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We mentioned that this year our family is working towards becoming Self Reliant. We have compiled a list of 12 things that you can do to work towards becoming more self reliant.
Each idea also includes thoughts on how we plan on implementing each of these ideas into our own lives. Throughout the year we will be discussing some of these items in more detail.
I would love to hear your thoughts!
Get out of Debt: Getting out of debt is an important step towards becoming self reliant. You can’t really be self reliant if you have an obligation to someone else. I highly recommend Dave Ramsey as a resource if you are looking to get out of debt.
Our plan: We do not have any credit card debt or automobile loans, but we still have a school loan left from my husband’s MBA. We have increased our payments towards this debt, and if we get some unexpected money we put it towards repayment on the school loan.
Have 3-6 months worth of Living Expenses in Savings: Have 3-6 months worth of living expenses in your savings will come in handy if there is a job loss in your family. It is nice to have a safety net so you don’t have to rely on others (or credit cards) to live on a day to day basis.
Our plan: We plan to continue adding to our savings each month until we reach our goal of having 6 months worth of living expenses.
Food Storage (Stockpile): Having a couple of months or a years supply of food is a good idea for several reasons. There are so many unforseen circumstances that can happen that would prevent you from getting to the store, job loss, natural disasters and more. If you have s stockpile of some basic panty items and things your family eats on a regular basis it will be helpful to sustain your family during those hard times.
Our plan: We are working toward having a years supply of food for our family. We have been gradually stocking up on wheat, flour, sugar, oil and other basic items that we can use to make almost anything we need from scratch.
Learn New Skills: Becoming self reliant involves learning new skills you didn’t previously know how to do. It could be learning to sew, cook, grow a garden or even change the oil in your car. The more you know, the less you have to rely on others to help you.
Our plan: I don’t know how to sew – at all! So, I plan on tackling that this year. It would be nice to know how to hem my boys church pants so I don’t have to use Glue Dots. (Yep, I actually use Glue Dots! Glue Dots and a little heat with the iron and the hem stay in place for …well, not very long). We want our kids to know how to cook when they leave the home, so we will be assigning each child a night to do the cooking. They will plan and cook the meal from start to finish. I see some interesting dinners in our future! We have lots of areas where we can learn some new skills, so these are just a few we plan on working on over the next year.
Plant a Garden: Planting a garden is a great way to become more self reliant. There is something special about putting seeds in the ground and growing food for your family. Having a garden means less trips to the grocery store for produce. Plus, it’s so much for fulfilling when you grow your own.
Our plan: We haven’t had too much success with our garden the last 2 years. We had animals get in and eat it the first year, and the second year we just started too late and had too much rain. We plan on tackling the garden again this year. We need to build a gate to keep the critters out and hopefully we will have greater success this year. We will keep you updated on our progress.
Bake from Scratch: Baking from scratch is not only a great way to be self reliant, but it’s also so much more healthy than boxed convenient foods. When you have the basics on hand, baking from scratch is an easy thing to do and you don’t need to run to the store for any ingredients.
Our plan: We plan on baking a lot more bread from scratch, instead of running to the store to buy it. We even have plans to make your own pasta, hamburger buns and more. This is one of the items I am most looking forward too, it should be fun!
Can your Foods: Canning food is a great way to extend the life of your garden. Canning items when they are in season is also an inexpensive way to have fruits and veggies all year long. You can even can meats and poultry.
Our plan: I have limited canning experience, but I am looking forward to learning more. Every summer I make jam, I have made pickles (thanks to my wonderful grandmother), and I have also canned chicken. I hope to can several items this items this summer, like fruits, green beans and more.
Keep Chickens: If you have the space, keeping chickens is a great way to get fresh eggs. I have been told once you have fresh eggs you will never want to go back to store bought eggs again.
Our plan: My husbands plan is to convince me to get chickens. I have a slight fear of anything with wings, weird, huh? I think we will probably end up with chickens sometime this year. I am thinking he can help me get over my fear by building me a super cute chicken coop.
Have a Reference Library: In this electronic age, we can find all the information we want via the internet on our laptops, phones and even eReaders. However, if the power goes out and we have no way to charge these electronic devices we are left without the necessary information we may need. Having a reference library of “real” books will make for a great resource on a day to day basis whether we have power or not. You can expand your reference library with books on cooking, gardening, home repairs and more.
