The Campfire Trail: January 3 - DIY Homestead

January 3, 2023

Day 459 of the Adventure

I read an interesting statement related to the whole idea of downsizing today. It said: "If you're not using the stuff in your home, get rid of it. You're not going to start using it more by shoving it in a closet somewhere." Now, in the spirit of downsizing, I tend to agree with this. However, there is one big exception, at least to me, regarding this statement. Many years ago, I began saving and accumulating materials and supplies for building a house. I figured that someday, when I had enough, I'd begin a house building adventure. That didn't happen for a long time. Before it did, the supplies came in handy all the time in my home repair/handyman business. They even became a source of income since much of it could be added to the invoice of a repair job. Since I typically would not buy or accumulate these supplies unless they were on a really good sale or sometimes even free, income potential was always a possibility. I remember one time securing every light fixture for two dollars each from an entire Lowes lighting display that was upgrading their lighting showroom area. In fact, the "dawn to dusk" security light on our utility control building at the cabin, is from that collection. It's a little bit fancy for a utility shed, but it only cost two dollars about ten years ago. We still have several light fixtures to use up from that deal stored in our shipping container. So, there are times when the downsizing principle does not apply that well.

My encouragement to those who are looking at the daunting task of building your homestead or off-grid home. Whatever your plan is, if you can find a way to build up the store of supplies necessary ahead of time, hoarding can work to your benefit. Of course, if you have no real intention of ever actually using them, it is once again, nothing but so much extra stuff that should probably be downsized.

Carry On

Adventure Quote: “Rocks in my path? I keep them all. With them I shall build my castle.” ― Nemo Nox

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost up the Creek (Sumatra)

SNEAK PEEK of our Upcoming OFF-GRID project

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