Chasin' a Dream

nbone · #1 09/09/08, 10:42 PM

How many here are in that loonngg journey too fulltime Homesteading, meaning trying too get over that hump, of leaving the 40hr. a week grinder job that honestly you have too say you hate? I have been close too 10 yrs now using my job too help finance a dream, that at times seems stays out of reach. I have bought an old farmhouse (major renovations)on 18 acres, repaired outbuildings,equipt both woodshop and a weld shop, built fence, chicken coop,raising goats,rabbits, chickens,all financed with money earned from the job I hope too someday break away from. Job takes Me away from home for 4 days a week, at home for 3.Its out of state so I am truely gone for 4 days every week. Is hard on the family too say the least. Has been a dream too work from home for years, have spent all these years trying too get there. Truth is I feel like I am just wearing down, getting tired..Have come too far and invested too much time and money too give up now,just curious if others have hit these lows, when you start too wonder if its going too ever come together. The job situation is really pretty crazy, like living two seperate lives, a crappy feeling packing My backs on Wednesday too leave, and a happy feeling Saturday night too come home. Gotta hope it pays off in the end, If I can make a living from home someday it will be All worth it.Just gotta keep pluggin away..please excuse if this sounds like a whining rant..was just on My mind..

stonecypher · #2 09/09/08, 11:28 PM

My hubby also travels half of every week for a living as part of our plan to get back to the land and homestead, so I sympathize with your feelings. I asked him what he thought of your post and if he had any advice for you and, for what it's worth, here's what he said:

*Do you know when enough should be enough? At what point will you say I’ve achieved what I set out to with this place, and now I can quit the job I hate? Will there always be something else that you think you have to do with the property?

*You obviously have the determination to stick with a crappy situation to achieve your goal. Do you have the determination and a plan to stop and pay the bills from your carpentry and animal husbandry skills?

We both wish you luck in realizing your dream. Keep your eye on the prize and hang in there.

ErinP · #3 09/10/08, 10:10 AM

We'll probably never be able to do it full time.

DH and I have looked at this from all sorts of angles over the years.
We've pretty much modified the dream to where we have enough outside income sources that we'd be okay.
My online store, my sub. teaching, he's currently a full-time ranch manager, but hopes to one day get down to just doing day work (basically "subbing" in ranching). That way we still have the independence of self-employment, but income is always coming in.
The chickens'll continue to provide eggs. We'll continue to grow a garden, and the calf crop can just be gravy.

nbone · #4 09/10/08, 10:45 AM

Good too hear the replys , Stonecypher and Erin. Stone your hubs right, You do need too try too set the point where enough is enough,Because there will always be More you need, Good point, Need too put some planning and energies into putting that end in sight, and move too the next, phase. Good luck too all that are trying too live this lifestyle, As I surely know the demands and sacrifices.Maybe its trying too live in a way that is outdated in this society, but sure seems so "right". Nah, I won't give up, always been pretty hardheaded! Ha Ha. I have sooo Many too prove wrong now, many think all this effort is nuts. but thats coming from apartment dwellers.Guess I'm kinda the oddball in their eyes, don't tell anybody..but I kinda like it!

RVcook · #5 09/10/08, 11:23 AM

Unfortunately, your internal struggle is shared by many. The biggest factor seems to be how to pay for the 'basics' like property taxes, all insurance, major repairs, etc. if an ongoing source of income wasn't available.

You sound like you've got a solid long-term plan and have been doing the necessary things to make the transition easier once you get to the place when you 'pull the plug.' Good for you! Like you, DH and I have always been considered a bit 'strange' for our beliefs like wanting to produce our own food, living in a rural area instead of the city where we were both raised, building simple energy saving projects, composting...but we find comfort in being (relatively) self-sufficient.

Of course for us, self-sufficiency also includes income provided by the military in the form of monthly benefits. Grant you, we live on much less than our city friends do, but our lifestyle is wayyyyyyyyyy different from theirs and we sure like that we're not tethered to a J-O-B...and all the other things that accompany it.

