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Does anyone have plans for living semi self sufficiently? I don't want to live a fully self sufficient lifestyle. I want electricity, want a functioning toilet, a real house. Nothing wrong with going all the way, I just know it isn't for me.
I'm 24 and have spent the last couple of years mulling things over. What do I do for a job? Do I go to college? I can't see myself doing the same exact position for years on end. I would go crazy. Hell working 40 plus years so I can then chill when in 65 sounds like a joke. I've always been into gardening since I was younger and had good sized plots when I lived with my parents. I've since then have been into making my own bread, mayonnaise, sugar, everything. There is something special about growing a pumpkin and when the season is over you can then compost the roots, stems, and leaves while saving the pumpkin seeds then using what is left for pumpkin pie.
I've dreamed of owning chickens and not having to go to the grocery store and check if eggs are broken among with 6 other people doing the same thing. Tinkering around with rain barrels....are you kidding me....sounds like fun! Growing your own stevia plant to make a sugar supplement....what could be funnier. I thrive for this stuff.
I know I will have to have a job....which I do. The goal is to save enough in expenses to end up working part time. I don't understand the "work all day, play on the weekends" culture. I want everyday to be fun and enjoyable. Being self sufficient (semi self sufficient) is fun and enjoyable to me....it is my passion. I don't get the make x amount of money and then blow most if it on a fancy car or a 3k sqf house. This feels like enslavement to me. I don't get why I work 5 out of 7 days for what seems like my whole life. I'm changing the status quo.
Were still looking for a house to start this venture. Surely people in this forum has been semi self sufficient for years compared to this beginner.
Sounds like you are off to a good start, you have set the goal.
Getting to that goal is the tricky part. First off, you need to decide where you want to be, and how much land with or without buildings you can afford.
You will need to have solid plans about how big your gardens will be, will you need a greenhouse or hot tube, is there a market for what you produce?
You mentioned chickens, so making sure that whereever you are chickens are allowed by zoning/covenents/HOAs whereever you are. How many do you plan to start with, what breed/s, are you looking at primarily layers or meat, do you plan to expand?
You will need equipment like tillers to work your ground, probably a basement or root cellar to store your produce.
Having a large garage or shed to keep your equipment and perhaps where you process your produce would be an advantage as well.
Good water supply is a must.
Will you heat with wood or coal, and are they available on the property?
The big question is finances. Buying the property and equipment, building or remodeling the home and or buildings to your requirements, and any animals you may need.
What are the local taxes like?
If you plan on having a part time job, how far will you have to commute as gas prices sure aren't going down.
At the stage you are at, you have all the options in the world. My best advise would be to get a good job, save enough for a down payment on the property, and live close to where you are considering living so you are familier with what can be grown/sold locally and what the markets are like.
Having a job allows you to work on your property and get things set up before you transition to part time or self supporting.
It isn't easy, but it can be done if that is what you really want.
Your plan is one of the smarter ones I've seen presented. If one looks at the overall picture of disasters, economic collapses, regime changes, and other hard times the world over, we see a few things are mearly constant.
1. The hard time does not last forever except in historically tough places like Afghanistan.
2. Even in the harder hit countries that have experienced economic collapse, the electricity was on at least a portion of the time. Stores or other markets still sold food and necessities, albeit at higher prices and with disruptions in supply. Some degree of infrastructure always remains.
3.those who have no debt, minimal expenses, and stored necessities almost always fare better than those who have none of the above.
As long as the economy is functioning, working for money is smart. You can do this while raising much, if not most of your own food. As far as preparing for hard times, a small house with more land is better than a large house with little land(either needs to be owned free and clear), good neighbors and family are important, and possessing the logistics and skills to live in relative normalcy during periods of emergency lasting up to a year are a good idea. Never sacrifice your future by spending its resources on the disaster that never comes.
A well rounded plan is the best one. For now, be the good neighbor who gardens and likes animals, keep the self-sufficiency angle to yourself. Make the neighbor envy that great garden, and he will copy it. Try to convince him the end of days is upon us and he needs to garden to avoid starvation, and he will never listen to anything else you say. My neighbor has expanded his garden, gotten chickens, and fattened beef every year since I moved in here. Not because I convinced him the end was near, but because he can't let that young guy next door show him up! I share produce with him, he helped me drive fence posts and plowed up more garden space for me with his tractor. Works for both of us, and I am getting a more prepared neighbor out of the deal, not to mention an ally if the times do get rough.
