Speaker 1: Episode fifty one, Homesteading Tips for City dwellers. Welcome to
Speaker 1: the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money,
Speaker 1: embrace simplicity, rights, and liver with your life. Here your
Speaker 1: host Jen and Jill. Hello, y'all, welcome to another episode
Speaker 1: of the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen. Hey,
Speaker 1: this is Jill. We have an episode that I'm super
Speaker 1: interested in, and I didn't realize how much it would
Speaker 1: correlate to all of the other things that we have
Speaker 1: talked about over the past year of doing Frugal Friends.
Speaker 1: Crazy is that, Jill? Yeah? I mean we always talk
Speaker 1: about what we're interested in, right right, den When are
Speaker 1: we talking about things we don't want to talk about?
Speaker 1: We get to choose. Sometimes I think I'm more diverse
Speaker 1: than I really am in my interests, and then I
Speaker 1: come around to something like this and I say, nope,
Speaker 1: I am very one sided. So we're excited to talk
Speaker 1: about homesteading tips. If you cannot afford to pick up
Speaker 1: and move to the country, I think you're really gonna
Speaker 1: like it, and I think there's some really good takeaways.
Speaker 1: Whether you have a green thumb, no green thumb like me,
Speaker 1: wherever you fall in the spectrum. So well, yeah, we'll
Speaker 1: get started with our sponsors first, though, our other sponsor
Speaker 1: today is living on less than one income. Do you
Speaker 1: have a spouse whose income you benefit from? Forget about it,
Speaker 1: forget about that extra money and live on less than
Speaker 1: one income. Are you single and living on just what
Speaker 1: you make? Live on less than your income? Wondering wondering
Speaker 1: what to do with all that extra Fatten up your
Speaker 1: emergency fund or contribute more to your four oh one K.
Speaker 1: That way, when your job lays off forty five people
Speaker 1: in one day, you won't be stressed to lose your
Speaker 1: income when you're thirty weeks pregnant. Oh, that one's close
Speaker 1: to home. That was a job you're taking. You're taking
Speaker 1: a page out of my book to use a sponsor
Speaker 1: that is just hitting close to home. I did. I
Speaker 1: used the freedom that you gave in your past sponsors,
Speaker 1: and I took it. So but in all seriousness, I
Speaker 1: lost my job in a major layoff, and I was
Speaker 1: not stressed about it because we have spent the duration
Speaker 1: of our marriage living on less than one income. So
Speaker 1: I know all of our bills are paid for. I
Speaker 1: know that we can still, you know, do some fun
Speaker 1: stuff because we've just set ourselves up for that and
Speaker 1: so living on less than one income, Chris sponsor, it
Speaker 1: is a great sponsor. And I gotta say, Jen, even
Speaker 1: watching you share this news on social media and that
Speaker 1: kind of a thing, it's so fantastic, Like I was
Speaker 1: even comforted to know I wasn't stressed out for you
Speaker 1: because you know, you're you are thirty one weeks you're thirty,
Speaker 1: you're thirty one now, right, thirty one weeks pregnant and yeah, right, okay, yes,
Speaker 1: so thirty thirty weeks pregnant when you were laid off
Speaker 1: in this massive layoff. But then to see you just
Speaker 1: be like, no, this is fine. I've got other things
Speaker 1: in the works. I have planned for and budgeted for
Speaker 1: such a time as this, when there's emergencies that happen
Speaker 1: or unexpected things that occur. Just to be completely at
Speaker 1: peace with it, it's amazing to watch. Uh. It inspires
Speaker 1: me so like that doesn't mean that you can't have
Speaker 1: like your your rough times with it, of course, you
Speaker 1: know when we're not regording. I'm sure that there's like
Speaker 1: some difficult parts to this, but it's all of what
Speaker 1: we're talking about here in this like frugal community and
Speaker 1: planning for these things that are unexpected. It can literally
Speaker 1: lead to it's okay. Yeah, it sucks. It's not my
Speaker 1: preference for how life is going, but I'm gonna be okay.
Speaker 1: And holy smokes, is that a game changer. It's completely
Speaker 1: You never think it's going to happen to you until
Speaker 1: it does, especially when like you're doing well in your
Speaker 1: job and and then just something happens that is not
Speaker 1: your fault. So yeah, and all of these tips in
Speaker 1: all of these episodes, they're just good ideas until you
Speaker 1: realize like how valuable they are in the times you
Speaker 1: need them. So I am thankful for the past year
Speaker 1: of Frugal Friends because it's helped me immensely in this time,
Speaker 1: so like I had something to go move on to.
Speaker 1: So I'm not like just twiddling my thumbs right now
Speaker 1: and making that three dollars an hour doing this podcast.
Speaker 1: You've got a side hustle making three dollars a month
Speaker 1: off of Frugal Friends. Yeah, it's great. Well, if anybody
Speaker 1: wants to support a pregnant woman who just got laid off,
Speaker 1: and through also supporting yourself in managing your money so
Speaker 1: that when something like this happens to you. Go get
Speaker 1: yourself that manage your money super bundle. Oh yes, we
Speaker 1: are not about that. We are all about the sympathy buys.
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not doing good for that, but no,
Speaker 1: I'm not above it. All right, Well, so thank you
Speaker 1: for helping me. Let's help you. Let's talk about homesteading, Jill.
Speaker 1: How how do you feel about it? What's your experience
Speaker 1: with it? I love it so much. If you could
Speaker 1: see me right now, I'm like clenching my fist and
Speaker 1: doing like a cute aggression with my jaw. I I
Speaker 1: I probably talked about this in some previous podcast. Last
Speaker 1: summer I start I did a garden for one of
Speaker 1: the first times on my own. I had previously done
Speaker 1: it with my work, but this time it was mine,
Speaker 1: and holy smokes, I parts of it I can't. I
Speaker 1: did not one homestead, but I started a garden. I
Speaker 1: was doing compost, and so I'm very excited about this.
