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budget

Setting Up A Homestead Budget For One Small Income

by From Scratch Farmstead May 22, 2022

We get it – you want to live a simple, low cost, and resourceful life as a homesteader or frugal minded person. Or, you simply don’t make much. This homestead budget guide will give you the practical examples and tools you need for living off one small income.

Why Keep a Budget?

Often when I’ve brought up budgeting in conversation, the thing that immediately comes to people’s mind is restraint. “I won’t be able to spend money the way I want to anymore.”

In college, a mentor sat down with me and explained his family’s simple method of keeping a budget and tracking their month-to-month finances.

“It’s not about restraint,” he explained, “It’s about freedom!” Not growing up with a framework for keeping a budget, this turned my perception of what it meant to have a budget on its head.

There’s the saying, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

A budget is simply a plan for your money. Without that plan, how do you know if you are moving toward your goals? How do you know if you have overspent? How do you know if you are being the best steward of your money?

We have experienced that “freedom” first hand in our life through keeping a budget. It has allowed us to spend in alignment with our goals and values, save when we needed to save, and live the life we want to live even on low income.

Our Budgeting Success Story

We have not had high paying jobs since getting married out of college 13 years ago.

The first 5 years were spent as campus missionaries making around $30,000/yr. The middle years were spent primarily with one of us working various low-middle income jobs while our family grew.

These last couple years we left what was our best paying job to pursue different opportunities in agriculture, start homesteading, and ultimately build our home-based business. Yep, still not making much!

Our key ingredient to success – BUDGETING!

We have kept a budget all 13 years of our marriage and our expenses have not exceeded our income. Even when income was low.

We set our budget around that $30,000/yr amount and held it there even when we were making more and during the season when both of us were working.

This allowed us to save, pay off debt aggressively, and move toward the financial freedom in our life that we were after. And our budget kept us unified in our personal finances – even during the hard times.

This unity and freedom is within reach! It might take some scrappiness and sacrifice. It might take rethinking some habits or expenses. But it’s totally worth it and totally possible with a well-planned budget.

Step By Step Guide to Set Up Your Budget

1. Know Your Goals and Values

A budget is simply a reflection of where you want to be and what defines you. Your goals and values.

If your goals and values are not currently clear, then it will require some processing with yourself, a spouse, partner, relative, or friend. A good goal would be to come up with either a list of the things that are most important to you, or some sentences or paragraphs that describe what characteristics define you and the short-term or long-term goals you want to achieve.

This acts as your mission statement. You can then use your mission statement as a filter or lens through which to view your personal finances.

Successful budgets start with this big picture in mind. Here’s a list of questions that you can use to bring clarity to your goals and values:

How would others describe what is important to me?
What is unique or significant about my past that I want to continue to be a part of my future?
Are there areas of my life am I not currently satisfied with?
What were my family’s top values growing up? Do I agree or disagree with those values?
What gets me out of bed in the morning?
Where do I see myself in 5 years? 10 years? Beyond that?
What achievable goals will be most helpful to get me there?

2. Track Your Current Expenses

The next step is to understand your current spending per month. On a piece of paper or in a spreadsheet, record every dollar you spend and what the expense was.

Track those expenses for at least a month. A three-month period will give you a better understanding of your overall expenses. Whatever period you decide, make sure your expenses are tracked monthly so you gain a firm understanding of your month-to-month spending.

At the end of each week or month, use your list of current expenses as an opportunity to learn about yourself and your spending. The goal of doing this is not to feel guilty or ashamed. However, reviewing your spending will likely bring up areas to improve your habits or develop self-control.

Some questions to ask as you review your expense are:

Was this purchase necessary?
Are there ways I can purchase this item less often?
Can I be more resourceful to reduce my need for this item?
Could I have bought this second hand?
Could I have bought a higher quality option that would cost more upfront but save money in the long run?
Did that purchase meet my expectations? Could I make a better purchase next time?
Do my purchases bring me long term joy, meaning, and value?
Could I have cut back to reduce that cost?
Was this an impulse buy or was it planned?

3. Establish Your Income Amount

Your monthly income will either be a set amount, or fluctuate month-by-month.

If a set amount, simply total up your paychecks per month and you have your income. Keep in mind, you may want to challenge yourself to set your budgeted income below what you are making. This can allow you to, A) save a percentage of your income toward a goal or forecasted expense, or B) not be caught off guard in the event of an unexpected expense, job transition, or reduction in pay.

