Video: Budget-Saving Tips for New Homesteaders

This short video offers a number of helpful tips for beginning homesteaders - particularly ways to save money when you are starting out, as well as some tips for making sure you are focusing on the areas of homesteading that you enjoy and can be successful at.

We hope you've enjoyed our series on beginning homesteading! For more helpful green living resources, be sure to visit our website, and also "Like" us on Facebook for weekly green living tips.

Check out the video below, and for more great homesteading resources, also see Self-Sufficient-Life.com.

How to start homesteading (the smart way)
Homesteading can be so exciting at first that you can get ahead of yourself. Here are a few tips to help you save money, energy, time, and sanity.

3 Steps Every Homesteader Must Take Before they Get Started

Before you start digging in your yard or shopping for chickens, stop. Take a step back and put down the shovel. There are three important steps to take before you dive into homesteading. These three steps will help you create the homesteading lifestyle you desire.

1. Set Priorities

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What are your homesteading priorities? Do you want to conserve energy, produce most of your vegetables, or raise animals? Make a list of all of the homesteading projects you’re interested in and why you’re interested in them. For example, maybe you’re interested in raising goats because they’re adorable and you would like goat milk and goat cheese. Or maybe you’re interested in growing all of your own vegetables so you can raise a healthier family. Establish your priorities. When you get started with homesteading you can start with the most important item on your list first and go from there.

2. Make A Plan

Once you’ve established your priorities, the next step is to create a plan. This plan can and should include everything from materials to systems and a timeline. For example, if you’re going to start raising chickens then how and when are you going to build a coop? Where will you buy your chickens from and what type of chickens are you going to buy? Plan ahead so you don’t miss any steps.

3. Assess Your Space

The final component of your new homesteading lifestyle is to identify the place and space. For example, if you’re going to build a chicken coop where are you going to put it? Is that the best place for a coop and do you have enough space? Also, if you build the coop and you want to build a garden next year, do you have the space for them both? Thinking about these considerations beforehand will save you costly mistakes down the road.

Homesteading is a rewarding and fun lifestyle. It’s not an easy lifestyle but for tens of thousands of people, it’s a lifestyle they wouldn’t change for anything. The homesteading movement is growing in popularity and it might just be the best change you can make for yourself if this is something you're interested in pursuing.

More more helpful information on getting started with homesteading, check out the excellent resources at Self-Sufficient-Life. 

Fun Ways to Improve Your Homesteading Skills

Homesteading is a lot of work. It’s a lot of fun too so it’s more than worth the effort. However, at a certain point you may feel a bit overwhelmed. You might not know where to start or how to approach homesteading without making costly mistakes. When you’re dealing with animals and expansive gardens, mistakes can sometimes be devastating. One of the wonderful aspects of homesteading is the community that it creates. Take advantage of that community and leverage it to improve your homesteading skills.

1. Take classes

Check with your community center and recreation facilities. There are likely some basic and intermediate homesteading classes. Local farms and fellow homesteaders may also offer the occasional class. These can be fantastic opportunities to learn more about homesteading, ask questions from experienced homesteaders, and meet more people in your community.

2. Volunteer

Volunteer in a community garden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another option to learn more about homesteading and improve your skills is to volunteer. You may have some community organized gardens and community organized homesteads. Consider reaching out to these organizations to find out if they have volunteer opportunities. It’s a great way to learn and give back at the same time.

3. Attend workshops

Many farms and community homesteads offer homesteading workshops. These workshops are often a few days in length and they can be an excellent opportunity to gain hands on learning as they’re often hosted at a farm. You can choose from basic homesteading workshops to specific workshops on more technical projects like aquaponics or installing a solar panel system.

When it comes to homesteading there is certainly room to learn as you go. However, some projects require a bit more technical knowledge and sometimes it’s just good to gain an education before you start a new project. Learn about homesteading by connecting with your community. Take classes, volunteer, and attend workshops on a wide variety of homesteading topics. Next time we’ll take a look at the three steps every new homesteader must take before they get started.

What You Need to Know About Homesteading In the City (Urban Homesteading)

Are you interested in homesteading but worried that you don’t have enough room? Gardening, raising animals, and alternative energy systems can take up some space. However, even people living in the middle of the city can take advantage of the space they have and embrace a kind of homesteading lifestyle. It’s called Urban Homesteading and it may be just the thing you’ve been looking for.

Gardening in Small Spaces

You don’t need acres to grow produce. What you do need, whether you have a small space or not, is a plan. Think about maximizing the space you have. For example, climbing plants like beans can be placed at the back or edge of your garden space where they can use the fence or wall to climb. Steer clear of plants that require lots of space like pumpkins or watermelon and instead look for plants that produce a lot of fruits or vegetables without requiring too much space. Tomatoes are a great example of a plant that has a high yield without taking up a ton of space and soil. Herbs can be grown in windowsills and on elevated planters too.

Doubling Up

An aquaponic system that involves tilapia or perch, watercress and tomatoes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are some opportunities to double up your homesteading activities. For example, you might farm fish and embrace hydroponic or aquaponic gardening. This is something you can place either inside or outside your home. Both greens and herbs grow quite successfully this way and what’s better than fish and a salad for dinner?

Get Creative with Your Space

Take a look at the space you have. Roof tops, window sills, fencing and patios and porches all provide a perfect space for gardening and more. In fact, many urban dwellers keep chickens in their back yard. All you need is space for a small coop.