My wife and I are looking for more property right now, with the idea that we will buy within our budget, and have enough cash to build a smaller and very efficient home, along with infrastructure designed to produce all our food and some extra with minimum labor(uhuh, right), minimum need for bought fertilizers and feeds, and a very minimal utility bill. We are talking about an 1100 square foot pole barn house, with R-38 in the walls, R-60+ in the attic.
LED lighting and anything else we can will run off solar, we'll have grid power available for the minimal A/C needed(if we need it with a shaded and very efficient home) and other AC appliances like a washer. I am also looking for a property with sufficient live water to do a microhydro assembly for electricity production. I also plan to build and use an icehouse for refrigeration.
We will use wood and solar for water heating, with an on demand propane unit as backup, and propane to cook with. Wood heat, probably with a Rocket Mass Heater, to use as little wood as possible(labor and fuel saver). Sewer will be a lagoon, and gray water(every drain but the toilet) will be stored in a cistern for use in watering plants. Water will come from a solar-powered well with an elevated cistern.
A big garden, orchard, berries of several types, and chickens, rabbits, cattle, and swine. Rabbits are mostly for their manure to be used as fertilizer and to sell for cash, although they are delicious barbecued. The swine we will sell as feeder pigs(easily done, and for good money) and butcher a couple a year for ourselves. Cattle the same thing, cash crop and beef for the kitchen. Not to mention milk, cheese, butter and cream. I may even grow a small crop of grain(s), just to try it. We will have a greenhouse, also, and use it for fresh veggies all year, and sell plants in the spring. I am studying on how to raise all my own feed, as well.
Once the place is built and functioning, we should be debt free, and able to live well on less than 10,000 dollars year. At least that is the goal. We will likely still work at least part time(at least one of us) to maintain health insurance and build a retirement fund. All of this is stuff we want to do anyway, and enjoy, and if it happens to make us enough money to quit working a job altogether, great. If not, it will at least reduce our expenses dramatically and put us in a good position if hard times come. If we can do it, we will have no house payment, no car payments, very little utility payments, almost no grocery bill, and the less we have to go to a job, the less we spend getting there and back. Main expenses will be propane(mainly for cooking), gasoline and diesel for the tractor and other tools/vehicles, real estate taxes, and insurance. I do have all the skills and tools to build and maintain all of it, which is a leg up most folks don't have. That is the only way we will make it happen. If I had to pay someone to set it all up for us, we would not be able to do it debt free.
Hope this gives you some ideas, and good luck with your plan.
People will tell you to live without debt, then tell you that you need to do this, this, and that. You are young with good muscles (I assume). A mortgage is not the best way to start out in life. It used to be, when local banks did the lending, and kept those loans on their books. Nowadays that is all done by Wall Street banks that sell your loan as securities, and you end up not knowing who your lender really is. Not good.
Do as we have done: build for yourself. Start out with a small building that you can finish off with some buddies, and move in for the winter. Next year, add on an addition. Same each year, until you have the size structure you need. Sure, you may be "roughing it" for a few months at a time, but this is easier done at your age than mine. Most importantly, you will be without mortgage debt...and that is the best feeling in the whole world!
P.S. In a collapse, debt will NOT be 'forgiven', as so many assume. Plan accordingly.
Does anyone have plans for living semi self sufficiently? I don't want to live a fully self sufficient lifestyle. I want electricity, want a functioning toilet, a real house. Nothing wrong with going all the way, I just know it isn't for me.
I'm 24 and have spent the last couple of years mulling things over. What do I do for a job? Do I go to college? I can't see myself doing the same exact position for years on end. I would go crazy. Hell working 40 plus years so I can then chill when in 65 sounds like a joke. I've always been into gardening since I was younger and had good sized plots when I lived with my parents. I've since then have been into making my own bread, mayonnaise, sugar, everything. There is something special about growing a pumpkin and when the season is over you can then compost the roots, stems, and leaves while saving the pumpkin seeds then using what is left for pumpkin pie.