Your pay may also be variable. One month you might have $4,000 of income, and the next month $6,000. In this case, I would encourage you consider setting your budgeted income at the lower end amount. In the above example, if you set your monthly income at $5,000 and have three months in a row of bringing in only $4,000, you will feel the strain on your wallet. If your budget is set at $4,000 of income and you bring in more than that, you have freedom in your finances to save or be ready for the unexpected.

Living off one small income can mean getting scrappy and challenging yourself to cut back. You need to cover your base expenses at a minimum. But setting your budgeted income level below your actual income is a great way to slim up your budget and save toward long-term goals.

4. Estimate Your Monthly/Annual Expenses

The current expenses you tracked from Step 2 will give you a head start in this step. But there are likely expenses you need to account for that did not pop up during your tracking period – insurance bills, property taxes, car registration fees. All of these expenses need to captured in your budget.

On an annual or monthly basis, you will have both fixed and variable costs.

Fixed costs will include expenses like:

Rent/mortgage
Phone/internet bills
Health insurance premiums

Variable costs will include expense like:

Gas
Groceries
Utilities

To build an effective budget that meets your needs and allows you to live off a small income, you will need to dial in your fixed costs and do your best to estimate your variable costs.

I recommend two things here:

1) Start somewhat conservative on estimating your expenses. Or, allow for wiggle room. For example, if your monthly gas expenses are regularly coming in around $250/mo., consider setting the gas category in your budget at $300/mo. so you are not caught off guard if your gas is higher in a given month.

2) Treat your variable costs like a fixed cost. If you regularly go out to eat and have a budget category for dining out set at $100/mo. then commit to yourself ahead of time stick to those parameters. Once you reach that $100/mo. limit for the month, you are done eating out that month.

This spreadsheet shows an example budget template with basic expense categories to use as a starting point. Your budget will be unique to your life situation, so add and subtract categories where needed.

5. Create Your Budgeting System

In the end, your overall budget will be your budgeted income minus your total expenses. Tracking your income and expenses month-to-month will be crucial.

Your budgeting system will need to be reliable. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be complex. You can use a sheet of paper, a spreadsheet, a budgeting app, or some combination.

The important thing is that every dollar is being tracked; every dollar in and every dollar out. These accurate records of your personal finances will be invaluable month to month to track the progress you are making to stick to your budget and move toward your goals.

Our Low Income Budget Example

The system we use to budget is commonly called the envelope system. Categories like food, entertainment, gift, and miscellaneous household expenses each have their own envelopes that we fill with the budgeted amount of cash at the beginning of each month.

We don’t have an envelope for other categories we commonly pay by check, debit, or credit card. That money is kept in our checking account and we track it monthly in a spreadsheet.

The envelopes have worked great for us. We stretch our dollars to last the full month and know that when the money runs out, we are done spending in those categories. This has allowed us keep our cost of living very low and make sure our dollars are going toward purchases that are thought through and match with our values.

In the video below, we break down our full budget and how our family of 5 currently lives off of just over $30,000/yr.

Tips to Make Your Budget A Success

1. Everyone NEEDS To Be On Board

Your budget will only succeed if your spouse, partner, family are fully committed. This is why Step 1 is defining your goals and values and making sure everyone’s needs and concerns are addressed.

A budget is much more than numbers and a spreadsheet. It represents your hopes, dreams, and overall vision for your life. When someone steps outside the parameters a budget sets, not only can that crumble the budget, but also the trust between those committed to it.

If you are single, you don’t need to worry about anyone else not holding up to their end of the bargain. Except, yourself! The benefit of a spouse or partner is that there is built in accountability that someone who is single does not have. Consider asking someone trusted in your life to provide that accountability and check in regularly on the progress you are making.

2. Monthly Budget Reviews Are A MUST

At a minimum, you will need to sit down and balance out your budget once a month. Depending on the complexity of your life and spending, you may need to do this twice a month or even weekly.

The goal is to record each expense and make sure it is accounted for in your budget and income.

If unexpected expenses came up, you will need to figure out where that money is coming from. This can be difficult. It may mean taking from savings or an emergency fund. Or reducing budget categories in following months to make up for it.

This is why I recommend being conservative in your budget categories to start, which can give some wiggle room for areas you might overspend in occasionally. As your budgeting confidence and experience grows, then you can start dialing in categories to be more precise.

