Opinions Wanted: Reasonable income for Homesteading family of 3

[Matt B]

I'm doing a little research on possible job options when my family and I begin homesteading. I currently have a job that pays very well, but takes a lot of my time and to some degree leaves me mentally stressed and worn out in the afternoons. It was a career choice I made several years ago that I'm not really interested in at this point (Information Technology). As of right now I'm using this well paying job to get debt free before we make the move and build our modest sized house out in the country. Being debt free and producing a lot of the things we would normally be paying for (veggies, eggs, entertainment (in the form of watching chickens, nature in general and spending time with family and friends)) I figure we could live on much less than what I am making now. I know this will be different for each person depending on where you live in the country, or in the world, so I'm just looking for a general idea of what a reasonable income would be for a homesteading family of 3 (or 4). It would need to produce enough to pay the mortgage and any other bills that are needed plus put away plenty for retirement and rainy days in general.

[ronbre]

i just brought up a post on a free book that this guy is sending people down load it
Free eBook: How to Earn Extra Money in the Country
the post is above right now..if you want to read it..the guy did a lot of reasearch and the book is free and a lot of great information.

[uncle Will in In.]

You can sit down and figure up what the minimum would be to support your daily living. No two families will come up with the same amount. One family can live high on the hog with the same income that the next family would be in serious poverty trying to live on.
When you figure what you will need, don't overlook factoring in unforseen emergencys. When you know what they will cost you will know what you need to get by. You will also be able to make a living fortune telling. A big "Never Touch It" nest egg would help relieve the stress that comes with insuficient funds. Eliminating stress is difficult. <>UNK

[Madame]

Ronbre, thanks for posting that link.

[Mo-Town]

Here's a good rule of thumb regarding housing expenses:

Your total cost of housing (i.e. mortgage, property taxes and insurance) should be less than 1/3 of your take-home pay. I've also heard it suggested that annual maintenance expenses (between 1 and 3 percent of the home's purchase price - depending on its condition) should also be included in one's cost of housing. If you follow this rule of thumb, you should be able to save for retirement and still live comfortably.

[Jennifer L.]

I read on here a lot about people talking about growing food as a way to limit expenses. That's true to a certain extent, but there's no two ways about it, food in the US is relatively cheap. So you may be eating better by growing your own, but I really question if you save huge amounts of money over what it costs to buy in the store. In a lot of cases, for example, chickens, it may even cost you more. My grandfather used to say (born in the 1890's) that you didn't make any money on a hen until she went into the pot. In other words, you're paying right along for those eggs. I can't see where that's changed any today. I'm not saying that to discourage you, because there's really good reasons for providing as much food as you can off of your own land. But I am saying it's penny ante savings if you already come from a good income. If your family eats $10 of food a day, that's $3500 a year on food. If you could save half of it, that's a savings of $1700. With an income of 30K that's a lot of money. If your income now, which you have characterized as good is, say, 75K, then $1700 is kind of small potatos.

A lot of your expenses are going to be the same: Health insurance, car insurance, house insurance, car upkeep, property taxes, utilities. Yes, you may stay home more and your lifestyle may be less expensive than what you have now, but unless you make a concious decision to live with less, it's not going to be cheaper living on a small farm than it is for you now.

I wish you luck with it. Living with nature beats living in the city any day of the week.

Jennifer

As of right now I'm using this well paying job to get debt free before we make the move and build our modest sized house out in the country. Being debt free and producing a lot of the things we would normally be paying for (veggies, eggs, entertainment (in the form of watching chickens, nature in general and spending time with family and friends)) I figure we could live on much less than what I am making now.

You hang onto that good paying job with benefits for as long as you can stand it. Unless you are very resourceful homesteading costs more than it appears on the face of it. And as others have mentioned a lot of the costs of living in modern day America are going to stay the same for you whether you are working outside the homestead or on it

By the time you've gotten out of debt and have built your home you'll have a much better idea of the possibilities. Until then I'd focus on doing what it takes to get to that point.

.....Alan.

