Author Topic: Anyone homesteading as part of their FI plan?  (Read 17036 times)

spud1987

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Re: Anyone homesteading as part of their FI plan?
« Reply #50 on: October 23, 2015, 11:41:10 AM »
We plan on moving to a rural area about an hour from a major Rocky Mountain city. Ideally we would own between 2-5 acres. Not enough to become self-sufficient, but enough to grow a large vegetable garden and raise some chickens. We have no desire to do much more than that because I realize how much work homesteading requires. I also plan to have a large outbuilding where I will have a bomb-ass woodshop.

We plan to build a "net-positive" home, meaning it will produce enough energy (likely via solar panels) to take care of our home energy use and also power an electric car. However, we will still be connected to the grid (unless battery technology really takes off). Here is a good example of what we would like to build: http://cityhomecollective.com/campbells-net-home/

psyclotr0n

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Re: Anyone homesteading as part of their FI plan?
« Reply #51 on: October 23, 2015, 12:53:34 PM »
Beyond COL differences, any sense on the relative ease of either PNW, the SE, or Rockies, all else equal (i.e. mobility, etc)?

RunHappy

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Re: Anyone homesteading as part of their FI plan?
« Reply #52 on: October 23, 2015, 01:48:59 PM »
We moved to a rural area and bought 6 acres.  It is not part of our FI plan, but part of our lifestyle plan.   We are planning to garden and have chickens, but nothing more than that.  For us it was a matter of getting out of a very populated place (MD/DC) and having some room to breathe.  Our plan is to have this house paid off in 10 years when we are FIRE ready.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Anyone homesteading as part of their FI plan?
« Reply #53 on: October 23, 2015, 04:16:43 PM »
Beyond COL differences, any sense on the relative ease of either PNW, the SE, or Rockies, all else equal (i.e. mobility, etc)?

I don't know much about the SE. But rockies you'll deal with harsher weather issues than the PNW. PNW you'll deal with way more seasonal depression issues. Season Affect Disorder is like... our regional mascot.

psyclotr0n

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Re: Anyone homesteading as part of their FI plan?
« Reply #54 on: October 29, 2015, 06:25:48 PM »
Has everyone already picked out their homesteading locations? I'm interested to hear where they are.

Me too...

arebelspy

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Re: Anyone homesteading as part of their FI plan?
« Reply #55 on: November 09, 2015, 05:11:04 AM »
One of my favorite early retirement bloggers, Brave New Life, retired to a farm.

http://www.bravenewlife.com/01/honey-i-bought-a-farm/

Sadly, that was his last post, and it's been 11 months.  :(

He used to post at least monthly.  http://www.bravenewlife.com/archives/ 

We may do this some day.  Belize seems like an ideal location, to me.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

ash7962

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Re: Anyone homesteading as part of their FI plan?
« Reply #56 on: November 09, 2015, 08:57:05 AM »
One of my favorite early retirement bloggers, Brave New Life, retired to a farm.

http://www.bravenewlife.com/01/honey-i-bought-a-farm/

Sadly, that was his last post, and it's been 11 months.  :(

He used to post at least monthly.  http://www.bravenewlife.com/archives/ 

We may do this some day.  Belize seems like an ideal location, to me.

Thanks for linking that post, I really enjoyed reading it and the content resonates with me.  I hope to follow in his footsteps someday!

elgordorojo

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Re: Anyone homesteading as part of their FI plan?
« Reply #57 on: November 09, 2015, 01:25:41 PM »
We are in central Illinois and are just starting our journey.  We are across the street from inlaws and tons of family in the area.  Inlaws have a small peach orchard and about 20 acres of land total with an amazing garden.  The home we bought has about 4 acres and a half acre pond.  The home has passive solar and geothermal HVAC system.  The one issue we have come across in the last month has been insufficient water.  We are exploring options, but will likely put in a cistern in the spring.  We are just starting on homestead.  Wife stays home, but we have a toddler and another on the way so she is limited on what she can do.  Right now, the pond has provided some great meals.  There is plenty of wood for outdoor cooking and recreational fires.  We have a wood stove and wood fireplace if we need them, but we kind of want to see what this winter is like just using the HVAC system.  We planted some raspberry and blackberry bushes this summer and they seem to be doing well.  We have tons of wild blackberries on the property.  We have several walnut trees that we have harvested and they are just about dry enough to begin cracking and picking them for storage.  We aren't in any hurry.  We are kind of taking our time and not rushing anything.  We have considered various livestock/food options, including vermicomposting (not for food) as a means to be more self sufficient.  The home and location is our ideal.  We live a vacation every day (though I still work M-F) and are situated where we will be just fine if a bad storm blows in or we have to be more self-reliant than we typically face.  Wild life is abundant, fish are plentiful in the pond.  We have an indoor atrium where we are starting to grow some plants and its where we will start next years seedlings for our own use and the inlaws.  I am 8 leisurely miles from work and the senses love rural living.  The smells, sights and sounds throughout the short time we've lived there (since late June) have been incredible.  So while we aren't fully in homestead mode, we do have the set up in place to gradually move ourselves in that direction.  It is something we will do gradually and incorporate the kids into the process so they learn and partake in our little adventure.  It's a journey that we have just started, but I am cherishing every single day of it.