Farmhouse, Homestead
Homesteading is a wonderful way to live your life. If it suits you. Homesteaders take great amounts of pride in their work on their stead. For some, it’s simply their way of life and has been forever.
For others, becoming a homesteader is a dream come true. However, there is an important question to ask before you begin your homesteading journey. Is homesteading really what it’s cracked up to be? And is it something that suits you?
Things To Point Out:
Before we can begin to answer this question. Let’s look at the facts. We’re going to lay out some of the facts here because homesteading is definitely not for everyone.
It takes a lot out of you. Homesteading is a LOT of work, but if you love it then it never truly feels like work.
Like anything else that can grant you financial and personal freedom. It’s not instant. It won’t grant you freedom instantly. And it’s not going to take off overnight. There is no “get rich quick” aspect to homesteading, so if that’s your goal. You should definitely look elsewhere.
So if you’re thinking of going into homesteading with the mindset that you’ll be free in a couple of months, you’re probably going to be sorely disappointed.
It’s not that homesteading isn’t profitable, but it is worth saying. Homesteading is nowhere near a “get rich quick scheme”.
Whether you want to have a small homestead or a huge farm. Yours could very well become an asset to the overall industry. Now that’s pretty cool!
You get what you want… and you’re helping others. That’s just awesome! So If that’s what your end goal is. You rock!
Running your farm is super rewarding once you’ve gained your homesteading footing! So, let’s look at the facts. Plain and simple, and we can move forward from there.
Homesteading is a wonderful opportunity for those who chose to pursue that life. But not everyone knows all the facts.
While we are not experts on homesteading, we do know a thing or two. We’ll do our very best to lay some key points out for you as accurately as we can while not feeding you a bunch of “Mumbo jumbo“. Just the facts. Well… plus our own intuition. 🙂
HOMESTEADING Takes Work
Running a homestead, farm, or any ranch type of property is always a considerable amount of serious work. Getting up really early every day is one of the biggest issues that many people face at first. Although it’s healthy for you anyway, so you’ll be creating a very good habit. 😉
For Most homesteaders and large commercial farmers alike. It’s a very large responsibility. Sure, you can hire help.
But in the beginning, it’s usually not a possibility unless you have a large chunk of change saved up and not everyone does.
Keep in mind that you’ll also need to learn some new skills as well. Pretty much your entire life can be flipped upside down if you’re not fully prepared and conscious about what you’re getting yourself into.
From the home to the barn and field. There is a lot to keep track of and maintain. So make sure that you’re 100% positive or close to that so that you know ALL or most of what you need to know before you begin your homestead startup.
Whether it be just a simple chicken coop all by itself or an all-out farm at the start.
So do yourself the mental justice and fill your brain chock-full of information before-hand and you’ll have much better natural footing when you get your journey started.
3 Crucial Skills You’ll Need To Learn:
Gardening
When you own a homestead, gardening isn’t just something you do. It’s part of your very livelihood! Gardening is a very important skill that you absolutely need if you plan to become a successful homesteader.
Having Good Eyes
Being able to recognize goods is crucial for not only safer for you, but for your animals as well. You’ll need to be able to recognize good firewood, ingredients, plants, and the goods of your own farm. Good chicken eggs for instance.
Budgeting
You’ll need to learn how to budget correctly. Even though you can outsource most of that work, you still need to have this skill for your everyday life as an entrepreneur in the homesteading space. You’ll be paying bills, paying others, etc.
BUDGETING Can Be A NIGHTMARE If You Let It
For some, (especially those new to homesteading), budgeting can be an absolute nightmare. This isn’t to scare you off, but it’s one of those things that you must prepare yourself for.
If you just go at homesteading all willy nilly, you’re bound to run into some trouble. Which is exactly what you don’t want. Especially in the beginning.
If you’re serious about becoming a homesteader, then you’ll need to learn the skills that are necessary to do it correctly. And the ability to budget well will become one of the most profound personal assets you’ll have on your homesteading journey.
Proper Animal Care Is Crucial!
We can not say this enough. Take proper care of your animals! Think of your animals almost as you would yourself. After all, they are or will be YOUR animals.
Not only can you get fined in tremendous amounts for the pure cruelty of neglecting your animals, but your animals will not remain healthy and that will run up the bills quite a bit.
If you take good care of your animals. They will thank you… and so will your wallet.
