This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Life on the farm is a beautiful mix of hard work, dedication, and the simple joys of nature. But it can also bring its share of financial stress, especially when every dollar counts. If you're juggling the demands of running a farm, supporting your family, and managing a tight household budget, you know how overwhelming it can be to make ends meet.
Below are the tips I have used to help evaluate home expenses, distinguish between what is a need and what’s extra, and manage your income wisely. Let's explore some practical budgeting tips tailored for farm wives.
Keep a "Blow" Budget
It might sound counterintuitive, but setting aside about 10% of your income for fun or "blow" money can actually help you stick to your budget. This small allowance for impulse purchases can prevent feelings of deprivation and reduce the likelihood of overspending elsewhere. In our home the "blow" fund is further divided between 3 ways: myself, my husband, and the whole family (kids). The whole family is usually used for TV subscriptions and eating out.
Action Step:
- Allocate 10% of your monthly income to a separate fun money fund. Use this for little treats or spontaneous buys without guilt.
Assess Your Subscriptions
Subscriptions can be sneaky budget busters. It's easy to lose track of all those monthly charges, but they add up quickly. One we found many of was TV subscriptions. We evaluated which ones we use the most and got rid of the rest. Trick ones are the subscriptions for apps on your phone.
Evaluate Your Subscriptions:
- Forgotten Subscriptions: Go through your bank and credit card statements to identify any subscriptions you might have forgotten about. Then go through your phone to find any reoccurring app charges you may have forgotten about.
- Necessary vs. Unnecessary: Ask yourself if each subscription is something you truly need and use regularly.
Action Step:
- Cancel any subscriptions that you don't use or need. This could save you a significant amount each month.
Build an Emergency Fund
Having a financial cushion for surprise expenses or emergencies is crucial. It provides peace of mind and prevents you from going into debt when unexpected costs arise.
How Much to Save:
- Aim to save a certain percentage of your income each month. Even a small amount adds up over time.
Action Step:
- Set up a separate savings account and automate a monthly transfer to build your emergency fund gradually. We took this a step further and have different saving accounts for different categories: emergency, repairs, and kids education.
Swap for Savings
Take a close look at the products you use around your home. Are there opportunities to swap for less expensive but equally effective alternatives?
Potential Swaps:
- Household cleaners, groceries, and personal care items are often areas where you can find cheaper options without sacrificing quality. In a real pinch, vinegar can make an excellent all purpose cleaner, and tallow soap can wash most things.
Action Step:
- Experiment with lower-cost alternatives for a month and see how they compare. You might be surprised at the savings!
Sell Unused Items
Decluttering can be both therapeutic and profitable. Do you have items lying around that you no longer need? Consider selling them to fill small budget gaps in the short term.
Possible Items to Sell:
- Clothing, toys, farm equipment, or household items that are in good condition but no longer used. Extra garden produce, seedlings, or equipment are also seasonal items that can help fill budget gaps.
Action Step:
- Hold a garage sale or list items on online marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace or eBay.
Reevaluate Insurance
Insurance is essential, but it's also worth checking if you could get better rates elsewhere. Combining policies can also save money with some companies.
What to Look For:
- Compare quotes from different providers to see if you can get the same coverage for less.
Action Step:
- Reach out to multiple insurance companies and request quotes to ensure you're getting the best deal.
Consider Your Vehicle
A newer vehicle with a payment can be a significant financial burden. If feasible, selling it and purchasing a reliable older model without a payment can free up a substantial portion of your budget.
Benefits of an Older Vehicle:
- Lower insurance costs, no monthly payments, and less depreciation. One thing to keep in mind is to have money set aside, more than with a new vehicle, as things will break down or wear out with older vehicles.
Action Step:
- Assess the market value of your current vehicle and explore older, reliable models that fit your needs. Be sure the older model is mechanically sound.
Managing home expenses on a tight budget, especially as a farm wife, is no easy feat. But with careful planning and a few strategic changes, you can create a more stable financial environment for your family and farm. Remember, every small step towards better budgeting helps you move closer to a thriving, peaceful life.
