Useful Homesteading/Thrifty Living Skills
In order to live a life and cheaply and self-sufficiently as possible, there are many skills to learn. But be careful not to bite off more than you can chew all at once! I didn't get where I am today overnight, and I still have much to learn. 21 years ago, I was living in the rat race of Auckland city, though I did grow up on a farmlet, so had some animal experience. My husband and I and our then two kids moved to Culverden, to a world of ice and snow where my third child was born shortly thereafter. Since then we have lived all over the South Island and eventually in the lower North Island, and had many different experiences and the opportunity to learn various skills including: budgeting, preserving, designing and creating an alternative power system on a shoestring budget, cooking on woodstoves, fishing, hunting, raising and butchering animals for meat, keeping bees, chickens, ducks, sheep, goats and cows, milking goats and cows, sailing a boat, sewing, knitting, handcrafts and more.
All of those things were done a little here and a little there. Now I want to combine them better, and see just how self-sufficiently we can live, and how low we can get our expenses, while still living healthily and happily.
Currently, we live on 1.25 acres in the middle of town, with access to neighbour's back sections which we graze, giving us an effective 3 - 3.5 acres of land. Alternative power using water (my preferred option) isn't possible here, and solar power is currently out of our reach financially. So we will focus on what we CAN do, not what we currently can't.
I plan to focus on learning or refining one new skill per month, and posting about it as I go. If you mouse over the Skills tab above, you will see a drop down menu for the skill pages I have created so far, which are: Money & Budgeting, Menu Planning & Grocery Shopping, Preserving How-tos (the recipes will be on the recipe page), Housekeeping, DIY, and How to find Free or Cheap Stuff. I will add more as we go along, and will build the content of each of these pages one by one.
So, keep checking back regularly for new content. If you are on Facebook, Like the Thrifty Kiwi facebook page so you won't miss new posts.
All of those things were done a little here and a little there. Now I want to combine them better, and see just how self-sufficiently we can live, and how low we can get our expenses, while still living healthily and happily.
Currently, we live on 1.25 acres in the middle of town, with access to neighbour's back sections which we graze, giving us an effective 3 - 3.5 acres of land. Alternative power using water (my preferred option) isn't possible here, and solar power is currently out of our reach financially. So we will focus on what we CAN do, not what we currently can't.
I plan to focus on learning or refining one new skill per month, and posting about it as I go. If you mouse over the Skills tab above, you will see a drop down menu for the skill pages I have created so far, which are: Money & Budgeting, Menu Planning & Grocery Shopping, Preserving How-tos (the recipes will be on the recipe page), Housekeeping, DIY, and How to find Free or Cheap Stuff. I will add more as we go along, and will build the content of each of these pages one by one.
So, keep checking back regularly for new content. If you are on Facebook, Like the Thrifty Kiwi facebook page so you won't miss new posts.