I've dreamed of owning chickens and not having to go to the grocery store and check if eggs are broken among with 6 other people doing the same thing. Tinkering around with rain barrels....are you kidding me....sounds like fun! Growing your own stevia plant to make a sugar supplement....what could be funnier. I thrive for this stuff.
I know I will have to have a job....which I do. The goal is to save enough in expenses to end up working part time. I don't understand the "work all day, play on the weekends" culture. I want everyday to be fun and enjoyable. Being self sufficient (semi self sufficient) is fun and enjoyable to me....it is my passion. I don't get the make x amount of money and then blow most if it on a fancy car or a 3k sqf house. This feels like enslavement to me. I don't get why I work 5 out of 7 days for what seems like my whole life. I'm changing the status quo.
Were still looking for a house to start this venture. Surely people in this forum has been semi self sufficient for years compared to this beginner.
You say you are 24 and have been mulling what to do for a job but then you say you are looking for a house to start. Do you have a job now that pays well to save for a house+land or are you well to do to begin with? 'Cause you don't just buy a house without a bank account, unless you want a mortgage, which will mean a job for the next X years.
You say you dream of owning chickens to not have to go to the grocery store to check the cartons for broken eggs. Growing your own stevia for sugar. These are all good motivators but I am afraid I sense you have no idea what it means to keep chickens. You don't want to do the same thing year after year but what do you think keeping chickens is? Feed, clean, water, feed, clean, water. Rinse and repeat. Growing stuff is the same way. Being self sufficient is NOT for the lazy, it is work. Unless you are rich and "self sufficient" - then you can indulge. There are a few members on the this forum in that situation - maybe they can chime in with advice.
A few people have commented in this thread on "liking your plan". What plan? I do not see you presenting any plans, just desires. What I am reading is "I don't like to work and the idea of playing in my yard appeals to me and I have no clue about the fact that being self sufficient, growing food and having animals to take care of is also repetitive work".
Anyways, here is my experience: I am finally in a position where I work from home and I can work any amount of hours to dial up and down the income stream to match what I want for the next 6 months, let's say. I can easily find work because I have engineering skills that allow me to do so from the comforts of my home (unfortunately I am not a psychic over the phone or a tele marketer or one of those people with a 4-hr work week book deal) so when I do work or take on a project, it is real work and takes the time it takes, I don't bulls*it for money.
However, I am 40 years old and these skills did not come from the skies in one day, I have been doing the same thing for the last 28 years (started as a hobby when I was a child and turned into a career) and some of my experience came at the expense of working at sh*tty places and denying myself things. Married someone who had tons of education debt since she wanted to be a veterinarian and unfortunately the education cartel in this country is into creating debt slaves out of people who want to make something out of themselves - took years to pay off. Paid off everything I own, I drive a 2006 diesel truck that I plan on driving into the ground BUT I do not drive much to begin with since I work from home.
Had to do jobs I did not care for much until I can finally tell any employer to f* off (scuze my French) if I don't like them or if they get to be too much and do it myself. With the Affordable Care Act I can finally buy my own medical insurance at decent prices (well, it is still a rip off but I do not depend on having a full time job and a naggy boss to be covered) so that's another plus. It is also deductible.
Wife and I bought a foreclosure which was in rough shape, the land was in rough shape too. Put in a lot of manual labor into it and some money (but I do everything I can myself without hiring out) so it is slowly improving. Grow my own veggies, have chickens and all that. It is LOTS OF WORK but I like it. My goal is energy, water and food self sufficiency - obviously energy and water are easy but food - you will never be self sufficient since you simply cannot grow it all. But you can find neighbors who are of the same mindset and barter etc.
