Top 9 Reasons Homesteaders Quit And How To Avoid Them!

[@sunsetstella8917]

You'll spend all your money and everything will die. Extended family won't understand why you can't up and leave and go on all the vacations. You'll become obsessed with the weather. You will understand the scriptures so much better. You will have a sense of gratitude for life and feel accomplished for providing for yourself. Homesteading will wring you out and Yah will mop you up so you can do it again the next day. ❤ it's the hardest thing we've ever done and we wouldn't trade it for a life in the city any day.

[@Thewildmindofmike]

Very well said from experience 🤠

[@clarencewiles963]

Learning and expenses remember your best tool is your two hands 🙌

[@jdollar5852]

We paid cash for our 13 acres. We paid cash to remodel the house. We paid cash to build a pole barn for equipment. I ran electrical and plumbing all over the farm and then paid an electrician to hook up the electrical properly. I'm no electrician. The first thing, and I mean the day after closing, we paid cash for a company to repair our pond dam that had been busted for over 5 years. We did all the work to get a garden going that first year. We planted over 30 fruit trees and 20 muscadine vines that first year. We already had 2 tractors, a 1980 Deere and a 1990 Deere. We had to buy very few tools because we already lived on a 6-acre property "in town." We bought the farm in October of 2020 and stocked it with bluegill in January or 2021 and bass in July. We started getting fish to eat in March of 2022, 18 months after the purchase. We built a chicken coop. We raised our own meat birds. We raised our own pigs. About 80% of what we eat is raised here on our farm. We don't sell anything but we also don't need any income since we are both retired. I'm up at 6 every morning and in bed by 10. Tonight we are having pork chops we grew with green beans we grew and cauliflower we grew. We could afford to buy a condo at the beach and a summer home in Montana, but we prefer to live in Georgia and be self-sufficient. Debt is a killer. I learned that at a young age when I found out I could buy beer with my Amoco credit card.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Awesome! Debt is a killer for sure. I wish more people realized this.

[@carbonEYE007]

a homestead is more valuable than having a huge mansion. Seeds ,safely grown food and tools will be worth more than gold.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

100%

[@kimkrol1121]

😊you need to play the What if game, in which you present worst-case scenarios. Example: you go to water chickens before you leave for work and water is not working. Quick check possibilities, to prevent possible further damage (well empty, breakers, water frozen, water provider etc.) Have a back up supply in storage to get you through at least one time. Until it can be fixed or you establish a second source. It's a good idea to figure second source out in advance. Make a binder to put all your ideas in along with the phone numbers to call.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Redundancy is good.

[@willbass2869]

If you're coming from a city/suburban lifestyle you have to prep your body for the rigors and demands of setting up a homestead. As part of the pre-move process one thing to do is...... strength training and stretching. I'm not talking about hanging out at the local gym admiring all the beautiful bodies in the wall length mirrors I'm talking about just raw STRENGTH & *INDURANCE* training. Buy a 30 or 40 lb sack of landscape (rocks and carry it around....even better is to carry it, bend over & set down then pickup and carry some more....lather, rinse, repeat. Stretch, *stretch* and STRETCH more. You are going to demand your body do things it's i never done. Think of pulling that shade screen over a greenhouse or digging out a broken water line or reaching into a truck and lifting a sack of feed over the side. Do that training now! Get over those early humps of conditioning and achy recovery before you have to do it out "in the wild" Carry on!

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Wholeheartedly agree!

[@pier-annelachance4960]

Great advice. It is true. Having a budget and planning is key. It is a challenge and finances are so important. You need to make some compromises. I have a 12 year old and we started by moving him to an alternative school so he would start slowing changing the way he learns.

