Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by NHF on February 6, 2012 at 7:17pm

Cara,

I love this topic and want to thank you for posting it! Yes, I for one worry about what will happen as we get older and that's why we took a lot of steps to increase our independence and self-reliance.  As I wrote about it in The Accidental Farmers, I don't think we knew why we were going to the country when we went...we just knew something wasn't right where we were.  I think you're wise to think about producing more for yourself and I believe that will give you a lot more confidence in your future. It was our goal as well to become more producers and less consumers, and that makes good financial sense. After all, consumption costs money. Production can save or even earn money.

I don't believe someone needs a lot of money to feel "well off".  If they have a lot of money, great...I suppose, unless there's a financial crisis, and then I suppose they're not so well off after all. On the other hand, if you have a spot of land on which you can raise purely pastured animals (sheep, cow, goat), then you can produce more protein than you'll need each year.  At ZERO cost if they only consume pasture, although this won't be the case with poultry. This is even more true if you have a pond and stock it with catfish, as we did, or have access to hunting ground for deer, rabbit, squirrel, etc., as we do.  You'll learn to tend a year-round garden, start seeds and save seeds. Then you'll have no cost for seeds and the time you used to spend fighting traffic, sitting in meetings or doing your job will be spent planting, weeding, harvesting, hunting, processing, preserving and, most importantly, EATING HEALTHILY!  And there will be plenty of downtime for pasture walks, reading and enjoying life.  Enjoyment of life is the goal, not being rich in retirement.  Of course...IMO.

It won't take much land for you to produce enough for yourself and to generate enough income to pay taxes, etc.  How much income you need is up to you but I think Dusty's series on How to Make Money Homesteading is an excellent read if you haven't already.

Please don't let people make you feel bad for not having millions in the bank.  Almost none of us do and there's nothing we can do about that now anyway. What we can do is to opt-out of all that nonsense, learn to live happily off the land and tell the government, "no thanks, I can take care of myself".

Glad you're here!

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Permalink Reply by Toni L Brock on February 6, 2012 at 8:10pm

Hi Cara- I definitely have a lot of the same concerns you do. I once read a little email joke about " Joe" who went to the doctor for a check up, the doc comes back in after running tests and says to Joe, great news, your healthy as they come - I'd say you're gonna live at least another twenty years! Joe was devestated! He tells the doctor that is terrible news! He says, Doc, I can't live another 20 yrs. I only have enough retirement for 7 more years! It was funny at the time, but now that I am nearing retirement age it isn't quite as funny. I to am trying to grow more food and live simply. That also is a lot of physical work, of which is becoming increasingly harder as I age. Farm-Dreams and like minded podcasts and blogs have been a life saver by sharing easier ways of doing things and also providing great motivation. We can accomplish amazing things by sticking together.

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Permalink Reply by Shawn on February 6, 2012 at 10:03pm

Hi Cara, great topic! One thing I wanted to point out (not to bring down the mood, though), is that getting animals and living off your land isn't going to be cheap at the beginning. It's an investment in the first few years as you have a trial by fire with the animals you buy, the seeds you sow, the weather you battle, the vet bills you pay, etc. Just don't jump into everything at once; leave room in your patience for some trial and error, and realize that the money you spend in those first few years will be a learning experience more valuable than any college could bring.

Also, good luck on the writing! I'm a work-from-home writer myself, and it can be very rewarding in terms of a stress-free job from the comforts of your home. There are some great networks for freelancers out there (such as eLance or about.com) and a field like blogging is still a growing industry.

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Permalink Reply by Cara Randall on February 6, 2012 at 11:54pm

Do you do well with your writing? I'm just in the beginnings of it all, and it can certainly get frustrating at times.

My husband is building an outbuilding first, but the second expenditure will be a barn for me. I'm trying to get good quality things as cheaply as possible. It's definitely going to bite into any savings we would have had, getting the proper fencing and other items. On top of that, my husband isn't all that keen on farming. I have to be careful not to bite off more than I can possible do on my own, at least at first. I'm hoping as he sees things unfolding he'll become somewhat more involved. I don't think I can ever expect him to be a major farming-kinda dude, but I think he might take more of an interest. I'll have to keep things on a smallish scale so I can manage.

