New Year’s resolutions — you’ve probably made a list at one time or another. Perhaps you’ve promised yourself to start exercising more and to lose weight. Maybe you said you’d quit smoking or take up a new hobby. There’s a good chance you also included saving up, renovating a part of your home, or even spending more time with family in your list of New Year wishes. All these New Year’s resolutions are great and admirable, but New Year’s resolutions for homesteaders somewhat strike a different chord.
While the usual New Year goals will apply to many people, those who have settled on the homestead or have gone off-grid are more likely to wish for something that’ll help them accomplish their goal of self-sufficiency. Here are some New Year’s resolutions that will not only help you in your goals but also in the long term in terms of your sustainable lifestyle.
Save Up
There are two reasons why saving money should be on every list of New year resolutions for homesteaders. For one, you have to prepare for the future. If you have young children, for example, you need to save up for their education, especially if they want to pursue a career outside of being a homesteader.
Despite attaining self-sustainability, you should still have some money saved up that you can use in case you need to repair or improve something on your homestead. Even if you do the repairs yourself, you still need to spend on materials so cash will come in handy.
Maybe those coyotes have been hungry lately and you need to buy more traps. Perhaps a sturdier fence or even a new chicken coop is necessary to protect your birds. There are always improvements to be made on the homestead. If you want new chickens, more seeds for next year’s garden, or a better outhouse system, you need to stay true to your new year’s resolution and start saving money.
Your savings will also come in handy when disaster strikes. If someone gets hurt or sick and has to spend some time in the hospital, you need money. In case a storm comes and causes significant damage to your homestead, your emergency fund will make it easier for you to recover. Having money stashed somewhere will also lessen the impact of sudden unemployment.
While being a homesteader means you grow and raise your own food and probably have an alternative power source, you still need cash for other important things. So make it a point to include building an emergency fund in your list of New Year’s resolutions. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to earn and save money on your homestead.
Invest On An Alternative Power Source
Wouldn’t it be nice to have an ample source of vibranium in your backyard? You’ll have all the resources you need to, well, build and power your own Wakanda. You may not be able to do that in this universe but this coming year is a good time to start saving up for an alternative power source.
Generators are some of the more popular alternative power sources. They’re a tad on the pricier side especially considering that you need a regular supply of fuel to keep it going. generators also produce a loud sound, which can be annoying. It can also be problematic if other people realize you have electricity and decide to take drastic measures to take what’s yours. You’ll want the quietest generator you can find.
Another option is to invest in a solar panel. Solar panels use renewable energy so you won’t need to worry about running out of fuel or about making noise. Unfortunately, solar panels can be quite pricey and can take a while before paying off. For this year, you should aim to save up enough to have a solar panel installed in your home.
Learn New Skills
Are you new to homesteading? Do you want to grow your own food but you don’t know how. Your neighbor has a garden but you have no idea how they do it. Or perhaps, you’ve always wanted to make some kick-ass kombucha but didn’t know where to start.
This new year, commit yourself to learning more skills that can help you increase your self-sufficiency. New skills help make your life easier and your homestead more sustainable. New skills can also pave the way for you to start making money through side projects, which is always a good thing.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all of the things that you’d like to learn, try starting with one area that interests you the most. New skills don’t always have to be practical, they can also be things you do for fun. For instance, if you’re interested in fashion and design, perhaps learning how to knit, crochet, embroider, or sew would be lovely? You’ll need the right sewing and embroidery machine or a sewing and quilting machine for this new hobby and buying a brand new one will help inspire you more.
Your New Year’s resolutions should be things that really motivate you. Putting in the effort to do something that excites you gives you more incentive to stick with it throughout the year.
Start A New Hobby
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Now, I don’t know Jack but I do know that homesteaders have their hands full taking care of their property. What you can do for a bit of fun is to find a hobby that goes well with homesteading. As you can see, learning new skills and starting a new hobby go hand-in-hand. It should be easy to find something new to do since you’re always trying to improve and make the most of your homestead life.
Most likely, you already have a farm or garden that you regularly tend to. You can use the skills you’ve learned here to try hydroponics, growing bonsai, or container gardening. If you get into container gardening, you may also start a pot-making hobby.
You could even try your hand at blacksmithing, welding, or glass blowing. Other homesteading skills you can learn if you haven’t yet include soap and candle making, brewing, and baking, just to name a few. Such hobbies not only provide you with something new and fun to do, but they also offer another way to bring home the money.
If you think the suggested hobbies are a bit too tedious, you can go into something simpler. Some relaxing hobbies that come to mind include painting, sketching, reading, writing prose and poetry, learning a musical instrument, and writing songs. You can also pick up a sport or outdoor activity such as running, cycling, backpacking, and yoga.