[ChristyACB]

Matt,

I'm in much the same position as you. High stress but fairly well compensated job that I'm liking less and less with time, and property for homesteading ready and beckoning to me. But, as tempting as it is, the costs not associated with day to day life are the ones that will get you in the end.

Before considering whether or not you have enough to live on, take a run at getting estimates for self-paid health insurance (even if only catastrophic with everything else self paid).

While some places the average income is 18K and you could do fine on a fraction of what you make now, finding a job there that will supplement you is equally hard and benefits far more scarce since places that have very low average incomes often qualify at federal levels for assistance, therefore, employers simply don't offer benefits.

Also, the larger the garden the cheaper it is per unit to produce. Very small gardens that will give you what your family needs only will probably not be much cheaper than buying fresh elsewhere. A very large garden that doubles as a market garden might actually pay for itself depending on the market.

Good luck with the decision! It is a hard one!

[Gercarson]

The only real reason to have a garden, chickens, etc - is not really to "save" money or to cut expenses in any way - is for personal enjoyment, health and for a time in the looming near future when those things just might not be available through the regular channels. If you have a well paying job - cut your expenses NOW and save, save, save - invest in your homestead NOW and try to buy a fixer upper instead of building. If you plan on staying in the same area you might want to do this now, that way you can still have your job and see how "extreme" you can get with expenses and what it would take to support your family.

[mtnest]

Once you figure out exactly what the dollar amount is to support your family AS YOU LIVE NOW, sit down and make a list of services or products you can offer for sale or trade that will support that income level. Make it easier on yourself by keeping your living expenses based on your comfort level as it is now because taking the leap to eliminating those things you don't feel are "necessary" all at once can be very harsh on you and your family. Choose an item/product you plan to eliminate one at a time giving yourself and family time to adjust before going on to the next one.
Sometimes the headache and stress involved with keeping a current job is not worth the financial benefits BUT I do agree that you should keep the job you have now for just as long as you can stand it before insanity threatens. Once you leave that job, there is typically no going back. Try to get set up with your alternate income source before you quit the current one.
Our situation personally, we went from $58K a year cash in to $10K per year cash in and we're doing okay. Notice, I didn't say we were "fine" just that we are okay for now. We went from renting to buying and my DH from working full time for cash to his working full time in leu of house payment and I am working off the homestead currently for the cash we need. everyone's situations are different so only you will be able to figure out what your family needs to live comfortably and how you plan to support that.

[Katey]

Start living the lifestyle NOW, as much as you can. Track your expenses. That's the only way you'll know what you need.

[Matt B]

I should have been more clear. I really don't intend to live off the homestead. I would love for it to pay for part of itself through a market garden or some other aspect such as that. I will probably always have a job outside of the home. I just don't want to keep THIS job much longer. Too many headaches and aren't worth the trouble (I'm in management). I would like to do some IT related job closer to home and pays good per hour but with fewer hours per week. Perhaps a consulting gig somewhere. I'm thinking if I was debt free, produced as much food as I could for my family on my homestead and had some to sell for extra cash and had a job making $35k - $45k a year I could get by without worrying about feeding my family and have time to spend with them as well.

[Katey]

Well, try living on $35-45K (call it $3500/month, after taxes), plus whatever your current payments are, and see how it feels. Take the "extra" and either bank it or use it to pay down your debt that much sooner.

Don't get caught up in the "once I'm out in the country I won't need or want cable TV/high-speed internet/three cell phones" trap. You may find that you can live without them, but you may also find that you can't. Try it now, before you commit.

[Terri]

For the next couple of months, keep track of your expenses and see how little you can live on.

Yes, our places do produce edibles, but, as you set things up you will need to buy hoses, and tools, and such. You might spend less on food but you will spend some on tools, so you might break even the first year.

KAtey has an excellent suggestion: try living on it and salt away any extra!

[CIW]

We've taken a different route than many here. Our goal has been to create passive income. The result is that we have more discressionary time to use as we would see fit. The time that it takes to manage that is far less than time you would spend working for wages of any kind or rate.
You have a good job. Live conservatively. Pay off all debt. In tandem, invest in ways to multiply yourself. If you don't, when the time comes that you can't produce for yourself, you will have to turn to others to subsist.
I would rather have 1% of 100 men's efforts than have 100% of one mans effort. I'm not saying that you should employ people, but invest in their efforts to gain a dividend.
Lastly don't forget to feed your soul, in whatever way satisifies you.
Based on what's been stated here, many people feed their souls by producing some or all of their food. Most times it isn't for economic advantage.
I see the payoff as choosing how we feed our soul.

