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amandapanda_gw

Homesteader without experience?

amandapanda
14 years ago

I'm new to the forums. I'm 22 and right now I live in a small apartment with my OH, 4 cats, 1 dog, 4 rats(pets), and a rabbit.

I've been doing a lot of homesteading type things already, like baking bread, washing my own clothes by hand an having a small container garden on my balcony. I haven't been able to harvest anything so far because I was a little behind on getting started. Both have been very rewarding. Washing clothes has been my workout(I need to lose quite a few pounds) so I try to do at least one load a day.

I have a plan to one day have my own small homestead/farm in the country, but I don't know if I'm being realistic because of finances and not enough experience. I've never lived in the country and neither of us have the knowledge of doing repairs, building things, etc. Then again, those things can be learned.

I don't want to live too far away from town. I don't want my drive into town to be more than 10-15 minutes.

I also want to acquire my homestead without any debt. The only way I can think that is possible is to buy it in bits and pieces.

1) Save money to buy a small mobile home already in a Mobile Home park and move in it. I see them on craigslist for about $5000-10000. The rent to stay in the park is about $300-400, the rent I'm paying nowis $650, so after that I would be able to save money faster. This step would take be about a year to maybe 6 months longer if I penny pinch and save $500 a month.

2) Save enough money to buy some land. I know this would take the longest. The ideal situation would be to be able to find some land for about $20,000 or less, but I know that would be hard to find. Maybe a foreclosure? I don't want anything too big, just enough for a good sized garden, a few fruit trees, a little grass. I also want to have chickens and maybe a couple goats. I'm thinking maybe we could buy a couple more mobile homes and rent them out, as another income and to be able to save money faster.I don't know if that would be worth it though.

3) If not already there, save up enough money to put on a well, septic, power, and have the mobile home moved there. In the meantime, go out there on weekends and clean up the land. I would like to put the mobile home on a small corner of the land in the front and fence it in to make a separate house/yard. I was thinking that could be rented out too. I don't know if that would be possible though.

4) After the mobile home is settled in, live there until save enough money to start building our permanent house, and start making the garden in the meantime.

I realize this could take me a really long time, but once I think that most people pay mortgages for 30+ years, it all seems worth it. I think it would be possible to do most if not all within 10 years.

If you disagree or have any advice, please let me know! That's why I posted this! I'm just asking that you be nice about it:), not that you wont.

Thanks!

-Amanda

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