What kind of SS are you?

[hikerchick]

There is a broad spectrum of levels of self-sufficiency on here. I am, admittedly, a dabbler. The other end of the spectrum is the ones who go off-grid.

I had some chickens and a garden; I found it really cool to make a meal entirely from my own yard. I like to bake bread and would like to try fermenting and canning. For the rest, I am pretty mainstream. I work in an office, shop in a grocery store, buy things on the internet.

I am here to learn about other ways of life, and maybe learn ways of being frugal that work for me.

Where do you fall on the spectrum between dabbler and off-grid?

 

[Dace]

I am definitely a dabbler who dreams of going off grid, but married to a wonderful man who works for a living so....kind of makes it hard. Meaning we are stuck here. So I do the little things that I can with the limitations I am faced with.

I have always gardened, I have chickens, I cook from scratch and don't buy prepackaged food (crackers, tortilla chips, but not food) I learned how to can and am working on fermenting,I make my own yogurt , kefir & kombucha, I hang clothes out to dry. I live frugally (Dh, not so much) and try to keep my life simple. Working on getting away from commercial meat one baby step at a time.

 

[MorelCabin]

Well, I have it in my soul, but have a hubby who is not in agreement...so we have recently moved completely away from it...but if we ever need to get it back I have the know how to get us through alot! We may never need it, but if we do, it'll all come back to me.
Now I hang around the board becasue I have many wonderful friends here:>)

 

[hwillm1977]

I'm about the same as Hikerchick... a dabbler, but working on making my way to the other end of the spectrum.

Right now we live on an acre of land, with a garden and a hope for turkeys and chickens in the spring. We are using this fixer upper as a long term flip, with the intent to make enough money from the sale of it to build our dream home and barn on land we will purchase within the next year or so.

We're looking for the perfect plot of land to move off grid and become completely self sufficient.

I work for a weekly, country newspaper and love my job... my boyfriend drives a truck and hopes to stop that in a few years and 'retire' to our farm in the middle of nowhere. He is more into the self sufficiency thing than I am (he's convinced I could not kill an animal, I think otherwise... we'll see), but both of us really want this.

I'm on here to learn as much as I can over the next few years, to gain insight from others, and hopefully share any knowledge I have (which at this point is very little, but eventually it will be more... lol).

 

[pioneergirl]

I am pretty much the same as hwllm1977. Most of you know me, and know that up until a year ago, I had chickens (layers and meat birds), a garden, and was working on the rest. I know how to can, and I know how to butcher a chicken (after 50 of them, you get proficient!) I'm learning, while home on vacation, to work with deer meat (I was a wee child when last I worked with it with my grandfather). I'm currently in a job with the DH that has us traveling 11 months out of the year, so SS is not even possible.

If anyone has read my journal, you know we are looking for that perfect plot to get us off grid and as completely SS as possible. So I'm with hwllm1977, dabbling when I can, learning everyday, and one day will be talking to you all from a 'puter running on alternative power!

 

[dacjohns]

I don't want to lose this thread but I do want time to ponder it and maybe even add something like what the spectrum or continuum could look like.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Another dabler who dreams of going off grid. Considering that my job is computer based, if I went self-emp, I'd have to have electricity of some sort, solar/wind/methane generator. Of course, I could always go sit at the nearest truckstop & leach off their grid & wireless.
I garden, started with a single tomato plant & chia herb kit.
I raised chickens this year.
I grew up an only child of a devoted woodsman, so I spent a lot more time in the woods growing up than I do now. Have not stepped foot in the woods yet this year, but I'm eyeing the nuisance animals in the backyard.
I trap on my own property, snares & live traps. FYI, don't use sardine oil to lure a raccoon, you might get a skunk
I fish occasionally, need to go more often.
I can, water bath & pressure. I dry foods. I make yogurt, brew kombucha & make my own dried herb teas.
I forage for wild foods, the ones I know well.
I want to get animals, for milk, meat & skins. Rabbits, more chickens, meat goats & a mini dairy cow.
Almost ready to install a composting toilet for my bathroom.

A lot of my work that I plan on doing, involves getting someone to straighten out the mess a certain dummy contractor did when he "leveled" my yard & dug a non-draining ditch. Rainwater system, planting trees, finishing fence and getting animals will have to be done after I don't have a lake of mud in the center of a hay field.

