Homesteading / Simple living / Downshifting... anyone?

[tobin123]

I feel the same way,I would love to kick the cable GOOD-BYE,but hubby and son reallylike the hunting shows and RFDTV.I like it a little to but I am not that attached as I thought.the phone~we need a land line BC no high speed out here in the boonies.We do have cells(we are trying to figure out if we want to go to only 1 cell) to talk to each other BC the computer is always on for schooling or recipes,or blogging it.I am slowly tring to creep/disconnect from the high flying real world into a slower breath taking world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I hate going shopping for clothes lately we do all the shopping at yard sales.I have not bought our son any clothes from a store(besides undies)I have a fellow saler who has a son a little bigger than my son and I buy all his clothes and shoes.Let me tell you the first time I went I called my hubby after to tell him what I got for what I paid he sent me back the next day.We hit her sale the first day she opens.I have been finding a lot of clothes as well.
RECYCLE>>>>When you use a piece of paper and than you throw it out,STOP,if you can still use the back side,just fold it in half and tear it in the middle ,there you have some scrap sheets to google or make notes on!!!!I have a huge stack by the computer.When I am done I put into the recycle box.RECYCLE REUSE
>>>>>Old socks or clothes that are done with.Cut up into patches or cleaning clothes.

????I need to know what #'s to recycle on plastic,I have a lot of gatorade bottles????????

 

[Boyd]

I've been learning to live on less over the past two years. Loss of jobs both the wife and I and living off our residual incomes.... So a house of 8 all times and swells to 12 to 13 on the weekends..

I hunt, we all fish, we put in a large garden and put up our food we grow. I have 2 types of canners and can use both, teaching my kids how to take any food source and make a meal on the cheap, we for the most part make home made... and for those who think it's more expensive....... not if you are growing or making most of your own ingredients. Home Made bread is made for pennies, often times with leftovers tossed into the dough to liven it up.

The family is starting to get back into meat rabbits. I've had them in the past and my dad has gotten the bug. Now he's got 4 does ready to kindle at the end of the month. That meat source is also cheap to raise for yourself, and you can control what goes into their diet.

tonight was a fresh salad and sloppy joes

Cheap quick n easy dinner.

As the lifestyle goes though, I still use gas powered equipment out here, and want to switch over to more sustainable methods. We double dug the new garden plot this year versus the tiller and will see how that works out. My mowing will still be done by gas for now though.....

 

[iajewel]

Here is a good homesteading blog http://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/homestead-blog.html

 

[BigSkyChickens]

Great posts, everyone!

Another thing I'm trying to do: get rid of things I don't need, and stop accumulating more. This is easier said than done!

Perhaps you guys can help me with this one:

I have an extra 2010 Farmer's Almanac. It's got sunrise/sunset times for Boston, MA. Just PM me....and I will happily mail it to you.......first come, first serve.

Okay, it's outa here! Spoken for by Want Less.....Hooray - thanks for helping me lighten the load!
Thanks!

 

[momma's chickens]

I would love the extra Farmer's Almanac, that would be awesome. I am not anywhere near close to Boston though.

 

[speckledhen]

Downshifted about 8 years ago. Hubby voluntarily left his well-paying job to live on his retirement pay. Took two steps back in house size/price. We went from about 60-70K a year to about 14K. If we had known the economy was going to tank like it did, not sure what we would have done, however, we are in better shape than many who had all their installment payments and big houses. The disposable income is probably about the same as it was on the high salary, considering we have no payments other than the small house payment and the quarterly life and health insurance costs (which are going up--may have to drop the life insurance, but it ends at DH's 65th birthday anyway) and utilities.

ETA: BTW, we have no pay TV or cell phones, either.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Well I think this Back to Basics idea is catching. I have been selling chicks since Holy Week and the people who have been coming have been asking questions on how to......There are a lot of people that want to know how to do it all.
I think I would like a few outhouses next. My parents just willed a large piece of forest land to me, in addition to the family house I already reside in and know I am getting and I think I could stand to have something to relieve myself when I am in the garden or in the woods.
I just can't stop my brain from working.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I'd like to know where this idea that homesteading is "simple living" came from.

I've been actively homesteading for nearly the last ten years now and life has become anything but "simple!"

"Simple living" is a house in the suburbs where one goes to the grocery for everything that you eat, a lawn service takes care of your yard, and your biggest decision of an evening is what to have for supper and what television shows to watch afterwards.

Homesteading is anything but simple. It's danged complex when you are in it up to your elbows.

.....Alan.

 

[ChickenToes]

My husband and I live very simply, and are much happier for it. We watch other people drowning in debt and bills, and sit back and shake our heads.

We do have animals, and every animal we have serves a purpose.

We have 5 ducks and 1 chicken for eggs and entertainment. Right now I am drowning in duck eggs. The feed for 5 ducks and 1 chicken costs roughly $7 a month, which is what I would be spending on storebought eggs. If we add more ducks, the feed gets too expensive.

I have a pet rabbit for manure.

The dog is mostly for companionship, but she is rather large and does serve as a 'scares strangers away' dog sometimes. They only see the raised hackles, not the wagging tail!

She's a Bloodhound, so we can also take her hunting. She's great at tracking deer and flushing grouse.

If we ever move to a place with more land, I will have a milk cow. (Can't do goats - I'm sensitive to that 'goaty' flavor.)

I compost and grow a garden every year. This year I'm trying out square foot gardening. I am also planting a medicinal herb garden. I do a lot of canning and freezing every year to preserve the harvest.

Every time we cut down trees on the property, I try to plant more. We just planted 5 lilacs.

I make all the soap we use, and I make laundry detergent. I clean mostly with baking soda and vinegar. I only wash clothes in cold water and line dry them whenever the weather is permitting.

I have learned how to make pasta, bread, sourdough bread, flour tortillas, ricotta cheese, yogurt, and buttermilk.

We do not have cable or satellite. We do have a lot of movies, but I buy them used. I also buy about 95% of my books used. My husband has a cell phone, but the company he works for pays for it. Most of my clothes come from Goodwill.

My father-in-law is a logger, and my husband logs in the winter. My FIL has a sawmill, so whenever we do a little remodeling on the house, the lumber is free and easy to come by.

We do what we can. We are much happier living this way than a lot of people we know that live the typical 'American dream' - having 2 vehicles, 1 or both of which they make payments on, having a house they can't afford, and living above their means.

 

[ChikeeMomma]

A.T. Hagan :

I'd like to know where this idea that homesteading is "simple living" came from.

I've been actively homesteading for nearly the last ten years now and life has become anything but "simple!"

"Simple living" is a house in the suburbs where one goes to the grocery for everything that you eat, a lawn service takes care of your yard, and your biggest decision of an evening is what to have for supper and what television shows to watch afterwards.

Homesteading is anything but simple. It's danged complex when you are in it up to your elbows.

.....Alan.

I'm not sure why it's called "simple living," either. Your right - it's not, but it's satisfying!​