designing a homestead to "battle inflation"

I've been working on this a while, knowing retirement at least from the 9 - 5 was upcoming and now I'm a few years into that "retirement" and still working harder than ever but enjoying it way more.

My Dad got caught in a similar inflation spiral post Arab Oil Embargo in the early 1970s after retiring so I took that as a lesson to be ready for that.

My first priority was inexpensive housing and I got that one done a few years early. Old single wide mobile home (that is in great condition since it was only used as a vacation house 2 weeks a year) that has zero value on property taxes and 1 1/3 acre plot out in the woods but within waliking distance of a store. Total property tax and assessments for school, garbage etc. still under $400 a year and the MH and property are paid off.

Older mobile homes are amazingly effective and inexpensive housing for this particular area. Being all metal on the outside makes it highly resistant to the usual things that rot down or fungus/mold a site built house.

We also have a unique local problem also in that we're phosphate country and that means lots of radioactive Radon gas rising out of the ground. Being up on a stack of concrete blocks is a definite plus there.
The catch is they build mobile homes out of the cheapest stuff they can find. I always thought some sort of compromise portable home with the quality ingredients of a small house plus the benefits of the MH could be a winner.
Guess I'm just trailer trash at heart.

I'm working on a food forest for ongoing fruit and veggie supply and figuring out what will grow in the gardens here with minimal input/maximum output.
A clue there was the staple cash crops for farmers here (north FL) which are sweet potatoes, peanuts, and field peas.
Some of the cover crops I've tried are winners there too, like tillage radishes, which are really Daikon radishes, thrive here, Oats make a great cover crop because they grow in the winter when not much else will, then self destruct as soon as it gets hot.

I'm to the point that almost every meal has something from the gardens/trees included so I feel I'm gaining.
It has been a steep/expensive/high effort learning curve finding out what doesn't work here but it makes a hell of a hobby trying everything that seems like it has the slightest chance.

I grow a number of things indoors and in a hydroponic greenhouse now and that's much easier than in the ground gardens for this climate.
I just wrote out the indoors part for someone the other night and it's here:  https://permies.com/t/190813/started-started#1588380

Career one was as a mechanic so I run ancient, simple  vehicles and can fix them myself.
Since Covid and retirement the only time I drive is to go to my girlfriend's house weekends and whatever errands, maybe once every other week if that.
That old saying about working jobs being expensive to go to work is so true. Mostly the vehicles just sit now.

I think that Amazon. Fed Ex and the Post Office delivering all the odds and ends for my projects and experiments and large bulk food staples is a big plus in this inflationary environment. Even with my advantage as a mechanic and paid for vehicles  in figuring cost per mile I can't even come close to these delivery services. Not to mention the time it would take me to drive around looking for the odd things I often need, and couldn't possibly find locally.

I cook from scratch, even pet food for my beloved old dog. Loss leaders from the grocery store are my friend there. Three rotisserie chickens at $6 - 7 each will feed my dog and cats for a while by rendering down bones and all in a crock pot. I even get a few meals out of that and some good bone broth to cook with.
I couldn't raise 3 chickens a week for that.

So that's some of it.
I think it was Hunter Thompson who suggested goals were not a good idea in the sense of missing the forest for the trees, and that creating an overall system for where you wanted to go was the better idea.

That's me, always on the lookout for more pieces of the puzzle.

Eric Hanson wrote:

Of course, you would want to find ways to avoid the heat in the first place, like placing shades over windows, planting trees, and even solar panels on the roof can partially shade the actual roof and cool it somewhat.  I kinda like the idea of an outdoor window shade above the window that consists of a solar panel--a sort of 2-for-1 deal.

I'd like to stress this even more. Back in the 80's in Ontario they first came up with the concept of "R2000" homes. Lot's of people said it's too expensive, people can't afford it, etc etc. However, as time went on, sure enough, not only had people saved a bunch of money on heating/cooling costs, but their R2000 homes sold faster and for more money than conventional homes of the same size.