Keep the dream and continue making strides toward getting there. Crunch the numbers to see how you can make it happen sooner. See what skills are needed in the area and perhaps you could make a 'go' of it with something you do part-time from the homestead. Most around here do handyman, lawn work or repair stuff and seem to do OK financially...well, at least from what I hear. You can do this if you believe you can.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

RVcook

Beeman · #6 09/11/08, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nbone

How many here are in that loonngg journey too fulltime Homesteading, meaning trying too get over that hump, of leaving the 40hr. a week grinder job that honestly you have too say you hate? I have been close too 10 yrs now using my job too help finance a dream, that at times seems stays out of reach. I have bought an old farmhouse (major renovations)on 18 acres, repaired outbuildings,equipt both woodshop and a weld shop, built fence, chicken coop,raising goats,rabbits, chickens,all financed with money earned from the job I hope too someday break away from. Job takes Me away from home for 4 days a week, at home for 3.Its out of state so I am truely gone for 4 days every week. Is hard on the family too say the least. Has been a dream too work from home for years, have spent all these years trying too get there. Truth is I feel like I am just wearing down, getting tired..Have come too far and invested too much time and money too give up now,just curious if others have hit these lows, when you start too wonder if its going too ever come together. The job situation is really pretty crazy, like living two seperate lives, a crappy feeling packing My backs on Wednesday too leave, and a happy feeling Saturday night too come home. Gotta hope it pays off in the end, If I can make a living from home someday it will be All worth it.Just gotta keep pluggin away..please excuse if this sounds like a whining rant..was just on My mind..

I've been struggling at it for 23 years. I actually reached a point of having a business on my property, full time support the whole deal business. It made good money and supported our life style and gave me time at home with my kids. Unfortunately in reality I was treading water but the water kept rising. Insurance kept going up and the reality of social security not providing security and taxes going up reality just kept creeping in. Of course being self sufficient means accepting responsibility so once the kids were older it was off to work I go. I drive a truck so I go out of state, at first it was 3 1/2 days gone and 3 1/2 days home, now it's home every other evening and weekends. Hoping soon to be home every evening and weekends. I don't know if I'm seeing a way to return home for good for some time, especially with health care costs rising and of course we're getting older. Also the reality that my wife is younger so no medicare (if it exists) for her and I'm the one with the health insurance. I guess I could take the chance of no insurance, but I really don't see it happening. I did that years ago when we first started this journey, I paid off every dime of 3 separate hospital bills back when they were affordable, they're not even possible to pay off in a lifetime any more.

lorian · #7 09/11/08, 09:03 PM

The dream takes a lot longer than you think it will! Our dream has come about in steps.
First, we bought a trailer in the country-commuted
Second, we bought a place in the city-hated it
Third, we gave up a good paying job in the city so we could move to the country together
BUT
we are just now, 24 yrs married, getting to the point where my DH can work at his home shop and support the family. Not at all easy but worth it.
I was again reminded how "worth it' it was after a visit to suburbia. Yuck........never want to go back again and willing to sacrifice a lot to stay here.

Don't give up but don't sacrifice your family either. It was our faith and lots of hard work that saw us through.

**Terri** · #8 09/12/08, 06:16 AM

I have not even tried to be self sufficient, so take this for what it is worth.

I saved some money by gardening, so I put in fruit trees, then chickens, then bee hives, etc,

There is no more money than there was before, because I keep reinvesting it in money-saving agriculture operations.

Might you be facing a similar thing?

My husbands uncle was a very old-fashioned farmer. But, when the economy went bad he made no profit off of his calves so he took a part-time job. He was able to feed himself but there are always taxes and utities. On the GOOD side, he liked the job and he only was working at it a couple of days a week.

deaconjim · #9 09/12/08, 06:45 AM

Perhaps a different approach would be better.

As much as I would love to live completely off the homestead and never have to go to another job, that doesn't seem likely. At least for now, it is necessary for me to work at a regular job to pay the bills and provide insurance, etc.