By the way, in the county I live there are no building codes. $35 for a building permit and off you go. However, you do have to have a septic to match the house size, that part will be inspected. Land is also very expensive around here, nothing under $12,000/acre and most of it is bedrock with maybe (if you are lucky) 6 inches of soil on top so you better have a source of manure to spread every day to "create" soil (which is what we do, two horses = lots of dung). It took 2+ years to create some nice, deep-enough soil. The locusts, pardon, people who lived in this area in the last 100 years stripped off all the trees so erosion is doing its thing to the area, we are fighting hard to counter it. I am planting a vineyard this year, planting fruit trees here all in hopes of keeping the soil together. We do have some natural cedar and oak cover. My next year's goal is to collect as many oak acorns and make flour and oil out of them. The neighbor has 75 acres of land she does NOTHING with, still dependent on the grocery store and a job in town and she volunteered all her acorns to us. I may try and make acorn butter and start a small business selling it, especially after I see that "Justin's Hazelnut butter" sells for $8.99 per jar in the grocery store, you would think the f*er is packing gold in the jars.
Also, Internet. If you want to work from home - fast internet is a must. Unfortunately, in the States Internet is a luxury and not considered infrastructure. Hence, most rural areas it is line of sight wireless (which sucks), satellite (sucks even more) or IF YOU ARE LUCKY - 4G LTE. We happen to be on the edge of a 4G LTE Verizon area so I bought (pre-paid, no contract) one of them 4G hotspots. However, my internet is "metered", meaning I pay $120 for 14Gb of data per month. That means I am being gauged and ripped off but when you work online you need internet, comes with the territory and is deductible on your taxes.
All in all - be realistic and examine you motivations for wanting this, HONESTLY. Most people do not want to do hard work even when they are poor and starving. I have neighbors who are immigrants from Mexico - they live in a little camper and obviously are not well to do, however, even they are not growing any veggies on the land around it or even keeping chickens. Think about that.
My $.02
Last edited by LordyLordy; 03-02-2014 at 07:11 AM..
You say you are 24 and have been mulling what to do for a job but then you say you are looking for a house to start. Do you have a job now that pays well to save for a house+land or are you well to do to begin with? 'Cause you don't just buy a house without a bank account, unless you want a mortgage, which will mean a job for the next X years.
You say you dream of owning chickens to not have to go to the grocery store to check the cartons for broken eggs. Growing your own stevia for sugar. These are all good motivators but I am afraid I sense you have no idea what it means to keep chickens. You don't want to do the same thing year after year but what do you think keeping chickens is? Feed, clean, water, feed, clean, water. Rinse and repeat. Growing stuff is the same way. Being self sufficient is NOT for the lazy, it is work. Unless you are rich and "self sufficient" - then you can indulge. There are a few members on the this forum in that situation - maybe they can chime in with advice.
A few people have commented in this thread on "liking your plan". What plan? I do not see you presenting any plans, just desires. What I am reading is "I don't like to work and the idea of playing in my yard appeals to me and I have no clue about the fact that being self sufficient, growing food and having animals to take care of is also repetitive work".
Anyways, here is my experience: I am finally in a position where I work from home and I can work any amount of hours to dial up and down the income stream to match what I want for the next 6 months, let's say. I can easily find work because I have engineering skills that allow me to do so from the comforts of my home (unfortunately I am not a psychic over the phone or a tele marketer or one of those people with a 4-hr work week book deal) so when I do work or take on a project, it is real work and takes the time it takes, I don't bulls*it for money.
However, I am 40 years old and these skills did not come from the skies in one day, I have been doing the same thing for the last 28 years (started as a hobby when I was a child and turned into a career) and some of my experience came at the expense of working at sh*tty places and denying myself things. Married someone who had tons of education debt since she wanted to be a veterinarian and unfortunately the education cartel in this country is into creating debt slaves out of people who want to make something out of themselves - took years to pay off. Paid off everything I own, I drive a 2006 diesel truck that I plan on driving into the ground BUT I do not drive much to begin with since I work from home.
Had to do jobs I did not care for much until I can finally tell any employer to f* off (scuze my French) if I don't like them or if they get to be too much and do it myself. With the Affordable Care Act I can finally buy my own medical insurance at decent prices (well, it is still a rip off but I do not depend on having a full time job and a naggy boss to be covered) so that's another plus. It is also deductible.
Wife and I bought a foreclosure which was in rough shape, the land was in rough shape too. Put in a lot of manual labor into it and some money (but I do everything I can myself without hiring out) so it is slowly improving. Grow my own veggies, have chickens and all that. It is LOTS OF WORK but I like it. My goal is energy, water and food self sufficiency - obviously energy and water are easy but food - you will never be self sufficient since you simply cannot grow it all. But you can find neighbors who are of the same mindset and barter etc.