So yes, I totally support "better insulation", along with planting wind-breaks, and installing genuine internal or external shutters depending on your climate and weather risks. If your house isn't properly protected from the local extreme weather and gets damaged or destroyed, you won't have been protected from inflation. Too many homes built for a hot climate have minimal insulation when in fact, the right kind of insulation helps keep the heat out and reduces the amount of energy used to keep it cool. Even just making sure there are plants shading the air conditioner, has been shown to reduce the costs of running it!

Similarly, in some places (like where I live) huge windows are all the rage. I get it to some extent, as we tend to be cloudy and dark in the winter. But the owner/builders put two sliding patio doors on the north side of the house. We haven't got as far as doing that sort of renovating, but I assure you, they won't be in any future plans! Yes, it would be good to have an egress in both locations, but a proper door with a window that's at most 1/3 of the area of the door, would let me check the weather while keeping both those rooms warmer.

Jay,  you said it better than I did.  Absolutely, if one can possibly do so, definitely add insulation to an I insulated house.  

Maybe it is the Midwesterner in me, but I just assume that every house has insulation.  The summer gets too hot and the winter gets far too cold to be without proper insulation.  Actually it kinda boggles my mind that some hot climate homes are built without insulation at all.

So if one is building a new house, definitely put in the best insulation one can afford (we used blown in insulation—it makes 2x4 construction insulate like 2x6 construction).  If one does not have insulation, seriously consider adding insulation, and yes, it can be done!

Well put Jay!

Eric

One thought about all the solar inflation busting we are talking about.  I am all for a home Solar setup, but tragically, during times of inflation, Solar might not actually combat inflation.  Carbon emissions yes, but purchasing all that equipment during an inflationary period might not be the best inflation fighter.  It’s possible that one would pay a whole lot of money for that free electricity.

My parents just found this out when trying to buy a Toyota Prius.  It is very expensive right now and probably costs more than the gas saved.

Maybe I am wrong, but these are points to consider.

Eric

Eric Hanson wrote:My parents just found this out when trying to buy a Toyota Prius.  It is very expensive right now and probably costs more than the gas saved.

If nothing else, where I live, the cost of insuring a "new car" compared to our almost 20 year old car will be huge.

The best way to battle inflation in the transportation area is to choose the most fuel efficient option you can manage while doing all you can to reduce how many miles it needs to travel! If you've got a day job that requires on-site participation (Eric's a teacher in a "Bricks and Mortar" school, if I recall correctly?), you also may have to consider weather in that decision, but if you can work from home, you can save both fuel and wear and tear.

Jay, you are right on both accounts.  I do teach in a bricks-and-mortar school (on my lunch break now) and reducing mileage is a great way to save.  I am personally lucky in that my one-way distance to school is all of 3.66 miles, as measured on google earth.  That's 7.32 miles round trip.  I deliberately use our least efficient vehicle because *not* driving is the best efficiency one can get.

Eric

Inflation just hit very hard.

Electricity cost will go up by 64%. https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2022/09/22/national-grid-higher-electric-bills-natural-gas

Electricity via prepaid Solar Panel  (or even by a loan) is looking very good right about now.

S Bengi wrote:Inflation just hit very hard.

Electricity cost will go up by 64%. https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2022/09/22/national-grid-higher-electric-bills-natural-gas

Electricity via prepaid Solar Panel  (or even by a loan) is looking very good right about now.

We got solar 3 years ago and save around 500$ a month. We put down a large down payment, so including the batteries our monthly bill is 125$ for the solar, and before the batteries about 100$ there.
We just got batteries installed too which will lower our bill to almost zero. I am dependent on oxygen, so my concentrator runs 24/7, which takes a lot of energy. We also get rolling power outages and spontaneous ones, and last time I almost ran our of o2, so the batteries makes me feel safe.
Once the kids move away, are are cutting the link to the grid, but right now, we sometimes don’t have enough.

