Are You a Homestead Loser if You Buy "Loss Leaders" at the Store? 

About 25 years ago I followed The Hallelujah Diet which was vegan and mostly raw. My husband would say, we can’t eat out because of the diet. I did it about a year and felt great but it was not easy and I began to read about people who were on it several years and developed health problems. I also was learning that our bodies, especially our brains, need healthy fats. I think homesteading is also a mind set and a process. You need to start slowly implementing things into your life where you are at whether that be an apartment, subdivision, etc. Do what you can such as cooking from scratch, canning, baking bread, finding natural ways to treat colds, pain, etc. like growing herbs, drying them for tea or making herbal tinctures and spices. Learning to see, crochet or knit.

I'm a suburban homesteader on a tiny property that had no perennial food plants in the beginning. I am still trying to get my young apple trees established and berry bushes planted. As such, I need to rely on outside sources, particularly for fruit and nuts. I sometimes receive surplus fruit through friends who farm or homestead, but usually I must go to the market. I don't feel guilty about it. I especially like to use over-ripe fruit when I can or I take advantage of strong sales and then process or store the food myself, to make it last weeks, months, or years. I have made pies out of Jack-o-lanterns after they were lit! I once was able to score 64 POUNDS of strawberries that were over-ripe for FREE, when they were abandoned by a grocer at a flea market. They had to be processed that day to throw out fuzzy bits, but they became the fabulous strawberry jam that my kids ate for years while growing up, and when I ran out of jars that day - they also became several fresh strawberry pies, quarts and quarts of frozen strawberries for smoothies, and I even had to give some away when I ran out of freezer space. (I did not have a dehydrator back then). I agree with you that homesteading does not mean being 100% self sufficient. The original American homesteaders were not either! I don't think it is realistic to do everything, right down to growing the beans for your coffee and chocolate and the oats for breakfast. But homesteading IS about being a producer, about preserving, about growing what we can, about managing our resources very well and not wasting things! It is definitely about resourcefulness, rather than dependency. I enjoyed your rant! I am also in Ohio (to the north). I would love to see some of the things you make with your "loss leader" items in another video!

Going thru a messy divorce, having had to sell all my farm animals, and not having more than $400 a month....this "season" I am using grocery store apps and getting money back in my pocket for other needs. And now I'm restocking my ducks and chickens. Praying this is just a "season"!