How do people afford this?

[Mama Runner]

I hate how the world has told my generation that we had to go to college in order to be successful in life, and people look down on you if you do not.

Unfortunately you need a good education so people don't take advantage of you. I don't believe in forcing you to go to college for education. But I learned more about what the Crazy world was like in college more than I book learned. The education was the easiest part of college. Everything else was the hard part

 

[Mama Runner]

This!
I have a college education and my husband doesn't. We surprise each other regularly with the things we know and the things we don't know and the things we know how to do and the things we don't know how to do. Life experience is the best teacher. You should learn something (good or bad) from every experience you have in life. It's ok to fail at something, you haven't truly failed unless you didn't learn a thing from the experience. Also it doesn't have to be your own experiences, every person you encounter in life has their own unique set of experiences and you can learn from them as well.

Have a dream.
Make a plan to achieve that dream.
Break it down into small achievable steps.
Work on/towards these steps daily until you reach your dream.

Tell others about your dreams. Get excited about your dreams. Others will be excited for you and others will question you, but you will get great feedback regularly about how to get where you want to.

Amen!!!!!!!!

 

[DuckMom2017]

It seems as though most of y'all commenting started out later in life being self-sufficient had a spouse to help them out. Is it realistic for a young single person to do this?

I'm only 27 and started this journey about 4 years ago
I also have no cable. I do have internet and have a firestick and netflix, but cable is stupid expensive.
I also DO NOT HAVE A SMARTPHONE. Hard to believe, I know. But the bill is astronomical for data and such, and nowadays everywhere has wifi! So I have a tablet that I carry with me and most towns, fast food, etc has free wifi. You can even get it in the parking lot without even having to go it!
I don't eat meat which saves tons, and I eat out quite a bit but I don't spend near as much as if I did! I only drink water (soda and tea is at least $2 a meal most places)
It's the little things that if you make small changes daily it gets easier.
I'm also trying to focus more on re purposing as much as I can!

Society is good at telling people what they "need to live". But if you focus more on what you "need to survive" it can be a very different concept

 

[moomoodiddy]

I'm only 27 and started this journey about 4 years ago
I also have no cable. I do have internet and have a firestick and netflix, but cable is stupid expensive.
I also DO NOT HAVE A SMARTPHONE. Hard to believe, I know. But the bill is astronomical for data and such, and nowadays everywhere has wifi! So I have a tablet that I carry with me and most towns, fast food, etc has free wifi. You can even get it in the parking lot without even having to go it!
I don't eat meat which saves tons, and I eat out quite a bit but I don't spend near as much as if I did! I only drink water (soda and tea is at least $2 a meal most places)
It's the little things that if you make small changes daily it gets easier.
I'm also trying to focus more on re purposing as much as I can!

Society is good at telling people what they "need to live". But if you focus more on what you "need to survive" it can be a very different concept

Do you have a job that required college?

 

[PirateGirl]

Also learn to be handy. Labor is expensive, partly because society currently tells young adults to go to college and we have have less mechanics, electricians, plumbers, etc. Learn to fix everything you can yourself. Find a friends who knows and will teach your something, ask for help when you need help before you hire someone, and even if you hire someone be around when they fix whatever it is and ask lots of questions, you are paying for their time, tap their knowledge. Unplug your own drain/toilet/etc. Replace your own light fixtures. Patch your own hole in the drywall or fix that loose board on your fence or house yourself, clean your own chimney. There are little things you can learn over the years that will help in your journey to be self sufficient but also save you money.

 

[RodNTN]

Above is a good verse, but... I would caution the reader against confusing that with the "gospel of wealth" as is preached by some churches. God does take care of His people, in ways that we can barely begin to fathom, understand, or appreciate. But, he does not promise me that if I put money in the offering plate, that I will become financially rich.

Beware, THINGS can own you.

Luke 16:13 "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

Oh, believe me, I know. I should have explained it better

 

[Mama Runner]

It seems as though most of y'all commenting started out later in life being self-sufficient had a spouse to help them out. Is it realistic for a young single person to do this?

Yes!!!!! Owe my Yes!!!! I learned from before I could walk how to do things. I was lucky enough to have had my great grandparents and my grandmother. They taught me how to forage live off the land. I lived several years backpacking around the USA during summer breaks, then after school went and did it in Africa. My best friends daughter is 19. Now she had a little help from Mom and Dad. They gave her the money to buy some land in Tennessee. She lives on her land in a tent for right now. She doesn't work. She started with 5 Chickens I gave her as a tent warming gift. She sells the eggs at a roadside table stand. She is willing to put the effort in. She is learning as she goes

 

[PirateGirl]

If it's any consolation or encouragement my husband's job pays more hourly without college than my college educated career path.

 

[deepbluesea]

I've been working at it as a single person (divorced single mother of one, at that) for more than 12 years. I'm not debt-free yet and my house and car are both older and modest, but as I've drilled into my now-16-year-old's head, 'we have everything we need and a lot of what we want'. I'm in my late 40s now and I have a plan to be able to stop working full-time within ten years. You can do it!
Also, a good friend of mine who has a degree in hydrology just chucked it all and retrained to be a welder--she's the happiest I've ever seen her.

 

[Mama Runner]

Ok, this is my son's favorite. I don't but SOS or anything scrubby. We reuse the plastic shopping bags. We wadd them up and just scrub away.