How many of your SS choices were values/beliefs-based vs. financial?

[homestead holdout]

Do any of you feel your SS lifestyle was rooted first in your value system, or did it stem solely from a need to make changes financially and for your health?

Values for sure, financial no, health is part of my value system....

I dont find values all of the way synonymous with religions so I cant even draw a dotted line from my SS practices to religion (doesnt mean I dont have religion, in fact I respect and pull a little something from them all, just dont subscribe to any labels in particular at this time).

I grew up in Alaska where it is actually still possible to find "snows where no man has walked." But I cant hardly find that in the rest of "the lower 48." That makes me sad and I know Alaska will loose that special last frontier title in due time. Just like enjoy the ride - I flat out hate waste. It's in my DNA somehow to not waste and to hope that we can all do things so that our kids dont have this ever present concern that we just suck the earth of its resources and dont do enough to regenerate them. I have gone from starving college student to well off technology manager, to unemployed and living off retirement - way to soon to retire but nothing changes for me. If I (hopefully) win the lotto tomorrow I'm not going to change as a person, my values are set. I'd still drive my family crazy when I leave thier homes with kitchen waste for my compost and chickens, recycle everything I can, and buy clothes from local artisans at festivals (Oregon Country Fair rocks) instead of Nordstrom.

 

[unclejoe]

I got tired of the rat-race a few years ago. All this "keep up with the Jones'" mentality.
I decided that I didn't care anymore what people thought of the 15 year old car I drive, or that I don't have the latest electronic gadget, or that my lawn had dandelions, I LIKE THAT SEA OF YELLOW! If someone wants to think that I am less of a person because I don't have the same things they do, so be it. That's their prerogative. I'm much happier now with a simpler life than I was 5 years ago when I was acquiring "Everything" that someone else thought I should have.

 

[Farmfresh]

I love being around like-minded individuals!

You said it!

We became self-sufficient mostly because of religious choices. As a Christian I believe that it is my responsibility as a parent to raise my own children, which lead to the choice of me staying at home with our kids. As a Christian my hubby always believed his family was more important than a career and lots of money, so he always worked at a job that while not glamorous provided good insurance, benefits and plenty of time to be at home with his kids and wife.

Decisions like these in the twentieth century lead to POVERTY! One income means lots of close budgeting. One income means learning to barter, garden and appreciate a good used car! I always leaned towards growing my own and building my own, but our religious convictions cemented our lifestyle in place. My kids are grown now, hubby and I are still in love - and I wouldn't have changed a thing!!

 

[justusnak]

Bee, what a great thread! As I sat here, reading everyones position on this..I started thinking...Hmmmm, why do we live this way. Well....for Hubby, its easy...its MY choice! Well, not really...he does love living in the country..something he has always wanted while growing up in a military family. Now, he is learning " the ways"
For me...well...My mother divorced young, with 5 children, had no choice but to raise as much food as she could, to feed the " herd" ( us kids) Then she married a New Yorker...and the fun began. He had never lived in the country, let alone with 5 kids, and animals. It was fun to tease him, and teach him...as we grew up. Oh the memories I could tell ya, but you would DEFINATELY need Depends for the reading. For me...its a natural way of life. I thrive on hard work and "farming" We dont have a "working farm" but our small farm is taking care of us, as we take care of it. I have the "need" to make things grow...and thrive. Building something from scratch just seems like I get more pleasure after it is done, than paying someone to build it for me. Kowing I can fall to sleep at the end of a day..without chemicals to help...is a good feeling. My brother and sisters mostly go to sleep with the help of pills. They are city dwellers, and have become just another cog in the city machine. I know I can work circles around my siblings...older and younger ones....not that I am bragging...but I feel GREAT at the end of a long day!!

 

[Augustmomx2]

Wow, you have made me really look at myself and my beliefs!

SS living came originally out of necessity. I grew-up in a fairly well off family (car, paid college, etc). My husband ran a business (construction) that was doing extremely well. Suddenly, the jobs dryed up, the money did and we were left with an un-paid tax bill (yeah, WHOLE other issue, but I won't go there now).

We were broke, with a lot of debt and had to make major changes in our lifestyle. I had always been attracted to SS living, but no reason to change my ways. This made us change our ways.

That was 4 years ago and things are much better. We are so close to paying off all of our debts, we have good jobs ( ), and I feel as though I have a lot more control over our situation. After being so broke to pretty stable, I refuse to take on (or allow dh to) those poor habits that almost took us down. I love the feeling of waking up and being able to answer the phone, without a dark cloud over me. SS living has allowed me to do so.

 

[ams3651]

I became interested in it just as part of a country, farming, lifestyle and stretching a thin budget. The two just seem to go together. Growing up on a farm, nothing went to waste. We ate primarily what we grew and hunted. We didnt have excess, heck we didnt even have the option of getting cable tv out here. Much of what i know about gardening I learned from helping my grandfather, much of what I know about mechanics I learned from my father. Im still learning canning from my grandmother. Recycling, is that what they call it now? Gallon milk jugs became waterers for plants in the garden or for picking raspberries, scrap metal may have been re purposed to repair a piece of machinery, tractors, mowers, etc were repaired till they fell apart and one venison roast fed our family of 5 for 3 days. Im realizing now that Im living much like my parents did when they were my age and didnt have a whole lot to work with.

 

[Lady Henevere]

This is such an interesting thread. Especially fascinating to me is how different all of our lives must be in so many ways, but when we start talking about what we value in ss and why, we are all similar. It's beautiful, in a way.

Several pages (and several months) back, poppycat said "I value ripening tomatoes more than fancy jewelry." That's so true for me. There's something deeply moving about working with the earth to sustain ourselves without depleting the land, and to me that is far more beautiful than gobs of new "stuff." Stuff doesn't touch my soul. Making and growing things does.

There is a financial aspect for me too, but it is minor. I don't tend to work out the financials before I embark on a new project (chickens, planting a new fruit tree, etc.) to determine if it will save money in the long run. (By this I don't mean that I just buy what I want when I want it, it means I can't tell you how many pounds of apples my tree has to produce before it pays for itself.) Saving money is a nice benefit, but for me it's more about the joy of knowing that I have to rely on outside sources less.

 

[farmerlor]

I think I do it mostly because I can. I think the tradition of being self-sufficient and providing for your family in a healthy, natural, Earth-based way is something precious and worth passing on to my children the way my grandmother and mother passed it on to me. As a Pagan I have a connection to the Earth and so there is some faith based reason for it as well in that I want to teach the kids that if we provide for the Earth and her creatures they in turn provide for us.

 

[rebecca100]

I remember being a little girl holding chickens and gathering eggs. I have always had a driving desire to be SS. I don't know why really, it has just always been there-even as a kid. Sometimes I have the strange paranoid idea that I need to be prepared for something......weird I know. Plus I like the adventure of it. Raising out own food, milking a goat, doing things that most people don't have a clue about. My 7 and 9 yo kids know more about animals, butter making, chick hatching, etc than most adults. I like to think that it is the Lord pushing us in this direction. ( I promise I'm NOT nuts!!) Right now I think it is actually costing us more to be this way than to just buy the food, but I think once we get everything in order with our pens and pastures that will change! My dh grew up on a farm so he is all for growing our own stuff.