That being said, a "regular job" does not have to be "the 40hr. a week grinder job that honestly you have too say you hate". I was once there in the "grinder job", working more hours than I had to for the sake of the mortgage(s) and bills. We had lots of stuff, but no time and no joy.

We gave that up, and rid ourselves of the excess stuff to which we were enslaved. We have gone from owning 4 homes to renting, but that "frog in a blender" feeling is gone. As many of the folks here know, we've had quite an interesting journey over the past couple of years, and now we are finally seeing the fruits of our labors. We have our little homestead now, and I have finally gotten a new job that promises to be far from the "grinder job" that I've had in the past.

Part of our turn around was a change in attitude on my part. For years, I saw my job as who I was, and I constantly worked to find a way to change my job so that I could be who I really wanted to be. Over time, I came to realize that my job does not define me, it simply finances my lifestyle. I was free to be who I wanted to be, and the job was simply a means to an end. That realization was quite liberating.

I had to be able to step out of my comfort zone and take a few chances, and doing so has made a huge difference in our lives.

minnikin1 · #10 09/12/08, 07:21 AM

Your method of reaching the goal sounds much like ours -
a step at a time over years and years.

Some of our biggest accomplishments came not because we were ready to take another step - but because life gave us a push ---- job layoffs, for example. You can accomplish so much more than you think - when you have no choice.

We are at the same place with you, now. One person remains very unhappily
employed while we wrap a few final loose ends.
One thing that has helped -
We have a list of things that need to be done before he should quit, but we don't do those projects anymore.
Now we just buy the materials and set them aside. He can complete the projects later, when he has the time.

Every time he has a really bad day at work, he consults our list and sure enough, in his irritated state of mind he can find something that doesn't seem so important anymore, and he scratches it off.

We got Amish neighbors a few years ago and watching how they do things has been very helpful to us, as well. It gives new meaning to 'keeping up with the Jones!' (er, Millers...)
Each family has a income producing endeavor - dairying, shed-building,
etc. AND each family has smaller income supplementing projects - little farm stands, bread, quilts, picnic tables....

And each family is BIG.... It takes many hands!

Unfortunately mine is a family of 2.... We haven't figured out how to get over this hurdle yet!

Hang in there. You're not alone, and when you get down about it, just
remember to think hard about the alternative.....

Beeman · #11 09/12/08, 08:59 AM

Another thing you should put on your to do list is to find older people that have done what your dream is. In many cases that will show you whether or not it is feasible for you. Unless you have a large family support group that you can depend on your later years can become a problem. I've seen a few that end up being dependent on the gov't to survive when they get older and the expenses overtake them. Are you comfortable with that?

nbone · #12 09/14/08, 05:57 PM

Thank you all for the replys, I am "back for the rest of the week, till Wednesday.So many great points, is a good feeling too know you're not the only one facing or have faced these same stuggles.You are right terri, I too tend too constantly reinvest most all the money I can back into cost saving,and or projects, vicious cycle. I think you may have hit the nail on the head Deaconjim, about the job , the attitude, feeling I need too change the job too change Myself,I do tend too think when I leave there, all can now be well, like leaving there has become the goal, not My other plans.I showed your post too My wife, she just smiled, "sound familiar?" She knows this job has grown into a very ugly monster, Ha Ha. I know the feeling of being considered abit odd, as in, not wanting all the toys, prefering too live away from city, raising own food etc, Its much like work, when there its 12 hours, inside, concrete floors floresent lights, no windows, sooo not Me, like a fish out of water, and no one hardly, that can even relate too My vision of truely enjoying life.but I guess you all have experienced that. Thanks again too all that weighed in, it really does help too hear from others that understand the situation. Got too head out too barn too check on very pregnant goat! We are anxiously awaiting some new arrivals , One night this week the whole family will be out in the barn, I'm useally the watch when I am here, and go wake everyone up, as requested.Can't have that experience livin in the city!