What did you do to be/become more self-reliant today?

Shopping trip exchanged for fence work.......would that be a barter? YES!

We stopped gifting a few years ago. Small family -- mom, me, 2 adult kids & 1 grdtr. None of us had time/money for shopping, and no one needed anything. So, we exchanged only with grdtr. She got regular gifts and she was taken to a dollar store to buy for us, to learn gifting. I still gave to kids for their birthday, that's it. No issues from this, in fact relief. We do have a family meal for holidays. I might add that both my kids are divorced, mom & I widowed. Frugality strong as "survivors".

This year we are working at making "farm income". They all come home!!! Dtr & grdtr live in a separate residence on my farm land, son recently moved back into my garage aptmt, and my mom is in a "nursing home" (previously here for 5 yrs). I am ready to do more "here" and less "out there", so this year will be somewhat experimental for us at some local markets. Already sell some things, will hope to expand a little. OH, we all have jobs, too. LOL Mine is PT & flexible. Dtr has a schedule, with fair amount of time off from mid to late day, son work contracting (days on & off vary; winter slow!) Grdtr in school. Have soaps in some beauty shops & they will expand with flowers (mostly late wk for wknd sales)..even veggies & eggs at 2 -- we are country with small towns & lots of retired old ladies going there!! We laugh about it but, true. Owners are friends of mine & we're their age, just blessed with better health. Customers really don't WANT to shop but do want fresh. Have had good results with special orders for holiday cakes, pies, etc. in past. I take samples, they order and I deliver at set time. Almost like a "bake sale" LOL

So those are my "self-reliant" plans for Spring....beyond those already in place of own fresh eggs, goat milk, cheese, home grown pigs, chickens, goats for meat, garden veggies, can/freeze/dry, etc. Like most of YOU!!!

Oh, yeah, growing more food types for animals, too. Those pigs are just live garbage disposals & NEVER seem full.

Our hens are over molting and laying again, plus our young hens have just started laying too! 4 eggs today! I had bought 3 dozen eggs from the store to get us through and it bothered me a lot. Is there a way to preserve eggs to be used in baking?

Today a bulk canister of dog treats in a pet store was found to have bugs in it. They were disposed of promptly, somehow missing the dumpster and landing in my car. Chicken treats! I also have scored a dozen 5 gallon buckets that had held shampoo. We use 5 gallon buckets for so many things, especially hauling produce out of the garden. I'm very thankful for these!

I am going back to portraiture for (future) income. I've done it before, but I couldn't cope with perfectionist anxiety. I've had a lot of therapy since then and I feel the need for being able to support myself working at home should something dreadful happen to DH, so it's time. I'm working on honing my technique over the next year without pressuring myself to get a portfolio together and make sales.

I was not quite successful in "no more Christmas gifts". DH wants to bring something to his family's party. We compromised with local made fudge. (it's divine!) Consumable, local, and quite reasonable. $60 for 12 gift boxes of the fudge. I can sleep at night with that decision. I especially love that it was DH's idea. I bought a gift for myself at a local shop too. I managed to stay out of big box stores. DH picked up a couple essentials for us and stuck to the list. <3

January is my annual austerity month attempt. Eat down the pantry, and see how far I can go without buying anything non-consumable. I usually fare poorly, but I'm hopeful this year. Baby doesn't enjoy errands, so all of my shopping trips are cut short now. It's not fun anymore when the baby is crying.

When my DD was little, I told hubby he had to watch the kids or I wasn't going shopping any more! She didn't cry, but would NOT stay in the cart. I'd turn to get something off the shelf and put it in the cart. And, in that space of time, she'd have the strap unbuckled, climb out of the cart and would start running down the aisle.

Hah! Mine is going to be like that! He loves forbidden things, so DH and I decided to let him experience some of the not-truly-dangerous forbidden things. Which resulted in him throwing himself over the arm of the couch 6 times in a row before he fell down fast enough to take the fun out of it.

I'm surprised w/my 2 that I still have hair and that it's not gray! When DS was little, I made I don't know how many trips to the ER since he was accident prone, and DD was a climber. She scared me half to death!

DH's mother was on first name basis with the ER crew when DH was little......

Sounds like some interesting stories there.

Those of us with animals -- most of us, some more than others
need to be looking at what we feed and WHERE it comes from. We are seeing huge areas of flood & tornado right now. While we all look at the dramatic and terrible immediate impact to those in the immediate area, we all need to keep in mind that these disasters actually have a long term effect on price & supply. The droughts a few years back made hay almost non-existant, at any price. Much of these weather situations are taking place where it will affect the country from coast to coast in some way.

Of course, this will be true with our own "people food" and supplies. Not only will many factories and storage depots be destroyed, roads & RR, equipment, supplies & livestock will be limited. The ground where farms once operated will be compromised and chemicals & waste materials will be everywhere. We are taking years, not months, for clean up.

If there was EVER a time when those who have the ability to be SS to do so, it is now. I see the ripple effects being great. And I have been concerned with safe food for a long time, now that concern has increased. Things will recover but, will be years. Look at LA & NJ. Some areas still are not recovered.

Very good point @Mini Horses I would suggest stocking up on staples, rice, beans, pasta, sugar, wheat and so on. I have my buckets of stuff, but need to add to my stash. We moved in February and I let a lot of stuff dwindle down. Time to stock up again. Think of it as an investment, food has no where to go but up, so money spent today is money saved tomorrow. And don't forget garden supplies!

I am ordering mangel beet seed, pumpkin and winter squash seeds for animal feed for spring planting. Can it really be SS when we have to buy so much animal feed? very guilty of useless eaters-horses...........

Good idea.