This reminds of something my nighbour said once: :To really make anything from scratch you first have to invent the universe!"FarmerChick said:I don't think of it as "either or"
I don't see it in terms of cheap and easy vs. healthy and best for planet
planting a tomato plant is cheap and easy and it provides a healthy food
good for planet also cheap and easy is a clothes line
Unless u are the "I made my own materials for build my home, I provide only all my foods, I use no modern conveniences and do not ever drive etc" can u say u are truly self sufficient to the level of "the olden days" (well ya'll know what I mean)
One thing is never go overboard. Know what ur limits are and step in and do the best one can to ur own comfort zone.
I use all conveniences this life has to offer to my degree of comfort. I pick and choose what fits my family. We all smile everyday so I must be doing something right lol I live without alot that others have, yet I have alot that others can never acquire!
Living "both ways" at the same time, are you able to do this?
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I love the thought of SS, but will never attain it......I'm only one person and can't do it all. (Plus I'm old & tired.)
I've got frugality down to a science though, and am slowly learning skills that will carry me through a SHTF scenario.
One of the great things about living in the sticks by yourself is that you learn to be honest with yourself and learn to accept your limitations as well as seeing your accomplishments. So honestly, I don't really want to live without electricity. I don't want to wash my clothes by hand or mow three acres of grass without a mower.
Don't really want to chop big piles of wood for warmth & cooking or sew all my own clothing. The only thing that saves me from being a complete fraud is that I've learned to do all those thing so I could do them IF I HAD TO.
Reading the above makes me sound lazy, but I do have an outside job which limits my time. I grow about 70% of my food and what I get at the store are things I don't have the resources/time/climate to grow myself (flour, rapadura sugar, lemons) things that are cheaper to buy than to process (popcorn, sesame seeds, milk, chicken feed).
My outerwear all comes from the Goodwill, my stuff is 90% secondhand from auctions & yard sales (furniture, decorations, tools & rugs, linens, building materials)
No tech gadgets except computer, TV & emergency cell phone.
So I'd have to say the biggest sucess here is that I live nicely on far less money than I used to think I needed and more importantly, I'm much happier and contented with my life & little things have much more meaning.Funny how some of the people from my old life think I've failed - no longer trying to stockpile money to get luxury things, stepping back from a big "career" in the business world, 'burying' myself out in the middle of nowhere. I feel kinda sorry for them!
I've got frugality down to a science though, and am slowly learning skills that will carry me through a SHTF scenario.
One of the great things about living in the sticks by yourself is that you learn to be honest with yourself and learn to accept your limitations as well as seeing your accomplishments. So honestly, I don't really want to live without electricity. I don't want to wash my clothes by hand or mow three acres of grass without a mower.
Don't really want to chop big piles of wood for warmth & cooking or sew all my own clothing. The only thing that saves me from being a complete fraud is that I've learned to do all those thing so I could do them IF I HAD TO.
Reading the above makes me sound lazy, but I do have an outside job which limits my time. I grow about 70% of my food and what I get at the store are things I don't have the resources/time/climate to grow myself (flour, rapadura sugar, lemons) things that are cheaper to buy than to process (popcorn, sesame seeds, milk, chicken feed).
My outerwear all comes from the Goodwill, my stuff is 90% secondhand from auctions & yard sales (furniture, decorations, tools & rugs, linens, building materials)
No tech gadgets except computer, TV & emergency cell phone.
So I'd have to say the biggest sucess here is that I live nicely on far less money than I used to think I needed and more importantly, I'm much happier and contented with my life & little things have much more meaning.Funny how some of the people from my old life think I've failed - no longer trying to stockpile money to get luxury things, stepping back from a big "career" in the business world, 'burying' myself out in the middle of nowhere. I feel kinda sorry for them!
