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Old 01-16-2016, 07:36 PM
 
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I'm pretty a self sufficient person; I do all of my own home improvements, car maintenance, handle all of the investment/retirement stuff etc. Are there things you just dont/wont/cant handle that you'll pay folks to do? I pay a guy to clean my chimney (25ft up- no way..) but i'll do just about anything else that I can- if I have the tools, etc. Knowledge and instruction is easy to come by- Youtube!
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Old 01-16-2016, 07:44 PM
 
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
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Clean house.
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Old 01-17-2016, 03:04 AM
 
Location: rural south west UK
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car maintenance has to be done by a garage on modern cars, its not possible to have all the diagnostic computer systems in a domestic setting.
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Old 01-17-2016, 08:04 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigpaul View Post
car maintenance has to be done by a garage on modern cars, its not possible to have all the diagnostic computer systems in a domestic setting.
Do what we do - keep a new car and an old car. The old car is fun in its own way (tinker with it, so on and so on), new car is reliable, efficient on gas, comfortable and fun in its own way.
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Old 01-17-2016, 08:15 AM
 
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Originally Posted by ognend View Post
Do what we do - keep a new car and an old car. The old car is fun in its own way (tinker with it, so on and so on), new car is reliable, efficient on gas, comfortable and fun in its own way.
There are still many things you can do on a new car. Tires, brakes, struts and most everything in between. Get a code reader and dive into some old fashioned troubleshooting!
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Old 01-17-2016, 08:15 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tetto View Post
I'm pretty a self sufficient person; I do all of my own home improvements, car maintenance, handle all of the investment/retirement stuff etc. Are there things you just dont/wont/cant handle that you'll pay folks to do? I pay a guy to clean my chimney (25ft up- no way..) but i'll do just about anything else that I can- if I have the tools, etc. Knowledge and instruction is easy to come by- Youtube!
My definition:

1. Debt free (unless it is calculated debt where interest is so low that it makes more sense to invest the money into something that will generate more than the interest you are paying)
1a. Manage your own money/investments/retirement if you feel capable but do not forego paying for advice if it is going to make you money
2. Energy grid free (solar, wind, geo-thermal, pellet/wood stove, whatever)
3. Food self-sufficiency (grow as much as you can - I can grow all the veggies we eat and fruits too but cannot grow the grains like rice, buckwheat etc.) - also cook your food from your basic ingredients. Keeping bees is another good deal - you can grow where you are making money off it, you are helping the environment, you are helping your own garden with having pollinators available right nearby, the locally produced honey is the best and in some areas you can actually get an ag. exemption if you keep them.
4. Doesn't matter if you built your own house or not (it would be nice but if you are foregoing $50-100/hour of making money to build something that someone could have built for $20/hr, you are a fool)
5. Above all, be pragmatic and take one chunk of the story at a time. Do not over extend

I noticed you did not say prepping but you only mentioned self-sufficiency. Hence, I will not go into the prepping part of the equation.

The basic mistake people make on this path is end up wearing blinders - they become entrenched in their requirements and very rigid in their thinking - kind of like a religion. Try to be pragmatic, take the bits you feel comfortable doing or learn about what may interest you and start doing. Do not obsess and do not put artificial constraints. For example, we live(d) near a city, in a semi-rural area. We grow our own veggies and some fruits but we would still go out occasionally to a nice burger joint to eat something special, have a beer and just unwind. I don't "feel guilty" doing so. Finally, enjoy your path to self sufficiency, the journey is much more important .

I tell people to prep where they are. You can live a very self-sufficient life on a city lot.
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Old 01-17-2016, 08:36 AM
 
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This is a bit silly and vain, but I don't cut my own hair lol! I make all my own cleaning supplies, cook exclusively from the basics, brew my own beer & make our wine, am learning bee-keeping, and I'm a darned good shot. But my hair I leave to a modestly priced pro. We humans are a funny lot!
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Old 01-17-2016, 08:37 AM
 
2,878 posts, read 4,610,768 times
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Originally Posted by Snootylooter View Post
This is a bit silly and vain, but I don't cut my own hair lol! I make all my own cleaning supplies, cook exclusively from the basics, brew my own beer & make our wine, am learning bee-keeping, and I'm a darned good shot. But my hair I leave to a modestly priced pro. We humans are a funny lot!
We do just the same and you are right - hair is left to a pro

For cleaning supplies I buy the Dr. Bronner's unscented liquid soap and mix it with essential oils. For hair washing I add coconut milk and some vitamin E. However, none of those things are home-made, you have to buy them somewhere
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Old 01-17-2016, 08:41 AM
 
Location: rural south west UK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Snootylooter View Post
This is a bit silly and vain, but I don't cut my own hair lol!
no, neither do I, I haven't had a haircut or a shave since 1985!
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Old 01-17-2016, 10:53 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,218 posts, read 60,940,482 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tetto View Post
I'm pretty a self sufficient person; I do all of my own home improvements, car maintenance, handle all of the investment/retirement stuff etc. Are there things you just dont/wont/cant handle that you'll pay folks to do? I pay a guy to clean my chimney (25ft up- no way..) but i'll do just about anything else that I can- if I have the tools, etc. Knowledge and instruction is easy to come by- Youtube!
We produce / preserve most of our own food. We produce our own electricity.

I tend the woodstove and chimney.

I have cut my own hair since about 1980, and I cut all of the hair in our family.



We do not have a mortgage, our only debt is a vehicle loan.

We buy around 5% of our livestock feed, the rest is either foraged or gleaned.



We could produce our own heating fuel, but we dont. We buy firewood. We want to shift to solar-thermal soon, so that will reduce how much firewood we consume.

We do not make our own fiber though.

Vehicle maintenance is mostly done through a mechanic.

We are dependent on petroleum for vehicle / tractor fuel.
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