While I think it is a great idea, I'm not sure it is really doable for most.
All the vids and websites gives me the impression that you first need to start pretty comfortable financially just to obtain the property.
Also, the more you pay attention to most of these sites, you start to learn that the "homestead" is actually a weekend hobby, and the people live and work a job like most normal people.
Am I wrong in assuming this type of life is not as cheap or doable as they make it appear?

Living off grid is the easy part. Being self Suficent is a whole different game.  I lived off grid for 5 years, still have the place, but had to come out of early retirement after the money ran out

Good luck on your experiment. Have cash on hand.

I don't think homesteading necessarily means being without other employment or without debt.  You can have a homestead, work toward self-sufficiency (and accept that few if any get to 100%, and that's OK), and have an external source of income.  You're still miles ahead of most wage slaves, you're more recession resistant, and infinitely more SHTF hardened.



Don't allow a purist concept of homesteading keep you from starting.

Well,

We got the property we are on (about 5 acres) when I was broke, out of work, and in debt. Had already sold most everything we had of value just to scrape by, and that ran out as well.


We started doing this grow food thing out of necessity, while still broke. It didn't work well without investment money for some very basic tools, one of those ended up being our John Deere 316, and them adding a 3 point hitch, better tires, attachments, etc. It was possible without, but insane amounts of hard, manual, time consuming work can be eliminated with the proper tools.


Now, here is what you will find interesting: You really don't save money growing most types of veggies if you are the average person. Why? Veggies are cheap to buy. That said, we eat organically (exclusively), and some veggies are VERY expensive to buy organically, ironically many of which are easy to grow (like potatoes).


Where we save real money is protein production: eggs, meat, dairy (dairy is in the works, that takes time to get going). Dozen organic eggs in the store is about $5. I can produce them for about 70 cents, if that. Organic chicken is very difficult to find, and $9/pound when you do (I can raise meat birds organically for $6/bird if I buy all their feed, and buy chicks, $4/bird when I hatch my own chicks, and I haven't started fodder yet). Organic dairy is stupid expensive (we pay $8-$9 for a gallon of milk), and even buying beef/pork from the farmer by the animal (which IS cheaper than grocery store prices overall) meat gets REALLY expensive.


As such, we decided that next year our gardening would dramatically change.

We are going to concentrate on perennial food such as berries, fruit trees, etc., high value and un-available veggies, and feed for the animals. We are getting a greenhouse this fall, and are going to have it setup for next year. This will allow us to get about double the amount of crops off the same square footage of land. This will be for the "people" food, and the open garden areas will be for animal food production.




So, back on track..


Can you do it? Yes. Does it take a lot of money? Depends on what you call a lot, and if not, it takes a LOT of manpower. Can you live off the land only? Not in this country. You will ALWAYS need to generate income, at least at SOME level, if nothing to pay taxes on your land.


So, what do we have in turning our 5 acres into a mini homestead? Without going all spreadsheet, I'd say the cost of building everything from scratch, but with salvaged components where available, buying animals, tools & supplies to be somewhere around $5k. Our property was $40k (it was an amazing deal, long story, but stupid cheap for around here). Now, I do have access to a skidsteer from the farm, which I bring out a few times a year to get certain projects done that I cannot do with what I have for equipment, but you can also rent them, which can be easily cheaper than buying for just a few projects a year.


We STILL aren't wealthy by any means, and STILL haven't gotten our investment back yet (we really started investing in this about 3 years ago), but next year should get a long way toward recouping our investment as the cows will be in lactation, the pigs will be brought in, the meat birds are actually going to break even (considering the cost of the coops).


Let me know if there is anything specific you have questions on.


Also, more info can be had at the website in my sig line (still a work in progress)

I should also point out that how much you need to work is directly proportional to the lifestyle you want to live (basically, how much new cool stuff you want).



I own my own business, its internet based sales. Its also sales fore a specific product, and the demand has already peaked. I estimate our company, if kept static, can sustain us for about 2 more years at current rate.






While I am of course currently working on not just another business I'm building from the ground up (Yes, I DID build that), I am working on more product lines for the current business.






The other side of that coin is reducing expenses. Since we live mortgage free (its wonderful), we can actually live on very little. Our #1 budget item by far is food, which is 50-60% of our budget (debt is about 25% of our budget). Since our house/vehicles are paid for, those percentages may seem far different than the average person, but we are still paying off not having an income for 3 years and we eat organically. Since at least half of our budget is food, producing our own can save us TONS of money. I estimate we can COMFORTABLY get our food budget reduced by about 70% and not notice any differences, and could reduce our food budget by about 90% if we had to (can't grow bananas in MN..). If S truly hit the F, we could survive (survive being the key word) on what we have in storage and what we can produce for many, many years, but our diet would be basics only. For survival, our plan is to ditch the cows (well, eat the cows) once we cannot get hay and/or the breeding/milking stops (we don't have our own bull, not enough land), forget pork, and have 3 separate flocks of chickens: 2 for eggs, 1 area to raise meat birds. Our protein would be 100% chicken. The garden would be basic veggies and chicken feed. Our perennial berries/fruit would be guarded and managed carefully.






So, should we reduce expenses to a minimum, we could survive on minimal income. This means either that I could produce income from our place (such as honey, extra eggs, etc), or take part time work and be able to make the bills. Recession resistant, as an above poster said.