Wanting more? Join the Thriving Through Farm Life group on Facebook. There you will find like minded women who are working towards a more stable, peaceful, and resilient life on the farm.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Thriving Through Farm Distress: Wife’s Support Network! In our community, we embrace the challenges of farm life and provide a supportive space for wives facing the complexities of managing a family farm. Whether you're navigating financial pressures, day-to-day operations, or seeking ways to create a thriving home, we're here for you. Explore gardening and preserving tips for cultivating your own oasis, share insights on animal care, and discover practical family budgeting strategies. Together, let's grow through challenges, flourish authentically, and sow the seeds for a resilient and thriving farm life. Join us on this journey of resilience and abundance!
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So, I MADE MY OWN. You can look at it on the link below and buy it on amazon below.
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally from the Inside Out community!! This community is for Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically, all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years of my journey. We have moved off Facebook, to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly options for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Managing finances in a household requires a blend of foresight, flexibility, and collaboration. Much like navigating through different seasons, a family's financial situation can oscillate between periods of abundance and times of scarcity. The key to weathering these fluctuations lies in meticulous planning and effective communication.
Save During the Flush Times
Life, with its ebb and flow, presents moments of both opportunity and challenge. It’s prudent to tuck away a portion of your income every month, but even more during prosperous times, creating a safety net for when unexpected expenses arise or during periods of financial drought. This safety reserve acts as a buffer, ensuring you’re prepared for whatever life throws your way without having to compromise your lifestyle significantly.
Leverage Available Support
Pride should never stand in the way of seeking out available support, be it from government programs, community initiatives, or family assistance. Various resources are designed to provide a helping hand in times of need, offering anything from financial aid to counseling services. These supports can serve as crucial lifelines, helping to stabilize your family's financial and mental well-being when you find yourself in a tight spot.
Engage in Open Financial Conversations
Fostering an environment where financial matters are openly discussed with your partner or family can significantly ease the management of household finances. Involving your loved ones in financial planning and decisions not only promotes transparency but also ensures that everyone is aligned with the family’s financial goals and strategies. Such open dialogues can prevent misunderstandings and foster a shared responsibility toward financial health.
Navigating family finances is as much about collaboration and mutual support as it is about planning and saving. It embodies balancing short-term needs with long-term goals, all while ensuring the wheels of daily life keep turning smoothly. Adaptability is crucial; being prepared to recalibrate your financial plan in response to life’s changing circumstances can help secure your family's financial stability and peace of mind.
In essence, the management of household finances is an ongoing process, one that requires patience, resilience, and collective effort. Whether it’s through saving a portion of your income for a rainy day, utilizing available resources, or maintaining open lines of communication with loved ones, each step you take is an investment in your family’s financial future. Remember, consistent, small efforts can lead to substantial results over time, ensuring that you and your loved ones can enjoy both stability and prosperity. Wishing you success on your financial journey.
For more support with those who understand, join the Free Facebook group Thriving Through Farm Loss: Wife’s Support Network.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Thriving Through Farm Loss: Wife’s Support Network! In our community, we embrace the challenges of farm life and provide a supportive space for wives facing the complexities of managing a family farm. Whether you're navigating financial pressures, day-to-day operations, or seeking ways to create a thriving home, we're here for you. Explore gardening tips for cultivating your own oasis, share insights on animal care, and discover practical family budgeting strategies. Together, let's grow through challenges, flourish authentically, and sow the seeds for a resilient and thriving farm life. Join us on this journey of resilience and abundance!
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So, I MADE MY OWN. You can look at it on the link below and buy it on amazon below.
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally from the Inside Out community!! This community is for Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically, all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years of my journey. We have moved off Facebook, to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly options for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
As a busy mom, running business, and living rural, I am all for easy buttons. If I can get the quality I’m looking for, delivered to me, you bet I’m going to take it. No loading the kids up, there’s 3 of them. No burning gas to driving to a big store. No dragging the kids through the store asking for everything they see. I’ll take the products delivered, Thank you.
I do enjoy shopping local and like to patronize local stores as much as possible. But as I said, I live rural. My local town is 300 people. But they do have nice stores. As our family has evolved and shifted our health and diet needs, some of those things I cannot get at the local store. That is where I must either go to a city, HyVee is 1.5 hours away and Walmart 1 hour. Or I can have them delivered.