[@EastTexasLivin]

We already realize when we finally get to our homestead we might...big might ....be able to have a Fall garden. So with that in mind, I'm just planning on prepping/ stockpiling food and supplies for that first year and a half. Already working on it.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

That’s a good plan

[@courtneymeehan504]

Great list! Over the past few years I have lived on a couple different homesteads and the reasons you have listed here are the exact reasons I have watched homesteads fail. (Finally starting my own small homestead at last.) Also, I had a good chuckle when you said "a lot of things on a homestead die." Truer words have never been spoken. LOL

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you

[@meljordan220]

If you go at the speed of cash, meaning you don't go into debt for this, it's much easier to afford and you go at a slower pace so that you can eventually get everything you need and you learn along the way. For example starting a garden: start with a container or two learn how to garden, learn how to start seeds, learn how to save seeds, learn how to preserve what you just grew. Then add more pots or a raised bed over time growing your garden area and garden methods and garden knowledge. The same with any other topic. Learn to save small amounts of water. Then overtime get bigger containers. Then move into a water collection system. Do everything at the speed of cash. Then it's not overwhelming.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Absolutely!

[@amsohn1]

Thanks again! This is fantastic advice and oh so true! We started at this property with a kiddy pool for our garden, and a HoopHouse with chickens... We turned in an old shop Into a barn, Added a Lean-too side with a Henhouse & chicken coop/run, Sugar-Shack [goat birthing stall & milking stand / Sheep's Shack & Rabbitry. HOWEVER... we've added these and animals over 3 yeaes. We now have a large garden with a HoopHouse Greenhouse, and we add a bed or two or three every Spring season and building projects usually during the winter [as its Texas and have mild temps]. We also are adding a Cat-tunnel this month and have a small FarmStand this year, as last spring - summer we had so many who bought our extras & eggs... Yes, we have plenty in long &short term storage and other systems in place... Point is, we started small, and have added as we could. Again great video! Thanks and blessings ❤

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome my friend. This is a good testimony for all those who read the comments. Start small and just continue to add.

[@outoftheherd]

This is hugely helpful! Every point gave me pause and these insights are gold as I continue to prepare for the transition to a property in the country. Thank you so much for the recommendations and reality check.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome. Glad it was helpful.

[@janetboston174]

Grear video on the reality of homesteading and living in the country. It is totally different and can be isolating. The work doesntvgive you much time to thonk about it. Your food is so much better

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thanks. Absolutely!

[@meljordan220]

I am a shy introvert. If somebody starts the conversation I will be there till the sun comes up the next day. But my shyness prevents me from going up to someone to start a conversation unless of course I know.

[@Thewildmindofmike]

Just 2 years to go, and i can retire from my part-time 60 hour a week job and devote time to my full time work on the homestead. Oh yea, the side hustles also. Because a true homestead brings resilience in food, shelter, preparation, autonomy, and finances also. It is the best FULL time job anyone cN have 🤠

[@rickthelian2215]

Makes sense, education for children would be another factor, how far is a school or do you plan to home school. Knowing above General first aid a must too.😊

[@katiebradford9751]

100%! Nothing and I mean nothing you said was untrue. It had be chuckling several times

[@Doc1855]

We’ll be here until my wife retires. Then we’ll sell and should have enough money to buy a 2 bedroom 2 bath house in Montana for our spring through fall and then go down to our 2 bedroom 2 bath house in St Croix Virgin Islands for the winter to escape the snow. During the summer we’ll rent out our house on the island for extra income

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Nice!

[@jdanderson6400]

I was on submarines in the US Navy. We visited St Croix a number of times. Lots of great memories. FYI, do not rent a Jeep and drive up into the mountains. When you stumble onto an 'illegal grow' area, the 'owners' will not be happy with you. They point machine guns at you and take the film from your cameras, and make you wonder if you'll end up buried in the ditch... At least, that is how it was in the late 80's

[@Doc1855]

@@jdanderson6400 I understand. I came across one of those “farms” while hiking on an island where I use to live in Puget Sound, Washington state. I knew the man who owned the property, but I never suspected him for growing his own “plants”. He approached me with his rifle pointing down. My dog had ran off the trail and into the woods so I had gone after him. Once I began noticing that the plants weren’t normal forest foliage, I stopped and started to get out of there when I was approached. The man told me to leave and to forget where I was. I never told anyone. I valued my life. When we would throw “island parties” down at the marina, he would always show up. I never mentioned anything about it, Ever