By now most of us have seen those beautiful Instagram or Pinterest pages that feature perfect homesteads. You know, the ones of the 2-acre garden with tidy rows of vegetables without a pest in sight. Or the pages that feature the family with the 12 kids that live in the never-messy 10-bedroom cabin in the middle of Narnia. Yeah, that makes me wanna curl up in a ball and cry too.
Not because I’m uncontrollably jealous (let’s face it – I’m controllably jealous), but because sometimes I want my homestead to be perfect too!
But when I logically start to think about why I want a shiny, perfect homestead like the ones I see on the internet I realized a few things:
- The reason those homesteads look so great is because those homesteaders are wealthy and can afford to buy new farm items,
- I am quite content with the humble homestead I have and
- I am great at budgeting the little income we have so that all of our needs are met.
With all that being said, I would love to help anyone struggling with budgeting their homestead funds.


In 4 steps I can help you to finally get your ducks in a row on the homestead!
- As with any budget, you need to write out your monthly costs and income. Were talking about everything! (Even that In-N-Out meal you snuck in last week)! The more honest you are with yourself, the better you will be at saving money so that you can live more comfortably on the homestead.
Note: If you are in the stages of transitioning to a homestead it can be helpful to make an expectant budget by writing out current and expected expenses. - Once your budget is written out (and your initial shock at how much you’ve been spending has settled), it is time to examine the money. This is the part of the process where you must decide what homestead luxury (if any) is 100% necessary for off-grid life and what luxury can be kicked to the (dirt) curb.
For instance: when we first moved to our little 1800 square meter piece of land in Baja I continued to shop like we were back in California making dollars and still shopping at the very expensive Costco here in Ensenada! We were spending more money than was coming in.
Since then I’ve learned to cross Costco off the list and shop at the cheaper, local stores. You can learn to sacrifice the same! Just know that it takes a good amount of inner reflection – if there is something luxurious that needs to be exiled from the budget understand why and stick to your guns until you are in a different financial situation. - Now it is time to think about what you can simplify on the homestead so that it is financially symbiotic. “What the heck does that mean,ย Rori?” Well in plain terms it means killing two birds with one stone.ย
For example: your rural garbage bill has gone up $10 monthly in the last year, and, you also have abundant land that you had hoped would be green with grass by next year. To kill two birds with one stone you could burn trash on your land (check out this post on how to do this safely). That way you save money by burning your trash and your land gets more fertile from the burning and ash. - The last step is to remember to breathe! If a frugal swap is stressing you out then it is important to do what’s best for your mental health. If you have to pay a little more to save your sanity, then I say do what you’ve gotta do.