As I have continued my own journey in being proactive with our health, I have become quite picky on what products I bring into my home. I do not want synthetics, parabens, chemicals, and endocrine disruptors. News flash, most products sold on store shelves contain those. You can read more on the complete list and where they are commonly found, in this past blog post .
One of the brands I have come to love, and trust is the Young Living brand. They are not all essential oils! They have quite a few home products as well. All plant based, nontoxic, and chemical free. The scents are from truly pure essential oils, and they are all listed on the labels (no sketchy fragrance secrete). And they have a subscription program!
Some of my favorites that are routinely in my monthly box are below. No, they are not all in there every month. In the list is also about how often I order them. Clicking the name will take you straight to the product.
- Ningxia Red: A tasty juice puree, packed full of nutrients. I can mix this into a hot tea in the cool days or add some club soda for a fizzy drink in the warm weather. I order 4 bottles every month.
- Thieves household cleaner: I use this for everything! Counters, floors, mirrors, stain buster, de-grimmer, laundry booster, and I’m sure more I’m forgetting. I buy the big bottle about 1 once per year.
- Shampoo and Conditioner: I prefer the Copaiba Vanilla shampoo and conditioneror Lavender Mint Shampoo and conditionerfor me. And the KidScents Shampoo for the kids. I buy 1 bottle a year. The stuff lasts forever.
- Body Wash: For me I like to use the Bath & Shower Gel Base, then I can change the scent up using the oils I have. I buy 1 bottle every year and mix it into a foam pump bottle.
- Laundry soap: I split this bottle into 4 and buy one every 6 months or so.
- Hand soap: I prefer the thieves soap and buy the refill bottle every 6 months or so.
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
As a busy mom, running business, and living rural, I am all for easy buttons. If I can get the quality, I’m looking for delivered to me, you bet I’m going to take it. No loading the kids up, there’s 3 of them. No burning gas to driving to so big store. No dragging the kids through the store asking for everything they see. I’ll take the home supplies delivered, Thank you.
I do enjoy shopping local and like to patronize local stores as much as possible. But as I said, I live rural. My local town is 300 people. But they do have a nice stores. As our family has evolved and shifted our health and diet needs, some of those things I cannot get at the local stores. That is where I must either go to a city, HyVee is 1.5 hours away and Walmart 1 hour. Or I can have them delivered.
One of the subscriptions I use for our household items is Dropps. I love that they are synthetics free, plant based, and no waste. Seriously, they come in cardboard box that I can recycle. The pods dump straight into the washing machine.
My favorites are the dishwasher pods unsented, Oxi Booster pods, unscented (we cloth diaper and live on a farm, clothes need all the help they can get), and the sensitive skin laundry detergent pods.
There is no mess. No is that enough detergent, from little helpers learning the art of laundry. Just grab one pod, throw in the bottom of the wash, add the clothes, and start the machine! Best part is it comes on a subscription, so I don’t have to remember to order more before I’m out!
You can try Dropps with my link here and get $15 off your first order.
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
As a busy mom, running business, and living rural, I am all for easy buttons. If I can get the quality, I’m looking for delivered to me, you bet I’m going to take it. No loading the kids up, there’s 3 of them. No burning gas to driving to so big store. No dragging the kids through the store asking for everything they see. I’ll take the groceries delivered, Thank you.
I do enjoy shopping local and like to patronize local stores as much as possible. But as I said, I live rural. My local town is 300 people. But they do have a nice grocery store. As our family has evolved and shifted our health and diet needs, some of those things I cannot get at the local grocery store. That is where I must either go to a city, HyVee is 1.5 hours away and Walmart 1 hour. Or I can have them delivered.
One of the deliveries I like to use for my groceries is Thrive Market. In our house, we have food sensitivities to gluten, dairy, corn, and soy currently. Thrive makes it easy for me to filter out the ingredients I don’t want, leaving me a smaller list to pick through.
A few of our monthly favorites from Thrive are the Cybele’s Free to Eat veggie noodles. They are grain free, made from different vegetables, and the kids love them! The dried fruits are also a favorite for road trips and winter snacks. They are actually just the fruit! No extra dyes and sugar.