Shawn said:

Hi Cara, great topic! One thing I wanted to point out (not to bring down the mood, though), is that getting animals and living off your land isn't going to be cheap at the beginning. It's an investment in the first few years as you have a trial by fire with the animals you buy, the seeds you sow, the weather you battle, the vet bills you pay, etc. Just don't jump into everything at once; leave room in your patience for some trial and error, and realize that the money you spend in those first few years will be a learning experience more valuable than any college could bring.

Also, good luck on the writing! I'm a work-from-home writer myself, and it can be very rewarding in terms of a stress-free job from the comforts of your home. There are some great networks for freelancers out there (such as eLance or about.com) and a field like blogging is still a growing industry.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Cranston on February 7, 2012 at 9:45am

HI Cara

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I wonder ever hour how I will make it when I retire. I am 51 years old and I have been working 2 jobs since 1981 to support myself. It has only been in the past 3 or 4 years that I have finally made a decent living. What I found out is the more I make the more I spend and that is very depressing most of the time. I have always saved for a rainy day and so far I have never had a car payment but I have always had rent to pay either to a landlord or a banking institution. I have been doubling my mortage so ever 2 weeks I am paying and extra 4 weeks of principal. I am down to less than $12,000. So that is a major blessing for sure.

Our gardens grow more each year but we still arent quiet making it last long enough. I live in a very high tax area (upstate NY) so I am looking at a possible move to the mid west to escape the crazy taxes we have here. My car insurance is also high I believe due to state I live in also.

I dont have a boat load of cash in the bank either but I am hoping once I get my mortage payed off I'll be able to put more in the bank and invest in some silver also.

I am not afraid to work I am just going to have to adjust to not making as much money and living closer to the property that I am squatting on I guess.

10 acres in Kansas (my son lives in NE Kansas) or Missiouri with a old smelly house and a big barn..thats my goal by 2015....Only God knows for sure if I can pull if off. He has so far given me the ability to work so much for so long...just hope I can keep it up.

Good luck on your end and thanks for sharing.

Mike C

 

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Permalink Reply by Lynn P. on February 8, 2012 at 8:57pm

Hi Cara:

 

Thanks for your post.  It resonates with me, as I am also an RN and we just moved onto some land in the country, etc.  Though my husband believes he'll work until he dies, that was not my plan!  Of course, that doesn't mean that I won't be working the garden or tending animals on our place in later years, but I do not see myself as an eternal RN!  Now that we've gotten the land, my husband is also wanting to spend more time there, and seeing his profession as less of his "forever" work.  We both know there is plenty of work in living a sustainable lifestyle, and I am quickly learning what Shawn boiled down to "It takes money to make money".  I agree, though, that it is an initial outlay that we will reap exponential rewards!  I guess when I start letting my mind feed off of the media- and peer-induced insecurities about making it through  retirement, I have to simply remind myself that the government and/or my employer(s) are not my provider!  Knowing who is has given me peace beyond measure in this arena!!

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Permalink Reply by Kim Gates on February 9, 2012 at 9:14am

Its hard to leave a full time income to farm. We have been able to live in the middle for several years because we work and live on someone elses farm and are able to grow and do our own thing as well which is growing vegetables for the local market. Even though we only make a small amount at our regular job we save 1/3 of what we make and still buy items we will need later. This month we are buying a seeder, next month we will start on my husbands blacksmithing supplies. Retirement? We have nothing saved and still plan to farm full time in the next few years. We have a Scott Nearing philosophy......at 100 he couldnt cut wood anymore so he stopped eating and died! So many people work desk jobs all their lives and then when they retire they don't have the stamina to do anything, let alone farm. I am 49 and my husband is 59. We have no debt, almost no bills, and can still put in a days work.....just a little slower!  But the flip side is we have no assets, and no land of our own! When my husband comes in from the barn for breakfast I am going to kiss him for being such a great guy, and a great farmer! He loves it as much as I do...and thats a huge blessing!

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Permalink Reply by Kim Gates on February 9, 2012 at 9:21am

Hello Natures Harmony! Greetings from "Gates by the Creek!" We were also vendors at Snellville Farmers Market two years ago and used to oogle at your beautiful set up, and big truck. We were the folks with the 79 F-100 and a church table! Small......but we're getting there! We would love to come to one of your farm tours next year. Nice to see you here on Farm Dreams! 
 
