Through the years, I have gleaned a lot of homesteading tips on saving money. Here are a few of my favourites!
DIY: Even if you are not handy, it is AMAZING how much you can learn from YouTube, Pinterest and online articles like SteemIt. I have learned how to build a chicken coop, changed a filter on my car, how to change the oil on my snowblower, how to fix my oven and how to do basic home repairs. This has saved me thousands of dollars just in the last few years! Don’t be afraid to at least do some research - it just might save you a lot.
Barter, Trade and Buy Used When Possible: The concept that you have to buy everything new is, in my opinion, a silly one. In the age of Kijiji, Craigslist and FreeCycle, why would we buy it new? Homesteading costs money and I need every dollar I can save! The other benefit of buying used equipment is that you can chat with the owners and get them to show you how to operate it and get tips on maintaining the equipment yourself. I buy used clothes, used equipment, used tools and used household items. Swallow your pride and really get into the fun of thrifting.
Save & Swap Seeds: I have so many amazing varieties of Organic seeds that I obtained from friends Everything from Sorghum, to specialty peppers to gorgeous flowers. Saving my seeds every year has been a big money saver since I plant large amounts of certain varieties. If you are willing to learn to save seeds, I would recommend the book “Seed To Seed” to get you started.
Buy in Bulk or start a Co-op: If you can get a group of people together to buy the things that you can’t grow or produce yourself (ie. Sugar, flour, tea, etc), then you increase your buying power. If you can buy in Bulk and split it up, you can save a bundle. Places you can do this are at Costco, Sam’s Club, and if you are in Canada, the Wholesale Club. You can also purchase a cow and have it butchered and split it up between the other co-op members.
Grow your Own Medicine: Obviously, prevention is better than having to find a way to get well. You can make your own cough syrup (I use pineapple juice), use a steam inhalation to clear clogged sinuses (I use a few drops of eucalyptus oil in a bowl of hot water and breath in the steam) and make poultices for bug bites and bee stings (I use mud and peppermint essential oil). I have made my own bug repellent, shampoo and many other useful things from stuff I can grow in my herb garden. Obviously, I don’t grow the pineapple for my cough syrup but we are working on it! :) The point is, you can make your own simple remedies for minor ailments very easily and save yourself some money. Obviously, my disclaimer is that if you feel that your condition is serious, you should go to your doctor or naturopath and not try to just ‘tough it out’ yourself.
Woodstove: I know this sounds like a given if you have a homestead but my addition to this suggestion is that you buy the type of woodstove that you can also cook on. Some models are not very conducive to cooking food on them as they are made to keep the surface cooler or they may have a small surface. If you are going to invest in a woodstove get one that you can also cook on. We do this in the Fall/Winter and save a bundle on hydro - we don’t have a microwave so we usually use our electric stove to cook on but the woodstove is even better. Someday, I hope to be able to afford a wood cookstove like this one.
Plan Your Trips To Town: Good planning is the key to saving fuel. I use Google maps to plan a route and I go to town once a week to get groceries, have my appts (in my case, midwife appts), and get supplies. If I am going to look at something from Kijiji, I also factor this into my trip and work around it. Fuel is not cheap these days and if you can save time and money by planning your trip, it is a very efficient way to save your hard earned cash!
Insulate Your Home: Use caulking for your windows, draft stop for your doors and seal up your home. This will also prevent bugs and rodents from coming in and keep your home warmer in Winter and cooler in Summer. It can also be a good idea to plant trees near your home to shade your house in the Summer and provide a windbreak in Winter.
Pasture Feed your Animals: Some newbie homesteaders make the mistake of keeping a flock of chickens or goats in a small area and just feeding them grains. Let your animals roam in a pastured area so they can eat grass...they will eat less grain and it will keep your costs down.
Learn to budget and Count Costs: This is CRUCIAL to saving money. I use Mint which is a great budgeting app available online and for your phone. It’s FREE! I set up my budgets and link my bank account and credit card accounts to it (it can only obtain transactional data, not use my info to process transactions). It automatically checks my accounts each day to see if I have spent money and updates my budget accordingly and sends me alerts if I am getting close to going over the budget I have set. Without a budget you are like a ship adrift on the ocean without a map or a compass. You don’t know where you are or where you are going financially. When I talk about counting costs, I mean that sometimes we try to do something to save money (like sewing your own clothes) and it does not actually save money in the long run (you can buy clothes cheaper at the thrift store than the price of buying fabric in most cases, not to mention your time which is valuable also). It’s ok to do something for a hobby but if you are doing something to save money be sure to do your research and see if it is really your cheapest option.
What are some homesteading money saving tips that you would like to share?