Money – How To Stop Relying On Money

It is summer, so I have taken more days off to thoroughly enjoy it. Summer goes by so quickly. Considering how many months there are with very little sunlight, I’ll be soaking up all the vitamin D that I can over the next few months. Still, I have been far from idle. I have maintained my side hustles diligently. And I have spent A LOT of time in the garden and in the woods. I have been foraging, harvesting and preserving food daily. The more you can do yourself, the less money you need to spend.

Yesterday I reached my two first goals of the season. I have grown 20 kg of food and I have foraged for 10 kg of food thus far. My goal for the year (reaching for the stars here) is to grow 75 kg and forage for 30 kg. We’ll see how close to that I can get.

I have also been pursuing self-sufficiency, as always, and I have taken some very important steps toward my goal this summer.

One step closer

Earlier this month I gathered my courage and purchased my first rain water collector. It is collapsible and very space efficient. It is taking longer than expected to fill it up, but it is filling up. I think the fact that the rain is followed by strong sunlight has caused some of the gathered water to evaporate. So I am thinking it might be best to use the water for the plants after it rains rather than let it sit when it’s sunny. At least while there is only a little bit in the collector. I am new to this, so I have some more research to do before I can say for sure what works and what doesn’t.

The essentials of self-sufficiency

The main thing on my list is to have a home that runs itself. While I don’t have my own mobile home or cottage yet, I decided to cross everything else off my list in the meantime.

Water

First up was water. The rain water collector is the first step towards achieving that. Once I know how long it takes for it to fill up, I will be able to determine how many of them I would need to be self-sufficient.

Power

Next is power. I have decided to purchase a power station – just a small one – and a few flexible solar panels to go with it. I am trying to figure out a way to place them on top of the roof of my collapsible greenhouse without them falling off. That would be ideal.

With what they are able to produce combined with the power station, it should be enough to power and charge my tech.

I won’t bother with trying to run the freezer or other large appliances on solar power yet. When I have purchased my home, I may very well choose an alternative solution such as a solar freezer or a gas powered one.

Food & Herbal Medicine

As many of you know by now, I am growing a significant part of the food I eat, and I also forage quite a bit.

This year wheat started spontaneously growing in my garden. I saw it as a sign to start growing my own grain. I am trying to get a hold of oat seeds and buckwheat and I have made a plan of exactly how much space I need to grow all of my food including grain for flour. 15 square metres in total should suffice.

My apple trees have been propagating themselves, so I have several more apple trees now in small containers. It’s awesome. From what I’ve been able to find out through research, it will likely take many years before they are large enough to bear fruit. But that applies to “regular” fruit trees as well, so I am not worried. If they make it, they make it. I have at least given them a chance.

I am confident I can grow a great deal of the food I eat, preserve it and forage for the rest. There may be a few dry ingredients that I can’t grow, such as rice, but beyond that, my container garden has me covered.

Until I am able to produce the quantities I need, I look for discounts, buy in bulk and preserve 6 months to a year’s worth at a time. It is very cost efficient and much more delicious.

While there are few things that I acquire that way – such as peaches and tomatoes when they are the cheapest – most of the food I preserve comes from my garden or grows wild.

Plumbing and waste management

I will continue to compost food waste, and once I have my own home and land, I will start learning how to compost human waste as well. I already use urine to make golden water – a natural fertiliser – and my plants love it. So, using a composting toilet – which can be acquired for free or next to nothing – and composting all human waste should be very manageable.

I simply need to carefully look into local regulations, read up on the practice more, and then make a plan. If I am not mistaken, the human waste needs to be composted for a year before it can be used in the garden. In other words, I need to have both a bokashi compost and one or multiple separate composts for human waste. Even if I can’t compost all of my human waste, I feel like it will get me one step closer to living in balance with nature.

• Cardboard can be reused or cut into pieces and used in the garden.

• Glass can be recycled, reused, repurposed or melted down.

• Metal can be turned into tools and decor.

• Plastic can be compressed and turned into plastic bricks, yarn or repurposed in other ways.

Heat

I will likely choose a used wood-burning stove that also accepts pellets, cardboard etc. That should be sufficient even during winter. If I can cook with it as well, all the better. If not, then an air heat pump.

Teaching ourselves not to rely on money

It is almost a reflex to take out our cards or phones and pay for whatever we need. That is one of the things that is changing for me as I am decycling my life. I want to stop that reflex in my behaviour. If I need something, I see it as an opportunity to make it myself, or learn how to.

Most of my wardrobe is made up by handmade garments. I am currently studying how to make my own barefoot shoes. Sometimes I make my own jewellery as well.

I generally don’t spend money on hygiene and beauty supplies. If I do, it is either as a treat or it is when I purchase ingredients in bulk. I make my own joint balm, hair oil, face oil, lotions/body butter and more. It’s the same principle there. If I need something, I do my best to learn how to make it myself.

While there are health supplements I can’t make myself, I do make quite a few of them. I make ashwaghandha capsules for better sleep and stress relief, tinctures, herbal teas, syrups and cordials. They keep me healthy through the colder seasons. I grow or forage for the ingredients for these natural medicines.

There are some things I have to pay for at this point in my life (and possibly onward), such as an annual phone bill, health insurance, certain health care and my storage unit. But I have created an annual budget, turned it into twelve monthly budgets and all of it is covered by my side hustles.

Wait, just wait

When there’s something I want, I wait thirty days, I plan for it and then I use gift certificates to acquire it. As an example, I recently purchased the third book in my favourite series by Cassandra Clare. It’s the one the series Shadowhunters is inspired by.

They have been publishing these special edition bound versions of the books. One comes out each year and I have the first three.

About once a year I also purchase a bound notebook, also paid for with gift certificates.

Living frugally

I have cut and eliminated costs for over a year now and I am so proud of what I have accomplished. Right now I pay less than thirty euro per year for my phone. I’m going back to listening to music that I own rather than having to pay for mobile internet and music streaming services.

I spend less than 50 euro on food each month, and most of it is optional.

I purchase supplements in bulk when they are the cheapest, and I find extra discounts codes to add to that purchase. That way I cut my supplement costs in half.

I make my own clothes, mend when need be.

Whenever I acquire something, I declutter and let go of something else. I usually end up donating what I let go of. There’s a charity I like to donate to and donating helps me support their work.

Limit your expenses

Truthfully, I have very few expenses and that is really saying something what with the global inflation.

When I have a home that runs itself and I own it (no mortgage), my housing expenses will go down to zero, and I will have the option of letting go of my storage unit. If I do, my monthly expenses will be reduced by a third.

The more food I grow, the less money I’ll need to spend on ingredients.

My main staple ingredients that I need to acquire during the food preservation season are salt, sugar and olive oil. I will try to find a great discount and get them in bulk at the end of the year. Hopefully I’ll be able to get bags of 10 or 25 kg worth.

Do you want to live a more self-sufficient life?