Prioritizing Homestead development for upcoming income loss

big rockpile · #21 08/29/14, 08:49 PM

Garden is the Main thing. As far as Meat I like Chickens and Rabbits. Make sure Chickens can't get into Garden.

5 Hens and a Rooster with Incubator can produce plenty Eggs and Chicken. Two Does and a Buck can produce plenty of Rabbit. Main thing is making sure you can kill and butcher.

Goats can be easy or a pain. If I was dealing with them I would have two Does and a Buck.

Wood Heat is good, just know how to use it safely and most places if thought through can be cheap.

Clothes can be got cheap at Garage Sales, Second Hand Stores and Army Surplus.

Hope this helps, Good Luck.

big rockpile

ChristieAcres · #22 08/29/14, 10:12 PM

Plant only Heirloom Seeds, buy the book, "Seed to Seed," and then start harvesting your own seeds. Grow the fruits/veggies that produce the most with the least amount of effort/care. Example? Pole beans out-produce bush beans. Grow vining fruits/veggies vertically, so you can grow more, and sell the extra (if possible). Otherwise, can or otherwise preserve your extra produce. I won't have much out of my area in my neighbor's garden (we have a new property, so no garden yet). Since I canned over 400 jars of food last year and haven't gone through it? There will be no lack of food this Winter. Also, plant fruiting vines, bushes, and trees that do very well in your area. I get an enormous amount of fruit from our Asian Pear trees, as they do very well in our climate. Also, my Liberty Apples out-produce all our other varieties. If you or your DH like to hunt/fish/forage for mushrooms or other wild edibles? Do more of that and preserve it all. If your climate supports a root cellar, put one in.

Thrift type stores have been mentioned. I find the best ones tend to be the ones run by Churches. I just bought a beautiful hand carved solid Mahogany table (curved legs, carved top, with inset glass) for just under $20. I was able to buy crystal wine glasses for $1 each (wedding gift)... There was beautiful women's clothing very inexpensively priced, also.

countrytime · #23 08/30/14, 06:55 AM

I raise 3 children on about $1000.00 a month--it is difficult, but you can do it. I do not have a house payment otherwise I would be in a pickle. The most important is getting as debt free as possible. Insurance and taxes cost the most per month here. Figure out your utilities.
I have a huge garden and can as much as possible.
The kids have goats and sheep for 4-H--they are money PITS!!!! Especially the goats, since lambs bring a lot of money right now. They do eat the brambles however. But have unique health issues and you need to keep them wormed and healthy--definitely picky about what they eat. We are down to 2--cant wait until they are all gone. A good choice however if you would want to drink the milk--we feed ours to the pigs--which produce some great pork for us.
Meat rabbits are definitely a plus for us--cheap, quick, and easy to raise.
Chickens free range mostly in the summer with a little feed and scraps --I only feed them quite a bit in the winter.

**Terri** · #24 08/30/14, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forcast

I have to agree with this one big time.
Heating costs can be very high, electric bills, car insurance, home insurance. I would be socking that money away now.

True!

Every new activity on your homestead has start up costs, and some activities take longer to pay off than others.

A smallish garden may only cost you seeds and, say, $10 worth of fertilizer, since you likely already have shovels and hoses and such. Say $20 total, and by the end of the season you will be seeing a profit, in that you will have harvested and eaten more than $20 worth of vegetables. So a garden is prudent.

On the other hand, if you get into something like bees it will take you a couple of hundred to get started, and how much honey does your family eat? It generally takes a couple of years or longer to see a profit in bees. And, if you start in meat animals it may take you years to see a profit if you need fences and such. With dairy animals i do not know: how much do you spend on milk a week and how much would feed cost you? Dairy animals generally need more than pasture to eat and so the price of feed would eat into your profit. It might be worth it to milk a cow or a goat and it might not: you will need a FAST return to any homesteading ventures!

I usually figure costs and returns before I add a new project to my homestead. For me a small garden was the most profitable, my 4 to 6 laying hens were profitable when the kids were small (because I fed the birds the kid's wasted food) but no longer is as I buy most of their food, and the berries paid me well but there was ZERO profit until the berries were old enough to give me more than a few handfuls of fruit per year.

For example my blackberries gave me zero fruit the first year, 3 berries the second year, a fistful the third year, and by the seventh year they were yielding gallons. So, since you KNOW that things would be tight for the next three years it becomes plain that planting blackberries now will not help you money wise during that time, though if you plant a couple of plants just for fun it will not cost you much either! (Also if you have a friend with blackberries they may just dig up some sprouts and give them to you, which is how I got mine. So mine only cost me some water and fertilizer)

countrytime · #25 08/30/14, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terri

True!