NHF said:

Cara,

I love this topic and want to thank you for posting it! Yes, I for one worry about what will happen as we get older and that's why we took a lot of steps to increase our independence and self-reliance.  As I wrote about it in The Accidental Farmers, I don't think we knew why we were going to the country when we went...we just knew something wasn't right where we were.  I think you're wise to think about producing more for yourself and I believe that will give you a lot more confidence in your future. It was our goal as well to become more producers and less consumers, and that makes good financial sense. After all, consumption costs money. Production can save or even earn money.

I don't believe someone needs a lot of money to feel "well off".  If they have a lot of money, great...I suppose, unless there's a financial crisis, and then I suppose they're not so well off after all. On the other hand, if you have a spot of land on which you can raise purely pastured animals (sheep, cow, goat), then you can produce more protein than you'll need each year.  At ZERO cost if they only consume pasture, although this won't be the case with poultry. This is even more true if you have a pond and stock it with catfish, as we did, or have access to hunting ground for deer, rabbit, squirrel, etc., as we do.  You'll learn to tend a year-round garden, start seeds and save seeds. Then you'll have no cost for seeds and the time you used to spend fighting traffic, sitting in meetings or doing your job will be spent planting, weeding, harvesting, hunting, processing, preserving and, most importantly, EATING HEALTHILY!  And there will be plenty of downtime for pasture walks, reading and enjoying life.  Enjoyment of life is the goal, not being rich in retirement.  Of course...IMO.

It won't take much land for you to produce enough for yourself and to generate enough income to pay taxes, etc.  How much income you need is up to you but I think Dusty's series on How to Make Money Homesteading is an excellent read if you haven't already.

Please don't let people make you feel bad for not having millions in the bank.  Almost none of us do and there's nothing we can do about that now anyway. What we can do is to opt-out of all that nonsense, learn to live happily off the land and tell the government, "no thanks, I can take care of myself".

Glad you're here!

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Permalink Reply by SusanLea2 on February 9, 2012 at 1:18pm

We were 54 and 56 when we made the move to the country.  Building up for retirement is one reason we have been developing things slowly.  Sometimes I wish we could take some money and do a project on my wish-list, but I know my husband is concerned for retirement, and so we try to balance things.  I know he's right to be concerned.  

On one hand, we have no idea how our health will hold up and how long we'll be able to do this. On the other hand, eating our own vegetables, eggs, chicken, pork (and soon, beef)--not to mention the exercise--will keep us healthier, able to do things longer, fewer medical needs.

There is a modular home (double-wide :D) at the back of our property where our single daughter lives now.  Our plan is that if we come to the point where we can't do this any more, hopefully we could rent it to a young couple or family that would like to have their own garden and space for a few animals.  In exchange for a low (or no) rent, they could do stuff we couldn't do any more.

Of course, that doesn't take care of the financial part of things.  You are definitely raising an issue we all need to think about and have a plan for, remembering that "the best laid plans oft gang astray!"  

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Permalink Reply by SusanLea2 on February 9, 2012 at 1:23pm

P.S.  Cara, have you thought of Dexters?  They are small, dual-purpose (actually, triple, if you get one with horns and want an ox!) cows that were bred as homestead cows in Ireland.  That's what we have.  They eat less and do better foraging than larger breeds.  You can milk them and/or eat them!  They also have generally nice temperaments.  Here's where we got our first Dexter and good help and advice, too.

SusanLea2 said:

We were 54 and 56 when we made the move to the country.  Building up for retirement is one reason we have been developing things slowly.  Sometimes I wish we could take some money and do a project on my wish-list, but I know my husband is concerned for retirement, and so we try to balance things.  I know he's right to be concerned.  

On one hand, we have no idea how our health will hold up and how long we'll be able to do this. On the other hand, eating our own vegetables, eggs, chicken, pork (and soon, beef)--not to mention the exercise--will keep us healthier, able to do things longer, fewer medical needs.

There is a modular home (double-wide :D) at the back of our property where our single daughter lives now.  Our plan is that if we come to the point where we can't do this any more, hopefully we could rent it to a young couple or family that would like to have their own garden and space for a few animals.  In exchange for a low (or no) rent, they could do stuff we couldn't do any more.