Just some thoughts. Good luck

[RosewoodfarmVA]

Originally Posted by Matt B

I should have been more clear. I really don't intend to live off the homestead. I would love for it to pay for part of itself through a market garden or some other aspect such as that. I will probably always have a job outside of the home. I just don't want to keep THIS job much longer. Too many headaches and aren't worth the trouble (I'm in management). I would like to do some IT related job closer to home and pays good per hour but with fewer hours per week. Perhaps a consulting gig somewhere. I'm thinking if I was debt free, produced as much food as I could for my family on my homestead and had some to sell for extra cash and had a job making $35k - $45k a year I could get by without worrying about feeding my family and have time to spend with them as well.

Whew! I know several families, mine included, that have never seen $35k a year! I guess it depends on your lifestyle and what you're used to! We farm for a living and also do side jobs as time allows, and I'd say if we made $35k in a year we'd consider ourselves rich! Even on a much lower income than that listed, we consider ourselves rich because this lifestyle cannot be bought with all the money in the world! When you're your own boss, you set your own schedule, you can work alongside spouse and children, you can work at home instead of in a box, you can work with animals and natural products instead of plastic and industrial equipment, you can walk 100 yards instead of drive 30 minutes to work, you're happy driving a 1986 vehicle instead of a 2006, etc: These benefits cannot be equated to $$.

As the apostle Paul said, "I know how to abound, and I know how to be abased. I have learned to be content in whatever state I am."

There are people making $20K that are content, and people making $100k that aren't!
If you learn now to live within the bounds you choose, then you'll be better adapted to them before you are forced by lifestyle changes to accept them. In other words, let's say you make $75k, learn to live on $40k and place the remainder in savings. If after 2-3 years on $40 you feel that you are happy and satisfied with your financial situation, you can then step out knowing that you will transition easily into that lower level, while at the same time having the additional $$ accumulated from the trial period. Bookkeeping is imperative. We keep a little notebook in the van in which all our incoming $$ and outgoing $$ is recorded. Even $5 is put down 'in the book.' At the end of the year I calculate and itemize all income and expenditures and it always is an eye opener on what we spend and save on! You don't think things add up, but they do, and in odd places too! If you wonder how you can live on less than what you currently make, you need to keep a record of all in and out money, at the end of the year you can see where your main spending is, and what items you can possibly cut down on to make the final spending lower.

[Homesteadwi5]

Originally Posted by RosewoodfarmVA

Whew! I know several families, mine included, that have never seen $35k a year! I guess it depends on your lifestyle and what you're used to! We farm for a living and also do side jobs as time allows, and I'd say if we made $35k in a year we'd consider ourselves rich! Even on a much lower income than that listed, we consider ourselves rich because this lifestyle cannot be bought with all the money in the world! When you're your own boss, you set your own schedule, you can work alongside spouse and children, you can work at home instead of in a box, you can work with animals and natural products instead of plastic and industrial equipment, you can walk 100 yards instead of drive 30 minutes to work, you're happy driving a 1986 vehicle instead of a 2006, etc: These benefits cannot be equated to $$.

As the apostle Paul said, "I know how to abound, and I know how to be abased. I have learned to be content in whatever state I am."

There are people making $20K that are content, and people making $100k that aren't!
If you learn now to live within the bounds you choose, then you'll be better adapted to them before you are forced by lifestyle changes to accept them. In other words, let's say you make $75k, learn to live on $40k and place the remainder in savings. If after 2-3 years on $40 you feel that you are happy and satisfied with your financial situation, you can then step out knowing that you will transition easily into that lower level, while at the same time having the additional $$ accumulated from the trial period. Bookkeeping is imperative. We keep a little notebook in the van in which all our incoming $$ and outgoing $$ is recorded. Even $5 is put down 'in the book.' At the end of the year I calculate and itemize all income and expenditures and it always is an eye opener on what we spend and save on! You don't think things add up, but they do, and in odd places too! If you wonder how you can live on less than what you currently make, you need to keep a record of all in and out money, at the end of the year you can see where your main spending is, and what items you can possibly cut down on to make the final spending lower.