Our plan: I love how you can download any book you want instantly onto an eReader, so we don’t really own too many real books anymore. We do need to invest in a book that would help us with some basics on home repairs. I am kind of a cookbook junkie and I have a couple books on gardening, so I am set there.
Invest in Reusable Items: When you invest in reusable items, you aren’t having to always run to the store for replacements. Not only that, but you are saving our natural resources as well. Reusable items may be more expensive in the beginning, but usually in the long run they are much cheaper. Reusable items could replace everyday items like diapers, paper towels, water bottles and so much more.
Our plan: My current plan is to get some reusable napkins so we no longer have to use paper napkins. I am sure there are lots of other areas were we can replace some of our everyday items with reusable ones. Thank goodness we are out of the diaper stage.
Install a Wood Stove: Installing a wood stove is a great way to ensure you will have heat in your home if the power goes out, it can even make for a cooking source. You can also use a wood stove to heat your home on a regular basis, so you aren’t relying on the power company for your heat. This not only will help you to be more self reliant, but it will also help you to save money too!
Our plan: We would love to add a woodstove to our home, we don’t currently have an area where one would fit, so this one will require some extra thinking. OK, maybe I should re-phrase that, my husband would LOVE to add one to our home. I am still thinking they are big and ugly and take up a lots of room.
Use Rain Barrels: By using rain barrels you can cut down on water consumption by using them for watering your garden, lawn and more.
Our plan: We have one rain barrel, but we would like to increase that. We would love to use the water from the rain barrels to take care of all of our watering we do during the summer months. The cost of water goes up so high here in the Summer. The rain barrel we have now only hold enough to water our planters during those warm summer months. Since we live in Washington there is no lack of rain to collect.
geri kenny says
We took the Dave Ramsey course is was a God send! nearly out of debt!
TAKE THE COURSE!
Jayme says
Great ideas 🙂 I have tried my hand at gardening too and have been unsucessful, I’m glad I am not the only one so kudos to you for not giving up. I love baking my own bread its so satisfying and tasty. Good Luck in your adventures.
Shauna says
Our level of debt is similar to yours. No credit card debt, no auto loans just a mortgage and student loans. If things go as planned we should have those paid for this year. What kind of things have you done to eliminate debt? We have been very creative as I used to work and now I don’t and we were still able to become close to debt free. Our method is as simple as mentorship. We have financial counselors (our business partners) and we don’t make the smallest purchase without running it past them first. Our reasoning for this. Simply this, it is our brains that created the debt we had so we decided to use the brains of mentors who are completely debt free.
Shauna says
It is an amazing feeling to eliminate debt isn’t it? If you can’t sleep now pay off some bills and you may find yourself sleeping like a baby!
Susann says
I grew up with chickens, they’re not scarry. The work involved with their care will be good for your kids. Thanks for the post about self reliance.
Meri says
What do you store a years supply of dry goods in? I would love to have more flour, sugar and the like but I have no idea how to store it so it doesn’t get damp here in rainy western Washington!
Julie says
I just wanted to chime in about cloth diapers. We have been using them on my son, and really they are not only do-able but pretty easy. In fact, I think they work better than the throw aways. As a side note, the resale on them is terrific when your done.
Christa says
Thank you for the ideas on self-reliancy. We are doing most of the items on your list, with the exceptions of having chickens or a rain barrel. We live on acreage, so the first animals we are getting are two goats. We have an overabundance of blackberries that need to be cleaned out and goats are perfect for that.
I would highly recommend a woodstove. I have lived in a house with a woodstove most of my life. Wood heat is soooo much better (and cheaper!) than heat from our furnace. It just warms you to the bone. I also like the exercise our family gets from cutting and stacking the wood for it every year. Our electricity rates went up again this year, so we’re going to put up even more wood this summer.
marie says
I agree on the woodstove, Only got one 6 years ago in the new house and thought it would be too messy. Well it is, but the warmth you get is worth it. In 2008, when we had 2+feet of snow, power was out for 4 days. Starting xmas day. We cooked everything on it. Even xmas dinner! Thank heavens the ham was precooked.
