
Stop buying things just for the sake of buying something. Cutting up your credit cards with help with this. As will giving yourself a small cash allowance for spending. If you are limited to the amount you can spend during a particular time frame, you will become more frugal and learn to buy only things that are absolutely necessary.
Don't worry, it only hurts for a little while. Like quitting any other bad habit, the more you experience the benefits the less pain you will feel. In time living simply will become a way of life, you will feel less stressed and more relaxed. Granted there is no such thing as a life without some degree of stress, especially when you are living off grid.
Most importantly: Set a date/time frame and plan, plan, plan. Be realistic. Only you know how committed you can be to this process. Work and re-work your plan until it is something you will be able to live with. The plan is always a growing and changing thing, ready to adapt to new circumstances, just like the homesteader.
All for now................Happy Homesteading!
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