 

[me&thegals]

I started 14 years ago as a newlywed determined to garden and can food. It has progressed steadily from there.

When I had kids, I decided to breastfeed for MANY reasons, including being self sufficient. I made their baby food and wet wipes, got really nice secondhand clothes, stayed at home with them.

My husband has long been a hunter, and we have progressively eliminated more and more storebought meat from our diet. We buy a ham or turkey about once a year. I still occasionally buy chickens breasts (they're so convenient!). Two years ago, we switched over completely to our own eggs. We started raising turkeys this spring and enjoyed eating the first tom on Sun. Mmmmm...

For fruits and veggies, a significant portion are grown by us or picked in the wild then eaten, frozen, canned or dried. Many are also sold, which gives me a thrill in covering all my gardening costs plus approximately all our other food costs for the year.

We got bees this spring and DH and I built the hive bodies ourselves. To be more SS, this spring I would like to grow my colonies through swarms rather than purchasing packages. Also just for genetics reasons.

I started making soap 2 weeks ago and probably will never go back from that either.

Basically, as time has progressed, we have gotten better and better at not spending money, at making things last, at learning how to do them on our own and being energy efficient along the way.

We don't earn much, so this saves us a LOT of money. On the other hand, I could work full time instead of part time, but I would much rather save money by having fun than earn more money

ETA: Forgot about the fermenting things We make our yogurt, butter, occasionally mozzarella cheese, kombucha, etc.

99% of food from scratch.

Rarely go to the doctor. Just try to take care of it at home.

 

[FarmerChick]

self sufficient in the western world of today will be very hard to happen to the true meaning

but

I walked more toward SS from wanting to save money. Frugal.

I will never give up alot of my conveniences in life that progress has taken us....my elec., home appliances, smart financial decisions to further my bank, etc. etc. What I will do is find smarter ways to apply that energy and conserve and be wary of life's extras that try to take what is mine.

I will not deny my daughter real life experiences as society is heading. I won't alienate her to the extent that her life's future will not include reality. For me it means giving her what "NOW normal life offers" and instilling more than hard frugal and conservation values on her. She will have a good life that is offered this century.

Be smarter and wiser to eat in a world full of chemicals. Never to give it all up but to apply what I require in my life.

Be a better supporter of the nation is important. If you are SS and the other person is NOT.....what good is it? To be sure my taxes etc. will be progressive and make a healthier nation to move forward.

The stagnant is horrible. A tomatoe plant stagnant dies. An animal stagant perishes. Life is move forward. Life is change for the good no matter how terrible change seems to the everyday life. Change is the future and the old saying of "Go with the flow" is life to me.

If you do not go with the flow of the river, you are swimming against the current and life is SO much harder.

Give in, allow others to live good, cut greed in your life, move forward and don't be stagnant and life is good for all.


whew..did the ramble here..LOL-LOL

 

[nop169]

In this day & time I really admire those who have become totally SS - however, for us, that is not a reality - at least not yet... one day when we pay off the morgage & the kid is through college - maybe... why - well where we live the cost of living compared to wages, the cost of land & housing (due to new codes here). Our area has become a retirement magnet for people from up north so our economic cost of living has increased. Of course value of land has increased (as have property taxes) & we could sell & move - but our families for generations are buried here & we have spent 20 years on our property & do not want to leave the place that blood, sweat & tears has produced. Also our state & local utilities do not support solar energy so either you are off grid or on grid no in between as of yet... but things are changing & we hope to be solar powered in the next 10 years.
We garden, raise livestock & buy discriminately. Use up & use out before replacing. We can, freeze & garden year round & the wife shops at thrift stores for clothing.
We are also "dabbling" as you call it but every year try to increase our SS by adding one more element or learning a new skill. I do not know if it is feasible to live in this world as total SS. We would love to try but not at the expense of our child not going to college... we feel it is more an attitude than actually being totally SS.. being selective in what you buy, use, create. Try to leave less of a carbon footprint... try to supply the majority of our food.. but also insure our children get their formal education so they can succeed in the world we now live in. I think that in today's world it is with the spirit & attitude that you live that you become SS rather than the reality of being SS.