It’s been six months and we are starting to settle in to our new home. Last year’s four moves within 12 months left us a bit rattled but thankfully we are no worse for the wear. We have about 25% of our belongings still in boxes, which I have decided to sort through and donate in the upcoming months because if they’ve been in boxes this long we obviously can live without them. The house itself is still in need of considerably more TLC but that is part of the fun of buying a fixer up, fixing it and making it your own.

so I wanted to share some tips on what we did to get our own Homestead started and going on our Shoe String Budget. We’ve already shared: Ten Things we learned Our First Six Months on our Homestead so I wanted to share some tips on what we did to get our own Homestead started and going on our Shoe String Budget.

1. Don’t give in!

Finding your homestead is the first hurdle and there may come many.

My advice is:

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.

–Winston Churchill

Your dream is out there. Go find it! It takes a special kind of person to commit to living a homesteading life. This may be considered your first test! It took us two years to find our place, which I admit we were lucky and it was rather fast as compared to most others we know. You need to be committed and stick by your convictions and the right place will come when it’s time. There may be more than one right place. Your journey may take you to a Homestead Rental for a few years to practice. That is ok! It’s your journey, just don’t give up on it!



2. Make a Plan!

Then plan to change it! You never know what life has in store or what it or your neighbor will bring. Three of our goats are from a neighbor. We traded for one and then he gave us the other two. Charlotte was also an unexpected “gift”. Planning is an important part of the process but setting that plan in stone or acting like you can’t accommodate changes to the plan will rob you of some wonderful experiences!

3. Network, Network, Network

Right after Easter, it occurred to me that there might be some people who recklessly innocently purchased pet chickens and rabbits for their children not realizing how much of a mess responsibility they turn into. Through adds like this, copious use of Facebook and reaching out to other people selling/trading/giving away farm animals we have been able to grow our farm with little to no cash investment. The only animals for which actual cash was traded were the Turkeys and the Guinea as I was impatient and wanted them even though we will be trading for some later in the year.

4. Plant, Plant, Plant!

We had been preparing for a homestead for a while, so our seed collection was pretty well formed. We traded and collected every chance we could to increase the variety and viability of our stock. There will be a lot of trial and error, we know, so we got to planting right away. We’ve also traded seedlings where we could.

5. Be Kind!

Be kind to your neighbors, be kind to your friends, be kind to strangers!

We are very thankful for the kindness of strangers. We have made some wonderful friends who have graciously come through with their time when we needed help, or even with items like extra fencing and gates which we can definitely make use of.

6. Save for a Rainy Day, even if it’s just a little!

You never know what each day will bring, so saving for a rainy day becomes very important. Life, as some would say, has a sense of humor. OF the six months we have lived on the farm, three of them I was unemployed. Thankfully, we had prepared and we were able to fare through the storm.

7. Enjoy each day and be grateful!

Every day is an adventure here! You never know if the goat’s going to get stuck in the fence and you need to save her or if the Pig is going to Houdini her way out of another pen you made. All you can do is enjoy each day with what it brings and be thankful for it! There are less privileged people out there who don’t get to run out in the rain to put the chickens in and who don’t get to chase a pig that swears she’s a dog! Be thankful and laugh at the chickens! They are rather amusing to watch!

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