Every new activity on your homestead has start up costs, and some activities take longer to pay off than others.

A smallish garden may only cost you seeds and, say, $10 worth of fertilizer, since you likely already have shovels and hoses and such. Say $20 total, and by the end of the season you will be seeing a profit, in that you will have harvested and eaten more than $20 worth of vegetables. So a garden is prudent.

On the other hand, if you get into something like bees it will take you a couple of hundred to get started, and how much honey does your family eat? It generally takes a couple of years or longer to see a profit in bees. And, if you start in meat animals it may take you years to see a profit if you need fences and such. With dairy animals i do not know: how much do you spend on milk a week and how much would feed cost you? Dairy animals generally need more than pasture to eat and so the price of feed would eat into your profit. It might be worth it to milk a cow or a goat and it might not: you will need a FAST return to any homesteading ventures!

I usually figure costs and returns before I add a new project to my homestead. For me a small garden was the most profitable, my 4 to 6 laying hens were profitable when the kids were small (because I fed the birds the kid's wasted food) but no longer is as I buy most of their food, and the berries paid me well but there was ZERO profit until the berries were old enough to give me more than a few handfuls of fruit per year.

For example my blackberries gave me zero fruit the first year, 3 berries the second year, a fistful the third year, and by the seventh year they were yielding gallons. So, since you KNOW that things would be tight for the next three years it becomes plain that planting blackberries now will not help you money wise during that time, though if you plant a couple of plants just for fun it will not cost you much either! (Also if you have a friend with blackberries they may just dig up some sprouts and give them to you, which is how I got mine. So mine only cost me some water and fertilizer)

Excellent advice!!!

puddlejumper007 · #26 08/31/14, 10:52 AM

lots of good advice given here. only thing i can add is you said you had a walnut tree, do not plant your garden near it, nothing will grow.....

montysky · #27 08/31/14, 09:12 PM

Put in a garden for home use and one for the farmer's market if you have one near by, build up your orchard and add a few chickens. would be a good start and cut spending.

**Terri** · #28 09/01/14, 01:10 PM

Fruit trees do not yield for 2-3 years, and then they only give you a little fruit that first year.

Longer term, fruit trees will give you a lot of fruit, but not for the first 2-3 years.

Jo · #29 09/01/14, 05:15 PM

Great advice!
We recently lost about 1/4 of our income, and this is wonderful advice.

I finally have time to address a garden, and put one in this year... And am working on setting up some rabbits. I've had time to purchase seasonal fruits and veggies, and can/dry some.

The biggest hit to us has been getting the expenses reduced... Dropping the TV Bill required me waiting until 9/16! Only a couple more weeks and I can drop it!!

Work up a budget based on your new income level, and see if you can swing it NOW - saving the spare for your Rainy Day or Emergency Fund.

I began hoarding my income before it disappeared. It helped me buy canning jars, a rototiller, a food dryer, and a couple other things to make my Frugality more doable. :-D

ChristieAcres · #30 09/01/14, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terri

Fruit trees do not yield for 2-3 years, and then they only give you a little fruit that first year.

Longer term, fruit trees will give you a lot of fruit, but not for the first 2-3 years.

That is certainly true of younger less expensive fruit trees. Often, folks buy them to save money.

If one buys more mature trees, they can be purchased already yielding. Although I know it is more expensive, all produced fruit that year, and it exponentially increased. I found that especially true for Pear, Cherry, and Apple trees. The Plum trees were a bit slower. We found Asian Pear trees the highest producing of all of our Pear varieties. Of the Apple varieties, the Liberty Apple trees win by a landslide, both in early production, yearly production, and in the best quality overall.

**Terri** · #31 09/01/14, 08:39 PM

Before anybody invests in rabbits to save money, please check the price of rabbit pellets. Rabbits might or might not be profitable, unless you have an affordable source of feed.

kymountaingirl · #32 09/02/14, 06:12 AM

Hi V-NH,

I was taken by surprise when I read your advice. We were both raised on pig farms. Our grandparents raised gardens, canned for winter, smoked meat, froze it, salted it, they had chickens as well. We rarely went to the store. Made their own soap and candles as well. They hunted for deer, squirl, and rabbit too. We were very poor. As adults, we went to college and strayed from this way of life. We have now moved back to the country and are planning to return to natural ways of living. I assumed, after the initial start up costs, it would be much cheaper to have a homestead. Do you care to elaborate? Thanks so much in advance.

