In these times of high inflation (I remember the 1970s and 17% interest.), homestead financial battles start taking shape. Money and time are the two sides.
Everything about homesteading takes time. When I stopped teaching, I put my wristwatch aside and thought I was free of its tyranny. Naivety.
My goats are milked twice a day. Ideally this is at the same times twelve hours apart.
Plants take a certain amount of time to grow to become productive. They must be planted at the right times or your work has no results. The same is true for mulching and watering.
These may not require a wristwatch, but they do lock you into time budgeting.
On the other side is money. Money for taxes, feed, vet bills, supplies, groceries and personal items.
The homestead financial battles pit the need for time against the need for money. If you get a job, you lose the time. If you stay home to work, you need an income from something.
A budget has two sides to it as well. One is income. One is expenses. To stay solvent, the two sides must balance.
Stop and take a look at expenses. Which ones are for needs? Which are for wants? In homesteading, knowing the difference is vital.
On my homestead the needs are gardening supplies, chickens and goat feed. Some groceries such as flour are needs as well.
There are wants such as internet, haircuts, clothes (These straddle the two. Used clothing and repairing lost buttons, torn seams reduce clothing costs.), the latest book or movie. Many of these have alternate, much more inexpensive alternatives like the library for books, magazines and movies. (I except haircuts as I am a lousy barber.)
A homestead can bring in money. Selling eggs is one way. Milk and cheese are iffy as health regulations can get you into trouble. Produce requires a bigger harvest with more time and expense and a desire to eat or preserve the extra. Selling livestock.
The one sure thing is that the homestead financial battles must be considered and won by anyone wanting to homestead.
Why am I thinking about these now? One is inflation and the increase in expenses it has brought. The other is my novel still untitled and unfinished.