Speaker 1: The correlation between frugality and the different ways that you
Speaker 1: can incorporate the concepts of homesteading into life. I know
Speaker 1: we'll get into that. I think I had a perception
Speaker 1: of homesteading that was just oh, it just means that
Speaker 1: you grow your own food. But even in looking at
Speaker 1: some of these articles today, it broadened my horizons on
Speaker 1: what this concept even is. Yeah, So we picked two articles.
Speaker 1: The first is kind of like an urban homesteading mindset shifts,
Speaker 1: so it will help you get into the right mindset.
Speaker 1: And then the second has a few practical tips, and
Speaker 1: then and will do our lightning round at the end,
Speaker 1: and we'll go through a few things you can start
Speaker 1: today even if you have a black thumb and no money,
Speaker 1: that can get you from studying. So that's that's what
Speaker 1: we got. So let's just jump into our first one.
Speaker 1: It's from Lovely Greens dot Com. It's called how to
Speaker 1: Start an Urban homestead And I loved this one. I
Speaker 1: I resonated with literally everything. Yeah, it was a good one.
Speaker 1: I think this one was one of the ones that
Speaker 1: broadened my horizons and what it means. She gave some
Speaker 1: interesting clarifications on what homesteading actually is. So we'll go
Speaker 1: through that, um And the first one is to remove
Speaker 1: yourself from consumerism, which I thought is a thoughtful starting
Speaker 1: point to say that part of this lifestyle includes taking
Speaker 1: you back to the earth, getting what you need out
Speaker 1: of what is already available to you and around you,
Speaker 1: with out needing to have somebody else do it for you.
Speaker 1: I mean, we'll get into that, but basically this is
Speaker 1: almost back to the basics that as a first step
Speaker 1: in this, no matter where you live, you can start
Speaker 1: working towards homesteading by just removing yourself from consumerism. So
Speaker 1: what they're talking about here is buying less, certainly decluttering,
Speaker 1: decluttering your home so all of our simplicity minimalism you
Speaker 1: can reference previous podcasts that we've done. That's part of
Speaker 1: this process. But she also encourages to stay out of
Speaker 1: stores as much as possible, because you're walking through stores
Speaker 1: and impulse buying or seeing things that you think you
Speaker 1: need or look at that gadget this would help me
Speaker 1: do X y Z better. But staying out of the stores,
Speaker 1: you don't even then know what it is that you're
Speaker 1: missing out on, and content with what you have. But
Speaker 1: then also limiting even TV and the amount of ads
Speaker 1: that you're interacting with on a daily basis that can
Speaker 1: also lead to some of these purchases that you don't need.
Speaker 1: She even challenges us to look around our homes and
Speaker 1: think what would I not have if it hadn't have
Speaker 1: been for seeing an advertisement for that thing. You know,
Speaker 1: a strainer that fits over your sink and can collapse
Speaker 1: and do this and do that. Okay, that's that's great
Speaker 1: if that's the only strainer that you have, but like
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of people will do will buy
Speaker 1: that in addition to the other strainer that they have,
Speaker 1: or you can apply that across the board. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: I think of it even as like, even if you
Speaker 1: are into this lifestyle and you're watching like some of
Speaker 1: the you know, History Channel and HDTV and some of
Speaker 1: the other things that might have some of this content
Speaker 1: on it, you'll still see the ads for like gardening
Speaker 1: supplies and like other stuff, and so it can still
Speaker 1: even if you're trying to head in the right direction,
Speaker 1: still doing some of these like habitual things can cost
Speaker 1: you money. Throughout these five tips, I love how she's
Speaker 1: defining homesteading so having the desire to remove yourself from
Speaker 1: consumerism and to buy less and have more in love
Speaker 1: with that and like, uh, yeah, it's great. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: wonder along those lines. This is a bit of a
Speaker 1: rabbit trail, but it's an interesting thought. I wonder if
Speaker 1: then for entertainment, if it would be worth one of
Speaker 1: those subscriptions to Netflix or Spotify where it's ad free.
Speaker 1: I wonder this, I'm just thinking out loud if in
Speaker 1: the long run you would save more money because you're
Speaker 1: not then interacting with as many ads, but you're still,
Speaker 1: you know, getting some level of entertainment if that's important
Speaker 1: to you for some veg time in the evening. Well,
Speaker 1: I've always thought that it's like one of those things
Speaker 1: you have, like know thyself. So if somebody goes into
Speaker 1: a grocery store and like literally can't help themselves for
Speaker 1: making impulse buys like going, spending the extra money to
Speaker 1: do online grocery shopping will save money. Or especially if
Speaker 1: you have kids and they have no impulse control and
Speaker 1: they want all the things, you would save money by
Speaker 1: spending the extra to do online grocery shopping. So it's
Speaker 1: just you have to know yourself. I definitely think somebody
Speaker 1: could save doing something like that. Number two is learning
Speaker 1: the ways of old, So I also love this. There's
Speaker 1: a popular saying in homesteading that is often referred to,
Speaker 1: quote unquote like grandma used to or our ancestors used to.
