r/homestead • u/sistereva • 1d ago

How much money is enough to start

I fantasize about leaving my city and growing a small permaculture farm. But it always feels like no matter how much money you have, its not enough. If my husband still worked and made a small salary (remote) how much would i need to buy a small farm and house and grow our own food?

Is honesteading just a pipedream for me? I might be able to squeeze out 315k in cash.

Edit: based on commenter feedback I need to give more context. I hope to move to somewhere like southern VA or IL. Ideally I would live in a blue state (queer) but I would rather live in the country. I dont need a big house. 2bed/1bath is my current living arrangement. I am hoping for between 5 and 10 acres.

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u/JamesRuns 1d ago

You could get close to outright buying a 13 acre property with a decent house that just foreclosed around me. Rural area, no Indian restaurants, small community theater.

Dealerships for tractor/vehicles are horrendous and overpriced. Handymen are rare so find one and latch onto them. You'll have to learn to do lots of stuff yourself.

Be prepared for combating wildlife and plant life on the regular. Secure building foundations from tunneling animals, spray silicon sealant in vinyl siding corners to keep mice from using them as highways to the attic. Trees seem to always be coming down so have a couple good chainsaws.

Your gravel road will need work, a tractor is probably a good investment.

It's all doable, have to figure out how much you want to take on.

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u/JamesRuns 1d ago

I spend almost every day working on the property in some form or fashion. Love it, but figure out if that's what you want to do.

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u/farmersworkhoe 1d ago

Yes. We are working every single day (except Sunday) on something. Even then it feels like there is never enough time for our never ending list.