Self Sufficiency vs Self Reliance

At first glance, they sound like they might be the same, but it's a little more complex than that.

People who homestead say they want to be self sufficient, but that's not an attainable goal for most people.

Is self sufficiency possible?

Yes. But you probably won't like it.

Think back to the early American settlers in the 17th century. They survived, but on a lot less than we'd be willing to accept.

Consider the basics: sugar, salt, and flour.

You can get sweeteners from honey, sugar beets, sugar cane, and even stevia, but unless you live near a sea or a salt mine, you'd be hard pressed to acquire an absolutely vital resource for life.

Flour requires pounding, endless pounding unless you already have an electric or manual mill.

Which brings us to electricity. How many people know how to live off grid? It's way more complicated the more devices and appliances you bring into your homestead that need electricity. 

Suddenly, self sufficiency becomes a pipe dream. Some manage. Most can't.

Self reliance on the other hand is far more sophisticated and applicable to the real world. 

I put myself in the self reliant group. We do our best not to need help. That includes the government. The one and only time we asked for help from the government was during Hurricane Rita. They kept us tangled in red tape for weeks, and conveniently lost our paperwork twice. We washed our hands of them, and managed on our own. 

Self reliance is about doing for yourself. Use the grid, but learn how to live without it. That's why we have gas and solar generators.

We have no pond or well (a long time sore spot for me) but we do have cisterns that catch rainwater.

I would love a wind turbine for days when there is no sun, but it's hard to find a good one and they're pricey. From the research I've done, it's best to buy American and pay the higher price. 

Food: If I can grow it in my climate, I do. Every year I experiment with something new. It's fun. I can grow a lot in Zone 8B, but my soil is not acidic, so I have trouble with berries.  

Animals for Food: We only have chickens now, but in the past, we've raised goats, pigs, rabbits, ducks, and quail. We can add them at any time, but since our diet has shifted to a reduction in meat, it's not worth the hassle. I do wish we could raise fish though. We eat a lot of fish.

Money: How did that get in there? But it's an absolute essential in self reliance. The first order of business is to get out of debt. When you're in debt, you're dealing with the outside, relying on them to survive, and they charge you interest for that to boot.

The other side of that coin is to save enough money to have a comfortable emergency fund in case something does goes wrong. It's a huge relief to know you have enough money to live on in case you lose your job, or other emergencies.

Education: My mantra is to never stop learning. I've learned to grow food, preserve it, build stuff, and even cook. I am always teaching myself something. With the internet, it's so easy to learn new skills.

Not that I use it anymore, but I also taught myself to code. Even though I'm a troglodyte at heart, at least I understand computer code.

Knowledge is power.

These are just the basics to self reliance, but they're the building blocks you need to manage when the power goes off, the government shuts down, or another virus scare.

It makes life easier and greatly reduces stress.

Have you ever had a long term power outage, or trapped in your home because of a snow storm or flood? How did you manage? 

In other news: This sounds weird but we actually cleaned our two car garage and can actually put both cars in the garage. LOL!

It doesn't sound like much but it was nice to have a nice big space for what it's intended. It's a tight fit, but we can still open the doors.

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