Speaker 1: So it's just kind of like not saying that those
Speaker 1: are the best ways to do things, because clearly sometimes
Speaker 1: they're not. But we can always learn from history and
Speaker 1: like what our ancestors and grandma did, like making bread
Speaker 1: from scratch. U looks delicious because I've been like perusing
Speaker 1: bread picks on Instagram, and it's a lot cheaper than
Speaker 1: buying nice bread unless you're buying like the cheap white
Speaker 1: bread loaves at all the Yeah, it's an expensive but
Speaker 1: if you want good, nice, hardy bread, right, and it's
Speaker 1: so it's it's so easy. I mean you have to
Speaker 1: wait a little bit, but there's no real like hands
Speaker 1: on time for for most breads. And like learning how
Speaker 1: to sew and crochet and knit. We don't have to
Speaker 1: do that in Florida, but I'm sure up north it
Speaker 1: can be really easiful those long winter months. We're still
Speaker 1: in the midst of it, yes, And learning to can
Speaker 1: food and preserve your harvest. I bought canning equipment last
Speaker 1: year because our in laws have a farm and sometimes
Speaker 1: we can take home like a lot of stuff that
Speaker 1: will never use. So I'm going to get into canning
Speaker 1: this year. Exciting, very excited. I'm very excited. Jen do
Speaker 1: you find yourself doing things that you used to see
Speaker 1: like your mom or your grandmother do. It's actually it's funny.
Speaker 1: I am a lot older in my heart than I
Speaker 1: think my mother and grandmother were. So my parents both crocheted,
Speaker 1: and I did do that for a while until obviously
Speaker 1: I realized I lived in Florida. But other than that,
Speaker 1: like there was no real old timey stuff. They were
Speaker 1: very modern women. But what about you. Yeah, I'm starting
Speaker 1: to realize that there are certain things that they used
Speaker 1: to do or still do. I am now incorporating. There's
Speaker 1: probably more examples than this, but taking some things out
Speaker 1: of the wash and hanging them to dry versus growing
Speaker 1: just everything in the dryer. Part of that is to
Speaker 1: preserve my clothes. Part of it. Part of that is
Speaker 1: energy efficiency, but it's something that I didn't used to
Speaker 1: do that. I feel as though I'm entering into this
Speaker 1: stage of kind of getting back to the ways that
Speaker 1: I saw things done, but realizing for my own reasons
Speaker 1: why I want to do that. Or keeping some containers
Speaker 1: because I see them having a purpose for something else,
Speaker 1: again not hoarding. But I also am finding myself not
Speaker 1: being as concerned with the looks of things and more
Speaker 1: concerned about practicality. This goes with shoes. I'm I'm just
Speaker 1: I'm getting old in the shoe realm, and I'm just like,
Speaker 1: I want a good pair of shoes a little bit more,
Speaker 1: but I only need a few of them. They need
Speaker 1: to be comfortable. I was looking at like chocos and
Speaker 1: tivas and yeah, I was like, I need just some
Speaker 1: sandals to help me not to look good. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: just don't care as much anymore. And I remember older
Speaker 1: people telling me that, like, eventually it's not gonna You're
Speaker 1: gonna just want the comfort. And I was like, yeah, right,
Speaker 1: I'm still gonna want to look good. It's going out
Speaker 1: the window, I know. But somebody told me it would
Speaker 1: start in your forties and I was like, I have
Speaker 1: not even turned thirty yet. That's what I'm saying. That's
Speaker 1: why I feel as though i'm forty two when everyone
Speaker 1: else is like I still feel eighteen. I'm like no,
Speaker 1: especially now that like my body is getting heavier, I'm
Speaker 1: getting more pregnant, like my hips are starting to do
Speaker 1: weird things. I'm like, this is I'm gonner for the
Speaker 1: granny panties. Gosh, I want to I want to mention
Speaker 1: this last part of this, and it says seek mentors.
Speaker 1: And so we are all about frugality being like a
Speaker 1: communal it's a source of community. You can't do anything alone.
Speaker 1: It's not the most frugal way. If you're trying to
Speaker 1: be totally autonomous, you're it's going to cost you more money.
Speaker 1: And that's the same in homesteading is that it's a
Speaker 1: very group mentality. The group can do more together than
Speaker 1: they could separately. And so seeking mentors people that can
Speaker 1: guide you along the way to teach you these things
Speaker 1: that are from old times. I guess anytime I see
Speaker 1: something that says build community, I'm like, yes, take it,
Speaker 1: listen to it. There's there there's a lot to be
Speaker 1: said about traditions sometimes just being done because that's the
Speaker 1: way it was done or that's the way it worked
Speaker 1: for them. But there's also something to be said about
Speaker 1: tried and true ways. This not reinventing the wheel. Let
Speaker 1: somebody else show you how to do something well that
Speaker 1: you're not going to be able to find on the internet,
Speaker 1: or it's not worth taking the time energy, well it
Speaker 1: would be worth it. But if you can gain what
Speaker 1: took somebody thirty years to learn. Holy smokes, what an
Speaker 1: amazing resource that could be. I love that. So the
Speaker 1: third one on this list as far as defining homesteading
Speaker 1: is being a good steward of the land. And this
Speaker 1: one goes along with a lot of what we've talked
Speaker 1: about with frugality, but it really is having a respect
Speaker 1: for the environment that you live in and recognizing the
Speaker 1: resource that it can provide to you if you steward
Speaker 1: it well. She gives a good outline of what this
Speaker 1: can mean in alliteration. You know us, we love it
Speaker 1: so that she gives us the five rs to practice
Speaker 1: in good environment stewardships. So here are the five rs.
Speaker 1: Refuse to buy one time use plastics and non recyclable products,
Speaker 1: so seek to find ways to to have reusable things.