Of course, that doesn't take care of the financial part of things.  You are definitely raising an issue we all need to think about and have a plan for, remembering that "the best laid plans oft gang astray!"  

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Permalink Reply by Ggirl on February 22, 2012 at 5:21pm

Wow you sond a lot like me. I'm a nurse too and we have a similar situation.  I think owning your own land and knowing how to grow your own food and having other bills paid off is much more important that some retirement plan that could disappear with a turn in the stock market.  sounds like you need to follow you heart and focus on homesteading. 

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Permalink Reply by Ruth Ferrari on February 23, 2012 at 3:19pm

Hi Cara

I am starting to hear more and more of people who are age 50+ wanting to homestead and get back to a more basic lifestyle that are concerned how they will make it as they get older. 

Some folks did save up for retirement but lost their proverbial shirts, pants, and dresses in this bad economy and are facing these same problems.  Anyway, for some reason or another many of us are facing uncertain futures financially and the lack of knowledge as to where we could invest what little money we do have for retirement in a safe enough place that would ensure we would have something to fall back on when we get to our retirement age.

My husband and I are facing a similar situation. We are not even as far along as you both in that we haven’t been able to purchase our little homestead dream yet due to the economy.

My husband was laid off of his good paying full time job and has had to rely on his part time lower paying job until he could get a better job. He was deployed to Iraq for the third time for a year and when he returned to the job he did have they told him because he was one of the higher paid workers his hours would even be cut back more.  The 401K he has carries the majority of the funds is in the stock of the company he works for and their stock prices have drastically dropped. My retirement funds also took a major drop when the stock markets went south. We can’t sell our property for what we owe on it as it is now not worth the value it really should be because of so many bank owned and foreclosed houses on the market around us.

I have a decent paying job, but as you, I am no longer happy in it. I just want to get my homestead, have a garden, fruit trees, and (food) animals, and live the life I have dreamed of.  I would like to make cheese, and make other types of homemade and natural products from my homestead, but I can’t do this because we need my income to pay our bills to live.

So, what do we do to keep our homestead dream alive? Well we do currently live in a rural enough community that we are able to have some chickens for eggs, we raise meat rabbits, and we have planted some fruit trees and raised garden beds for vegetables, fruits, and herbs. I am learning to can, dehydrate, and preserve foods we have grown. I sell my eggs that we don’t need to people at my work and I more skills I eventually want to do when we finally do move.

Another question you posed was that of what do we do when we become older and can’t do all the chores or jobs of maintaining the homestead and what are others doing. Since my husband and I are 55+ and have yet to start our official homestead, we have given this much thought. One thing to reaffirm is make every effort to stay as fit and healthy as you can. Another is if you can maybe have an intern or someone that would work a deal with you and your husband for room and board in exchange for work around the property, and third would be to just cut back to what you can do round the homestead that won’t take too much physical work such as the chickens, or raising rabbits that don’t take much physical effort and we have found them to be a pleasure to raise.  Other smaller animal breed like goats or sheep in my experience don’t take too much physical work either and can easily be managed by two people. It’s just mainly keeping them down to a manageable few.  One can even get dwarf cattle though I am not experienced with that breed and would leave any recommendation or comments for people who are experienced in handling them, but it is one thing we have considered since my husband and I also go through a lot of milk and do hope to have at least a cow for milk and breeding for meat purposes.

My husband has built me several raised garden beds that are about 2 ft high so I don’t have to bend over so much when tending my garden because of my back.  This is another thing one can think about as we get older and it becomes harder to tend to our gardens.

Also, learning marketable skills now to make or create things with our hands that can maybe help us to bring in a bit of money at farmers markets, flea markets, or even online to supplement a meager retirement income might be an option to think about. Again, I am learning cheese making and weaving. I love working with wood, and want to learn more about herbals and tinctures. I also want to learn to properly process the rabbit pelts and perhaps make marketable things from them.

I want to take this time while we are waiting to realize our homesteading dream to gain as many skills and knowledge as I can so when we do get older and are not able to physically do the harder work, that we will be able to at least do some things to get along and have a good productive lifestyle. 

 

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