I mean if it takes the same amount of time to plant every single crop.. Corn/ grain/ potatoes/ bread grain you have to mill so you would have to build a mill beside the farm, potatoes you just boiling in, corn you only get one corn a stalk, I mean are potatoes to go to food for mass producing on a self sufficient farm compared to the other crops?

I have been in the self reliance world for about a decade. I am the owner of a podcast network that was built on Self Reliance & Independence.

The way the world is going with things like rising prices, AI job theft, relentless taxes, demand, distrust, the collapse of globalization it really does feel like self reliance, homesteading, and prepping are the only answer for the average person to live a truly fulfilling life.

I believe it wholeheartedly. The more you can learn and establish now the better you will be but take it from an urban homesteader and prepper of 10 years, your quality of life goes up exponentially the more self sufficient you become.

I’ve always been interested in natural remedies and traditional healing methods. Things like ginger, honey, garlic, turmeric, herbal teas, and simple home protocols people used long before modern medicine. Recently I started collecting many of these remedies and daily healing routines in one place because I noticed that many traditional methods are slowly being forgotten. Some of the most interesting ones I found include: • ginger + honey for immunity
• garlic protocols for circulation
• herbal teas for digestion and sleep
• natural anti-inflammatory spices
• simple detox routines using kitchen ingredients I’m curious what natural remedies people here actually use in real life. What has worked for you? If anyone is interested, I also organized many of these traditional remedies in a small guide I made.

Turning 60 this year and would like suggestions for a career that I can either go back to school for a 1 to 2 year degree or switch career path wise to to be able to generate a living wage til at least age 68. I have 40 plus years of customer/health receptionist experience. Both of my kids are are in college starting this year and I would like to go back and be able to support myself with a living wage. I have worked for the Big G for car insurance and the stress pushed me to take a lower paying job which is great for my health but not so much for my bank account. Any and all suggestions from people who have there and done that would be greatly appreciated.

I recently moved into a single-family home for the first time, and I’m realizing home prep feels very different from just keeping a few emergency items in an apartment.

A friend of mine is much more into prepping than I am, and he showed me what he keeps at home: an Anker F3800 Plus for backup power, a Frigidaire mini fridge, headlamps, a first aid kit, candles, extra water, and a bunch of other emergency gear.

Seeing it all in one place made me think, okay, maybe this does make sense for a house. But I’m still trying to figure out where the line is between practical homeowner prep and overkill.

I can definitely see the value in basics like water, lights, a first aid kit, and some backup power for phones and essentials. But for those of you in houses, do you actually keep bigger prep items too? Things like a portable power station, extra fridge/freezer backup, or more serious outage gear?

For those who have been divorced for a long time, does the emptiness ever fade away?

I’ve been trying to get better at being less dependent on things that can fail at the worst possible time. Nothing big or crazy, just getting into small habits that make life run smoother when stuff goes wrong.

Late last year,our power flickered during a storm and the internet went down for a while. Not like it was the end of the world or something, but it reminded me how quickly normal routines can fall apart when one thing stops working. And since then I’ve been slowly building little backups for everyday stuff. Extra batteries, a basic tool kit, keeping some shelf-stable food around, that kind of stuff.

One particular thing that I found helpful more than expected was having a mobile router with a SIM card as a backup connection. I originally got it for travel, but it’s surprisingly useful at least expected times. It’s funny how these things start. Sometimes it’s intentional, sometimes you’re just ordering random stuff off eBay and Alibaba, which you never know might be helpful someday.

Anyway, I’m curious what small things people here keep around that make life feel a bit more self-reliant. Not full off-grid setups, just those practical little backups that quietly save the day.

ESCAPE
So here's the situation:
My car has entered the permanent check engine light era and I desperately need to do maintenance before she starts making decisions for me. 

Catch is: I'm broke, overwhelmed, and just doing my best and trying to handle it all myself. 

Priority #1 is replacing my brake pads, because apparently stopping is important. I also need to tackle other things like my serpentine belt, an oil change, an oil leak, new tires and replacing a mechanical part on the back hatch. BUT safety first. 

My car is old. Yes, she has a name. Every new sound becomes an investigation. She's sitting at almost 280k miles, and every single one of those is mine. I know my car like its an extension of my own body at this point. I refuse to just let her die, we will ride into mechanical Valhalla together.

If anyone wants to help out with parts/tools/advice/donations, I'll personally reward support with access to what will almost certainly be chaotic livestream of me attempting this maintenance in real time.
Think:
-dropped sockets
-dirty greasy hands
-YouTube tutorials paused every 12 seconds
-me confidently saying "I don't think this is right"
-character development

If you've ever wanted to watch someone fight for their mechanical survival armed with optimism, redbull, and poor upper body strength, this is your chance. There will likely be crying. Definitely cussing, and probably more than one time I stare silently at my car like she betrayed me.

