What Do You Think When You Hear the Words Self Sufficiency?

In this day and age, it’s almost impossible but if you just happen to already live on the outskirts of town or a rural area, you just might have a chance.

What if you only needed your car for that occasional trip to the grocery store? Suppose your livelihood depended on what you did right there on your own property, every day?

You sure could live cheaper, that’s for sure. You could raise chickens and sell the eggs. Get enough chickens and enough market and you’d need nothing else.

Some folks raise goats for both the mild and the meat. The idea is to aim for the basic needs. Food is a huge basic need.

Living in a more desert territory, I would have to supplement the diet with feed from the farm and ranch supply. I sat down one day and ran the figures. With 100 laying hens, I could pay for their feed and still bring in over $300 per month profits. Imagine if I had 300 laying hens.

I don’t mean a barn with cooped up chickens. I’m talking about ranging chickens who are healthy and happy. Of course, with 100 hens, you’d need at least an acre of ranging space.

When the economy takes a nose dive, it’s those who grow their own, who will survive, much the same as at any other time. That is, of course, unless they have loans to pay on the property.

The more you can do on your own, to cut out that item on the weekly list, the more self sufficient you become.

Just gardening and canning can take a huge bite out of that grocery bill. That’s something you can do and still drive yourself to a job, every day.

You can learn how to sew and learn how to cut costs on clothing.

It all seems like a lot of work but the truth is, when you set aside time slots for these things, it can happen easier than you think.

Today, people rely way too much on others to supply their needs. Suppose the fuel got too expensive and half the trucks stopped running because of it. Who will still have plenty to eat? The guy with the garden and the woman who cans.

Flour can keep for ages, in the freezer and you can make bread anytime. Dried beans last for years.

You can find many ways to ween yourself from the grocery store, even if you live in the city. Just look around you and brain storm.

I love Mother Earth News. There’s one publication that has, for years, taught various ways to do things for yourself. If you’re curious, check out http://motherearthnews.com  You could be busy for months, just reading and learning.