Speaker 1: This goes into our reusable napkin conversations, finding ways to
Speaker 1: not need paper towels. I will probably still buy toilet
Speaker 1: paper that I throw away, but in other ways seek
Speaker 1: to not just get one time use things. Second are
Speaker 1: reduce the amount you use by becoming a minimalist. So
Speaker 1: this includes not using as much water as like not
Speaker 1: leaving the water on while you're still brushing your teeth
Speaker 1: um and and as you start to become aware of
Speaker 1: these things, you do realize that you don't need as
Speaker 1: much as you thought that you did, so just reducing
Speaker 1: the amount that you use. The third are reuse an
Speaker 1: item over and over and over again before recycling it,
Speaker 1: so kind of similar theme you get it. Fourth our
Speaker 1: repurpose by giving a new purpose to an old item.
Speaker 1: Like they say, turn that milk jug into a lantern.
Speaker 1: Maybe not, but if you really needed a lantern, but
Speaker 1: you probably don't need. I'll often use glass jars from
Speaker 1: a spaghetti sauce for a vase of flowers that I
Speaker 1: go take to a friend, or for a container for
Speaker 1: you know, reuse glass jars for taking salad, dressing with
Speaker 1: your work, lunch, whatever. Just as you look at products
Speaker 1: that could be used again, think through how might this
Speaker 1: serve a purpose for me for something else in my life.
Speaker 1: And finally, the fifth R is recycle all items that
Speaker 1: have been through the first four urs. If you don't
Speaker 1: need it anymore, recycle it, whether that means actually taking
Speaker 1: it to the recycling or giving it away, selling it, whatever.
Speaker 1: Find ways to keep something that can be used again
Speaker 1: in use. Yes, so we are upgrade your three RS
Speaker 1: to five. Refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle. There you get there.
Speaker 1: That is all you take away from today's episode. Upgrade
Speaker 1: your RS and it will save you money and it's fun.
Speaker 1: I am so surprised at how much I enjoy this process.
Speaker 1: Eric and I just moved into our camper, so we
Speaker 1: are now living in it. By the time this episode
Speaker 1: comes out, we will be living in it even longer.
Speaker 1: But it is so fun to figure out how little
Speaker 1: we can live off of and just being more mindful
Speaker 1: about our usage of everything because it has a real
Speaker 1: consequence for us. If I use too much water, I
Speaker 1: have to empty the tank sooner, or if I use
Speaker 1: a ton of propane, I'm very connected with the amount
Speaker 1: that we are going to then be using. I don't
Speaker 1: want to fill up my trash can, so how do
Speaker 1: I create less trash? And I'm realizing that so much
Speaker 1: of my trash is compostable, so you better believe what
Speaker 1: I'm about to do next m composting. Well, that that
Speaker 1: gets into our Our number four is to live a
Speaker 1: sustainable lifestyle and support the local economy. So this is
Speaker 1: something else that I mean. When you are frugal and
Speaker 1: you spend less in frivolous things you can afford to
Speaker 1: spend more to support your local economy and to buy
Speaker 1: sustainable products. Like that just goes hand in hand at
Speaker 1: something that we're so passionate about, and it just flows
Speaker 1: perfectly into homesteading. So shopping local at farmers markets, even
Speaker 1: if you don't buy everything from the farmer's market, to
Speaker 1: try and buy your unique things, the things you can't
Speaker 1: get it all day essentially, and like supporting your local
Speaker 1: farmer and your local economy, buying what's in season, shopping
Speaker 1: yard sales, drift shops, second hand stores. That's sustainable. That's
Speaker 1: buying you can get better quality stuff that's slightly used
Speaker 1: and pay about the same if not less. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I love this one. It says remove the bar
Speaker 1: codes from your life. If you're buying something with a barcode,
Speaker 1: chances are some of it, if not all of it,
Speaker 1: has been imported, make it from scratch, or buy it
Speaker 1: from someone who does. Like that. It's an easy way
Speaker 1: to break it down to what you want more of
Speaker 1: and what you want less of if you are trying
Speaker 1: to get at this lifestyle. Yeah, unless you shop at
Speaker 1: aldi and there's a barcode on every single side of
Speaker 1: every book. We still like all the So the fifth
Speaker 1: and final thing on this list of things that homesteading
Speaker 1: is about is sharing your knowledge, so basically passing it on.
Speaker 1: And I love this one because it speaks to community,
Speaker 1: which we're all about in the frugal community. The homesteading
Speaker 1: community is about this, and it comes with the territory
Speaker 1: of living a lifestyle that's worth replicating, to pass it on,
Speaker 1: to gain from those who have gone before and what
Speaker 1: they have to offer and the resources and knowledge that
Speaker 1: they've gained. But then as we gain that, it then
Speaker 1: becomes our responsibility to also then pass that down again
Speaker 1: because it's worth replicating because we are discovering things that
Speaker 1: are worth sharing with other people. And this is what
Speaker 1: has been fantastic about our Frugal Friends community. There's people
Speaker 1: just sharing, Hey, here's some medical stuff that I found
Speaker 1: at a discounted price, or here's what I did to
Speaker 1: solve this problem in my life. And oh my goodness,
Speaker 1: it has been so helpful because none of us would
Speaker 1: have been able to find all of that information on
Speaker 1: our own, or we wouldn't have known that we needed
Speaker 1: it until a time arises when it's like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: now I've got this problem. Somebody's already done the research
Speaker 1: for me. I've got people that I can pull on
Speaker 1: to say, yes, that happened to me too. Here is
Speaker 1: how I managed that. And so recognize that in the
Speaker 1: midst of frugality and homesteading that it's also very important
Speaker 1: to pass it on, learn from other people, be a learner,
Speaker 1: but also be a teacher. Yes, well said, thanks to that.
Speaker 1: And if you want to be a part of our
Speaker 1: group on Facebook, Frugal Friends, podcast, dot com, slash group
Speaker 1: and it's just a fantastic resource full of people being supportive.
