Self Sufficiency Defined

FarmerChick

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Just a nice little blurb I found describing self sufficiency....simple wording but to the point. Thought ya'll would enjoy reading it like I did.




SELF-SUFFICIENCY DEFINED

Self-sufficiency by definition is a state in which someone or something can self-sustain oneself without using outside resources. If you take that statement literally, it is impossible to obtain. Each and every living creature on this planet is dependant upon outside resources in order to survive. For instance, all animals need food to live. Most animals (excluding humans and the animals we feed) hunt and gather food as they did thousands if not millions of years ago. The majority of humans on the other hand, rely on others to produce food. We are no longer hunters and the gatherers, but rather consumers. This interdependency for the most part works. Most people buy their food instead of foraging for food themselves. Of course, buying food means that we must have money. And in order to have money, most of us need a job. Thus starts the vicious circle that has gotten most of us removed from the basics of being self-sufficient.

Besides food, we need other things too - water, shelter and warmth. Again, most people today rely on outside resources to provide these things. People get their water from a faucet, live in a mortgaged home or apartment and rely on heat from an electric or gas utility company. So what does being self-sufficient mean in today's society?

We can be self-sufficient by using our own physical and mental skills to produce food, shelter and warmth in order to sustain one's own existence. It means not relying on others for things that you can do yourself. It is a way of life that reduces our dependency on external resources in order to live. Self-sufficiency for most homesteaders means rekindling the skills once commonly used by past generations: growing, raising and preserving food, making and repairing tools, cutting and drying firewood, mending and/or making clothes and even building a house or a barn.

This is by no means an easy feat. It requires a ton of self-discipline and a determination not found in most people. Especially in today's society where over the years we have grown accustom to depending upon others to provide for our basic needs. As technology makes life "easier", we move further and further away from the basics and lose the skills that once sustained us.

What is gained by self-sufficiency? A greater sense of freedom and greater control of one's life. You will also eat healthier knowing what went into growing and raising your own food. You will reduce your dependency on money and reduce your need to work a stressful, 60 hour per week (or more!) job. Instead of paying a repairman to fix something, you take pride in fixing it yourself.

How self-sufficient one becomes is entirely a personal decision. There are plenty of things to consider and weigh. It is up to each of us to determine how self-sufficient to become.
 

FarmerChick

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Just throwing it out for new people who might pop in and need a read on what pretains to self sufficiency.

Sorry to repeat but yes, it is what you have mentioned before and so have I and others...LOL

:plbb---you cut it out! :plbb
 

dacjohns

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The author of that article said it much more eloquently than I. :bun
 

PamsPride

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I would take SS to mean not having to go slave for a company or someone else to bring home a paycheck to make it from day to day. So, being debt free with enough set aside that DH does not have to go work for someone else unless he wanted to would be my definition of being SS. So, the less $$ we have to spend on a daily basis and save the sooner he can quit his job. The less $$ we spend on a daily basis the longer we can live on that savings before he would have to get a job.
So, if we could grow, barter, or trade for all of our food; reuse cloth items instead of buying new paper items; not work needing less gas; conserve electricity; be able to sell goods or used clothing to make $$ so we do not have to use savings....to me that is being SS!
 

enjoy the ride

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What really gets me going about self-sufficiency is the reduction of waste. If I make it myself, self-interest is going to encourage me to do it as effiently as possible as I am not going to make extra work for myself. I'm too lazy. :D

Why that should be so satisfying, I don't know. Maybe just an instinct developed by people who could survive because of it. And we are all survivors looking at the big picture.
 

PamsPride

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Reduction of waste....not having a garbage bill would save us $18 a month!!

I don't see us getting to the point of being completely SS until the kiddos are out of the house! They are like vaccuums and just suck the $$ out of you and use a LOT of stuff...especially electricity!
 

FarmerChick

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They are like vaccuums and just suck the $$ out of you and use a LOT of stuff...especially electricity!

**********
:yuckyuck
 

Beekissed

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I guess I was confused awhile back when I mentioned going off grid and living SS, because people kept saying they couldn't make a living off their own land.

I never really considered going off grid and/or living SS to be an either/or proposition. There are many people who are both off grid and derive much of their existence off their own land~and still hold down outside jobs. In fact, I'd say most of them do. With a good partner at home, both things can be accomplished.

Sure, to be totally SS(and I don't think this can be done completely nowdays~even the Amish buy goods from stores) one would have to be self sustaining and free from ANY outside help/goods/foods/fuel, etc. But I don't think anyone considers SS to be that strict of a definition, as evidenced by the blurb above.

We lived as SS as any while I was growing up~and we still used propane tanks to run our fridge and gas to run our chainsaws, which isn't strictly SS, if one nitpicks. :)
 
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