 

At the end of the day: we own our own home so it cannot be foreclosed on. Property taxes are $500/yr. We can produce most our own food, all our own if survival depended on it. We have our own well. So, we have shelter, water, food that cannot be foreclosed on. Those are the basics, everything else is bonus.

I concur.

I think people have an unrealistic idea about what becoming “self-sufficient” is all about.  Very, very few people are ever going to be 100% self-sufficient.
I think the issue is; What can you do today, or learn to do, that will help you TODAY and at the same time enhance your future self-sufficiency and self reliance?

We are being squeezed financially.  And this is going to get worse.  So, what can you do that will help you to cope TODAY?  This is important because it will be even MORE important TOMORROW!

I don’t have a farm or a woodlot or a whole bunch of other things.  But I do have resources.  And I have a garden and I have been growing things, good things.  And I have learned how to can foods and now I make my own raspberry jam and lots of other things.  I can easily make an entire year’s worth of jam, sweet relish, tomatoes, carrots.....  And every year I get better and more self-reliant instead of more and more dependent upon an external system that is failing.

So what if it costs you some money?  Look at it as an investment in YOURSELF.  Instead of investing in a system that is FAILING and which will end up stealing your savings, invest in YOURSELF and get a return on your financial resources that way…..before it’s TOO LATE.

As always, I recommend that you all peruse a website called Granola Shotgun for ideas along these lines.

Too many people get sucked in by the Mother Earth News articles, you'd think food grew on trees and everything anyone ever threw away is worth a million dollars on your property.

I don't know that it takes a ton of capital but it does take some.  And sweat equity isn't worth much so be ready to do a lot of sweating

Great info in your posts!



 

I picked up a pretty good size property last year and I'm working towards becoming self-sufficient in future but it's long ways off.  I work at a job in the city during the week and spend time out at the property on most weekends but it's hard to get a lot done on just weekends.  I want to work out there and hunt and spend time with my kids riding ATV etc...too many activities and not enough time.  
It is in fact a "hobby" for me any my family but we get to try out survival skills on smaller scale and learn how to do it correctly.  I have plenty of space for kids and wife to learn to shoot and occasionally harvest game for food.

I think there is some confusion and also mixing and matching

Nothing about a homestead is necessarily  : off grid, full time, or sell sufficient

All those things are different

I have a "homestead" its called my house and yard. On a couple hours a week I raise well over 50% of all my meat and vegetables we eat. hunting , fishing, and trading provides the kinds of meats I don't raise. Many weeks the only groceries we buy are coffee beans and cream. I have three freezers full and about 300 jars in the pantry.

With a little land adding raising pigs or cows as grow out would be easy and also take nearly zero effort.

I find the idea of being "self sufficient" to be interesting but it would never be my goal. Semi-self-sufficient. I want to produce some things in 4-8 times the volume I need a trade. the idea of doing EVERTHING doesn't make sense  

Off grid of course refers to power/water. I think if your going to garden at any scale you need to be off grid for water, but off grid for power I don't see as being as important, especially to start.

I like the "semi-self-sufficient".  I don't want to be completely self sufficient.  If I need a tooth pulled, I DON'T want to do it myself.  Could I, yes, but it is WAAY down on my list.  

Barter, buy, work, save, learn, heck, I like people.  I don't want to be a hermit.

Doc

I find the more I deal with people, the more I enjoy my hermit lifestyle

 

In seventeen days I'm going to start living on my new homestead.  It's been five years in the planning and preparation and the last year in acquisition.  It's WAY more expensive initially than one would think, but IF I can do it for 15 years, it'll pay off.  That's right, 15 YEARS!  

I also do not want to be a hermit, just private.  Food will still be mostly store bought and I'll have a propane tank for cooking and backup heat.  Most power and hot water will come from solar with a generator and small water heater as backup.  My place is 40 miles from the nearest small town, so bopping down to McDonalds or WallyFart for a quick meal or snacks will be a thing of the past.

I saw somewhere that 80% of new homesteads fail within two years.  You really need to do a lot of research and planning if you're going to make a go of it, AND plan on a drastic change in lifestyle.

It's kind of a vicious cycle it you think about it.

Great grand pappy scratches a living out in the field to raise a family and acquire land. He never knows indoor plumbing or electricity.

Grandpa does well enough farming to build a house on his inherited land, complete with modern plumbing and electricity.

Dad gets a job in town, sells his inheritance and moves to the city.

Son gets a degree and a high paying job so he can move back to the country and scratch a living out in the field and go without indoor plumbing or electricity.

I think your missing some info about some of the ways the country has changed in that amount of time that is driving good people away from the city's

We started 7 years ago.  Bought the land and house from family.  Made a large garden.  Already had 10 fruit trees on the property that needed some tlc.  Added berry bushes more fruit trees and chickens and rabbits.  Add in any tree rat, deer, trash panda, and wild rabbit I can hunt it makes it easier.  We both work odd schedules where we are on for 4 days off for 3 or 4.  The last 6 months grocery bill was around 450 bucks total.  Was only that high because we had a newborn that couldnt live off what we did.  It is a process and takes major lifestyle changes.  With the money we have saved ocernthe past 3 years we are about to add solar panels and possibly a wind turbine to take that final step.  Once we have that we could live off the land pretty well with a limited diet.