Speaker 1: We have over six hundred Frugal Friends now and it's
Speaker 1: just full of support and tips and all kinds of
Speaker 1: It's very active group. It's not one of those groups
Speaker 1: that you're going to join and be like, oh why
Speaker 1: did I do this? And then and then forget about that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And it's not just Jill and I. It's like everybody else.
Speaker 1: We have to do very little in the group because
Speaker 1: everybody else is just so involved and it's fantasy. Actually,
Speaker 1: I know, shocking how little it's it's Jen and I. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was like I I go and I see something
Speaker 1: and I want to comment on it, and like three
Speaker 1: other people have already answered the question, I'm like, cool,
Speaker 1: I'll just like it. So I love that. I absolutely
Speaker 1: love it. So our next article has some strategies for us,
Speaker 1: and it's five budget friendly strategies to creating an urban homestead.
Speaker 1: And uh so these are budget friendly because it can
Speaker 1: be very expensive to do a full on urban homestead,
Speaker 1: Like you can go real in depth with some of
Speaker 1: your own solar energy and raised beds and all these
Speaker 1: animals and all this stuff, but you don't have to,
Speaker 1: and that is what I love. Um. This is from
Speaker 1: my Humble Kitchen dot com and she makes it really
Speaker 1: clear that you can practice this lifestyle on a budget.
Speaker 1: Both of these articles cited how they are doing practices
Speaker 1: of homesteading on less than a quarter acre of land,
Speaker 1: so and then even encouraging people who don't even have
Speaker 1: any acreage to find ways to incorporate some of these things.
Speaker 1: So that is worth stating that parts of this are
Speaker 1: for anybody. Yeah, I mean, the less land you have,
Speaker 1: the better it is to start right now, because then
Speaker 1: you can practice and then even know what it is
Speaker 1: that you need or what the lifestyle would require. So
Speaker 1: I also like in this article. These tips, these five
Speaker 1: tips actually kind of go in order of ways that
Speaker 1: you can start approaching homesteading. So it's not just here's
Speaker 1: five tips, it's almost here are steps you can be taking.
Speaker 1: Each one almost builds on the other or is an
Speaker 1: increasing skill or increasing knowledge requirement. So the first one
Speaker 1: as far as how to do homesteading, even if you're
Speaker 1: in an urban setting, is to begin working as a team.
Speaker 1: So this could mean as small as your close family
Speaker 1: unit or as big as whatever community you want to
Speaker 1: be a part of. But teamwork is really important for
Speaker 1: this homesteading process to be done well because it will
Speaker 1: include sharing of resources and finances. So sharing labor means
Speaker 1: that if you yourself are going to do all of
Speaker 1: this homesteading, chances are it's going to cost you more
Speaker 1: time and energy, but also potentially cost you money because
Speaker 1: you might be hiring out certain things that it's just
Speaker 1: not practical for you to do by yourself if you've
Speaker 1: got nobody else to help you. So working as a team.
Speaker 1: So she this author is talking about her family and
Speaker 1: how it was important to have buy in from her husband,
Speaker 1: and as her children are growing up, she's giving them
Speaker 1: tasks to do around the house as well, and so
Speaker 1: this links back to our conversations about the why right,
Speaker 1: the why behind frugality, the why behind paying off debt,
Speaker 1: the why behind home steading. To begin to identify that,
Speaker 1: communicate with those in your family, and work towards this
Speaker 1: together as a team. Figure out what different roles and
Speaker 1: responsibilities might look like in this endeavor. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: love even if you don't have a significant other or
Speaker 1: your family is not on board, this is a great
Speaker 1: way to like link up with like minded people, like
Speaker 1: on Facebook or inforums that are local to you. A
Speaker 1: lot of the people in our buy Nothing group and
Speaker 1: on our time bank are also ironically into, you know,
Speaker 1: not coincidentally into homesteading, So it's very easy too if
Speaker 1: you're already connected in a group like that, or if
Speaker 1: you have a Facebook to find people to share the
Speaker 1: tasks with. Yeah, fantastic. And strategy number two is to
Speaker 1: start small. So that's why I think even if you
Speaker 1: have an apartment and the only outdoor space you have
Speaker 1: is a window to the outside, starting something in a
Speaker 1: window box. I know Catherine in our Facebook group she
Speaker 1: started with some containers on her porch in her rental,
Speaker 1: and I know a lot of people, a lot of
Speaker 1: our listeners are renters living in small spaces to keep
Speaker 1: housing costs low. And I think it's just the perfect
Speaker 1: opportunity to kind of get your feet wet with what
Speaker 1: you can grow, what you can bake, what you can
Speaker 1: can all this stuff. There's so many parts of homesteading
Speaker 1: that don't require land. It's a mindset thing. So and
Speaker 1: the author gives pictures of her outdoor garden like years two, three,
Speaker 1: and five, and so it starts as this like tiny
Speaker 1: little maybe like two by six patch with some tomatoes
Speaker 1: and cucumbers, and then the next year she like planted
Speaker 1: a few more rows, and then by your five she's
Speaker 1: got like raised garden beds and and a lot of stuff. So,
Speaker 1: even if you have land, starting small smart. Yes, I
Speaker 1: can't emphasize this one enough. I think it's so important
Speaker 1: for a lot of reasons, and just what you said, Jen,
Speaker 1: even if you have a lot of land, start small,
Speaker 1: because I think we can get in over our heads
Speaker 1: or think that we were going to do more than
Speaker 1: what we actually have time for, and then get so
Speaker 1: overwhelmed that we give up on the whole thing. And
Speaker 1: so building upon each step is important. That that entire
Speaker 1: process is important. So even if you think you can
Speaker 1: start really big, don't do it. Allow yourself to go
Speaker 1: through the process of the excitement of I can manage this,
Speaker 1: I'm enjoying this, and then see what did well, what
Speaker 1: didn't do well, get excited about the possibility of being
Speaker 1: able to harvest seeds again next year. Like, let yourself
Speaker 1: go through the process, don't try and tackle it all
Speaker 1: at once. That journey is important to build upon the
Speaker 1: excitement and to have even the desire to learn more
Speaker 1: doom more next year. So I really really can't emphasize
Speaker 1: that one enough. But also it's worth noting here too
Speaker 1: if you do live in a small area. I will
Speaker 1: probably do this this year, depending on where we end
Speaker 1: up parking our trailer. But there are some fantastic tiered
Speaker 1: planter boxes. I don't know, they're not even boxes, they're
Speaker 1: they're these tiered things. I can find one in link
Speaker 1: it in the show notes. But and depending on which
Speaker 1: one you get, you can actually put composting in the middle.