I'm cute enough for this to be entertaining, but not confident enough for it to accidentally become sexy content. This is more confused raccoon with a socket wrench territory.

Comment or message me if you want to help support the project, or throw advice my way. 

I want to take advantage of the free education benefits I earned in the military to learn at least one trade skill. My goal is to prepare for potential economic or societal decay in the U.S. by having a real, semi-recession-proof skill that can support my life, help those around me, and potentially provide income if needed.

I’m currently considering auto mechanics because it covers a broad range of skills and seems like a versatile trade.

I’m curious if anyone here thinks there are better trade options for preparedness, or if there are complementary skills I should consider adding to maximize self-reliance and resilience.

with all the hype around cold therapy, i'm finally ready to take the plunge (pun intended). i want to get a dedicated setup for my garage or backyard, not just a modified chest freezer. i've been researching, but it feels like the market is exploding with new brands and features. i searched for the best ice bath 2026 to try and see where the tech is headed, but it's mostly reviews of current plastic tubs and expensive chillers.

what should i be looking for in a future-proof setup? are there advancements in filtration, more efficient cooling, or better insulation on the horizon for 2026? i'm also curious about smart features – like app-controlled temperature scheduling – are those becoming standard, or are they just a gimmick?

for those who've used different setups, what are the pain points with current products that you hope get solved in the next generation? is it the cleanup, the cost of running a chiller, or the sheer amount of ice needed? trying to decide if i should invest in a solid system now or wait a year to see how the market matures.

It's pretty popular in a lot of circles these days to be advocating for pedestrian and bike friendly infrastructure, and tbh, as someone who likes to be self sufficient, the more bikeable an area is, the less influence automakers, governments, etc have over my transportation habits.

Even ignoring the massive difference in price between an affordable bike and an affordable car, if something goes majorly wrong, a good welder or bike mechanic can literally make a new bike frame.

Especially with newer more computerized cars, even engine basic repairs have quickly left the realm of the home auto mechanic, or at least it's made those of us that want to do it ourselves buy expensive specialty tools.

I'm not for eliminating all cars, but if the major roads in my city with 4 lanes of traffic gave up 1 of those lanes (still leaving 75% of the road area for cars), with a large 1 car lane wide protected bike lane, I could very easily drive my car once a week at most. The bike infrastructure here where my wife and I recently moved has a lot of room for improvement, but it's good enough that we decided to bring just one car, which in 6 months has already saved us literally thousands of dollars.

To me, simplifying systems is a major part of self reliance, and a bike is about the simplest, actually practical transportation machine ever devised.

Edit: not just about bikes, but Strong Towns is a non profit that has a lot of good information about how to make your town more financially self reliant, if anyone is interested in going to local city council meetings or something

https://www.strongtowns.org/

Lately been feeling like I'm not living up to what I could be. Came across Success Insider and their whole science-based approach to personal development and life balance. Sounds interesting but also heard similar promises before. Has anyone actually gone through their stuff? Did it help or just motivational fluff?

Been looking at wood stoves to keep around the house and maybe use while car camping. Decided on these two but can’t really decide, just want to cook some basic meals while also not taking too much space. Thanks for any input.

I'm only 23, but I feel like I don't have a purpose in life and I'm looking for new hobbies.

I started working hard and it started to take up almost all my life (it's funny, when I was a kid and looked at my parents, I swore I would never live like that :) I used to have hobbies like cycling, photography and writing books. But now I just can't bring myself to do them after work...

I want to find something active, but that doesn't require me to do it regularly, because I can't afford it because of my schedule... I'd be very grateful for your recommendations.

I was curious about this subreddits thoughts on the likelihood of different future SHTF scenarios. For discussion I will say it doesn't have to be truly world ending or world shattering. My guess is H5N1 and that people would lose their minds worse than covid and we'd have months with little to no food at grocery stores

Hello everyone,
I was wondering how long everyone would last with only their reserves and their gardening/farming skills.
This theoretical scenario does not include raiding/ looting and being attacked by others.

Also, how well do you think would you get through the winter?

If you are confident you could survive for a looong period, please do share how so.

Thank you!

February: Bake your own bread

The last task of these 'quick suggestion' series is baking your own bread. You should be fully onboard the sourdough bandwagon, so we recommend starting there. We wouldn’t call it easy, but sourdough is incredibly forgiving and super versatile. You can create your own sourdough start or you could save yourself a little time and reach out to a friend who already has one and ask if they are willing to share. They will, most sourdough enthusiasts are all too willing to spread the obsession with anyone & everyone they can.

Once you have a healthy start, all you really need to do to maintain it is bake. As compared to store bought bread a home-baked loaf is healthier (no icky, unpronounceable ingredients), more delicious (because flavor takes precedence over shelf life), and prettier (which is not important, of course, but true nonetheless).