3. PLAN For An Annual Big Picture Budget Retreat

Tracking the month-to-month is huge. But sometimes, it takes a bit deeper dive to really grasp how your budget is going and how to improve it.

We have made a habit of scheduling a day or two each December to get away, free from distractions, and take a close look at how our budget did last year and what needs changing. Where did we overspend? Where did we underspend? Are there new categories we need for the upcoming year? Have our goals changed or are we wanting to save toward something? Were there areas of spending we felt didn’t align with our values?

These questions can be SO critical to making sure you are remaining committed to, and excited about your budget, and not just keeping it all on auto-pilot.

4. Have An Emergency Fund Or Savings ON HAND

A slim budget means margins can be tight. When unexpected things come up – car issues, trips to the ER, home repairs – you want to be prepared to go above and beyond what is budgeted.

The recommended amount for an emergency fund is typically 3-6 months of your income saved up. It is crucial this money be readily available for when emergencies do arise.

If you are new to budgeting and don’t have additional savings on hand for emergencies, I would recommend setting aside as much of your income as you can afford each month until that reserve savings is at an amount you feel comfortable with.

5. Invite OTHERS In

One of the biggest influences in our spending can come from those close to us – family, friends, neighbors. “Hey, we’re going to see that new movie – want to come with?” “We didn’t have anything planned for dinner tonight so we’re going out – want to join?” “What, you don’t have this latest subscription – you got to see this new show!”

I’m not making an argument for or against any of these things. But if they’re not planned for in your budget, these expenses quickly add up.

Have a conversation about your budget with the family and friends you spend the most time with ahead of time. Let them know your goals and that what you can afford to do might look different. The hope is that they will rally around you and encourage you along the way. Plus, it will take the pressure off to say “yes” to everything and give them context when you do turn something down.

6. Have FUN With It!

Setting a homestead budget will take some time to dial in and there will no doubt be difficulties that pop up. But have fun with it and celebrate when goals are reached along the way!

We often view our monthly budget reviews as somewhat of a date night. Each month you stick to your budget is worth celebrating and moves you toward where you want to be. And the annual retreat can be so much fun to really think back on the year and see all that you were able to achieve and dream big for the upcoming year.

Final Budget Thoughts

If I can leave you with a few final thoughts, they’d be:

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to be happy and live richly.
Living within your means is not about restraint, but freedom.
Your budget is a reflection of your goals and values.

Keeping to any budget takes grit and determination. Let alone one that is based on a small income. But the end result is worth it.

We’ve seen this to be true in our lives and know it can be true in yours!

But what questions do you still have or what help do you need to get your budget off the ground? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

And if you’re looking for more helpful tips on living a low-cost lifestyle, check out our post 14 Frugal Homestead Ideas gives our best tips for reducing costs while still maintaining a high quality of life.

14 Frugal Homestead Ideas

March 27, 2022

May 22, 2022 0 comment

Homestead How-to's Homestead Living

14 Frugal Homestead Ideas

by From Scratch Farmstead March 27, 2022

Many homestead to live a more resourceful and simple life. However, keeping monthly expenses from creeping up can still be a significant challenge. Our homesteading family of five has lived off one small income for over a decade and here we share our 14 frugal homestead ideas to thrive on any budget.

Fun frugal fact about us – we’ve never paid for a babysitter! The picture above is of us sneaking off to our car sitting in our driveway during nap time for a romantic date. With the best homemade local ice cream of course – an area we never skimp on 🙂

Our story of not much income and keeping a budget

This year we will celebrate 13 years of marriage. There’s been plenty of bumps for us along the way, but surprisingly one area we almost never have spats about is finances.

We were married young out of college and our first several years together we worked as missionaries with a local campus ministry. As you might imagine, that income was pretty minimal and it didn’t go up because there were two of us and not just one.

We earned around $30,000 annually and figured out ways to cut our costs and live on one small income. From that point on, through many job changes, moves, having three children, and now homesteading on top of it all, we’ve made it a goal to keep our cost of living right around that same $30,000 per year mark.

This has ebbed and flowed some, but we have never strayed above $1000-2000 above that number, and currently sit right around $30,000/yr.

Maintaining that budget amount has been no small task, but we are so excited to share many of the ideas and strategies that have helped us not just live, but thrive, on a small budget these many years. These are the things that have helped us to not just have a frugal homestead, but create the homestead of our dreams.

farmhouse kitchen with aga stove

Do we live cheaply to have a frugal homestead?

