Learning to be Self-Sufficient
by Casey Quinn
You pay a premium on anything done for you

Any financial planner will tell you the best way to control
your wealth is to set up a budget. In that budget, allocate
how much money you need to spend on housing expenses, utility
bills, gas, and of course, food. Ideally, if there is anything
left over, you stash it into savings. The average person will
make about two trips to the grocery store a month and eat out
once a week. This person could spend anywhere from $250 to
$350 a month on food! If the budget is for a family, then the
amount allocated will increase by hundreds of dollars.

What if by making some changes to your everyday life you could
take that number and divide it in half, increase your and your
families overall health and be able to stash away more money
for retirement? Would you keep reading? Of course you would!
Learning to be more self-sufficient is an easy to do and
satisfying lifestyle change.

So, what does it mean to be self-sufficient and how can you
get started? Glad you asked! The idea behind self-sufficiency
is that you pay a premium on anything done for you. If you
could learn to do it yourself, you could pay what it is
actually worth and avoid premium fees. Did you buy a coffee in
the morning from Starbucks? Congrats! You just paid a premium
for someone to brew some beans for you! Anytime you find
yourself paying someone to do something that you could have
done, you just overpaid for it. Self-sufficiency is being able
to control your own living, provide for yourself and remove
the convenience premium applied to restaurants and grocery
stores.

Now with definitions out of the way, let's start with a few
basic changes you can make, which will lead to big rewards to
your bank account and your health.

Make Your Own Bread

Starting in the mid 1950s, chemicals, such as hydrogenated
oils and artificial preservatives, were introduced to the
bread-making process. Also, have you noticed the cost of bread
rising in the last few years? In some places, consumers are
paying 50 cents to $1 more than they did even one year ago.
Making your own bread does not have to be a time-consuming
chore. If that is your concern, get a bread maker. All you
need to do is plug in the ingredients, start it up, come back
in three hours, and enjoy a great tasting loaf of bread. There
are no chemicals, and it's cheaper and leaves your house
smelling like a bakery.

Start a Garden

Have you noticed the price of produce at the grocery store
lately? It keeps going up. I won't go into the details of how
many chemicals are sprayed on produce before you eat it as I
am sure you have heard it all before. However, if you are a
regular veggie eater, then did you know you could have a
year's worth of produce for the cost of what you are paying
now in one month? Interested? Here is all you need:

- Packets of seeds (pick whatever you want to grow)
- Some dirt (either in a pot or in the ground)
- Shovel
- Water

That's it. Seems simple, right? All you need to do is plant
the seeds at the right depth, make sure they get some sun and
water, and in no time at all, you will be eating fresh produce
all year round without paying a convenience premium.

Make the Most of Canning

Now that you have your own veggies in the garden, you can make
your own tomato sauce, ketchup, salsa and many other products
that you are currently buying. Once made, it can be canned and
stored for more than 12 months! When canning on your own, you
are using no preservatives or chemicals, you're using your own
veggies, and best of all, you paid practically nothing for
them!

To get specific recipes, I would recommend getting "The Ball
Blue Book (of Canning and Preserving Recipes)." It has great
recipes and provides specific instructions on how to heat,
prepare and store your goods.

By following the steps in this article, you could save
hundreds of dollars a year! Start today and save!

These items are just the start. Examine what you spend your
money on and ask yourself the question: Could I have done this
myself? If the answer is yes, read up on it, start doing it,
and escape the convenience premium. You'll see a difference in
your savings and in your health.