Water is one of the most reasonable beverages for a tight budget. We drink a LOT of it. We have a faucet filter and use glass or stainless steel bottles for carrying the water around with us. Bottled water is too expensive and not good for either our own health or the environment, so none of that plastic...

So maybe you don't live on a farm or out in the back woods of the rural country side, but you may be one of today's homesteaders and just not even know it yet! Now, let me be honest and give credit where it is due, they die-hard homesteader really does live out in the middle of 'no-where'...

"I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." Robert Frost (The Road Not Taken 1915) This poem always made me reflect on life. Am I a follower or a leader? Do I know when to be one or the other? " The road less traveled by" - what does that look like now...

I have come up with a list of items that warrant practicing each week to prepare for an uncertain economical or governmental future. It isn’t being pessimistic to actually WANT to and look forward to being able to be more self-sustaining and out of debt. It is prudent in our time. This list below is...

I know how you feel. Just take a deep breathe and compartmentalize.....it can be very overwhelming at first. That's one reason I found the easy open buckets for my home were because people were telling me that for a year's supply I had to vacuum pack and re-vacuum pack etc...It drove me nuts...

I always love to hear the trials and triumps of others who have that same pioneering spirit of a homesteader. Many people are overcoming the limits in which they live (financial, spacial, educational,etc) to find ways to improve their lives on a deeper level than monitarialy. That is the homesteader's...

As I mentioned last entry, I wanted to take note at how my one and only New Year's Resolution effected us in the area of health. Well, organizing things around this homestead has definitely paid off on the health side already. I'm down 4 pounds since Dec.31! The area of health is so deeply tied...

This year, we are doing as we have often done as we have trimmed our budget to the bone; we are making most of the gifts and decorations. This is not a new thing for our family. It actually began years before the kids were born, but has become a tradition as they grew. We make many food gifts (Holiday...

Now, I know there are more ideas than this one....but this is our FAVORITE way to use them rather than toss them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MumZcIjTJQ It's short so it should load pretty fast! Best Blessings and enJOY! Donna

It is one of my life's goals to balance contentment with a good healthy drive to succeed. That is kind of a tricky teeter-totter to be on, isn't it? Well, it seems that to do either one well (be content and strive to succeed) it would help to study a bit about just what the words mean. I thought...