Not in the least! We never want you to get the impression that we interchange frugal living with cheap living.

Cheap prioritizes cost above all else. Little or no regard is given to how something was made, where it comes from, and what is a fair value for it.

You’ll see in our 14 frugal homestead ideas below that cheap is not our jam. Even on a shoestring budget we manage to buy quality and often locally sourced products. Regardless of income, we feel like we live richly.

So here’s our top tips to minimize your budget and still create the frugal homestead (or home) of your dreams.

Our 14 frugal homestead ideas to help you thrive on any budget

1. Budget

Don’t overlook this step! A budget, in its simplest form, is having a plan for your money. Without a budget how do you know or track what your dollars are going toward. Or how do you save strategically and effectively toward something in the future?

We have kept a budget every year of our marriage and that has brought so much freedom to our world. You don’t need anything complex. We use envelopes that get a designated amount of cash each month for different categories of our spending, along with a simple spreadsheet to track things annually.

It’s basic but it works. We even nerd out and look forward to our budget ‘date’ night each month where we reconcile our budget, talk through our spending, and make sure we’re on the same page.

Cash envelopes used for budget categories.

2. Barter

Bartering allows for an equal exchange of goods or services. What do you produce on your farm that you have extra of? Or what skills or knowledge do you have that you can trade with others? For instance, our milk cow produces more milk than our family can keep up with. So, we have opportunities there to barter with neighbors and locals for things like hay, meat, and other farm products. We even exchanged fresh milk for a family photo shoot before!

The key here is to work out a fair price or arrangement for what you offer. For instance, if web design is a skill of yours and you want to exchange for say a veggie CSA share, discuss your typical rates up front. Don’t mistake bartering with giving away.

fresh cow milk

3. Purchase intentionally

We’ve recently been reading We Are What We Eat by Alice Waters – highly recommend it! In the book, she makes the case that fast food culture has permeated far deeper into our lives and values than just food. Her take is that fast food culture has trickled into an attitude of entitlement for instant, cheap convenience in our lives at all times.

Our family tries to combat this mentality by thoughtfully choosing what we do or do not bring into our home. Seek out companies, products, and services that align with your personal values and standards for living. We’ve found it helps shift our mindset from chasing deals to chasing the items that truly bring you the most value and joy.

It’s less about chasing the deal and more about being wise and selective in your purchasing.

4. Buy used or second hand

No joke, this is just about our whole homestead. It’s not exclusive, but buying used is how we afford the bulk of the quality items we possess. This list includes kitchen cabinets, appliances, our AGA stove, couches, rugs, hutch, and a whole host of other furniture and kitchen items. Not to mention a good chunk of our wardrobe! This has been key in our frugal homestead journey.

Sweet garage sale cabinet score!

When you move outside to the farm it’s much the same. Used fencing, tools, trailers, BCS tractor, and so much more. I literally got all of our Premier 1 electro netting fencing and solar fencers used that we use to rotationally graze our animals and protect our chickens and garden areas. We’ve saved thousands of dollars going this route.

Our primary strategy for finding used items is through Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. But you can also find a lot at local garage sales, barn sales, and thrift stores.

5. Ask for things as gifts

When a need comes up for a practical item we need, we try to resist the urge to just jump online or head to the store and purchase it. Instead, we think, “Are there opportunities coming up to ask for them as gifts instead?” The beauty is that birthdays, Christmas, and other holidays keep coming up year after year, and people want to buy you things!

On the farm, we actually received our first chicken coop as a gift, along with beekeeping equipment and other gardening tools. A practical example in the home is that when we decided it was time to upgrade our kids water bottles, we put it on their Christmas lists, waited a couple months, and everyone’s rockin’ with new water bottles now.

backyard beehive frame

6. Invest in skills

There are strategic skills you can learn along the way in your homesteading journey that can greatly reduce cost in your life. For instance, learning to sew can open up countless doors of cost savings – making your own clothes, reusable diapers and wipes, gifts for others like cloth napkins or table runners.

This is a super basic example, but we purchased a $30 hair trimmer over a decade ago and all the boys in our home get regular free-of-charge mommy trims! Those savings add up fast over that span of time.

