Steven D. Gregerson - Creating the Low-Budget Homestead

he information in this book is based on the experiences, knowledge, research, and beliefs of the author and cannot be duplicated exactly by readers. The author, publisher, and distributors of this book disclaim any liability from any damage or injury that a reader or user of information contained in this book may incur from the use or misuse of said information. This book is for academic study only.

'd like to give special thanks to my wife, Susan, who encouraged me to keep on writing all through the hard times when the words just wouldn't come. She's the one who took on extra tasks on our homestead to give me time to write. Much of our success is due to her knowledge and tenacity. There are very few women with the wisdom she possesses or who would live the life that we live ... and do so without regrets. She's always ready for an adventure. I am truly fortunate to have her by my side.

I'd also like to mention our good friends John and Denise McCann, who are sources of encouragement and inspiration. It was their interest in our lifestyle that kept me writing in my blog, which opened my eyes that there were people who really wanted to know how we live the life that we live.

Thanks to Jon and Donna at Paladin Press for all the work they did to bring this writing to you. I never understood how much work was involved in publishing a book. Thank you, Jon, in particular for your editing skills. This is a much better book because of you. It's been a pleasure working with you.

And finally, thanks to all those who read my blog and offered encouragement. Some of you I met at Dirttime. Others I have yet to see. Hopefully we can remedy that in the near future.

by another book about modern homesteading? There are already dozens, if not hundreds, of similar books on the market, so why one more? What makes this book different from the others you'll find about pursuing the homestead life? Why should you read this one?

I'll tell you why. We'd like to see more success stories.

When we bought our 20 acres in the northern Rocky Mountains, it had two buildings on it. One was a two-room frame structure on a post founda

tion put together with plywood and poles. It was insulated and had interior walls of unpainted drywall. Pack rats had moved in and built nests in the wall insulation. A leaking roof allowed rain and snow to destroy the Sheetrock ceilings. There were piles of insulation and crumbled sections of drywall on the floor. When we cleaned it out, we found an intact wall where former residents had left their names and the dates they lived there. But they were long gone.

The log cabin we renovated for our own use was in the same state of disrepair and neglect. It, too, was another testimony to shattered dreams and tenants that had left long ago.

A partially completed cabin in our area, evidence of a failed attempt at living the homestead life.

Another abandoned building in the very early stages of construction.

The evidence was everywhere on every parcel of land around us. Collapsed structures, old foundations, and partially completed buildings long since abandoned to the elements. Their owners were gone, now pursuing a more "practical" way of life.

It was disheartening, to say the least.

There was a nagging fear in my mind that our story would end as theirs did. From the looks of the buildings, they were people like us. People pursuing their dreams of a self-sufficient life but without enough money to do it "right." We, too, had big plans, but nothing to back them up except determination and a vision of our future.

We've been here over eight years and now feel confident that, with some good advice and a mountain of resolve, it is possible to successfully pursue a self-sufficient lifestyle even if you don't have a safe full of money to back you up.

So, what will you find in the pages of this book? You will find practical steps and instructions to take you from dreaming about a self-sufficient lifestyle to living one.

We will tell you how to define and set goals and how to locate land (we purchased our 20 acres with owner financing, no money down, and no interest on a five-year contract). We'll show you a different way of looking at life that's going to be absolutely essential if you're going to be a successful low-budget homesteader. We'll give you some advice on self- sufficient, sustainable gardening and on how to keep vehicle costs low. There are chapters on inexpensive, off-grid entertainment, how to schedule time for the greatest productivity, and how to avoid burnout. We'll also give some tips for low-cost housing and things to think about when designing an efficient off-grid home. We'll address some questions like what skills you'll need and how to acquire them, how to set up a simple off-grid power system, and the advantages and disadvantages of pets and livestock. These are just samples of the practical ideas you'll find inside the covers of this book. And in every instance, we'll look at them from the low- budget angle.

So, if you've ever thought about pursuing a self- sufficient lifestyle but feared you didn't have the money to do it, just keep reading. We'll show you how!

ince you're reading this book, I'm going to assume that you're at least a little bit dissatisfied with life as you know it. I can identify with tha, because we felt the same way when we made our move. We had some goals in mind. We wanted to be free of the cash-based economy and the accompanying enslavement to a steady job, where we were only slightly better off than indentured servants of the 1600s. We wanted to declare our independence from the grocery store and food that had been planted in dead soil, nurtured with petroleum-based fertilizers, bathed in herbicides and insecticides, and then picked green, injected with artificial coloring, and shipped halfway around the world to be sold weeks or months later in the "fresh food" department at our local grocery store! We especially wanted to give a one-fingered salute to the gas pump and utility companies. (We'd already done that with network TV!)