Becoming Self-Sufficient - Our Story

Years ago, and I mean a long time ago, just after my husband and I got married I dreamed about early retirement. I thought it would be so nice to save money and be prepared so much financially that we could retire early instead of the usual 65 age of retirement.

---

I actually had this desire and dreamed about early retirement while I was still in college.

My desire for early retirement though did not mean not working. I believe that everyone should still have some sort of work even after they retire from their career.

Why? Because work that is meaningful is fulfilling.

​We had a small, hobby farm back in South Carolina and when we moved to Colorado we decided we wanted farm life to be a big part of our lives. Colorado, though, is not the perfect homesteading state to choose for great weather, great soil, inexpensive land, etc, but this is where we were meant to live.
​
So here we are making the most of what we have, enjoying the farm, and learning as we goSelf-sufficiency means different things to different people and for us it means living life more secure and independent, so that when blizzards come and electricity goes out, we can live comfortable until things return to normal.

When we lived on our hobby farm we worked hard and we enjoyed every minute. We are not afraid of hard work, like I said it can be very fulfilling.

Work That's Fulfilling

Quality of work became a conversation my husband and I had regularly about ten or so years ago. We started discussing the rat race that many people live and didn’t want to live the same life. We didn’t want to work the typical long hours every day and not enjoy time with our children, or with each other. To us, that’s neither what life is all about nor desirable for us.

We didn’t want to finally get to live the life we wanted after we retired. We wanted to live that life as soon as we could.

We wanted to live life with more freedom. What did that look like?

Freedom

We wanted to live debt-free, have a lot of time with each other and with our children, work for ourselves and not for others, and instill a love of learning and hard work in our children.
We didn’t want to reach retirement age and wish we’d lived life differently.

Why wait until retirement age to really live life the way you want?

So we did everything we could to free ourselves from that kind of lifestyle. We wanted to enjoy life now, not later. At one point we sold our house, sold some of our belongings, gave away most, and  traveled the country with our children for a year and a half. It was great and very educational for us all! What an experience that we will never forget. We made memories that will last forever.

What are we doing now to live that life of more freedom?

Farm Life

We live on 40 acres that we’ve recently purchased for our new farm life. Very soon we’ll be building our greenhouse, putting up new fences for livestock, building a chicken coop for our hens and broilers, and preparing the soil for our gardens.

We will grow our own food, organic of course, enjoy our livestock, snuggle up in a comfortable chair with a hot cup of tea on a cold day, and read a good book.

It’s what we really want in life. It’s not just for ourselves either. We want to bless others with our bounty.

World Economic Changes

The world we live in today is always changing. Some changes are good, some are not. Well, it seems these days that actually most of the changes are not good. The cost of living increases daily. That’s a great stress on many.

So many people today work more than 40 hours a week and still do not make enough to make ends meet, much less have anything left over.

The average American does not save money.

I like to be prepared and ready for anything. I’m not in fear, nor is my family. As a matter of fact, we have great expectations for our future, but there is a world around us full of people who don’t live wisely. They make poor decisions and are not prepared for anything bad. They can’t hold up to a natural disaster, so they’re going to be “needy”. They’re going to be the people who are going to have to have help or live on the streets.

There’s so much freedom and peace living this kind of life!

What kind of life do you want?

Is the life you’re living really fulfilling?

I hope this post and others on this blog encourage and inspire you to become more independent and live the life now that you want to live now, not later!

All the best!
~ Julie

---