By the way, in the county I live there are no building codes. $35 for a building permit and off you go. However, you do have to have a septic to match the house size, that part will be inspected. Land is also very expensive around here, nothing under $12,000/acre and most of it is bedrock with maybe (if you are lucky) 6 inches of soil on top so you better have a source of manure to spread every day to "create" soil (which is what we do, two horses = lots of dung). It took 2+ years to create some nice, deep-enough soil. The locusts, pardon, people who lived in this area in the last 100 years stripped off all the trees so erosion is doing its thing to the area, we are fighting hard to counter it. I am planting a vineyard this year, planting fruit trees here all in hopes of keeping the soil together. We do have some natural cedar and oak cover. My next year's goal is to collect as many oak acorns and make flour and oil out of them. The neighbor has 75 acres of land she does NOTHING with, still dependent on the grocery store and a job in town and she volunteered all her acorns to us. I may try and make acorn butter and start a small business selling it, especially after I see that "Justin's Hazelnut butter" sells for $8.99 per jar in the grocery store, you would think the f*er is packing gold in the jars.
Also, Internet. If you want to work from home - fast internet is a must. Unfortunately, in the States Internet is a luxury and not considered infrastructure. Hence, most rural areas it is line of sight wireless (which sucks), satellite (sucks even more) or IF YOU ARE LUCKY - 4G LTE. We happen to be on the edge of a 4G LTE Verizon area so I bought (pre-paid, no contract) one of them 4G hotspots. However, my internet is "metered", meaning I pay $120 for 14Gb of data per month. That means I am being gauged and ripped off but when you work online you need internet, comes with the territory and is deductible on your taxes.
All in all - be realistic and examine you motivations for wanting this, HONESTLY. Most people do not want to do hard work even when they are poor and starving. I have neighbors who are immigrants from Mexico - they live in a little camper and obviously are not well to do, however, even they are not growing any veggies on the land around it or even keeping chickens. Think about that.
My $.02
Just to clarify things up a bit.
I have been working since I was 15. I work in a warehouse now. Were paying off school debts and some other things, after that we will get a house. More than likely a mortgage. Never thought of building or own, but anything is possible.
The "mulling things over" means I don't know what I want to do with my life. Like many young ones out there. I can't imagine paying 30k for college and I might not even be able to find a job for 5 years. Also I can't imagine being an electrician for 40 years or a plumber or a coder I would go stir crazy! I need variety. That is why the plan is to get a house a little bit in the country, pay off all debt while I garden, use rain barrels, make an aquaponic system, raise chickens and make my own food as much as I can and hopefully one day can break free of the rat race. I want to CHOOSE to wake up at 7am and feed the chickens and get eggs and spend 4 hours tending to the carrots that are to be harvested. I DON'T want to have to wake up at 7am because I work at 8:30. That is the goal. To provide as much as we can so we don't have to worry about clocking a 9-5. Will I ever not work again? Not likely, but my future is up to me not the other way around. Working part time is the goal.
Yes waking up and feeding, watering the chickens 7 days a week is the same so is peeing or pooping. The difference is I choose to wake up at 7am or sleep till noon if im feeling a bit under the weather. Working in a career for 40 years for 40 hours or more a week doing something I don't like to do. I like to grow plants, raise animals (we have rabbits now along with a dog, and many other small critters), find ways to be cost effective, fix my own cars or anything that breaks down. If there is a job doing those things....tell me. If not that is why I chose this term "semi self sufficiency" to describe my passion.
Agreed. No actual plans yet. I'm a more "go with the flow" type. I'll wilk have to plan more as we pay more of our debts off.
Thanks for the advice though everyone! I love talking about this.
I have been working since I was 15. I work in a warehouse now. Were paying off school debts and some other things, after that we will get a house. More than likely a mortgage. Never thought of building or own, but anything is possible.