Speaker 1: It has its own irrigation system. They range in price, certainly,
Speaker 1: but there are some fantastic options for people that have
Speaker 1: small spaces to actually grow a significant amount of things
Speaker 1: if you only have a five by five porch. So
Speaker 1: I'll link some of those things in the show notes
Speaker 1: as well. And number three is up cycling. So we
Speaker 1: talked about this with the first article, but this one
Speaker 1: again highlights it giving things a new purpose basically that's
Speaker 1: what up cycling is and saving cash along the way.
Speaker 1: So this author gives examples of using palette wood to
Speaker 1: build their chicken coop and using big those big, massive
Speaker 1: blue recycled barrels for collecting rainwater to water their gardens.
Speaker 1: So whatever you see that you have that you could
Speaker 1: rather than throwing it away, giving it a new purpose
Speaker 1: is fantastic because that saves money and it keeps you
Speaker 1: from purchasing unnecessary things adding to your junk pile throwing
Speaker 1: things out. Yes and um, one of our friends in
Speaker 1: the group posted a link to how you can see
Speaker 1: whatever the paltte was treated with so you can make
Speaker 1: sure that it's safe to use for growing things on.
Speaker 1: So if you just search palette on the group you
Speaker 1: can find that. And then our next one, make your
Speaker 1: own compost. It is something that Travis actually did last
Speaker 1: year and it produced some really great compost and it
Speaker 1: actually got so heavy that it broke off of its stand.
Speaker 1: But it's this huge I got I don't know, a
Speaker 1: lot of gallon container with just this great compost. And
Speaker 1: it started out like very iffy. It smelled like vomit,
Speaker 1: it had bugs in it, and I was like, I
Speaker 1: don't think this is working, and he's like, it's fine.
Speaker 1: And then one day it just transformed and all all
Speaker 1: we had to do was put scraps in, like from
Speaker 1: our just like non meat scraps and some you know,
Speaker 1: whenever we had dried leaves on the ground, we'd break
Speaker 1: up the dried leaves, throw them in there, and that
Speaker 1: was it, and we spun it around every once in
Speaker 1: a while. Easy. Yeah, easy. It is really great. I
Speaker 1: have gone in and out of composting depending on where
Speaker 1: I'm living, but it really is important, particularly if you
Speaker 1: have gardens, veggie gardens, flower gardens, even to put those
Speaker 1: nutrients back into the soil. So rather than buying new
Speaker 1: bags of soil every year or needing to purchase manure
Speaker 1: and all that stuff, you can make your own and
Speaker 1: you can give your gardens some really great nutrients just
Speaker 1: by using the scraps that you have around the house. Yes,
Speaker 1: so then last, but certainly not least. Another tip in
Speaker 1: homesteading is saving your seeds and using growing your own
Speaker 1: from from scratch, basically from start starter seeds. So once
Speaker 1: you started to homestead, learning how to utilize then the
Speaker 1: seeds that your fruit produces. So there is a bit
Speaker 1: to learn in this process, Like some plants won't produce
Speaker 1: seeds until their second year of growth. Uh, there's certain
Speaker 1: things that you need, temperatures, you need to keep the
Speaker 1: seeds at, certain things that you need to do with them.
Speaker 1: But this is definitely worthwhile because seeds do cost a
Speaker 1: significant amount of money and so this could not only
Speaker 1: be a money saver, but potentially a money maker depending
Speaker 1: on how into this you become. But yeah, if you
Speaker 1: start having gardens, I mean you think one piece of
Speaker 1: fruit can produce the potential for twenty plus plants, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's exponential growth is what we're talking here. So eventually
Speaker 1: you could get to the point where you're selling some
Speaker 1: of your seeds, which is fantastic. So again, this is
Speaker 1: another one that links back to the starting small. Don't
Speaker 1: go into year one of home setting thinking you're gonna
Speaker 1: be collecting all of your seeds. Don't put that pressure
Speaker 1: on yourself. In my Latin, this past year, I got
Speaker 1: excited to do my seeds this upcoming year. Having started small,
Speaker 1: I was not overwhelmed, and I started to see and
Speaker 1: identify for myself the things that I wanted to do,
Speaker 1: the things that seemed fun and exciting to me. So
Speaker 1: I am now excited to try that this year of
Speaker 1: harvesting my seeds for my third year of you know,
Speaker 1: doing veggies. So it's a ways out, but it has.
Speaker 1: I've allowed myself this excitement growing process and and now
Speaker 1: I can see I think I could do more. I
Speaker 1: want to learn more. I want to do this next year.
Speaker 1: So again starting small, But that can be your number five.
