What is your goal in self-sufficient living?

[enjoy the ride]

To me being self-sufficient would be living in such a way that if all things provided by anyone else were to disappear, I would be able to contiue living in the same way.
That would not be possible of course- but I wish to get as close to that as I can by two things: 1) reducing what I demand from others and 2) finding ways to provide what I want myself.

But I keep coming across things that I "can't" do without.
I simply do not live in a place where solar or hydro power would be possible. Too much fog and too little water. Therefore, if I wanted to be power independent, I would have to move. At my age and health, that is unlikely to be something I could do as I don't have the resources to have someone else construct and maintain what I want and it would be a real burden to try to handle it myself. And land is too expensive- it was luck and hard work to get what I have now. I love where I live and would not want to move.

So right away, my level of self-sufficency is limited by what I am willing to do.

So what are you wanting to do and what are you willing to do to get it? What are you willing to do without to get independence?

 

[Dodgegal79]

I was able to buy 6 acres very cheap here a few years ago. I have been working on fixing it up and getting it so I can try and be sort of self sufficient. i have my chickens and hope to next year get a milk cow and some sheep for income. I also am working on a garden, i'm going to try the straw bales gardening next year as my soil is very sandy and rocky, in a few places I have good ground, which grows amazing grass, that is for the animals.

To me being able to do this I also hope to be less dependant on outside sources and lower my cost of living. Also I just feel better about my self doing this. I have lived here without power for a few months so if something did happen I could make it through. I am right on a year round creek so that helps to with the water.

 

[Hiedi]

What is your goal in self-sufficient living?

I would like to keep my goal fairly realistic and easy to achieve. Therefore, if I can significantly decrease my trips to the store (especially Walmart), then I will be satisfied.

 

[patandchickens]

To me being self-sufficient would be living in such a way that if all things provided by anyone else were to disappear, I would be able to contiue living in the same way.
That would not be possible of course- but I wish to get as close to that as I can by two things: 1) reducing what I demand from others and 2) finding ways to provide what I want myself.
But I keep coming across things that I "can't" do without.
I simply do not live in a place where solar or hydro power would be possible.

...although of course, solar or hydroelectric do not fulfil the criterion of 'if all things provided by others were to disappear I would be able to continue living in the same way', anyhow. Bearing in mind that the mechanical components of the systems have a very finite lifespan (Well, ok, you could probably keep a primitive hydroelectric system running for your lifespan, but it wouldn't give you very much current output)

So what are you wanting to do and what are you willing to do to get it? What are you willing to do without to get independence?

Me, I'm not actually aiming for independance per se. I'm just aiming to live, as much as I can, a responsible and nonwasteful life. And also to be the kind of person who, when times get tough, says 'Ok, I can do this' -- as opposed to whining about 'oooh I couldn't *possibly* live without soda pop, or kill my own meat, or live in a cold house or in hot un-airconditioned summer temperatures, etc etc etc, oh poor fragile me'.

I think that choosing some things that make life easier is perfectly legitimate, assuming you judge that the social and environmental and personal consequences are acceptible. (Which of course everyone will have different opinions on).

Personally, I don't think civilization will collapse just because I use a breadmaker b/c I have arthritic wrists. And we kept the furnace set at about 68 F last winter, because we had a <1 yr old baby and I'd rather keep the house warm rather than worrying about him getting too cold or too hot and something Bad happening, or even just having him screeeeeaaaammmm all night (not like he wasn't anyway ). I would not even CONSIDER growing our own wheat, corn or other staples, unless absolutely forced to, because I just don't see it as a sensible use of my limited time or energy.

What I want most in life, I guess, is to raise the kids to believe that they can perfectly well do (or learn to do) whatever it takes, no matter how circumstances may change, and that this is the normal and respectible thing to do; and to raise them to think through their actions and choices and purchases, and ask 'is this really the best thing to do' rather than simply going along with what their peers, or Madison Avenue, or sheer laziness and inertia might dictate.