Because of the effects of inflation, a 55-year-old couple in 2021 planning to retire at age 65 can expect to spend about $1,035,980 on health care in retirement.
https://www.annuity.org/retirement/health-care-costs/

I sometimes get lost about how to save a few dollars here or there and forget that healthcare is usually the biggest expense and source of inflation during retirement when we have the least a more limited income source. So what could I do with my homestead now to reduce my future healthcare cost in the future?

While I could get by without healthcare now and just pay $600 out of pocket for a yearly physical. During retirement I know those number will easily cost overt $600/person/monthly

S Bengi wrote: So what could I do with my homestead now to reduce my future healthcare cost in the future?

Eat healthy, mostly home-grown vegetables and a little protein. Get plenty of exercise. Get fresh air and sunshine. Manage little problems before they become big problems. Sounds like a well designed homestead can help a lot!

Jay Angler wrote:

S Bengi wrote: So what could I do with my homestead now to reduce my future healthcare cost in the future?

Eat healthy, mostly home-grown vegetables and a little protein. Get plenty of exercise. Get fresh air and sunshine. Manage little problems before they become big problems. Sounds like a well designed homestead can help a lot!

Learn all you can about herbal health care, foraging for herbs, and growing everything you can. The work will do the human body good, the learning will help keep your brain healthy, the herbs could well help you fire your insurance company and your doctor, and the combined effects for it all will save you a ton of money.

My priorities would be:
• Growing what is important to you. It might be that for now it’s cheap to get eggs where you are, but if they are an important staple food to you, it makes sense to try and produce some, as you never know what is going to happen with supply disruptions and inflation.

• Growing foods that need no inputs. If you can produce some eggs, milk, or meat for free, just from what is growing on your own land, even if it’s not as much to provide for all your needs, it definitely helps. Having really low stocking rates of free range chickens, ducks, or geese so they can just forage all their food (maybe supplemented with some kitchen scraps). Cows grazing on pasture or goats browsing on scrub. Meat rabbit tractor systems on pasture. If you need to store animal feed for the winter, make sure to set aside some land each year to use to make hay or tree hay, and to have somewhere to store it.

The above applies to plants as well. Permaculture tree guild systems where your fruit trees are fed and mulched by nitrogen-fixing and dynamic accumulating plants growing next to them. Growing green manures, mulch crops, and compost crops in your garden so that you can grow your own fertility and not buy in stuff for the garden will help avoid inflation.

• Stocking up on things that keep well. It looks like grain prices will go up, and grain stores well, so if you can’t grow it yourself, and you use it for people food or animal food, it makes sense to store some. Animal minerals are prone to supply disruptions, and they also store well. Depending on where you live, salt might be brought in from far away and subject to transport price increases, it stores well if you can keep it in a dry environment. Anything that’s important to you, comes from far away, and stores well is worth stocking up on. 5 gallon buckets work well for small-scale storage where there are no rats. 55 gallon metal drums are good for larger amounts, and they’re rat proof (just make sure to find ones that have been used for transporting food, and not ones used for motor oil and other non-edible stuff).

The same goes for stocking up on free and cheap building materials (if you can keep them out of the weather and will use them) - pallets are free for now but may not be in future, right now there is so much ‘waste’ to be found, but with increasing transport costs and other inflation, there may end up being less of this around.

• Looking at all the things you eat and use in your life and seeing how far away they are from, and how expensive they are. Lots of people cook with coconut oil, but for most of us this is a far away food, whereas in areas with lots of cows, beef tallow can often be found for free or very cheap, and is not reliant on expensive transport. The more local our food supplies are, the more resilient they are to increasing transport costs.

• Figuring out what you can produce a surplus of to barter to sell on the homestead, and doing a bit of that.