jwal10 · #33 09/02/14, 08:22 AM

You have to keep it simple and be willing to live that way. Animals....we feed oats and peas. Any open dirt is planted to it. We inoculate the peas. Some are fed green, some harvested dry for feed and seed, some is forked under as green manure. We also have grass and clover pasture, some made into hay, by hand. It is fed to the chickens, rabbits, goats and pigeons. DS does buy a bag of pellets to finish the rabbits sometimes, we didn't. We don't push our animals for production but we keep them busy. We do almost everything with manual tools to keep cost down. Our land feeds the animals and the animals feed the gardens. Nothing is wasted. DS does have a dog, the rest of the animals feed us. It is not hard, just takes time and the willingness to do the daily chores and keep it up. I know it is cheaper for us to live this way than buying everything. Less vehicle upkeep and little need to buy gas because we have what we need right here. We are off grid, no TV, internet is through the phone. We are lucky in that we still have an old plan and have full use, not paying minutes. No other bills. We extend the seasons with a small greenhouse and small hoops, eat in season. We grow small animals and eat them fresh. We do can, smoke, dehydrate and have a small freezer but mostly used to make use of excess. Not having to preserve, saves time, money and less resources used. We eat what we grow and grow what we eat, daily. We take advantage of the private timberland around us. We are hunter, gatherers, eat raw or lightly processed. We have a unique situation, gravity fed water, heated with a wood stove, used for electric power, run through the greenhouse, creek and ponds and sustains life. We are very blessed....James

michiganfarmer · #34 09/02/14, 08:36 AM

I would focus on gardening and canning/freezing everything you can. Michigan has a pretty short growing season, and raising cattle for meat can get expensive if you dont have the acreage to raise your own hay, but rabbits breed fast, and can pasture easily on a small acreage.

**Terri** · #35 09/02/14, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kymountaingirl

Hi V-NH,

I was taken by surprise when I read your advice. We were both raised on pig farms. Our grandparents raised gardens, canned for winter, smoked meat, froze it, salted it, they had chickens as well. We rarely went to the store. Made their own soap and candles as well. They hunted for deer, squirl, and rabbit too. We were very poor. As adults, we went to college and strayed from this way of life. We have now moved back to the country and are planning to return to natural ways of living. I assumed, after the initial start up costs, it would be much cheaper to have a homestead. Do you care to elaborate? Thanks so much in advance.

Probably because initial starting costs can get expensive.

am1too · #36 09/02/14, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danaus29

Aldi's also takes only cash and debit transactions and you have to pay grocery cart rental. Something Aldi's shoppers know but new customers don't.

Ya gets yer quarter back when ya return de cart.

haypoint · #37 09/02/14, 02:44 PM

Most beginning "homesteaders" spend more on gardening than they would get from a farmer's market. Soon, everyone's gardens will be harvested. Buy tomatoes from those that over planted, can the tomatoes. Stock up on their stuff while it is cheap.
If the child keeps you too busy to cook from scratch now, a garden will eat too much time than you may have.
If there were some formula for living good on the cheap, everyone would do it.
If you can buy fresh eggs in the grocery store for under a buck, feeding chickens through the winter or buying chicks isn't saving money.You haven't time to grow an orchard. Strawberries and raspberries are a luxury.
Can you get licensed as a Day Care and take in children? Keeps you home wwith your child and making an income.

michael ark · #38 09/02/14, 05:54 PM

Classify everything in simple terms. Will it make me money or will it save me money.
Another way to prioritizing what can i do with what's on hand now .Hire out anything that would drive you to madness to do or out of your skill sets, you can't do it all.

countrytime · #39 09/02/14, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terri

Before anybody invests in rabbits to save money, please check the price of rabbit pellets. Rabbits might or might not be profitable, unless you have an affordable source of feed.

We have done O.K.--BUT we have good breeding stock---that makes a world of difference. We have bought breeding stock that didnt grow--were terrible mothers, etc...just like any other livestock you have to start with good MEAT stock--not necessarily show rabbits (ours do both, we are lucky)--but meat comes first.
We buy pellets--good, expensive pellets (18.25 a bag)--but it does make a huge difference in the rabbits.
The cost comes to around the same if I were to buy other meat at the store--a 2 1/2 -3 lb carcass (9 - 10 week old fryer) costs me right about $8 to raise. We do not eat any store bought meat...

dehendrick · #40 09/02/14, 11:42 PM

Thank you all for taking the time to reply! We will be okay on the lesser income so I'm not looking for extremes - it is a conscious choice for my husband to take this career change - not like getting laid off - so we have prepared financially for it. There has been a lot of great advice! I'm looking to make wise investments in the homestead to make sure I'm making progress and keeping busy in the next two years - spending some money while we have it.

While we do try to live without great luxury, we homestead (or hobby farm) for the lifestyle, control over our food, and to lessen our environmental impact - not necessarily to save money.

I really enjoy hearing from all of you!