Whether you’re in the city or in the country, homesteading is an acquired skill. You’ll learn as you go. Next time we’ll take a look at a few fun ways to improve your homesteading skills, so be sure to check back Thursday!

5 Questions to Answer Before You Get Started Homesteading

Are you ready to get started with your homesteading lifestyle? It’s true, it offers numerous benefits including reduced monthly expenses, sustainable living, and a rewarding lifestyle. But before you get started there are five questions you need to answer.

1. How much space do you  have? – Homesteading doesn’t have to take up much space. Many urban homesteaders garden on their patio, roof, or in a small back yard. Take a look around you and evaluate how much space you have. Do you have enough room for what you want to grow?

2. Are animals allowed? If you’re interested in raising or keeping animals, it’s important to check your local zoning and ordinances first. Some communities don’t allow livestock to be kept. And some cities restrict the number or type of animal that you can keep. Even if you’re only interested in beekeeping, it’s important to know whether you will be able to do this where you live.

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

3. Sustainability and systems – How will you make the most of your resources? For example, you might install a rain barrel to collect water for your garden. Can you use lumber and items you already have to build container gardens or a chicken coop?

4. What will you grow? The best advice is to grow what you eat. Make a list of the produce you buy most often at the supermarket. Cross off the items that don’t grow well in your area and review the list. Prioritize the list according to your available space.

5. What's the most important to you to start with? The best advice is to start small – There’s no need to run out and buy a hundred acres. You can start small with a few containers or a backyard garden. You can start a small bee colony or get a few chickens. Think about where you want to start and how quickly you want to grow your homesteading lifestyle. Think about what’s most important to you and what you can reasonably manage.

Starting homesteading is a fun and exciting project, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Taking the time to answer the 5 questions above, and prioritize, will make all the difference to your success.

Be sure to stay tuned, as next week, we’ll take a look at urban homesteading and offer some tips and ideas for bringing homesteading into your neighborhood - even if you don't live in the country.

Why Homesteading Is So Fulfilling

Is homesteading really considered the “simple life?” It’s certainly not an easy lifestyle. Many homesteaders spend long days tending to their garden, feeding and caring for their animals, and then they have to cook meals, prepare and preserve produce, and tend to the other 99 details in a regular day. Easy, no. Simple? Perhaps. But there is one common denominator, one phrase you’ll hear from homesteaders around the world, homesteading is rewarding.

Results from Hard Work

Your mother and father were right. You do get satisfaction from hard work. There really is nothing quite like eating a vegetable that you grew in your garden and tended to with your own two hands. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as wearing a sweater that you made yourself from yarn that you sheared off of your sheep. There are many tasks in life that are just plain tedious or difficult and there are no real tangible results. With homesteading you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor and that is incredibly rewarding - maybe more than anything else you can do in life.

You’re Making a Difference

A home-made chicken coop. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The homesteading lifestyle does make a difference. It impacts the environment in a positive way. It also can change the economic conditions in your neighborhood. This is particularly true for urban homesteaders who build community gardens, chicken coops and more. They band together to create a better lifestyle for themselves and others. Even simply by sharing some of the produce you grow in your garden or sharing the strawberry preserves you made yourself you make a positive difference in the lives of those you share with.

It’s Empowering

We’ve become so dependent on commercial establishments to survive that when you cut the cord and realize that you can be self-reliant, it’s quite empowering. Some homesteaders dive right in. They get off the utility grid and provide their own energy. They begin growing most of the food they need for themselves and they quite literally live off the land. However, even if you don’t go to these homesteading lengths, you’ll find that homesteading makes you feel much more powerful and capable.

Ready to enjoy the positive experience that homesteading provides? Next time we’ll talk about how to get started.

3 Ways to Make Money from Homesteading

Did you know that you can take your homesteading lifestyle and actually build a business or career out of it? It’s true. There are many different ways that you can make money from homesteading. Let’s take a look at three of them. Who knows - you might turn your hobby farm into a full-fledged business!

1. Crafting and Home Goods

Many homesteaders find that they have more than enough materials to begin crafting. For example, if they are raising alpacas they find that they have extra yarn and might begin making clothing for friends and relatives.

They could just as easily begin selling the yarn or making items to order. Herbs can be made into essential oils, lotions, and even soap. For example, lavender plants make wonderful essential oils which can then be added to body products or sold as an oil.

2. Food Preparation and Preservation

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sue had an abundance of Brussels sprouts one year from her garden. She decided to pickle them. Her recipe was so popular that Sue began selling her pickled sprouts online and at local Farmer’s Markets.

Her business expanded and she now pickles and sells many different types of veggies. Other people have had great success with homemade salsas, jams, and sauces all made from the items they’ve grown in their garden.

3. Teaching
As an experienced homesteader, you can make money teaching other people how to homestead. It’s a growing trend and lifestyle choice. Teaching, online or in local workshops or seminars, gives you an opportunity to help others and earn some extra cash at the same time.

Homesteading provides many opportunities to improve your lifestyle. Making money from it is just one extra benefit to consider. And while homesteading is profitable, environmentally sound, and it helps you save money many people homestead just because they like it. Next week we’ll take a look at the reasons why homesteading is rewarding and fulfilling.