• Avoiding debt as much as possible. Not going into debt over tractors, vehicles, and other stuff. If you have to borrow money for a land or house, find a smaller, less fancy house, cheaper land, and borrow as little as possible (preferably none). Your own labour isn’t going up in price, so if you’re on a budget and wanting to reduce or avoid debt, find a cheap homestead that needs some fixing up rather than an expensive place with perfect fencing, perfect house and lots of debt.

• A couple of things to look for when choosing land - finding something with trees growing on it means that you have your own supply of firewood and building timber, so that’s another thing to not to worry about inflation. Your own off-grid water source so you don’t have to pay electricity bills for a water pump to function. Off-grid ways to generate electricity if you want it, such as solar or microhydro. Reduce the need for electricity as much as possible to avoid the need for huge battery banks that will be expensive to replace later on (see my ebook here about more ideas for how to do this: https://permies.com/t/190046/ebooks/Create-Resilient-Grid-Home-Kate )

Investing in- and reading/studying - some hard copies of these books,  if at all possible, would go a long way toward strengthening your herbal knowledge, and put it to work, for your health - I have most of them, in hard copy, and a few only in pdf or ebook:

Wild Remedies, by Rosalee de LaForet & Emily Han

Botany in a Day,  by Thomas J. Expel

Alchemy of Herbs by Rosalee de LaForet

Herbal Medicine from the Heart of the Earth, by Sharol Marie Tilgner

Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier

Herbal Medicine for Emotional Healing, Healing Herbs, The Healing Power of Herbs, Balls & Salves, An Elder Gathering, and The Big Book of Herbal Medicine,  by Tina Sams

Herbal Remedies for Beginners: Learn How to Grow Healing Herbs and Prepare Solutions to Heal Common Ailments Naturally by Pauline Bryce

Native American Herbalism for Families by Kit Nick Herb

Chinese Herbal Medicine for Beginners by Carrie Chauhan

Anything and everything you can get your hands on, that was written by Rosemary Gladstar (I have a bunch, and several are currently loaned out)


I have so. Many. MORE. In the beginning, I read them all, cover to cover. As life went on, I stopped doing that, and turn to them more for the sake of reference. And, though I'm loathe to send anyone off permies, I'd also highly recommend learningherbs.com, as an incredible learning site. It's quite literally an online, self guided herbal school. There is a membership fee, but it's low, and offers a discount at mountainroseherbs.com, as a membership perk. Using that perk can easily end up covering the cost of membership, which imho, pays for itself, in the wealth of knowledge if offers.

SO many good ideas here!

I think overall, I consider what I spend the most on now (look at your current and projected budget/income), and what is likely coming in the next few years, such as the push to digital identity and currency, more medical mandates, increasing push for renewables and fake food/insect consumption, and the separation of east and west.

That means we are likely to see that good natural health will be a priority, to fend off the diseases coming our way...plus alternatives to the failing medical business.  I'm educating myself more about health and the truths/lies that are out there.

This thread is an excellent example of what can happen:  https://permies.com/t/208869/thought-prepared-turns-righteous-prick

If you don't want to be at the mercy of a carbon score that tells you what you are allowed to eat (or not), you need to find other options...farmers in your area, shop owners willing to barter, raise your own, etc.

The devaluation of the US dollar and likely loss as reserve currency means prices on many things may increase substantially...so reducing the need to purchase things in as many areas as possible will help.

The war in Ukraine/Russia, where we get much of our sunflower oil, grain, metals, and energy means that those things will likely rise in price and/or become unavailable.  And even if they are available, if the cost to transport/ship/refrigerate them goes up, those costs are passed on.

Climate change...!  Real or controlled, the effects are the same...it's wild, crazy, and destructive.  What can I do to mitigate that and deal with the worst-case consequences?

Shortages of packaging materials is a consideration.  Even if farms can grow and produce stuff, if there are no plastic bags or cardboard boxes, that stuff can't get shipped.  So I need to look at what gets shipped to us, and what would I do if that were to become really expensive or unavailable?

