Just making plans, for now

dragonjaze · #1 09/08/10, 08:58 PM

I've started the long, drawn-out process of severing the chains that are tying my soul down (lol, how is that for melodramatic?).

My question: is it better to start stockpiling supplies, such as solar panels and tools, etc, now and for the next couple years, or should I just save the cash now and go on a massive shopping spree once I'm ready to make the move to the yet-to-be-found property?

Also: Hi there! I'm new here

pattycake · #2 09/08/10, 09:03 PM

Hello and welcome dragonjaze! I am pretty new here myself. I will be interested in what the seasoned HST members have to say.

WeaverRose · #3 09/08/10, 09:09 PM

Hi, and welcome!
IMHO, cash may not hold its value, given how things in demand tend to go up and then it takes more to buy them, seemingly every month we see price increases.
Solar panels are pretty pricey, and all that goes with them would be mega-$$$, and if you don't know where they're going to be installed, well...maybe put the money into
setting aside some smaller ticket items. Yard sales and auctions are treasure troves of garden tools, older farm equipment (I simply cannot pass up wheelbarrows, the metal kind, nor can I bypass grain mills, wood cookstoves, and wood boxes for firewood or etc.)
If you purchase some wheat and a simple hand-powered mill, for instance, you can learn to make yummy whole grain bread. Buy a box of canning jars and some fruit at the Farmers' Market, put up jam. Get a container of cream in the dairy aisle, put it into a glass jar, shake the heck out of it, and voila! butter.
There are, as I tell my students, YouTube videos that will teach you almost any skill, which is very handy if you're doing this without mentors.

Good luck on the chains of the soul thing too

CarolynRenee · #4 09/08/10, 09:11 PM

Buy things as you can afford them. Don't save your money for "then" as by "then" your FRN (federal reserve notes) will be worth even less.

Buy QUALITY tools. Go to yard sales, garage sales, estate sales, etc. Second hand quality tools are a good way to save money.

Txrider · #5 09/08/10, 09:14 PM

I think I would slow down a bit on planning, and save every last dime to put toward the yet to be found property. Any plans you make before then will likely change somewhat when you buy, as each property is going to have different needs some of which can be expensive.

plowjockey · #6 09/08/10, 09:17 PM

Well, you will have to pay for it, store it (for several years) and then move it, which may be the worst part.

If you have somewhere to store things, you could start building up a tool collection. Youy will need one of everything.

How much handy work can/will you do to the property? Don't worry about ladder jacks if you are afraid of heights.

Solar panels keep coming down in price.

If you get good deals on used standard lumber 2x4" 2x6" and you have somewhere to stockpile them, go for it. They will be used sometime.

If money is tight, save for the property. After that buy other tools and items, as you need them.

Old Vet · #7 09/08/10, 09:19 PM

I was expecting to hear that you expected a bad turn of events like a collapse of the money system. If you have room buy now but not on credit. Get as debt free as you can. I probably would get that done first then any money you have left over buy things. Welcome to the form.

Callieslamb · #8 09/08/10, 09:25 PM

Welcome
Make a list and prioritize it. What's most important to you? that's what you buy or save for first. Money in the bank is a good thing, but not if there's no water to drink.

Wolf mom · #9 09/08/10, 09:25 PM

Well, welcome to you both!

Actually, I think that your answer depends upon answers to a few questions:

First, do you have a place to store "stuff"? Many homesteaders have a lot of "stuff" stored that they think they might need within the next 10 years...

Myself included. Although at my age, my kids will hate me if I die before I can divest myself of some of it.

Second, After you get your "place", can you move it without it costing more than....

Third, what do you think the economy is going to do within the next few years? How much do you think a dollar will buy a few years from now? The same? more? less?

Fourth, do you have a plan? Better than just buying stuff willy-nilly.

Fifth, and maybe the most important, you a scrounger? Can you picture you using something in the future that you can get for a good buy now?

If you can answer these questions, I think you've answered your first.

You asked about tools : my answer to that is always buy tools if it's a good buy!