The "mulling things over" means I don't know what I want to do with my life. Like many young ones out there. I can't imagine paying 30k for college and I might not even be able to find a job for 5 years. Also I can't imagine being an electrician for 40 years or a plumber or a coder I would go stir crazy! I need variety. That is why the plan is to get a house a little bit in the country, pay off all debt while I garden, use rain barrels, make an aquaponic system, raise chickens and make my own food as much as I can and hopefully one day can break free of the rat race. I want to CHOOSE to wake up at 7am and feed the chickens and get eggs and spend 4 hours tending to the carrots that are to be harvested. I DON'T want to have to wake up at 7am because I work at 8:30. That is the goal. To provide as much as we can so we don't have to worry about clocking a 9-5. Will I ever not work again? Not likely, but my future is up to me not the other way around. Working part time is the goal.
Yes waking up and feeding, watering the chickens 7 days a week is the same so is peeing or pooping. The difference is I choose to wake up at 7am or sleep till noon if im feeling a bit under the weather. Working in a career for 40 years for 40 hours or more a week doing something I don't like to do. I like to grow plants, raise animals (we have rabbits now along with a dog, and many other small critters), find ways to be cost effective, fix my own cars or anything that breaks down. If there is a job doing those things....tell me. If not that is why I chose this term "semi self sufficiency" to describe my passion.
Agreed. No actual plans yet. I'm a more "go with the flow" type. I'll wilk have to plan more as we pay more of our debts off.
Thanks for the advice though everyone! I love talking about this.
That sounds more like it . Well, what can I say, if I had this experience when I was 18, I would have done a lot of things differently. For one, my wife (she said this) would not have gone to be a veterinarian. That's $130K of debt we could have foregone right there but more importantly also 4 years of school wasted plus years of working to pay off the debt spent when we could have done more interesting stuff.
Anyways, I like what I do, however, the reason I like what I do is because I have the freedom to say screw it and do half of it or a quarter of it. Having control over your own life is what is at the crux of it. Mind you, you never have full control, there is still Uncle Sam and the fascist tax collectors on the federal, state and local level. You can avoid the state tax collectors by living in a state that does not have income taxes, I guess. My county is weird, no building codes but land is expensive and property taxes are high. Ours are about $3K/year so you will have to plan on making at least $250-300/month to cover that.
Being mortgage free is at the crux of it. Some people can tell you having a mortgage is OK or that "why pay rent when you could be owning a home" - I found those to be stupid. The difference between renting and owning is clear, assuming you own fair and square. The difference between renting and mortgage - there is none since you don't really own your home, the bank does, you are just renting it from them. In addition, you get to pay property taxes and insurance and assume all sorts of risks. For what? The off chance that your home will appreciate and you MAY be able to make some profit on it down the road if you do decide to sell? The only mortgage that would make sense to me is if you bought a foreclosure far below market value (like what we did). If the rents in the area are $1200/month and your monthly mortgage is $600 AND you bought your property at 1/2 market value AND you are ready to put in elbow grease (and yes, money) into it - it makes all the sense in the world.
My motivations are the following:
1) I want to be on my own, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE (I am realistic about not being able to do it 100%)
2) I HATE corporations and what they are doing to our liberty, the food and water supply and the way they are running, pardon, owning our government. This is my way of sticking it to them.
My goal is to open my property to people to come and learn how they can do the above 2 points, however, from the point of view of someone who has been in debt, went to school (wasn't born with a wrench in my hand), did not have family money AND came from a non-English speaking war-torn place to start a new life. If I can do it, so can anyone else.
I do not plan on being an activist or writing books or whatever - I want to take it away from the corporations one person, one family, one town at a time. There is plenty of land everywhere I have lived that was owned by people like you or me. 98% of it was not used for ANYTHING. Imagine if we all decided to feed ourselves and others around us. That would make our town no place for Kraft, Tyson, Monsanto or anyone else who wants to own it. That is a powerful idea and one that most of the above mentioned corporate entities are scared of.
Does anyone have plans for living semi self sufficiently? I don't want to live a fully self sufficient lifestyle. I want electricity, want a functioning toilet, a real house. Nothing wrong with going all the way, I just know it isn't for me.