We also have 4 55 gallon rainbarrels. They will fill up in a day, and are perfect for watering my plants.
Chickens too are a bit of work, but nothing compares to they fresh eggs. You’ll never eat store bought again.
Now I just need to learn to can. Bought the equipment, but haven’t taken the plunge. All this from a big city girl, I’m quite proud. Though I still hate gravel roads!!!!
Jamie says
My husband unexpectedly got sick about a month ago which left us with no income for the time he was off, I can not tell you how thankful I was that the only debt we have is our mortgage, we had some savings in the bank and that we have a decent stockpile it has meant the difference between clearing out our savings and just using a little not to mention the stresses of him being ill and there being no paycheck.
We already have a rain barrel, garden, do a lot of our own baking & canning, and we just got 4 chicks. But I’m always learning new skills, trying to find a reusable version of things we use frequently and trying to add whenever possible to our savings and stockpile. I’m also always on the lookout for really good reference books they have to be really great to take up space in my home, the best I’ve found yet is the Encyclopedia of Country Living. I try to always be trying or learning something, this year we are adding the 4 hens, I’m going to put in an additional rain barrel system to water the hen’s and the back garden, I ordered a grow your own mushroom kit and a clothesline inside and out is a new spring priority.
Kristen @ Joyfullythriving says
What a great list! I’m working on expanding my garden – and canning skills, too. Also, did you know there is an iron-on hem tape that works amazingly? My sewing skills are limited and this purchase (from Jo-Anns) was well worth the $3! I’d highly recommend it!
Danyelle says
Well, I feel better about myself now – I have half that list (skills, books, wood fireplace, etc)! Now if only the money part was taken care of…
As for keeping a garden or chickens, no way, Jose! We have coyotes around my house, as well as deer and wild rabbits. The coyotes would eat the chickens (are we even in a zone that permits chickens?), the bunnies and deer would eat the garden. Also, my mother grew up on a farm – you’re not crazy for being afraid of them! They can be mean: mom has a big scar on her leg and her brother has a glass eye because of those feathered beasts. Be careful with raising chickens, that’s my 2 cents!
Danyelle says
Kristen, that iron-on tape is called “Stitch Witch.” I love it, since I no longer have a good sewing machine.
Stephanie says
Two things.
I made all of my sons baby food. So easy..I used the vegetables from our garden and bought the rest at our local farmers market. It really is easier than you think. I looked into canning it but decided on freezing it! I would steam the veggies or fruit and then blend them, pour them into ice cube trays and each cube is about an ounce. I made tons of applesauce that way instead of canning it. It tasted so good we made more this past summer for my husband and I to eat with my son. The best thing I found out about freezing the veggies and fruit after they have been cooked, no adding of anything. I didn’t have to add sugar, salt or canning preserves to the veggies and fruit. So it really was all natural and tasted great. Try it, you’ll love it! (Strawberries, raspberries, and kiwi are sweet enough you just have to blend them, not cook them first.)
If you get bunnies in your garden, take a hose and paint a white stripe on it or use tape. Rabbits think it is a snake and do not cross into your garden. A tip my grandma told me and has worked for me.
Erin says
We are on our way to becoming debt free, too. We took the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University course and since starting we’ve gradually paid off more and more debt.
I started couponing when I was a SAHM and we only had one income. It was a blessing to be able to go to my pantry rather than the grocery store when our budget was severely strained. Now, that I’m back at work, I’ve been able to share my coupon know-how with my colleagues and bless the lives of others.
As a way to pay off our debt, we’ve been creative in our housing. We are staying with my mom until we pay off a credit card, which we haven’t used in 4 years, and save enough to live comfortably when we find another home. We’re sacrificing now to have a better future next year. Yeah, it is stressful at times to live with my mom after all these years, but the trade off is great was well. She watches my kids while I go to work. That is a savings of over $1000/mo in childcare!
Charlotte Hollea says
I love this! I think I might to build that chicken coop you featured as soon as I get a place of my own *not this apartment in the city*. I absolutely love your blog and want to thank you for sharing it with me!
Alison Sperry says
Love this! And my husband and I are also HUGE fans of Dave Ramsey.