Amazon and other large retailers are trying to clear warehouses and get rid of staff, to reduce costs, and because of overbuying.  So now might be a good time to buy, if you have the money to do so.

"Clean" energy doesn't last forever, so I must consider that the life cycle of those solar panels or car batteries will end at some point...what then?  Since China manufacturers the bulk of what we consume in the way of ...well, basically, everything!...and we are sort of already at war with them (unannounced though it may be)...anything made in China may not be available/cheap in the near future, too.

So...trying to buy nonperishables at today's prices seems logical to me.  Also things that are made in China and cheap now (like replacement blades for tools I know I will continue to use).  Supplements I know I will continue to use.  First aid supplies, batteries, that kind of stuff.  Jars for long-term food storage.

Looking at alternatives to food, water, energy, utilities, taxes, income, transportation, healthcare goods and services...and skills to implement those alternatives...also can be considered.

For me, that means do I have herbs growing, or preparations made, for the next lockdown or outbreak, or if it's too scary to venture out there to buy something, or gas becomes unavailable.  Do I want to be in the long lines to buy XYZ when there are shortages?  Or if I am mandated to cut off my arm in order to enter a grocery store...will I?  If not, what will I eat?

I'm looking at diet and lifestyle.  Can I spend more, on higher quality inputs, for improved health?  Can I do more to prevent long-term problems, by changing what or how I do something?  Can I make repairs now, while lumber is available and society is "normal?"

Do I truly understand the problems and how things work, or am I just listening to what I am being told?  I'm questioning a LOT more than I used to, thanks to the past 3 years.  And that changes what I invest in.

What do I need to learn (like how to deal with my emotions, how to raise/butcher meat animals, how to create my own garden fertilizer/inputs, how to increase my income, how to find other like-minded individuals, what will I have to barter with, should things get too hairy with cash) to deal with what is likely coming?  How can I invest what I can, now--time, money, energy--to take advantage of the situation we are in now, and what is likely coming?

If none of that predicted stuff happens, I will still have some non-perishables, skills, and better health and relationships to keep, plus the satisfaction of providing more for myself.  There is a pride that comes from that, which nothing you buy can ever replace.  I'm investing in myself.

And this is definitely in the realm of permaculture--looking both at short-term and long-term outcomes, considering resources available and how to best use and re-use them, considering how what I do may contribute to worsening/bettering the state of affairs, health, environment, community, etc.  Observing what is happening, and adjusting.

Last, I'm looking at history (which rhymes)...how did people during WWII survive?  During the Great Depression?  Because what is happening now is so similar to what happened then.  So some planning ahead may help ease the pain to come.

The basics likely apply:  Fix it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or do without.
And yeah, grow a Victory garden!  Food scraps and weeds to animals, for fertilizer, food, or barter.  All that good stuff!

Without getting into politics, it's rational to note how easily global supply chains can be disrupted. A stockpile of consumables at the right price is a practical hedge against future events.

(Personally, I note there is a lot of brinksmanship going on, but there is a Mutually Assured Destruction aspect to both the economic and political maneuvering -- nobody wants an actual meltdown in which there are no winners.)

In the broader sense, minimal debt and having access to a patch of fertile soil and the means to utilitze it for one's own benefit are tried and true strategies, through wars, depressions, inflation, shortages, and political instability. To my mind, this has always been the most resilient path.

This is rather broad I know, but my suggestion is just in having options, which goes along with my mantra that the ability to adapt and overcome has more value than planning for every contingency. To that end I like things in triplet because it seems its seldom that three things fail at the same time. As an example...