And ya' gotta know, you'll get a lot of divergent answers here on just about everything...Just pick & choose what fits for you. What's that saying? Different strokes for different folks.

rambler · #10 09/08/10, 09:59 PM

I would not stockpile 'new' things, like solar panels. I believe they will go down in price per as they become more popular. Manufaturing will become cheaper.

I would not buy new tools that wouldn't be used now. But a good investment would be scouting out old, solid, well-built tools. These will keep their value, and not go bad in storage as no plastic parts, etc. Sometimes one has to wait a while to find these, so collecting a few of these early on sounds good.

--->Paul

Old Vet · #11 09/08/10, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rambler

I would not stockpile 'new' things, like solar panels. I believe they will go down in price per as they become more popular. Manufaturing will become cheaper.
--->Paul

They have come out with a thin panel of what looks like plastic with a solar panel built in. It is flexible and much cheaper. You can buy it at a hardware store and put it on your roof and wire it in and you are done. It is brand new I saw it on the Modern Marvel show tonight. It was so new that it is one of the newest panel around.

Navotifarm · #12 09/08/10, 10:30 PM

Last night I went to a seminar on living off the grid or, more accurately, moving towards living off the grid. One of the things that impresed me most was what was said about amazing technology changes in solar panels and also the costs dropping rapidly. The man had set up a system which cost him $20,000 which a couple of years later (now) he priced out at $14,000. Also because he chose some things wisely for future expansion such as an inverter, he can now double his output for only $10,000. What you want to invest in now is knowledge and experience and fun! Things that can't be taken away from you - or at least not as readily as tangible things.

TnAndy · #13 09/08/10, 10:50 PM

Quite true.

The PV panels I paid 800 bucks each for 3 years ago can now be had for 550.
Inverters/charge controllers, not so much of a drop, and batteries are higher.

ronbre · #14 09/09/10, 07:26 AM

NEVER stockpile anything at full price...always watch for things that are salvaged or on sale...and never buy new things at full price if you don't need them as they generally come down in price over a period of time (such as the solar panels)..

storing some things can actually be worse on them then using them, degrading etc..so things like lumber and glass and solar items shouldn't just be bought and piled..and there is always a chance of things getting stolen..so make sure you have proper storage before you begin to buy and store anything.

use common sense and make sure it is a great deal before you buy ahead.

Txrider · #15 09/09/10, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TnAndy

Quite true.

The PV panels I paid 800 bucks each for 3 years ago can now be had for 550.
Inverters/charge controllers, not so much of a drop, and batteries are higher.

Yup panel prices may go down even farther, both from better technology and a glut of production. They just can canceled a big solar panel factory here in Texas because they decided the market was too saturated. The solar panel market might drive prices down a lot more over the next couple of years.

I have also been looking at buying some bulk panels directly from China, where most of them come from these days, and they can be had pretty cheap. I wouldn't mind buying some from the largest US maker, but they only sell to their own installers.

wy_white_wolf · #16 09/09/10, 08:34 AM

Welcome,

I would concentrate more on learning everthing I could instead of acquiring more stuff. More stuff just means a bigger cave to store it and more chains tieing you down.

Hopefully the next few years will brings some breakthroughs in PV/solar that would make your stuff either outdated or drop drasticly in price. I'd hold off on technology related items.

Skills such as canning, gardening, animal husbandry, etc. doesn't change that much so having them and the items to do them would be worth acquiring.

WWW

geo in mi · #17 09/09/10, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragonjaze

I've started the long, drawn-out process of severing the chains that are tying my soul down (lol, how is that for melodramatic?).

My question: is it better to start stockpiling supplies, such as solar panels and tools, etc, now and for the next couple years, or should I just save the cash now and go on a massive shopping spree once I'm ready to make the move to the yet-to-be-found property?

Also: Hi there! I'm new here

dragonjaze,

Welcome, you sound like Marley's ghost....

