Do you have a job off of the homestead?

I'm a teacher. Wifey works from home as an interior designer. We are more of a hobby farm, ours isn't for income, it's for happiness and keeping us sane.

So true! Keeps me sane, and no one understands why I won't go anywhere else on the weekends and just want to be home! And makes us very happy...

But of course. Homesteading is expensive. It takes money to buy land and equipment and feed if you have animals. Then you must add the extra cost to commuting to the job since we don't live in town. It would be much cheaper for us to live in a small apartment close to work and simply buy what we want from the store but then what would we do with our time. This is a lifestyle choice and there are much easier ways to make money but I can't think of anything more fun to do with my money.

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Living Large Down on the Farm.

I started farming on my own in 1970 when my Grandfather passed away. I was 12. I had 60 sheep and 20 cows. I grew wheat and increased the farm to 1000 acres of wheat and peppermint. Bought another 1000 acres of hillside for cattle and sheep pasture. Did that until 1992, harvested my last crop, sold out and moved to town. Health problems had taken their toll. It took 2 years to get my health back. I worked part time managing a cattle ranch for 2 years, worked in a feed store for another then took a town job in Public Works department, water division. 16 years, retired as supervisor. We lived 1 year in our off grid cabin and the mayor here wanted me to help out in the Public Works Department as the director, part time for almost 2 years. We moved into a little cottage we bought and remodeled in the 1980s. We have grown or gleanned most of what we have eaten since we got married in 1976. I hope to retire before next winter and move back to the off grid cabin full time....James

Here on our modest homestead, DH runs his own Machinist/Welding shop, while I work out of my home office in real estate work. I spend usually two days/week in the in-town Realty office. In addition, our property is a licensed Home Nursery. I have begun teaching classes relating to gardening and homesteading, too. On occasion, I also do consulting work. Although I do sell a lot of plants, seeds, and Comfrey related products, most of our produce is grown for us. On occasion, we sell eggs.

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Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

Yes, I have a part time job (3-4 days a week) at a machine shop. I also do screenprinting from home and a house cleaning service from home. The homestead stuff is all "my thing", so I do all that myself as well. In the end, it's worth it.

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Most farms have mortgages, so somebody is loaning people money to farm. I know the Amish get farm loans very easily. Its hard for anyone to get a loan for any business these days, farming is no different.

I still do not understand some of the people who say their homesteading is an 'expensive hobby' and etc. My homestead makes it possible for me to live and eat well with very little money. Must be they are doing something wrong

Cutting my own wood costs me about 25 dollars a year and saves me thousands in heating costs. My sheep graze on grass ( no feed cost ), I grow some of my own chicken feed and give scraps, rabbits eat grass, hunting is cheap, growing veggies is practically free....IDK where all the cost is supposed to be. This is the cheapest living I've ever experienced

I work 1 full time and 1 per diem/part time (most times it ends up being full time hours lol) I am a nurse, hubby stays home to take care of all the chores. It makes sense for us as I can make more working 1 extra 12 hour shift than hubby can make working full time. When everything is paid off in a few years I hope to cut back, but right now we are just starting out. I do avidly read every thread where people talk about ways to make money from their place as I would love to get something set up now while I'm able to work to pay for it to get started but....

I have worked off farm, first a 40 then a 20 from 68 thereabouts to 2010

I work in the Grand Canyon and use my earnings to build up my homestead. Since I have no mortgage my plan is to get the homestead to the point of self sufficiency and hopefully a small profit. If it actually works, I'll quit working at the big hole and put my full time efforts into making the homestead grow.

Yep, I have had an off farm job ever since I bought my place, sometimes one full time and a couple of part time jobs. I have my place paid for now thanks to a couple of part time jobs.

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Be yourself - no one can tell you that you're doing it wrong!