For electricity I reply on the grid, a tractor PTO generator at 20 KW and as a backup to the backup, a diesel engine with 20 KW generator

For heat I have wood pellets, electric heat, propane, wood and if I really must stay warm, coal

For food I have the grocery store, my garden, neighborhood farmstands, hunting game

For shelter I four different houses in 3 different towns

For water I have my well, a hand dug well, and wells from my other homes

For transportation I have 3 different vehicles (all are 4wd) and a tractor that could get me somewhere long distance in a pinch

For a job I have my main employer, but stay friends with my last employer so I could always return there if I must, and my employer before that

In summary, it is more of an outlook that keeps me from inflation worry than any specific plan. I literally will adapt and overcome, and knowing that just keeps a litany of options open to me. It is that constant thought of, "what are my options", that expands the potential of what I can do in any situation. I think the best way for homesteaders to do that, is to gain skills. Skills engrains confidence, and confidence is what makes difficult situations surmountable. Just as an example, while I do not routinely butcher my own meat, I do know how, so if I was REALLY hungry, laws or no laws, I can take down a deer and have meat in short order. Having that skill set opens up a whole world to me that not having it, would not be an option. That skill set can literally put food on the table for me.

While I don't have answers to specific situations, I do know this, I would do something! (Adapt and overcome)

So here is the decision making process I would use for food growing:
1) look at your itemized grocery receipts. What do you eat the most of/spend the most on? What would you eat a lot more of if it cost less? Berries are one example for me.
2) of those things, what could you produce more cheaply? Some things are are expensive at the store because they take a lot to produce (like dairy, cheese in particular) and some things because they are perishable and harder to ship (like greens and berries). Focusing on easy to produce but hard to ship and store first will give the most bang for the buck- assuming you eat a lot of it.
3) what items on your essential list have the most fragile supply chains? Eggs are a good example- unless you can feed hens free, it may be hard to beat budget grocery store prices. Farmers market eggs around here are $6-8 per dozen, which is a better reflection of production costs. However, when store eggs briefly spiked to $12/dozen, the farmers market prices stayed steady, because feed costs didn’t spike. So - what can’t you do without that is likely to see massive spikes and/or shortages?
4) what are you willing to do? Not everyone can kill a rabbit they have raised and loved, when you get right down to it. And thats ok! Ditto milking a dairy animal every. Single. Day.

The answers are going to be different for everyone, obviously. There are a lot of great ideas on this thread as well for buying in bulk, etc. for the things that aren’t worth growing.

We bought our EV this year using the equity in our house (which is now paid off) plus the governemnt incentives made it affordable.  Our "mortgage" now just the car payment.

I can work remote so I just go out to the neighborhood park's free electric chargers every other day for 2 hours - it's 100% free fuel and I am the only one ever there, crazy. This takes care of one of our big bills which is our electric.

So why is our electric bill is so large?  We hardly use any electricity and have some solar, but our local electric supplier is a monopoly and they have gone absolutely rogue, messing with meter readings, creating budget billing traps, charging delivery fees that are 3X the price of electric that is delivered, adding extra fees that nobody can explain.

Local politicians are slowly making progress against them, but meanwhile our bills are hitting the thousands where they used to be under $40 per month. I feel like a hostage to them but I'm keeping this corrupt "inflation" at bay by no longer charging our car at home.  

We also bought an inverter for our EV so we can potentially use the car as our energy source if our electricity is ever cut off.  

As soon as the burn ban is cleared here I have my outdoor cooking area all set.  Looking at getting or making a rock pot for cooking meals.

Passive solar straw bale house design with radiant heat in our concrete slab keeps our heating bill very low. Best thing we did for long term protection from inflation was to build this crazy "hay house" as the building department called us.

