Maybe I'm crazy, but this is my goal...
A Minimalist Homestead.
To a lot of true minimalists I'm sure this idea doesn't totally make sense and when you consider the typical thoughts on minimalism it doesn't.
To a lot of homesteaders I'm sure they would tell me this isn't possible in the homesteading life. Keeping things "just in case" comes in handy and you can solve a lot of problems with a few extras you have laying around. You also need a lot of equipment depending on what you are doing on your homestead. You have more of a need for things in general and more of a need for storage.
What am I going to do to satisfy both my desire for a simpler life without excess and my goals of making things from scratch, growing my own food and my love for diy?
I'm going to take a lot of the minimalist principals and apply them to as much of a homestead life as I can create.
Let's first define what minimalism is and what a homestead is:
The dictionary defines minimalism as: design or style in which the simplest and fewest elements are used to create the maximum effect.
The dictionary defines a homestead as: a house, especially a farmhouse, and outbuildings.
Now these terms can mean different things to different people and that's okay. It's good to define your own goals and work towards them. Take what works for you in your life.
I think both minimalism and homesteading can work together by using the simplest solutions in the most effective ways and applying them to a farmhouse or self sufficient way of life.
My goal here is to declutter and get rid of the things we don't need. I also want to cut costs and spend my money only when necessary or if it's for something I enjoy, not on impulse buys or to satisfy some feeling I'm having.
There are so many things that we have that we think we need and we don't. I'm going to spend time questioning my purchases and the "normal" way of doing things. What's normal to me, may not be normal to you, but I think we can all learn from questioning things in life, little or big.
I am getting so tired of spending my spare time on things. I felt as if I was constantly organizing things, looking for things, fixing things, cleaning things etc. I don't know about you, but I did not find this to be a satisfying use of my time. I found it frustrating.
Be intentional in your decision making.
On the other hand, I love the idea of growing my own food and being as self sufficient as possible. I LOVE to learn, it's fascinating what you can do. I've found that making your own food, cleaners, lotions and soap is much healthier for you. You have the control over the ingredients and it's often less expensive. It's quite enjoyable when you are embracing it in the right mind set. It's also very satisfying.
Although I don't have much experience with raising animals, (YET!) we do plan to give it a try. In the past we have only had the experience of raising a couple ring-necked pheasants. It was fun, it gave us something to get up for in the morning. It made sure we got outside. It was also a great experience for our kids at age 3 and 6. There's talk that this year we may try chickens and rabbits.
So is a minimalist homestead possible? As we progress through our quest to slow down, simplify and enjoy the little every day things in life we'll find out.
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