Our ancestors excelled at do-it-yourself everything, and we often think of how much of a bummer it is that those skills are no longer being handed down. BUT, tools like YouTube, books, blogs, and other educational resources have made learning new skills more obtainable than ever before!

freedom ranger chicken butchering

7. Reuse things

This can be as simple as washing out a plastic Ziploc bags to reuse them many, many times. Yep, that’s us! We try eliminate the word “disposable” from our vocabulary. Why keep buying something over and over again?

For example, instead of buying Ziploc bags in the first place just get a set of glass snap lid containers that can be used over and over again. Or, we bought a set of reusable produce bags a few years back and use them ALL THE TIME.

I built us a custom kitchen island with a couple of our used cabinets, some vintage hardwood trim pieces and an old door we salvaged, along with some scraps leftover from our kitchen remodel. We wanted a butcher block countertop but the custom size was bringing quotes back in the thousands of dollars. Instead, I took some leftover pieces of wood flooring and laminated them to a piece of plywood. It looks great, has held up, and was entirely built with leftover materials we had lying around.

custom counter made with wood flooring

8. Eat what you have

On our homestead we have a rule – no food goes to waste! It’s not easy and we’re not perfect with it. But we’ve found that this mindset, (1) allows us to be really cost effective in our grocery shopping, and (2) helps us to honor and appreciate both the food itself and those who grew it.

We do this by meal planning around what we have BEFORE things go bad. No new food is bought until you finish what’s in your fridge or pantry.

It’s a mindset as much as it is a strategy. Cheap food allows us to believe food is disposable in our world. That’s simply not true. When we go through the effort of growing our own food, or buy from other local growers, we honor those efforts by consuming what was grown and allowing it to nourish our bodies – not sending food (and your money) to the landfill.

winter storage squash just harvested

9. No-cost or low-cost entertainment

Contrary to what marketing tactics want you to believe, entertainment does not need to be a significant expense. One more subscription is not going to make your life complete. That 30 second trailer aimed at bringing you into the theater can wait until your local library has it for free. Entertainment is expensive and we’ve found it so much more freeing and fun to just come up with our own.

Like renting things from the library, going on hikes or bike rides, having a family fishing or forage session, doing a craft or project with scraps and materials you already have on hand. The possibilities are endless!

We still go out on adventures but even then, you can plan ahead and save costs! Like our recent trip to the zoo on one of their early spring free entry days where we brought our own lunch and didn’t pay a dime besides gas money.

daddy daughter bike ride

10. Eat seasonally

Buying in season items allows you to stock up when it matters most. For example, when strawberries are in season, we go to the local you-pick strawberry farm, pick in bulk, eat some fresh, and then freeze the rest for a supply of the best strawberries year-round. Then you can avoid the out-of-season mark ups and also preserve foods at peak nutrition.

A common grocery shopping strategy is finding some recipes and buying whatever ingredients are needed. But when the ingredients aren’t in season or abundant, you’ll likely pay more. Instead, we have seen a lot of success buying what’s in season and low cost and building a meal plan around those items. Then you get the double benefit of saving money and eating what’s fresh.

picking strawberries

11. Buy only what you need

We live in a “stock up and save” culture. Retail is notorious for trying to get you to throw something in your cart that was never on your list in the first place. Are you really saving anything if you never use that item? Or is it really something you couldn’t live without?

We try and put everything through the filter of living with our basic needs being met. The abundance we want is not an over-abundance, but a just right abundance of quality and necessary possessions. That stockpile of spontaneous and inexpensive “just in case” things will clutter up your world fast.

12. Forage

We don’t have grow your own food on this list because we assume that’s a strategy you’re already doing on some level as a homesteader. But one area that isn’t always obvious when it comes to food is using what nature produces freely through foraging. We are trying to implement this more in our world.

All around you are edible and medicinal plants that can be harvested or preserved for eating, or turning into helpful concoctions like salves and tinctures. We have big nettle patch on our property. Most people try to get rid of nettle, but the more we researched the more we discovered that nettle is packed with more nutrition than other greens and can be cooked and added to dishes just like spinach. We also dry nettle to preserve it and have greens available all year round for soups or a garnish.

foraging for nettle

13. Share resources

Sharing resources with other small farms means sharing costs. Every farm or homestead within a couple mile radius does not need to own all the same tools and equipment. Livestock trailers, processing equipment, fencing tools, machinery. Get to know people around you doing similar things and explore ways to share.

