Do You Lead a Self Reliant Life?
These days people are starting to reevaluate their lives. They are starting to inquire about basic skills like:
- DIY projects and improvements
- Vegetable gardening
- Homecooked meals
- Home and auto maintenance
- Alternate energy sourcing
- Income diversification and alternate sources
- Recycling, repurposing, reusing what used to be trash
Your grandparents and great grandparents had a leg up on you when it comes to basic skills. While I cover these basic skills topics regularly, I wanted to take a moment to consider the "why" of this new interest in self reliance and self sufficiency.
I think I can safely state that the main cause is financial. The economy has forced people to explore self reliance under the banner of "New Frugality". However, there are other reasons to become more self reliant, they include the desire to:
- Control your own destiny
- Avoid helplessness in different situations
- Feel personal satisfaction of DIY
- Get the job done right as opposed to the half-assed approach
- Know what you are eating
- Stand on your own two feet
- Accept that you need to look out for yourself
When you think about it, there really are many reasons to be more self reliant beyond just saving money. I applaud this behavior-- we all need to work at being more self reliant. In future posts, I will explore these ideas about "why" in more detail.
Why do you pursue self reliance and self sufficiency?
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Related posts:
Creating and Using Side Income to Cover Your Monthly Expenses
Bulletproof Yourself . . .
Think About Learning Another Skill or Trade
Why Do We Only Prepare or Act After a Problem or Disaster?
How To . . . Posts Revisited
My DIY Projects and Savings
The Turn of the Screw and Must Have Basic Tools
What Happened to Self-Sufficiency?
Self Reliance and America . . .
Feeling Helpless? Knowledge will Empower You (and Save You a Small Fortune)
Polymaths Rejoice!
Firewood Posts Revisited
Frugality Posts Revisited
Spring is Coming: A Gardening Recap
Categories: Self Improvement, Frugality, Personal Finance, Self Sufficiency, Self Reliance, Simple Living, Personal Philosophy
Tags: Personal Finance Preparedness Self Sufficiency Frugality Self Improvement Frugal Self Reliance DIY Simple Living Personal Philosophy
For me, part of the self-sufficiency thing is the feeling I get, and the security I attain. I don't question the stability of our markets, but at the same time I can't help but feel so entirely dependent on others. It's a feeling that I don't like.
For most of us, there aren't many things that we produce - they're produced by someone else, delivered by someone else, and sold by someone else at another location. Think of our food - it travels about 1,000 miles. That's ridiculous for something that I can grow and raise myself.
Based on my efforts, I grow and raise much of my own food, I heat my house almost entirely with renewable resources (that don't increase each year), and I can keep my water and electricity running without having to call the power company. Moreover, I haven't had to call a contractor for anything in 7 years.
The bottom line is self reliance is smart because you can always count on yourself. And, it can be a big money saver as well.
Clair
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I started doing self reliant things- making my own detergent, composting, eating out less, that sort of thing- for financial reasons. I want to be out of debt and have a nice financial cushion. But as I started to do things around the house, I realized I liked doing them. After working in an office all day with only a headache to show for it, doing things myself gives me a concrete sense of accomplishment. Look at this dinner I made! Look at the detergent I made!
Also, I'm a competitive person, so doing something quantifiable- saving $0.05 a diaper by charting prices, watching debt disappear- makes me very, very happy.
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It is that sense of accomplishment that drives many of us to be more self reliant. I usually describe it as personal satisfaction for a job well done. The quality is usually much better and the financial aspects ain't bad either . . .
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