6 Baby Steps To A Homesteading Lifestyle



It's always scary when you make those first steps toward lifestyle changes.  No matter how excited you are, it's still a big change.  A huge commitment.

Breaking up large changes into a series of baby steps not only makes the transition go a bit smoother, but also allows you time to prepare and gives the entire family short and long term goals to achieve together.

We have adopted a homesteading lifestyle for 2 reasons:  as part of our simplifying process {even though there's not much that's actually "simple" in homesteading} and to be as self-sufficient as we can.  Trying to be responsible for as much of our food source possible is our number one goal.  With all the questions as to the safety of the food purchased in the stores, the idea of growing and raising our own makes us feel a bit better about what we consume.

Whatever your reason for moving in this direction, here are 6 things for you to consider as steps toward your lifestyle change:

1.  Find Others With Similar Interests
     Whether you find other bloggers or local friends, having others with a similar goal or mindset to bounce ideas off of, vent to when things feel as though they are falling apart, or just to chit chat about the day-to-day helps tremendously.

2.  Get Your Finances In Order
     Regardless if you're working toward a homesteading lifestyle or not, getting finances in order relieves an enormous amount of stress.  This is particularly important if your income will be reduced when you make the big move.  Paying off debt and building up your savings account by beginning to live below your means an important step to start as quickly as possible.

3.  Be Realistic and Be Willing To Fail
     Scary, isn't it?  Failure is something we all try to avoid like the plague, however, when have you learned the most lessons in your life?  Most likely, when you've failed at something.  And when have you accomplished the most?  Again, most likely when you've had the most to lose and taken the risk of a possible epic failure.  We all make mistakes.  You have to be willing to try new things and risk not succeeding at them all.
     Being realistic is as important as willing to fail.  It's just not possible to do it all and if you try, you are pretty much setting yourself up for that failure where the only lesson learned was that, well, you weren't realistic.  Setting a series of long and short term goals of things you want to make, grow, try, etc. will help you feel satisfied that eventually you will get to it all, but keep it paced appropriately.

4.  Don't Compare Yourself With Others
     This is exceptionally difficult to resist doing, but every single person's circumstances are different and it's just not fair to yourself to compare your life to that of another.  It's easy to feel as though you haven't accomplished as much as someone else, so remember to make lists of what you have accomplished that you can revisit from time to time as a bit of a boost to your morale.

5.  Take It Slowly
     There's a higher chance of success if you set realistic goals and take the transition slowly. You may even realize what you had initially set as goals are no longer of interest to you. It gives you time to try things then sit back and evaluate.

6.  Learn Creative Re-Purposing
     Part homesteading, part green living, looking at everything you own in a new way helps your pocketbook and the world we live in.  Have old sweaters you'll be tossing?  Why not make them into dryer balls, mittens, boot socks and scarves?  Have an old sheet?  Not only are they great for rags, but make great aprons, curtains, pillow cases, and can be used to cover garden crops in need of protection from a light frost.


What types of baby steps have you taken in your transition to a homesteading lifestyle?



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2 comments

  1. Wonderful advice! We have been taking baby steps for 4 years now on our homesteading journey (not moving very fast at all, haha!) I figure it's good to get one goal and lifestyle change accomplished really well before moving on to the next one- it seems easy to get in over our heads with homesteading :)

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  2. Fabulous! Consider yourself Pinned! Enjoy your weekend.

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