One more thing About Animal Care:
Please keep in mind that your animals can become sick from time to time. Just like humans. So you should always have a small pile dedicated specifically to funds for sick animals to be treated.
What’s The Risk?
Much like anything else of similar substantiality. Homesteading is riddled with potential and real risks. Whether they be somewhat small or very large risks, there are still risks that come along with homesteading.
In all honesty. The risk factors associated with homesteading are worth it. Especially when you weigh the potential gains in correlation to the risk factors.
Homesteading is starting a business from the ground up. Whether you like it or not. So like any business, there are risks. A prime example is “Homestead Exemption“.
Temporary Financial Instability
One of the biggest risks to you will be financial instability. It will always be something to worry about. Even more so when you’re just getting started. It’s important to remember, however, that it will always be temporary.
There are a lot of obstacles that can get in your way when you begin your homesteading journey. It’s important to remain totally focused on your goal throughout the whole thing, and you’ll be fine.
Like we mentioned above in the previous section – “budgeting can be a nightmare” – If you do not know how to budget correctly, it can become a serious thorn in your side. You need to know where your money is going at all times.
If you aren’t good with the numbers then that’s ok. You can always hire someone to do it for you. Outsourcing can be a tremendous asset if you’re up for it.
To sum this part up here, homesteaders can become temporarily financially unstable because of a very large list of many different factors. Such is life.
This doesn’t mean that it’ll happen to you, but temporary financial instability should always be in the back of your mind. It’s one of those things that you need to be consistently aware of.
Sick Animals:
Sick animals can become a huge problem in your homesteading journey. This is why we emphasize proper animal care. It is crucial!
When your animals become sick, there are a number of sicknesses that they can contract. To help further emphasize just how important proper animal care is to your entire operation. (Other than the fact that your animals pretty much are the operation in and of themselves). Check out this small list of just some of the potential sicknesses your animals can contract.
So if your animal does become sick, you’re going to want to call a vet A.S.A.P. Calling a veterinarian fast can be the difference between life and death for your animals.
Warning: You can contract some illnesses from your animals, so it just presses our point even further. Take care of them, and they will take care of you.
Sicknesses That Your Animals Can Contract – (Directly From The CDC):
- Campylobacteriosis.
- E. coli.
- Influenza.
- Leptospirosis.
- Anthrax.
- Brucellosis.
- Contagious ecthyma (orf disease, sore mouth infection)
- Cryptosporidiosis.
Check out CDC.com if you want the full list and much more detailed information on those and more illnesses that your animals can contract.
The Rewards Are Awesome!
Becoming a homestead takes a lot of time and effort. It takes a lot of work. So like anything else that takes work, there’s always a reward. That’s what the end goal is for putting all that hard work. right? You’re probably not doing it for nothing after all. 🙂
So what are the rewards? Here, we’ll lay some of these juicy rewards down below.
Total Financial Freedom!
Financial freedom is something that we are all after in this life. It is this one thing that drives most of us. The freedom to go where you please and do as you please. Practically writing your very own paychecks. That… Sounds… AWESOME! Can you relate?
Emotional Satisfaction:
FINALLY KNOWING YOUR PLACE AND PURPOSE IN THIS CRAZY WORLD!
Many of us want so badly to know our place in this world. Our purpose. Our passion. Once you find your homestead to be a success, you can finally go to sleep knowing that you made your own footprint.
No-one gave you a place or showed you where you should be. YOU MADE IT! That’s one of the most satisfying feelings that you can ever get from anything!
Protect Your Investment:
Your homestead is an investment of your time and your money, so you’re going to want to protect it. Unfortunate as it is, there are some that would jump at the slightest opportunity to steal what’s yours right from under your feet. While it’s cruel, it happens. So be prepared.
In Summary:
Homesteading is a very large task to undertake. Yes, it can and will grant you total freedom. Personally and financially. However, you should still do more of your own research apart from this article.
While we did our very best to explain everything. You should definitely still learn quite a bit more before taking your first step.
If you’re thinking about becoming a homesteader, then congratulations! It’s truly an awesome choice of business. Even for the modern-day entrepreneur.
Farming, ranching, homesteading, and the like are and will always be needed in this world. So if you go about this seriously and pace yourself. You’ll be slowly taking steps toward your total and utter freedom!
We hope that this article has been a valuable and entertaining read for you. If you enjoyed it, then show us some love and share it! Otherwise, we’ll see you next time. Right here, at outdoorcampingadvice.com!
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