Easy Self Sufficient Living Tips to Get You Started

Our best self sufficient living tips come from the older generations. I grew up on a farm, the daughter of parents who still remembered the Great Depression.

My mother always grew a garden, and when something broke, we fixed it.

Over the years, though, I’ve spent most of my life in the city, and I’ve noticed that many people don’t have those skills at self-sufficiency.

Self Sufficient Living Tips

It is tough to know where to start, and what tips will get you the most bang for your effort.

So, I’ve distilled some of the things I learned as a kid into these quick tips for becoming more self sufficient.

Grow your own food

This is a must for anyone wanting to be self-sufficient. You save money, get a basic grocery list right at home, save fuel going to the store, and you can even sell what you grow. Even if you live in an apartment, you can grow food in containers. Grow herbs, too! These are easy to do in any windowsill. Instead of filling your space with flowers, fill it with produce to make it pretty and edible. And speaking of flowers – some of those are edible, too!

Learn to preserve the food you grow

You can eat healthy on a tight budget if you learn to preserve food. Dehydrating, freezing and canning are great places to start. Hit up garage sales or family and friends for affordable canning supplies, if you can, and try our  homemade chunky salsa recipe for canning if you have home grown tomatoes to preserve.

Make allies

No matter how self-sufficient you become, there will always be other people with specific skills you don’t have, like the ability to fix a car, sew a Halloween costume, or trim a large tree. Allies can also be helpful if you want to trade an overabundance of tomatoes for something else, like eggs or fruit.

Get into homesteading

This doesn’t mean you will have a farm, but it does mean you will spend a lot of time making things.

If you already have a hobby of baking, making jams and jellies, or sewing, use that to become more self-sufficient.

Many people love the idea of anything homemade, and those that make homemade items can make some extra cash simply doing what they love from home. This is a form of homesteading.

Make your own supplies

Are you tired of picking up cleaning supplies and makeup from the store? Then make your own!

You have most of the supplies you already need. Look up easy recipes online and get to saving time, money, and the environment with homemade items of staples you need.

Go paperless

Paper products can cost a fortune, especially if you have children in diapers. Go cloth! Cleaning rags, cloth diapers, napkins, even toilet paper can all be made from cloth that it is washable and reusable.

Renewable energy is a must

Solar panels, wind energy, and even swapping out one vehicle for a bicycle can really reduce your reliance on fossil fuels. This will save you money and helps protect the environment.

If you have kids and need to have two vehicles, be smarter about the way you drive, and plan your trips out to drive the least amount possible.

Do you have any self-sufficient living tips? Let us know below in the comments.