Speaker 1: It's the last one on the list. It requires probably
Speaker 1: the most like know how, an investment into what we're
Speaker 1: talking about here, but something to work up to. You
Speaker 1: know what doesn't require a lot of investment To the
Speaker 1: best time of the week. It's the bill of the week,
Speaker 1: that's right, It's time for the best minute of your
Speaker 1: entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
Speaker 1: is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, Maybe your
Speaker 1: car died and you're happy to not have to pay
Speaker 1: that bill anymore. That's bill bills, Bill Clinton. This is
Speaker 1: the bill of the week, Ay, Jen and Jill, this
Speaker 1: is Chris again, and I'm calling it with my bill
Speaker 1: of the week, and my bill is the West actually
Speaker 1: two bills. I guess it's a ten and a twenty
Speaker 1: dollar bill that I saved after I listened to episode
Speaker 1: twenty of your podcast that you did all about libraries,
Speaker 1: because I had no idea that I could get free
Speaker 1: passes to my local museum through the library. I had
Speaker 1: no idea. So once I listened to that, I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna go to the library. I hadn't blund
Speaker 1: on it, but I was like, if I can get
Speaker 1: in for free, I'm going. So I went and I
Speaker 1: got two passes to the libraa tar Pits, which I
Speaker 1: had never been to, which is out here in Los Angeles,
Speaker 1: and it was amazing. I got in completely free. Well,
Speaker 1: I had to pay for parking, but I was gonna
Speaker 1: have to pay for that anyways, so I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: count that. I'm still gonna count the thirty dollars that
Speaker 1: I saved thanks to listening to the two of you
Speaker 1: on the Frugal Friends podcast. So that is my bill
Speaker 1: of the week. Nah, it's awesome. I love that it's
Speaker 1: two bills and twenty and a ten because we don't
Speaker 1: make thirty bills in America. That's why do bill. Yes,
Speaker 1: I love that, and I still have not tried that
Speaker 1: trick because I haven't been to any museums. But um,
Speaker 1: that's probably my favorite thing that libraries do is free
Speaker 1: museum tickets. You guys, you guys should definitely try it out.
Speaker 1: And when you do, give us a call on our
Speaker 1: speak pipe or Google voicemail. You can find it Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends podcast dot com, slash bill and we want to
Speaker 1: know how many bills it's safe deos. Thanks Chris, that's fantastic.
Speaker 1: Glad you enjoyed that one. Well. Time for our lightning round,
Speaker 1: cue the lightning sounds, because that's definitely theirs. Add My
Speaker 1: lightning sounds have turned into what I imagine old video
Speaker 1: games to sound like when you're you know, like an
Speaker 1: outer outer space video game, like pew pew, that's what
Speaker 1: they're saying. Yeah, alright, So for today's Lightning Round, we
Speaker 1: got three things you can do today to start homesteading,
Speaker 1: and then you can call yourself an amateur homesteaders, and
Speaker 1: you will be cool amongst all of your friends, yourself
Speaker 1: the title self proclaimed amateur homesteader because you could make
Speaker 1: a name. Listen to the Frugal Friends podcast and here
Speaker 1: you go. You can today connect with like minded people
Speaker 1: in your community. So get to know neighbors. Even look
Speaker 1: up local laws regarding homesteading, whether or not you can
Speaker 1: put those chicken and ducks in your backyard, whether you
Speaker 1: was to those laws. We're not going to check up
Speaker 1: on you, but these are some things you can start today. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I did read in one of the articles. She's like
Speaker 1: the old adage asked forgiveness, not permission does not pertain
Speaker 1: to homesteading, because it can. It can cause you a
Speaker 1: lot of frustration and wasted time. It is true if
Speaker 1: you don't obey your local wasted money too, because you
Speaker 1: you may have to wait to pay a fine and
Speaker 1: then maybe even get rid of those chickens that you bought,
Speaker 1: So that would not be good. But chickens. Chickens are
Speaker 1: like the most like they're the most lenient on chickens
Speaker 1: i've heard, so those are usually okay. But still check
Speaker 1: number two. Start a compost because you literally just need
Speaker 1: to put food, scraps and stuff you can find outside
Speaker 1: into a sealable container and roll it around every few days.
Speaker 1: Like you do make it sound so attainable. It's so easy.
Speaker 1: It's it's stuff you were going to throw away anyway,
Speaker 1: plus stuff you're going to need to throw away outside
Speaker 1: or want to throw outside. You could leave your leaves,
Speaker 1: I guess, and then just put it together. It's two
Speaker 1: parts green to one part brown, and then you literally
Speaker 1: can just if it's around container, you kick it around,
Speaker 1: roll it around every few days, just or like shake
Speaker 1: it up. It could be part of your exercise routine.
Speaker 1: You know, you don't need to shake weight. You have
Speaker 1: a compost. We love feeding two birds with one piece
Speaker 1: of bread, right, that is that the new way that
Speaker 1: we're according to the way we have to say it now.
Speaker 1: And if you do have animals, well like the chickens
Speaker 1: and the ducks and the goats, the brown could be
Speaker 1: there manure, which is the new way to say poop.
Speaker 1: I mean we just use leaves because we don't have animals,
Speaker 1: but yeah, but you can you can use that. And
Speaker 1: number three here you have it, bake your own bread.
Speaker 1: Start today. Madeline in our Facebook group does that, and
Speaker 1: she said it saves loads of money, and then Joel
Speaker 1: pointed out that it saves loaves of money, so you
Speaker 1: can all l O l on that one, thanks Joel.