We loaned out our BCS tractor to another farmer we know locally and they were nice enough to have the engine tuned up for us. That’s a win-win for both sides. We’ve also gone in on seed and tree orders with neighbors to reduce shipping and get bulk discounts.

14. Love your space

Many of us feel the need to leave our homes often. We build lives around activities and errands that keep us constantly on the move. There’s nothing wrong with getting out of the house and for many that’s a good thing.

But the more time we spend away from home the more expenses creep in. The miscellaneous sale item that grabbed your attention. Needing to pick up something to eat on the go. Extra monthly gas fill-ups. It all adds up over time.

farmhouse kitchen hutch

Make your home your sanctuary. Prioritize the undone tasks that have been stressing you out and make time to accomplish them. Declutter that ever-looming closet that’s been annoying you since you moved in! Simplify your home. Find joy, and beauty, and value in all that’s around you. Keep costs low by keeping close to home.

A word of caution on frugal homesteading

Too much frugality can be extremely inefficient and sometimes even cost more in the end. Having a frugal homestead does not mean that you should never pay full price for something along the way. For example, every used purchase you make has an inherent risk that it might not work as promised or last long enough to pay for itself.

Most purchases have worked out for us after doing our researching and making sure we’ve felt good about the history of an item. But sometimes you get a dud. That will happen.

The other side is that sometimes the best way to be a frugal homestead is to use of your dollars is to hire a professional for a job that you might just not be able to do adequately or efficiently on your own. But you can also use that as a learning experience to gain confidence and consider tackling it yourself next time!

All this to say, don’t strive for perfection in your frugal homestead journey. Do your best and give yourself grace.

planting a paw paw tree

What’s your money saving strategy?

These frugal homestead ideas have worked well for our family. But we know that not all of them will translate perfectly to your world. That’s where it’s up to you to adopt what seems practical for your life and develop your own cost-conscious strategies along the way.

What habits and routines have helped you create a frugal homestead? What ideas resonated with you from our list? Are there any you would like more clarification on?

We’d love to hear from you in the comments and you can also check out our post about how we went about buying our dream homestead on a budget.

Some of the above links are affiliate links. This means we earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. We are so appreciative of your support!

March 27, 2022 0 comment

Buying A Homestead Homestead How-to's

Buying a Homestead on a Budget

by From Scratch Farmstead March 13, 2022

As an aspiring homesteader do these words resonate with you: frugal, resourceful, unconventional? If so, we get you! Those things ended up defining our homestead search and we ended up with not only the perfect homestead, but our dream lifestyle! Here’s our story and tips for buying a homestead on a budget.

A values-based approach to searching for a homestead

Searching for a homestead isn’t quite as clear cut as searching for a home in the suburbs or city. You don’t just punch in how many bedrooms and bathrooms you want and pull up 20 different options, all on 1/4 acre lots, within a 3-mile radius.

Homesteads have way more factors beyond the home – acreage, layouts, barns, water access, natural water features, fencing, and a whole host of other land and infrastructure considerations. No two homestead properties will be anywhere near alike.

So, we chose a different approach.

We decided to NOT make a house the driving factor in our search. Even though we had our 3^rd child on the way, we figured our young family could adapt, and even thrive, in almost any arrangement. So, when it came to a living space, we knew we could be resourceful. Finding the right land and location, however, was a high priority. After all, we weren’t searching for a home, we were searching for a homestead! This is our story of buying a homestead on a budget and what we learned along the way.

dilapidated fence and gate

Our homestead search became a lifestyle search

Above all, we focused on the lifestyle we wanted to be living day-in and day-out. And we knew, above the nice home and the pristine pastures, we wanted simplicity and freedom. For us, this looked like:

Meeting our needs on one small income
Flexibility to homeschool our children
Time together as a family
Working toward a self-sufficient lifestyle
Pursuing a home business
Living debt free

Our search shifted from, “What do we want?” to, “What homestead property will allow us to live out those things?” It was a big mentality shift for sure. We had to be OK with maybe less bedrooms than what we thought was ideal. Or maybe less land.

We did still have search criteria. Like we knew we wanted to be in a certain location. We needed a property that could house our milk cow, Thimble, that we owned. And we did need at least a livable home for our family.

But we were able to focus on finding a property that was simple, low cost, and could move us toward the freedom of time and finances we ultimately desired.

We wanted a homestead that we owned, not that owned us!

walking our new homestead property

What did we learn from buying a homestead on a budget?