I rotate through the other pantry supplies, olive oil spray, Braggs Liquid Aminos, Balsamic vinegar, Beef gelatin, chia seed, coconut oil, etc.
What I do not buy on Thrive is my bulk staples, the flours, rice, and oats. I have found those are cheaper for me to order bulk elsewhere.
You can try it for 40% off your first order by using my link
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Feeding Your Family: Spend Less & Grow More group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision. Join the Free Community
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Last week we talked about the first focus food need in self-sufficiency. You can read that here if you missed it. This week I want to focus on the second primary food need, protein. Your body needs protein. Specifically, it needs the amino acids that make up the protein.
Yes, there are plant sources, like lentils and beans, but many times they are difficult or not reasonable to grow. If you’d prefer to keep a vegetarian diet that is perfectly fine, but make sure you can grow a protein source and enough of it.
No matter how much space you have, or how little, chickens are a good option for protein. Even if you live in town and are just beginning your journey, most towns allow some chickens (check with your city ordinance).
Chickens are good for many reasons. First, they provide eggs from about 5 months on. Some breeds will even lay year-round. Second, once they are done laying eggs, they provided their final protein in the form of meat. You can also use the bones to make chicken bone broth as well.
The third advantage to chickens is bug control. Even if you live in an area, you cannot free range the chickens, you can make movable pens so they can forage and still be protected. Fourth, they provide excellent fertilizer for your garden. Note, chicken poop is very rich in nitrogen and can burn plants if applied to heavy. Always apply in the fall so there is time for it to break down in the soil.
Other good protein sources, if you have a few acres are goats and sheep. Goats are excellent for milk too. With their milk you can drink it, or make soap and lotion out of it. Sheep provide wool in addition to meat. If you are the crafty type and want to learn wool spinning, carding, and knitting.
The most space consuming protein is beef. Depending on if you want to grass finish or grain finish your steer how much space you will need. Grass finished beef requires quite a bit of land and grass/hay. Grain finished, requires quite a bit less land/space.
Dairy is another area you can explore, dairy goats or cows. With dairy goats, make sure you like the taste of the milk, before you invest in raising one. It does taste quite a bit different than cows milk, which many of us are used to. Dairy cows are also an option. While they do need more space, one cow can feed an entire family, providing around 7 gallons of milk a day. Where as goats you would need 7 or 8 goats to get the same amount of milk.
Whatever protein source you decide on, make sure you are keeping track of expenses vs value of product produced or sold. As good as a protein source it is, if it is costing you more money than it is bringing it, it is not helping you become self-sufficient. I made a special place in my Homesteading Organizer just for tracking the critter expenses and income. You can check out the Organizer before you buy it here.
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
One of the hard steps in the road to self- sufficiency, is learning to live with less. At least for a while. Less luxuries, less fluff, less stuff. As you move towards being more self-sufficient, things you own need more purpose and use.
Many times, people downsize their home, or move to an acreage. This creates the opportunity to sell excess furniture, clothes, appliances. Selling excess give you the advantage of a little more cash to invest in your new property (animals, garden, orchard, etc.).
This also applies to monthly budget and consumable purchases. Learning to stretch products or make something better and cheaper than you can buy is a good skill to learn. A freezer is well worth the investment as it allows you to buy food in bulk and store it. Learning to can, allows you to preserve your food all year, greatly reducing the winter grocery budget.
Shopping around is also a good tip for stretching your dollar. Small town local is not always more expensive than the big city or Walmart. Watch for sales and buy then. I can usually get vegetables at the local grocery store (town of <500 people) for close to the same price as Walmart, once I factor in the fuel I would burn getting there (45 miles away).
It is well worth it to shop around for all your products: food and home products. Walmart is not always the cheapest. There are many online markets now that have better or as good of prices and ship to you.
Auctions and secondhand stores are also excellent places to find great deals. Items don’t have new. You can find gently used items with a lot of life left for a fraction of the prices. Cast Iron skillets are something I would prefer to buy second hand. They are already well seasoned. Just last year I bought two 8 inch that were in excellent condition for $5 each at a local auction.
Farm equipment and supplies (posts, fence, wood) in general is something that can be found at farm auctions and stored until needed if the price is right. The biggest thing is learning the price new and the value to determine if a purchase is a good deal or not.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