I am a retired teacher, and back when I was probably in my 40's, we had someone come in and speak about retirement savings, IRA's...that sort of thing. I signed up. Each year, I put more and more of my check in.  It was pre-tax, and I found that I was actually making more take-home, the more I had taken out, perhaps because I was changing tax brackets or there was less to tax.  If you haven't looked into doing something toward retirement, that would be my first suggestion.  Inflation can actually work for you!  
I remember thinking, "where do I spend money?" With that list, I made it my mission to lower those costs.  My car and all of my appliances are electric including a ride-on Ryobi lawn mower and a snowblower.  I heat the house with geothermal.  Yes, it cost a pretty penny to install, but the house used to take over 5K in fuel oil a year.  In four years, the geothermal (20K) broke even.  I then saved for solar panels.  Again, there was an investment, but it didn't take long for it to pay for itself.  Now, my transportation, heat and all electrical needs are free going forward and it's all good for the environment.
During Covid, I discovered permaculture and took that winter to plan and order what I wanted.  I grow over 50 kinds of fruits and vegetables, which has led me to learning other skills, such as herbalism and food preservation.  I now can, ferment, dehydrate, freeze-dry and freeze a lot of food. I have a batch of rhubarb wine going as I write this.  Growing the fruit means that I only have to buy some sugar and yeast to make wine; it's mainly fruit and water!  As more trees and shrubs come to fruition, there will be so much more produce that I won't have to buy. I grow wine cap mushrooms out back which I have discovered freeze beautifully.  I cook them down first and then either freeze or freeze-dry them. The freeze-dried ones usually go into some sort of mushroom soup throughout the year. The need to learn other preservation techniques is real; I have over 50 quarts of strawberries in the freezer, which means that I don't have room for anything else.  I use these daily for breakfast with yogurt that I make in the dehydrator--another cost savings: I buy a gallon of milk and one single serve container of plain yogurt.  I get more than four quarts of yogurt by day's end, which will last me about 20 days of breakfasts. The cost of a gallon of milk (<$5) is much less than if you purchased gallon of yogurt!
Another tip would be to not get processed or "convenience" foods at the store.  Have you noticed how much that is taking over the selections at the grocery store?  I see pre-mashed potatoes and fruit platters and think about the waste and extra plastic, say nothing of the expense.  The cost is at least three times what it is to just get the base ingredients.  I'll mash my own potatoes, thank you very much! Don't get me wrong; I do like convenience and I'm not a martyr, so I do invest in the tools that will make my life easier and that I will use year over year.  I have a steam juicer for the Concord grapes and Cornelian cherries; I have a Squeezo (inherited from my mom) for apple and pear sauce and I now have a decent dehydrator, pressure canner and a freeze dryer.  Buying equipment that will add convenience or possibility is money better spent than always getting the convenient product it makes; in other words, it's better to buy the canner rather than constantly buying the jar of pickles.  I priced pickles at the store and they wanted over five dollars for a small container.  The way cucumbers grow here, I couldn't warrant that expense. I'll buy the spices that will last for many batches for much less and have as many pickles as I could ever want pretty much for free. One year's worth of pickles has paid for the canner, say nothing of everything else that I have canned and will can in the future!
I have started to incorporate many more vegetarian options into my diet; although that is mainly for health, it also is economical and better for the environment.  I am rediscovering how much I love the variety of beans and grains available.  I grow basil as a crop in my vegetable garden, and weekly, throughout the summer, I'll make batches of pesto and pop them in the freezer in one cup containers.  Throughout the winter, I feel such gratitude for the simplicity and taste of summer.  I've come to love it with brown rice and a handful of dehydrated cherry tomatoes.  This time of year, turkey is everywhere.  I'm thinking about buying a second one and canning it.  I've never canned meat, but I'm willing to try while it's on sale. Same with cranberries, etc.
Anything you can make from scratch will save you money, but there is the time it takes to be factored in.  Before I really started to cut out simple carbs, I'd make an oatmeal bread that was to die for! Once in a while, I'd even make pasta--very cheap and easy.  Now, I can; the jars can be pricey, so I look on our local forum where people make announcements like lost animals, garage sales or free items.  I have gotten most of my jars for free because of this wonderful service.  This is also where I got most of my wine bottles and other equipment.  I sew a great deal of my clothing, as the boxes of fabric everywhere will attest!  I make a lot of gifts for people this way, too. This year's gifts will be tote bags made from cotton canvas on sale.  I have over sixty yards of the canvas fabric and a bolt of Pellon Bond to make into totes on my sewing table now, along with eight yards of fleece to make into cozy blankets.  I guess I don't do anything in a small way!  Have you priced LL Bean totes lately?  The type I'm making go for more than $60 each, and I am using beautiful printed canvas, so they are elegant!  I also make tinctures and salves, which make great little gifts.  I make a plantain salve that, when I priced a similar product at the local co-op, was going for $20 for a little tin!  People love it when I gift them some.  I make elderberry tinctures as a cold-fighting medicine, along with probably 30 other types, but this a great winter giftie as well.
Another tip would be to buy everything you need with money you have.  Credit, unless you pay up your bill monthly, will cost you a great deal.  I didn't buy the geothermal or solar system until I had the money in hand.  It's ironic, because my credit score is considered barely "fair" even though I own my home outright, have no debt and have a decent retirement savings, but that's a pet peeve for another day!  I had gotten a "Home Equity Loan" when I was building my sunroom.  I used some of it to pay the bills, but when I realized that I was paying at least $300 a month for the privilege, I cashed in some of my retirement money that just sits there and paid off the balance.  How many thousands did I save?  Many, many!

