Starting from scratch

Hello,
I have no experience whatsoever with farming or homesteading. In fact, I've got not property of my own at the moment. What valuable tips do you have for someone who wants to start his own little farm? Money is the answer, of course, but even if I had all the money in the world, creating and maintaining a farm is no easy or simple task. I want to be self sufficient, get my own land and equipment, grow my own food, vegetables, eggs, milk, fruits and be animal friendly, absolutely no animal cruelty. Getting their eggs, milk and wool is my limit. I also want to have horses of my own, as companions, they're by far my favorite living beings on Earth, but as for the horses I know how to handle and take care of them very well. However, how do you start a farm? What are the basic things that people overlook? How to choose the best property? I have a general idea about how most things must be like, but really have no experience with it. How do you build a house? How do you build your own equipment? I know nothing. These are the important things we should have learned as kids instead of useless subjects in school. We aren't instructed to be self sufficient.
I'm in Europe, still deciding which country to call home - either Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Austria, Northern Italy or Czech Repermies. I live in Portugal. My family helped create the country, then centuries later went to Brazil, managed to obtain land, which their children managed to lose, so I grew up with nothing and wanted nothing to do with a land that wasn't my ancestral home, hence why I came to Europe. I've also become totally broke with the pandemic and I became unemployed when the government said "my job was not essential". I don't want to live in the city, I don't want to depend on the government. I never did but I feel like the pandemic was the straw that broke the camel's back. I figure it will take me a long time to get what I want but, until the moment arrives, how should I be preparing myself and what should I be learning?

Henry, welcome to the forum.

The easiest way would be to buy someone else's farm since everything is set up already.

The next easiest would be to buy an established home with an acreage.

Henry said, " How do you build a house? How do you build your own equipment? I know nothing.

It is really hard to buy raw land, get the utilities going, and have a place to live.

At the very least look for something with living quarters.

Henry Noble wrote: I figure it will take me a long time to get what I want but, until the moment arrives, how should I be preparing myself and what should I be learning?

Hello Henry, hanging about on Permies is a good a place to start as any - best to make your mistakes in theory first!
You obviously have a lot of thinking and planning to do, and I wish you well in your endeavours. One thing you could look at is the "SKIP" forums: https://permies.com/wiki/skip-pep-bb. Although it's likely to catch on in Europe later than in the US, I do think that the subjects covered are great life skills that will help anyone who wants to develop their own homestead in the future.
The other suggestion I have is that you look at volunteering opportunities - helping people with land, and learn at the same time. There are various organisations that facilitate connecting volunteers with people needing help. Usually accommodation and food are provided in exchange for help given. That way you can find out whether your ideas really appeal when it comes down to the work and animals involved.
Realistically you will need some sort of finance to get started on your own land, so minimising your outgoings, whatever your income, is an obvious place to start. There are a host of ideas in the money forums here: https://permies.com/c/20
Good luck!

Consider trying Workaway: https://www.workaway.info/en/hostlist?ht%5B%5D=hosttype_farm . You'd need to pay for transport between farm stays, but your accommodation and meals will be provided. It's a great way to learn about various farms and methods and experience different areas. Many of the properties are permaculture oriented. You never know, if you get on really well with a farm host, you may be invited to stay long term.
If you're looking to buy a property of your own with very little money, Bulgaria is the lowest cost country in Europe.

Henry, I would see it as an opportunity that has been gifted to you.
Dont worry about the family behavoiur in the past, we dont know the circumstances, and we may not be entitled to anything from them anyway.
I learned by a variety of ways;
- school
- reading
- videos
- practical experience
- working on properties.
Any combination of these might help you.
If you can improve your skills to earn more money,buy employment or start your own small business.
Hope it works out well for you.

The best advice I can give you is to start small.  Trying to do everything at once causes a lot of stress.  When I'm stressed, I'm tempted to take shortcuts when I normally wouldn't.

I also agree that it would be much easier to buy an existing farm or small house with a few acres.  Here it can cost a small fortune to bring utilities in if you're very far away from existing services.  If you want to stay off-grid, do your homework on providing your essential needs and the costs involved.

Lastly read, watch, and do.  I've read just about every farming,  homesteading  and gardening book and magazine I could get my hands on.  Likewise with YouTube videos.  Lastly do it.  Make connections with farmers and try to arrange to be there when harvests and such happen and get some hands-on experience.  It's one thing to have the knowledge but another when you can apply that knowledge in real-life situations .

Much luck to you.

I strongly suggest you work on a farm to test if this is truly your path. What sounds good in theory often withers in practice. I grew up on a farm, and I believe that farmers are born, not made: they have an unquenchable passion for the land and the lifestyle, and that is what sees them through the hardships and makes them successful.

We went a different route than it seems most people have in mind so far.  We had very little money, but were desperate to stop renting.  We found the cheapest, least desirable land around and scraped together every penny we could for a downpayment. I think we came up with $13,000. Then my parents had to co-sign a personal loan in my name for the rest of the purchase.

We moved there the next year, spent the summer living in a tent, and built a 12x16' house, living on low interest credit cards. Neither of us had every built something like that before, but it's all pretty straightforward. We had no power, so used only hand tools. Cutting plywood with a handsaw sucks.

Six years in we still don't have running water, and we've learned to use very little electricity. Weve slowly acquired everything we need for a decent small solar system, but haven't even bothered setting it up cause we're so used to going without. That, and we haven't figured out what we're doing yet 😁.

It took us less than 4 years to pay off the credit cards and loan. We prioritized the credit cards, since they were a higher interest rate than the loan. I think we were only earning about $30,000 a year between the two of us for the first couple years. We had maybe $55,000 to pay off.

My point is you don't need a lot of money, but it'll be way more work and you'll do without a lot of stuff. I wouldn't recommend doing it that way alone. My husband and I are both very independent people, but we really needed each other at times.