Speaker 1: But yeah, baking your own bread is also a great
Speaker 1: way to feel like you are so domesticated on this
Speaker 1: homesteading thing it's not even funny. And it'll smell so good. Yes,
Speaker 1: And if you want to do sour dough, go back
Speaker 1: to number one where it says connect with like minded
Speaker 1: people and you can get a sour dough starter, probably
Speaker 1: from somebody in your community. So yeah, and then one
Speaker 1: piece of bread, yes, yes, And then you can compost
Speaker 1: the eggs that you used when you made your bread.
Speaker 1: You can can do all three of these things in
Speaker 1: one activity. You're welcome. Yeah, you're an amateur homesteader. Congratulations. Um.
Speaker 1: As a bonus our listener, Ariana wrote a great blog
Speaker 1: post about how to start an affordable herb garden too,
Speaker 1: So if you wanted to branch out, get a little
Speaker 1: crazy plant some herbs, we will link to her blog
Speaker 1: post in the show notes because actually, my father in
Speaker 1: law gave me some herbs to start out with, and
Speaker 1: he's like, you can't kill these and I was like,
Speaker 1: watch me how and I killed them? So yeah, I am.
Speaker 1: He thought you were incapable, but look at you. You're
Speaker 1: capable of the impossible. Right goodness, Well, you guys, it's
Speaker 1: it's coming to the end here. We've we've given you
Speaker 1: a lot, right doesn't it feel like we've done our job.
Speaker 1: So here's one more thing to give you. It's April,
Speaker 1: so that's fantastic, and we're still in this book club
Speaker 1: thing and this month we are reading Think and Grow
Speaker 1: Rich by Napoleon Hill, So get in on that. Like
Speaker 1: growing your garden, only growing yourself. That's also important. Yes,
Speaker 1: and your mind is the compost. I don't know if
Speaker 1: that works. Just you know, to it's rich in nutrients
Speaker 1: and other shake it around a little bit. All right.
Speaker 1: If you want a free copy of Think and Grow
Speaker 1: Rich by Napoleon Hill, please know that it's going to
Speaker 1: be a used copy or a digital and leave us
Speaker 1: a review. Because Travis didn't know that. And one of
Speaker 1: our listeners who won them meet the Frugal Wood's book.
Speaker 1: Apparently the copy copy had maybe like a rip in it,
Speaker 1: and he's like, are you giving them used books? And
Speaker 1: I was like, what kind of podcast? Do you think
Speaker 1: this is yes, I'm keeping we are well. We will
Speaker 1: send you the least expensive used book we can find
Speaker 1: on Amazon or book Depository if you will UM enter
Speaker 1: our sweepstakes sweepstakes giveaway UM by leaving us a review
Speaker 1: on iTunes or stitcher UM and screenshot the review and
Speaker 1: send it to Frugal Friends Podcast at gmail dot com
Speaker 1: UM and we will select one winner for every five reviews.
Speaker 1: At the end of the month, we promise you the
Speaker 1: possibility to win a book. Did never promise that would
Speaker 1: be new Nope. Here's an example of a helpful review,
Speaker 1: one that would be worthy of potentially winning inexpensive years.
Speaker 1: It looks like five stars always in forever. Thank you,
Speaker 1: thanks so much. Uh. This one came from Beth. She says,
Speaker 1: great podcast. As a fellow frugal person. I love your
Speaker 1: ideas and conversation. I especially love the interviews and tips
Speaker 1: that you have. Keep it up, ladies. We are keeping
Speaker 1: it up. We're keeping it up for you, Beth. We're
Speaker 1: keeping it up for our other frugal friends. We're doing
Speaker 1: book clubs. We're giving you tips on how to homestead
Speaker 1: being an amateur homestead are Uh. Here's your award yes,
Speaker 1: and congratulations. We look forward to seeing all of your
Speaker 1: homemade badges and name tags now that you were all
Speaker 1: amateur homesteaders. And we'll see you next week for another
Speaker 1: awesome Frugal Friday Friends episode. Whatever whatever your bread and
Speaker 1: your butter you know me? Yes, all right, see you
Speaker 1: next week. Frugal Friends is produced, edited and mixed by
Speaker 1: Eric Sirian Boom boom boom. Can you make bread in
Speaker 1: an insta pot? I think you can. I think you
Speaker 1: can make anything in an instant pot, I asked Alexa.
Speaker 1: Now she's going to talk to me. Dang it, um,
Speaker 1: sure I don't have one of those? Is so creepy um.
Speaker 1: And she seemed to say that you could make banana bread,
Speaker 1: which like, yeah, obviously, I want to know. Can I make, like,
Speaker 1: you know, a loaf of some hardy bread. I'll look
Speaker 1: into it. It wouldn't have that good crust on it,
Speaker 1: you don't think so, no, because it keeps all the
Speaker 1: moisture in like in the oven you get that real
Speaker 1: good crust, So you couldn't make crusty bread. I do
Speaker 1: think it is pretty easy to make bread, Like you
Speaker 1: don't have to have a bread maker, you just you
Speaker 1: just stir it up, set it aside, and then throw
Speaker 1: it in the oven. Yeah. People who do it make
Speaker 1: it seem real attainable. So yeah, there's so do people
Speaker 1: that grow herbs. Oh do you really kill everything? I do?
Speaker 1: That's why I'm super nervous to have a child. But
Speaker 1: you're doing good. Yeah, this is the first thing I've
Speaker 1: been able to keep alive for longer than six months.
Speaker 1: But I mean, this thing will yell at me if
Speaker 1: I am if I am neglecting it that. Plants don't yell.
Speaker 1: They don't cry and scream when they need to be
Speaker 1: fed exactly, or when they're being overfed. Are you concerned
Speaker 1: about overfeeding your baby? No, my plants, Um no, just
Speaker 1: feed that kid veggies. Yeah, straight to tomatoes from breast milk.
Speaker 1: That sounds like an awful combination. That does