Thats what I was thinking,a 35k dollar year would be great! There's folks around here making 12-15K and doing ok.

[fixer1958]

Overall it cost more to live in the sticks, for me anyway.
Fuel, non paying chicken/duck housing ventures, housing for said animals, feed etc......
Pigs in the process and cattle and fencing in the future. Garden over expenditures.
We eat really well 8 months out of the year. I'm working on that shortfall.

If I didn't have to work and had the income to support the 'possibilities'........lookout!!!!!!!

[Txsteader]

Originally Posted by RosewoodfarmVA

Whew! I know several families, mine included, that have never seen $35k a year! I guess it depends on your lifestyle and what you're used to! We farm for a living and also do side jobs as time allows, and I'd say if we made $35k in a year we'd consider ourselves rich! Even on a much lower income than that listed, we consider ourselves rich because this lifestyle cannot be bought with all the money in the world! When you're your own boss, you set your own schedule, you can work alongside spouse and children, you can work at home instead of in a box, you can work with animals and natural products instead of plastic and industrial equipment, you can walk 100 yards instead of drive 30 minutes to work, you're happy driving a 1986 vehicle instead of a 2006, etc: These benefits cannot be equated to $$.

As the apostle Paul said, "I know how to abound, and I know how to be abased. I have learned to be content in whatever state I am."

There are people making $20K that are content, and people making $100k that aren't!
If you learn now to live within the bounds you choose, then you'll be better adapted to them before you are forced by lifestyle changes to accept them. In other words, let's say you make $75k, learn to live on $40k and place the remainder in savings. If after 2-3 years on $40 you feel that you are happy and satisfied with your financial situation, you can then step out knowing that you will transition easily into that lower level, while at the same time having the additional $$ accumulated from the trial period. Bookkeeping is imperative. We keep a little notebook in the van in which all our incoming $$ and outgoing $$ is recorded. Even $5 is put down 'in the book.' At the end of the year I calculate and itemize all income and expenditures and it always is an eye opener on what we spend and save on! You don't think things add up, but they do, and in odd places too! If you wonder how you can live on less than what you currently make, you need to keep a record of all in and out money, at the end of the year you can see where your main spending is, and what items you can possibly cut down on to make the final spending lower.

I have to agree with this advice. It really depends on your family's lifestyle and where you live (high/low cost of living area). But in general, if you want to live on $40K/yr., you'll find a way to do it.

[Beeman]

Originally Posted by Matt B

I'm doing a little research on possible job options when my family and I begin homesteading. I currently have a job that pays very well, but takes a lot of my time and to some degree leaves me mentally stressed and worn out in the afternoons. It was a career choice I made several years ago that I'm not really interested in at this point (Information Technology). As of right now I'm using this well paying job to get debt free before we make the move and build our modest sized house out in the country. Being debt free and producing a lot of the things we would normally be paying for (veggies, eggs, entertainment (in the form of watching chickens, nature in general and spending time with family and friends)) I figure we could live on much less than what I am making now. I know this will be different for each person depending on where you live in the country, or in the world, so I'm just looking for a general idea of what a reasonable income would be for a homesteading family of 3 (or 4). It would need to produce enough to pay the mortgage and any other bills that are needed plus put away plenty for retirement and rainy days in general.

You say debt free and then you mention a mortgage.

As someone related living in a rural area and homesteading projects added to that make it more expensive, especially if you're starting from scratch. We've been debt free for years, no mortgage either, yet it takes a fair amount to live the way we want. And I'm not talking extravagance here, old vehicles, old TV, old computer and used everything else. We don't live on what we make but the rest goes for those other things you mention like putting money away for retirement, rainy day fund especially for upkeep and repairs. The more stuff you have the more wears out and breaks, especially old and used stuff. Then of course there's the elephant in the corner called health care.