I have wanted to write about this topic for a while now but I didn’t
quite know how I wanted to approach the topic….as it was one of the
influences on our decision to make the big change that we did to pick up
and move to our old farm house in PEI.
Imagine with me a more satisfying way to live with time to enjoy life’s
simple pleasures, relaxed family dinners, flavorful meals made from home
grown foods, curling up with a good book in your comfy chair by a
crackling fire after a long day working in the garden, less stress in
your life and no huge worries about what deadlines you have to meet
tomorrow.
You ask……could this be possible…..a reality in today’s crazy world……the answer is yes it is possible.
In today’s world almost all of us pay other people to provide the things
that we need which of course means that we usually need one or two jobs
outside the home to bring in the extra cash we need to buy these
things.
If we learn to be more self-sufficient we will also learn to save more
money and live on less of an income and enjoy move personal freedom and
satisfaction from daily life.
So making some changes to your daily living will make a difference in
how much you need to bring home in cash to pay the bills and buy the
food.
Some changes you can make are easy they may take some getting use to but
in the end they will be worthwhile. Try your hand at making meals from
scratch, you will be surprised how much money you can save here, if you
incorporate homegrown fruits and veggies…. they will taste better
too. Try a holiday from cable, computers and smart devices etc…..you
will be amazed at how many meaningful conversations you can have with
friends and family in person….how about reading a good
book…..playing games…..there are lots and lots of stuff you can do
instead of sitting in front of the tv for hours or playing games on your
smart device for hours……imagine the amount of dollars you will save
making a few changes……
For us we started with growing stuff in our garden quite a few years ago
growing a few veggies in our garden just as a hobby….and I always
said the tomatoes taste way better from my garden…..and most will
agree.
This past year we really got motivated and grew stuff we knew we would
enjoy….we cut spinach leaves every couple of days, picked radishes,
tomatoes and peppers for our salads. We even had the biggest crop of
peaches that we made into peach jam and peach salsa that everyone
enjoyed.
This year since we live now on an acre our goal for growing fruit and
veggies is very impressive. this is a big step in simple living for
us…….we figure we are going to save a bunch of money not having to
buy the produce that we are starting to grow for our garden……we will
be preserving, canning, freezing and dehydrating the produce we grow,
so this means we will have food all winter. We are also going to build a
root cellar to store our onions, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, squashes
etc., well into the winter and hopefully in spring when we start growing
our new produce.
Living on less and loving it means making choice that will affect your
future from today on. It means you want more from life then you are
getting from it now. It means you are willing to be different from your
neighbors and friends and maybe they won’t understand you or may even
thing your crazy…..it may mean going hardcore and really living off
the grid. However you do it, I think starting slow one step at a time
makes it easier to do and more successful.
I think our next steps after the growing of produce is getting chickens
for eggs and maybe goats???? Also, I would like to look into
alternative methods of electricity…..solar and wind, again cutting
these costs means more money in your pocket and less dependability in
the system…..wouldn’t it be nice if the next ice storm that took out
the power in your neighborhood did not affect you because you have your
own source of power:) Or just the fact that you don’t have a water bill,
an oil bill or an electrical bill……but it would take a sacrifice
there might be some appliances that you give up. But then again simple
living is less of those conveniences, microwaves, dishwashers,
etc…..and more personal living
Anyways my point of starting this topic is not to convince you to do it
my way …… it is to say guess what you can make changes to your life
that will make a huge impact and that the changes are possible.
I dream of living a little more like a pioneer homesteader…..without
the harshness of living it a century ago, with all our modernization it
makes being self-sufficient much easier. I want to spend more time
with my hubby now while we are young……so re-evaluating what is
important and making those changes to me are more meaningful simple
living at its best. We are a generation that is not passing on some of
the basic skills of homesteading ……cooking, sewing, woodworking,
general home repairs, knitting etc…..its sad that some day soon our
kids kids will have no idea how to sew on a loose button or cook a
boiled egg…..
So take a chance……one step try something new…..you never know where it will lead you.
Loving our simple life with my hubby…. 🙂
Muddy Boots, Old Houses and The Farm 