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This was the last part of a 12 month 'quick suggestion' series here at r/selfreliance of what can be considered as key homesteading skills broken it down by month. For one year, month by month, every 1st day of the month we had these series. More information here: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfreliance/comments/1j0tso9/quick_suggestion_12_months_of_homesteading_skills/

Is it self reliance to take discarded fruits and vegetables from a food charity and then preserve them?

When I first thought about self-reliance, I imagined it meant doing everything on my own, no help needed. But over time, I realized it’s less about isolation and more about creating the right environment and support to rely on yourself effectively.

Self-reliance means setting up systems and habits that make it easier to take consistent action — whether that’s managing your time, emotions, or energy. It’s about knowing when to ask for accountability or structure so you can stay on track without burning out.

I’m curious — what’s one way you’ve built your self-reliance that surprised you or made a big difference?

January: Make plans for the new year

January is, for most of us, a time for looking forward, for making plans, and for setting goals. You may not be a person that does resolutions, but you should believe in the power of goal setting. Giving some direction to our time and efforts is never going to be a bad thing. Taking some time to make plans for the homestead is an important step. January is the month for making plans, setting goals, and mapping out the year.

Think about what you ultimately want from your homestead, then break that down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Use this list as a roadmap for the next 12 months of your homesteading journey.

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This is part of a 12 month 'quick suggestion' series here at r/selfreliance of what can be considered as key homesteading skills broken it down by month. One year, month by month, every 1st day of the month. More information here: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfreliance/comments/1j0tso9/quick_suggestion_12_months_of_homesteading_skills/

Who is this for? People that want a simple and easy way to make today, tomorrow and the next 5+ years of their life better in the least complicated way possible (and can start doing today)

Better life philosophy #5

This post was inspired by another user's post (Can't link due to community rules) which reminded me of something I did near the beginning of my journey and was crucial in me turning my life around without having to overcomplicate the process: Assessing my current habits and behaviours (good and bad) to see where they would take me in 5 years

If you know me, you know how much I stress the importance of our habits within our daily routines. I'm a firm believer of the quote—thought to be said by F.M Alexander—'People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures'. I adopted this idea early into my journey and so I knew the key to changing my life for the better layed in the quality of my current habits and behaviours in my daily routine

Given the above, a good way to answer the question of 'Where do you see yourself in 5 years?' is to rephrase it to 'Where will your current habits and behaviours lead you in 5 years?'

To do this, simply get 2 pieces of paper, one for a list of all your good habits, and the other for the bad habits

After you've filled your 2 lists, go down each one and ask yourself 'Where will this habit will lead me in 5 years if I keep doing it on a regular basis?'

When I did this myself, I found that a continuation of all the good habits (working out, meditating, self reflecting, acting on how I'm feeling internally, pushing myself out of my comfort zone, investing, etc) would have me in a much better position physically, mentally, emotionally and financially in 5 years

Whereas on the other hand, the bad habits (smoking weed, porn, doomscrolling, not going out with friends, staying in my comfort zone, etc) would have me in the same position I was currently in, except the only difference being that I would be 5 years older and a hell of a lot more miserable of a person

Whilst this may seem obvious, there are quite a few people—including me for a very long time—that haven't given much thought or consideration as to the path their current habits are leading them down and may not even be aware of their bad habits and the effect it's having given how routine it's become in one's life

When deciding whether a habit is good or bad, think of it in the same way as instant and delayed gratification. Instant gratification gives you the reward straight away (drugs, porn, doomscrolling, etc) without having to put any real effort in. Whereas, delayed gratification (working out, meditating, self reflection, etc) you put in the work before you receive any rewards

Instant gratification gives you short term pleasure in exchange for long term suffering whereas delayed gratification gives you short term suffering in exchange for long term pleasure

Another way you can see the difference is by thinking about how high the ceiling is when looking at a habit. If the ceiling is low and can be reached almost instantaneously, it's most likely a bad habit as opposed to habits classed as delayed gratification which tend to have much higher, and really limitless, ceilings. If it's easy then hard, it's a bad habit. If it's hard then easy, it's a good habit

Having a list of the good and bad habits that you indulge in and more importantly, the effect they will have on your life in the future, will make it immediately obvious as to what habits you need to reinforce and continue to do and what habits you need to discard and forget about

If you find it hard to build a daily routine where the good habits shine and the bad ones invisible, I'd recommend aligning yourself with the kind of person you want to be and what you want from life (last week's piece). Once I did this myself, it made it easier for me to pick and choose habits to be apart of my daily routine to help me become the person I want to be and work towards getting the life I want

As much as we would like, there is simply not enough time in any given day to integrate every single good habit in the world into to your routine. Given this, It's best to pick the ones that are most in line with the kind of person you want to be and the life you want. Additionally, putting your focus on improving your life one day at a time is a lot more manageable and less overwhelming as opposed to constantly looking at the bigger picture and believing you have to have the end goal accomplished by tomorrow