Finish More DIY Projects
Are there things around your homestead that have been left undone? If you’re already working on a project or started one but had to shelve it for later, this New Year is the perfect time to finish it!
New projects are wonderful because they give you goals to work on while helping you move towards being more self-sufficient. It’s easy to come up with New Year’s resolutions that involve making money or finding a new job but what about those that focus on the things around you? In order for homesteaders to be sustainable, we must become more self-reliant and start looking at our own homes as places of productivity.
That said, give your property a thorough look and list down the things that need your attention. This coming year, why not set aside some time to complete a number of DIY projects. Kick the dust off your power tools and start a few woodworking projects. Build something new or repair some existing furniture. A new year requires a bit of spring cleaning so why not get rid of your old junk and build some beautiful things out of new materials.
If you just need to sharpen your skills, turn off the TV and spend an evening reading a DIY article or two. Then pick up some tools and make something! To help with this New Year’s resolution, you may want to invest in some power tools. New Year is a great time to get tools because you can often find good deals around this time of year.
Improve Your Physical Health
New Year’s resolutions for homesteaders are not all about farming and self-sufficiency. You also need to do something about your health. Yes, you get to eat fresh produce and do physical activities on a daily basis but there are other things you need to improve your overall health.
For one thing, the New Year is a good time to get rid of any bad habits that have been creeping up on you while you’re preoccupied with the work of daily living. Since homesteading can be tiring, you may find yourself rewarding yourself with a drink more and more. Worse, you’re probably smoking more than a pack a day because of all the stress.
Such bad habits need to go. Smoking is a definite no-no and you should quit at this very minute. As for drinking alcohol, there are benefits to it as long as you moderate your consumption. Make it your New Year’s resolution to cut back on your drinking. Instead, drink healthier stuff like fresh fruit juices and tea.
Take Care of Your Mental Well-Being
The ongoing pandemic has taken a toll on our physical and mental well-being for the past couple of years. This year, make it a point to focus a bit more on your mental health. New Year’s resolutions for homesteaders already tend to be more about self-sufficiency anyway.
So, make sure you set aside some time for yourself each day where you can relax and unwind. Aside from picking up a new hobby, you can also start a new exercise routine. You can go for a brisk walk or ride your bike to the store instead of driving. And if it’s raining or muddy outdoors, you can always sit back and pick up a book, do puzzles, or just listen to music while enjoying the relaxing scent of essential oils.
Speaking of reading, there are plenty of self-sufficiency and homesteading books out there. Take the time to visit a bookstore and browse for such books. Some New Year’s resolutions for homesteaders are easy to keep when you have all the information you need right at your fingertips.
Be More Organized
“A place for everything and everything in its place.” That best describes how you can keep your homestead organized. It’s difficult to get things done at the homestead if things are all over the place so it should be one of your New Year’s resolutions to be more organized.
You should designate areas where you can store your tools and other items. There should be a tool shed for your garden tools and farm equipment. It’s ideal to have a separate workshop where you can do your woodworking, welding, glassblowing, metallurgy projects, or whatever it is you’re into.
There are other strategies to organize the homestead. One entails planning and scheduling your time well. It’s best to make a list of things to do for the day, the week, the month, and even for the year. Make a to-do list and prioritize what you need to accomplish first. You can also set deadlines for certain things on your New Year’s resolutions list.
Another way to organize your daily life is to establish a routine. This will help you accomplish all the tasks in a timely manner. Since there are plenty of jobs at the homestead, you need to start your routine early. This is especially true if you’re raising animals on your property.
Set up a filing system so you can monitor everything that happens in the homestead. It’ll be easier to determine if you’re done with certain tasks or if you need to replenish supplies by regularly checking your records.
Organization can be frustrating but it needn’t be a daunting task. Just get yourself a good old-fashioned planner and start writing all of your tasks down. If you prefer, you can use a computer or tablet. Many farmers and homesteaders incorporate technology into their day-to-day life so this shouldn’t be an issue unless you really want to go off-grid.
New Year’s resolutions can be a great way to start fresh. It means you’ll have time to make changes, and chances are it will involve something positive (unless your resolution is to give up chocolate, but even then it’s still a good thing). Not gonna lie but these goals for the coming year can be difficult. But do you know what else is difficult? Homesteading. So it would make sense that New Year’s resolutions for homesteaders should be the most difficult of wishes and promises to keep. That doesn’t mean they aren’t doable, however. C’mon! It’s a brand new year. Have a little more faith in yourself.
Check out Gentleman Pirate Club and discover more homesteading tips that’ll help prepare you for a better and more fruitful year ahead.