Personally I would stockpile cash to be able to buy land with as much cash as I can. The rest will take care of itself and you won't have to stumble over it in the meantime, or move it when the time comes. Don't get the cart before the horse. The place you buy will determine your needs.

geo

Michael Kawalek · #18 09/09/10, 09:46 AM

Hello DJ

I think that WIHH and WWW made a very good points on now is a good time to be working on SKILLS, rather than just accumulation of STUFF. A homestead is not just a location, but a way of life. What you do there makes a piece of land a homestead.

We bought our land a few years ago, but way before then I had already been accumulating the skills that I would eventually be using. I bought my first guns and started learning to shoot and go hunting. I bought a canner and started learning how to make home preserved foods. I learned about grafting and today I am planting trees on my land that I grafted myself from seedling rootstocks I started from store-bought fruit pits. I started gardening and producing some of my own food.

Each of these are little individual steps you can take to lead yourself down the path to a self-sufficient homestead. They also give a little sense of what "life down on the farm" will be like. Find out if these kinds of things give you enjoyment now. Don't wait till you've plopped your self down on a piece of land and you find out there's nothing you can imagine that's worse than having to eat your own canned food!

I myself spend a lot of time at local flea markets. Swab meets where local people come to sell their used stuff in a setting more centralized than a yard sale. I enjoy this for several reasons. First, I get to socialize with a wide variety of people I'd otherwise never meet. Second, I hone skills like dickering that will come in handy. Three, I get things I need cheap, usually pennies on the dollar.

If you want to buy anything right now, I'd suggest getting books on homesteading. Get a copy of Carla Emery's "Encyclopedia of Country Living", and Reader's Digest "Back to Basics". Get a card for your local library and start to patronize it. Start reading up on the homesteading literature out there and learn what other people have accomplished.
Good luck to you,
Michael

Navotifarm · #19 09/09/10, 10:00 AM

Part of severing your chains as you perceive them might entail moving to another state or ecological location (say from desert to green hills or green fields to ocean shore). Sometimes what we do in imagination manifests itself in reality. Give yourself a location on HT so you will draw responses to your questions from folks who are actually there either in body or spirit. It's a kind of psychic anchor and an expression of courage.
And start with where you are. Before I had my land I bought a little truck. Sometimes there are free items by the curb you might need some day. Pity to pass them up! Or perhaps you can sell them to add to your cash stash. Another thing I did (several times) was to buy a mobile home whose owner had severe pronlems like being put in the pokey or a nasty divorce. I still had to pay lot rent but some of my money was going into the Biggie of housing. I had a small piece of land to create a garden in where I could be composting and starting plants I could take with me and learning how to can and dehydrate. People sneer at "trailer park trash." I hated that stigma, but I had some wonderful neighbors to swap gardening knowledge and plants with. One neighbor used to love to fish. He would bring me fish frozen into blocks of ice that were as fresh as if I had caught them myself. I would drive by subdivisions with their poisoned lawns and not a kid on the street, all cooped up with their videos, and be glad for the bad rambunctious rowdy trailer park kids. Mostly. Not when they stole stuff I left outside of course.
In other words, start where you are and move towards where you want to be in terms of stepping stones. I moved from one mobile home to another for years usually at a profit. My original plan was to buy my home then buy land and move the home to the land. Moving your own home to your own land is a plan with merit unless thwarted by local zoning codes, so warp some flexibilty into your plan to allow for those others whose souls are slaves on golden chains.

Freeholder · #20 09/09/10, 11:21 AM

Definitely skills and savings first. Especially work on the skill of living frugally -- it will always serve you well, but especially once you get to your homestead. Living frugally now will help you save to buy your land later. Add tools as you need them for learning a skill, or if you come across a really good buy on something you KNOW you will need later (and you have a safe place to store it). Look for opportunities to offer to help someone as a volunteer, in exchange for learning how to do something, like build a house or prepare a garden. Get a few thousand dollars saved up and start watching the foreclosure auctions for a small house or a mobile home on a few acres. My sister and BIL were watching a place in a small town in Idaho, an older house with shop building and fruit trees on one acre, right next to a river, that ended up selling for under $14,000. The house needed some work (buys like that will nearly always need some work), but it still sounds like a pretty good deal, at that price.

Kathleen