Self-Sufficiency And Being Home

Besides disciplined budgeting practices, self-sufficiency is a critical attribute if you want to be able to spend more time with your family.  Most people in America work extensively outside of the home to support a lifestyle at the expense of family (which often times isn't as joyous as it is advertised), and/or they are incapable of doing things themselves.  Even large complex tasks are simple tasks strung together, though meticulous at times. 

You may think, "Well, I can make more money at work and just pay someone else to do it faster than I can, which means I will save money because time is money."  However, that kind of thinking is the reason you have to spend so much time at work and away from family to begin with.  As a society, we are pegged into one or a small handful of skill sets will results in slavery to the 'experts', which are, ironically, just like you.  They too are pegged into a small handful of skill sets.

How does one begin to become more self-sufficient like the patriarchs found in Scripture?

1) Start taking on small tasks yourself.  If you don't take care of your own lawn, then start with that.  Over time, you will become both self-sufficient and efficient, and let your children help out.  They need to learn self-sufficiency themselves.  Do some research on lawn care, home improvement, mechanics, gardening, sewing, etc., and ease into it.  If you try to do too much at one time, you'll get burned out and frustrated. 

2) Don't let the 'experts' tell you that you can't do it; they say that because they don't want you to realize that you don't need them.  You may make some mistakes along the way, but most of these experts are just faster than you because they do these tasks every day.  Read some books, watch some videos (YouTube is a great start), and learn to think yourself out of a jam by being creative. In time, you will be just as fast or even faster than they are.  The difference is that you will not be doing the same thing everyday, and so you won't get burned out like they do.  Moreover, you can enjoy yourself because it is at your pace and no one is looking over your shoulder with a whip.

3) Learn how to cook good meals, and plan inexpensive side items to keep everyone full. Learning to cook is just a skill. Start small, and then progress over time.  Eventually, your meals will taste better and will be healthier than the restaurant you go to on a regular basis.  In time, your desire to eat out as much will be greatly reduced.  This will also increase your hospitality skills when cooking for several families at a time.

Following some of these basic principles take discipline, and it's not always easy to start out with, but it can be done. We do it everyday. I love my family, and I'd rather be with them than at work. Eventually, I'll be financially independent and self-sufficient enough to be with them instead of being reduced to a 'human resource' at work.