We learned it’s hard to always put values and lifestyle goals above the opportunities that come your way. For instance, the first property we put an offer on was almost twice the cost of our current homestead, with 20 acres, more house, and more buildings.

Was it a great value with tons of potential? Yes. But we could have noticed the red flags with all the spreadsheets and number crunching we did to try and make this homestead work out financially. We could have made it work. It was technically within our means. However, it would have meant either, A) we invest all we had in the property with nothing left to invest in getting our homestead off the ground, or B) we take out a significant mortgage and need to rethink our work situation to pay for it.

The more we pondered those options, the yuckier the situation felt. Yes, we’d have a sweet 20 acre property. But we’d forgo much of the list of values we mentioned above. Ultimately, it became a multiple offer situation that, looking back, we are so grateful didn’t fall in our favor.

20 acre farm

How we ended up on our 5 acre homestead

The night before we had a trip planned to make the trek from our home in west-central Wisconsin to northern Illinois to look at a couple properties, a small foreclosed home on 5 acres popped up. It was outdated, ugly, and the pictures and description seemed to communicate, “STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE!”

But it was in a great location and, most importantly, the cost was low. Lower than anything else we had looked at. It could have easily been one we wrote off and didn’t see, but we reached out to our realtor and had him add it to the lineup for viewing the next day.

The other properties we viewed that seemed promising on paper – weren’t. Not that they weren’t decent options, but they seemed underwhelming and just weren’t the right fit.

With low expectations, we arrived at the 5-acre, foreclosed property that popped up the night before. Within minutes of stepping foot on the property and gazing out over the back field, we exchanged several glances that said, “This. Is. It.” The land was exactly what we were looking for and we hadn’t even stepped foot in the house yet.

outdated farmhouse kitchen

When we did, we were pleasantly surprised. Though there were no floors, wallpaper from before we were born covered every square inch, and a lot of updating would be needed, we knew this would be more than substantial enough of a space for our growing family. It was a simple home with good bones that was primed and ready for us to make it our own.

We put in an offer that night, worked through the scare of multiple offers once again, but this time it fell in our favor. We found it! And “IT” was more than just a homestead.

kids running free

What buying below our means meant for our family

While we had many months of hard work and temporary living arrangements ahead of us while we transformed the house and made it our own, we knew buying at this price point put our lifestyle goals within reach.

For starters, we were able to furnish our home exactly how we wanted. Buying at the low end of our price range meant we had money left to invest in our homestead. We are frugal people and almost everything we bought to remodel our home was second hand. But, when we wanted a more natural or specific, quality item, we were able to afford it. Like our AGA oven (which was still used) or the white oak wood floors from the Amish sawmill we installed throughout the whole house.

farmhouse kitchen and table

This also translated outside to our land. We had finances freed up to do things like invest in a livestock trailer when the right opportunity came up. Or, purchase a system of used moveable electric fencing so we could rotationally graze our cows on pasture. It’s easy to overlook the farm expenses that come up the first few years of homesteading, but you will want a fair amount of accessible funds on hand to purchase supplies, equipment, and infrastructure when needed.

Most importantly, we felt and experienced the freedom we were after.

We began to shape the simple lifestyle we were after. Our cost of living is low. We are producing food in abundance and striving toward self-sufficiency. We remained debt free. And we are able to share the joys of homesteading together as a family, connected with our land, animals, and food.

cornish cross chickens on our homestead

What you need to consider when buying a homestead on a budget

Searching for a homestead is something you don’t want to rush especially when buying a homestead on a budget. It will involve lots of family discussions around the things you value and the lifestyle you desire. Above cost, above bedrooms, above land size, that is what matters. Be on the same page and let your values drive your search.

And those values may involve having a home big enough to host a certain group size. Or having enough acres to have a small milking herd of cows or a you-pick orchard. Those are great things! Or, as in our case, less can sometimes be more.

Develop your dream homestead scenario to the point that you feel confident in it, then go full-fledged into your search. Visit different areas. Learn your preferences. Refine your criteria. And then when the right opportunity does come your way, you can have your own, “THIS IS IT!” moment.

carrying the milk pale

Where are you at in your homestead journey? Does our story resonate? Are you still developing the values and lifestyle you are after? Wherever you’re at, there’s a beautiful narrative unfolding in your life and we’d love to hear from you!

March 13, 2022 0 comment