I'm 24 and have spent the last couple of years mulling things over. What do I do for a job? Do I go to college? I can't see myself doing the same exact position for years on end. I would go crazy. Hell working 40 plus years so I can then chill when in 65 sounds like a joke. I've always been into gardening since I was younger and had good sized plots when I lived with my parents. I've since then have been into making my own bread, mayonnaise, sugar, everything. There is something special about growing a pumpkin and when the season is over you can then compost the roots, stems, and leaves while saving the pumpkin seeds then using what is left for pumpkin pie.
I've dreamed of owning chickens and not having to go to the grocery store and check if eggs are broken among with 6 other people doing the same thing. Tinkering around with rain barrels....are you kidding me....sounds like fun! Growing your own stevia plant to make a sugar supplement....what could be funnier. I thrive for this stuff.
I know I will have to have a job....which I do. The goal is to save enough in expenses to end up working part time. I don't understand the "work all day, play on the weekends" culture. I want everyday to be fun and enjoyable. Being self sufficient (semi self sufficient) is fun and enjoyable to me....it is my passion. I don't get the make x amount of money and then blow most if it on a fancy car or a 3k sqf house. This feels like enslavement to me. I don't get why I work 5 out of 7 days for what seems like my whole life. I'm changing the status quo.
Were still looking for a house to start this venture. Surely people in this forum has been semi self sufficient for years compared to this beginner.
I do this.
I am self employed, college degree, and many certifications.
What I mainly do for money is (flood) freelance insurance adjuster.
I work 7 days a week/18 hour days when there's a hurricane etc... For 3-4 months, and make enough money to not work the rest of the year.
I have 80 acres where I'm building a offgrid dwelling in the rural ozarks, and did a small garden this last year, with plans for more raised beds (hougleculture and permaculture orchard/ nut trees.)
I've a "time share" agreement with friends of mine for rabbets, chickens, and later pigs (I may get called away at any time) and will be getting bees inthe spring.
I can live off my military disabiltiy pension of $1,503, but prefer more money, and to put by money for later in life.
We largely agree, I'd recomend you look into premises.com and "the survival podcast" as good resources of information.
I'm not a "survivalist" I'm a homesteader, and the type of "Eco-greenie" who drives a 4x4 and kills for food. (while respecting the sacrifice)
It's about a sustainable better quality of life. One that doesn't involve working 50 weeks/year.
Not black helicopters and other nonsense.
Edit for more info:
Solar for energy, propane and wood for heat, septic system for waste, and my water flows from a spring innthe hillside.
Taxes on the bare land was $100, and with the building will likely be under the homesteading exemption.
Land was under $1k/acre.
Also, Internet. If you want to work from home - fast internet is a must. Unfortunately, in the States Internet is a luxury and not considered infrastructure. Hence, most rural areas it is line of sight wireless (which sucks), satellite (sucks even more) or IF YOU ARE LUCKY - 4G LTE. We happen to be on the edge of a 4G LTE Verizon area so I bought (pre-paid, no contract) one of them 4G hotspots. However, my internet is "metered", meaning I pay $120 for 14Gb of data per month. That means I am being gauged and ripped off but when you work online you need internet, comes with the territory and is deductible on your taxes.
All in all - be realistic and examine you motivations for wanting this, HONESTLY. Most people do not want to do hard work even when they are poor and starving. I have neighbors who are immigrants from Mexico - they live in a little camper and obviously are not well to do, however, even they are not growing any veggies on the land around it or even keeping chickens. Think about that.
I live in an Airstream, and among full timers this is currently the best option avalable (I'm told)
Haven't used it yet, probably will when I go back to my land innthe spring to continue building (too cold for an Airstream/me at the moment)
Interesting, never heard of them.
Isn't it funny? Verizon will sell you a 14GB plan for $120/month but then Millenicom can come in and piggy-back on the same network and offer the same service for half the price and give you more data. Says volumes about what Verizon is doing to its customers, no?
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I share produce with him, he helped me drive fence posts and plowed up more garden space for me with his tractor. Works for both of us, and I am getting a more prepared neighbor out of the deal, not to mention an ally if the times do get rough. 
. Well, what can I say, if I had this experience when I was 18, I would have done a lot of things differently. For one, my wife (she said this) would not have gone to be a veterinarian. That's $130K of debt we could have foregone right there but more importantly also 4 years of school wasted plus years of working to pay off the debt spent when we could have done more interesting stuff.