Quite honestly, living in a reasonably populous part of the continent and not being the biggest social networker in the universe, if "all things provided by anyone else should disappear", there would really be no POINT in my being as utterly independant of others as possible, because I am quite positive that under those conditions, the only people who'd still be left would be those with large amounts of guns and a well fortified position. Which would not be me Thus, for pretty much the same reason I don't worry about 'what if a meteorite fell on Uxbridge and vaporized us", I also don't personally worry about "what if civilization disappeared", as I would soon enough be feedin' the buzzards with no further stake in things

You know what, I find it WAY sufficiently beyond-my-grasp to lead a generally good life in all *other* respects, I am not going to set super-high standards for myself in regards to 'independance', too

JMO,

Pat

 

[krjwaj]

I think our goal is reducing waste, making more things ourselves, not relying on commercial producers as much, choosing what we want in our food, products, home. Accepting the fact that homemade or built-by-hand made take some more time but it is a learning experience and chance to be proud.

We are trying to pass the ideas down to DD, as well.

I gave my mom some homemade laudry soap mix ( from this site ). Not sure if she will actually use it, but I thought by bringing it to her, and explaining the benefits, she might give it a go. Time will tell.

 

[Beekissed]

Hear, hear! I agree with the above post. Just making a good attempt to be less helpless, more skilled at making do in case we really have to.

I'm with Pat on the not worrying part. I like to be prepared but noone can be prepared for everything and, frankly, if the world gets that bad I don't want to stick around anyway!

 

[pioneergirl]

I am trying to reduce my trips to the grocery....that in turn burns less gas, which means less emissions. It saves money, as well. I am also trying to reduce my electricity useage. Although the DH is kinda spoiled in that regard, he is gone for a week or 2 at a time, and I conserve during that time.

We were just discussing this very thing last week...what could we live without if we had to? I told him there were tons of things I could do to make us not have to go to the grocery at all, but he was not as for it as I was, lol. He does enjoy bragging to the family about our efforts thus far, and has even said "we don't have to battle the crowds at the store like everyone else" LOL

And thinking on it more and more, I guess its a 'woman thing' for me. What I mean is, proving to myself, and my family that as a woman who spends most of her time alone, I can do things most women won't. I build things, fix things, and really try to do most things on my own. If I have a true problem, I have many people I can call on, but on the whole, I leave people alone, lol.

My BIL said to me, while I was helping him vaccinate hogs "At least you do this, my wife just says 'ewww! I'm not going in there!' "...what could I say to that? I finally said "Well, look at it this way, you go home and your wife still looks/smells good, your brother comes home to a wife (me) who smells like hogs! LOL" So to an extent, I proved to myself and to him that it can be done!!

 

[enjoy the ride]

Maybe there are different ideas of self-sufficiency but the method to get there usually seems to be the same- starts with thoughtfulness. Not just doing what is easiest or advertised or handed down but thinking about it first.
Every time I reach for a paper towel, I think about whether I really need it- lol thanks guys for that post about living without paper towels.

Not having a lot of spare money yet wanting to garden got me started years ago- I planted lots of things in 5 gallon plastic buckets that people were throwing out. I became the queen of "Throwing that out? I'll take it."

 

[MorelCabin]

For as long as I hydro available and other resources I will indeed use them, but I want to be prepared in the event that everything goes down (like a solarstorm or something). I want to have the knowlege and the things I need to live off the land, with out relying on generators and battery cells.
I find it funny that everyone we know has a generator thinking it is the solve to everything:>) I would rather know how to live without even that. Now that is a big learning curve:>)

 

[pioneergirl]

That is a learning curve, for sure! We don't have a generator, and don't think anyone in the immediate family does, either. I am pretty sure, if things got really bad, the family would be here, simply because we have the food, etc ready for that sort of thing!! LOL