About The Frugal Farmer
For the first 45 years of my life, I thought that whether a person was poor or rich was just “luck of the draw”. After all, that’s what we were told by so many people. Because my husband and I chose to believe that message, we spent two decades making a colossal mess out of our finances. We assumed that we just didn’t make enough money and that we couldn’t help all of the expenses that came our way. We had totally mixed up the definitions of needs and wants, and justified unnecessary expenses like an addict justifies their drug of choice.
We hated the financial situation we were in but felt powerless to do anything about it, since wealth was a “luck of the draw” thing, after all.
I’d read personal finance books over and over again, but there was a little message in the back of my mind that continually told me “Wealth is not for you.”
Sound familiar?
In one last desperate attempt to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck, I searched the Internet and found the world of personal finance blogs and the stories of real-life people (not just already-famous experts) who were dumping debt and building wealth. At the same time I found stories about people who ended up in a crap load of trouble due to years of bad financial choices.
It was at that time that we started to learn the truth about wealth accumulation: that it is largely in the control of the individual.
So we began, in January of 2013, a journey to get out of debt and build wealth. Our journey hasn’t been without its ups and downs. Turns out there were many hidden wrong beliefs about ourselves that had helped to contribute to our massive consumer debt load. We both suffered from very low self-esteems and from the damage caused by traumatic childhood events.
As we began to pay off debt, we found we first had to heal from the trauma issues that were at the root of us spending more than we made. This has been a long and sometimes painful process, but we’re finally mostly on the other side of healing and now delivered from the belief that money spent is a healing force. As such, we’ve discovered that, more than buying “stuff”, we deserve financial security.
So we’re sharing our journey to personal finance revelation and how that revelation is helping us to become debt free.
So many people suffer because of a lack of knowledge about money and why they spend it. Our goal is to help people overcome that lack of knowledge and move onto a new chapter in life: one where money and a lack of it doesn’t dominate their time and their thoughts.
We also share on this site the other two tenets of our newly discovered life: preparedness and homesteading (see below). We’ve found through this journey that it’s vitally important to work to be prepared for troubles that may come your way, and we’re also wholly committed to creating a home where love, life and warmth abound through homemade apple pies and days wandering through our wooded back yard, simply enjoying nature.
So on this site you’ll find three areas of reflection: personal finance, preparedness and homesteading. Our hope is that each area blesses you in a different and uplifting way.
*P.S. We recommend a lot of books in our posts. Why? Because studies have shown that one major difference between the wealthy and the non-wealthy is that the wealthy spend at least a half hour per day reading non-fiction, educational books. The wealthy don’t read non-fiction books because they’re wealthy, they’re wealthy because they place a greater value on education than on TV or electronic games.
Because we believe firmly that education is a vital key to financial and other success, we’ll recommend books and other products that we’ve found beneficial along our journey. If we don’t believe in a product, you won’t find it recommended on our site.
Hi Rick and Laurie! I just found you blog and am looking forward to reading about journey to become more self sufficient and survive on a lot less. I wish you the best of luck, but I am sure if you set your mind to it you won’t need any luck!!
Hi Alexa!!! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂 Glad you are enjoying our blog. Looking forward to getting to know you better too. Have a great day!
Hi Rick and Laurie!
My husband and I are in a very similar situation! We are dreaming of leaving suburbia in order to move to upstate NY to have a hobby farm of our own! Our goal is to eliminate as much debt as possible first and at the same time learn new skills needed to live self sufficiently!
Check out my recent post on making our own bars of soap!
http://www.beyondtheeveryman.com/2013/07/12/homemade-tallow-soap-and-selling-on-etsy/
I’ve recently used my homemade soap to make laundry soap and I plan on making dishwasher soap as well!
I look forward to reading how you’re family is living out your goals and trying to eliminate debt!
Hi Abby – thanks for stopping by! Glad to hear you guys are working toward getting a hobby farm too. 🙂 It’s an amazing amount of work, but definitely the best move we ever made. All that we’re learning in terms of self-sufficiency, and the abundant peace that comes with living out in the “boonies” is incredible. I’ll definitely head over and check out the soap recipe. Sounds like we could work together and learn a lot from each other. 🙂
Great story about why you left suburbia. I find that being self- sustaining is a great skill to learn, so your kids will definitely benefit from that. Wish you all the best to be a debt free family one day.
It’s been really good for us. We do miss the new, big house we traded in for an old Victorian, but aside from that, we can definitely say that leaving the city for the farm life has been a terrific move for our family. Thanks for the well-wishes. We’ll get there!
Wow! Found you following someone oh blog lovin’. I’ve married a farmer and took a step back from my big city corporate life & decided to adapt to farm life, I’ve got a daughter from my 1st marriage and I’m trying to figure out this whole SAHM thing out & saving money hasn’t been my thing so I’m definitely interested in some tips! Can’t wait to read more! Glad o found you. @AmberDayHicks!
Hey, Amber! Sounds like we’ve got a few things in common! Looking forward to visiting your site and learning more about you. 🙂
Thank-you for allowing us into your personal life. I look forward to reading your blogs as they are quite helpful and interesting. I am looking forward to reading your book out in Dec. The best of luck to you all and God’s best.
Thanks so much, Linda. Glad you are finding the posts helpful. Have a great day!
We are feeling your pain. I just found your website and have just began to read your story. We too decided to begin our journey as new debt free people as well. We are farmers and I have always been a stay at home mother for the last 12 years. My husband also works at a local factory at night. We started about three months ago getting our place up for sell, we own the farm but not the house, so long story short we are going to sell our home and build another home on the back of the farm. We are also tired of being mortgage poor and telling our children no for every little thing on the planet. We had started becoming self sufficient years ago but with the move we are hoping to become even more. We will be living in a much smaller home (debt free of course) we already grow and raise most of our food, but I would love to switch to home schooling my children and stop paying utilities. Or at least get them down really low. I also agree that depression living needs to become a thing of habit rather than required. I look forward to reading all about your journey and good luck.
Keep your faith, the good Lord will provide you with all you need.
Develyn A Miracle
Sadieville, Kentucky
Develyn, thank you SO much for sharing your story! We have lots in common, it sounds like. 🙂 I always love reading about those on similar journeys to ours, number one, because there’s power in numbers, and number two, because it means one more person is dumping their debt – yahoo! Looking forward to getting to know you better – please stop by and share your thoughts often!