Honey.  It's almost free, can be plentiful and you can sell what you don't use.

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:Start by designing the house. Go heavy on the insulation and waterproofing. Maybe even look into heat exchangers for the ventilation system. Position outlets so they don't create a hole in the insulation. Run the plumbing in such a way that hot water going down the drain gives back at least part of its heat before it really leaves the house (not sure I'm phrasing that the right way). Add lots of thermal mass to help keep things warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Have multiple storage areas for foods, keeping in mind that some need slightly different storage conditions. Make sure you have a few difference ways to cook, in case one type of fuel becomes hard to get. If you can develop a fuel source on your own property, even better. The standard is wood, but something like corn cobs would also work. More fuel options than I can summarize, really.

Try to position things with an eye toward efficiency and safety. An example would be adding a trellis or grow-tunnel between the house and the barn, so that it shelters the walkway in bad weather. Or positioning the fridge so that it takes fewer steps to bring in groceries.

When deciding what foods to produce for yourself, there are lots of factors to consider, and price is only one of them. Eggs are a good example. In my area, eggs are cheap, when they're available. But they're also one of the first things to sell out if anything happens, and they're a huge part of my family's diet, so I feel better having my own chickens. Many times in the last two years, those chickens kept us supplied when eggs were nowhere to be found in the stores. If you choose the right breed, chickens can raise their own replacements, with any extras being used for meat. Choose a breed that fits your climate, temperament, and farming style.

The same factors apply to plants. Herbs, spices, and greens are probably a good start, since they can be both expensive and easy to grow. But by weight, the bulk of your food is probably going to be carbohydrates, which means things like potatoes, squash, carrots, etc. Those can be cheap, when they're available, but growing your own still helps. Dry beans and grains can take a lot of room for the amount harvested, but they're easy to store.

I wish I had a formula on what order to prioritize everything in. But there are too many factors to consider, and everyone is a little different. The only thing that's certain is that the more you're able to provide for yourself, the less things like inflation will hurt you.

This thread is from some time ago already but still very important!

Ellendra, I'm trying to come up with some kind of practical solution to what you said "Run the plumbing in such a way that hot water going down the drain gives back at least part of its heat before it really leaves the house ". I think you're phrasing it right but can you give an example of what, how...?
We're currently renovating an old (OLD!) farmhouse in France and plumbing will be an action point very soon, so... open to all new ideas!

Nina Surya wrote:
This thread is from some time ago already but still very important!

Ellendra, I'm trying to come up with some kind of practical solution to what you said "Run the plumbing in such a way that hot water going down the drain gives back at least part of its heat before it really leaves the house ". I think you're phrasing it right but can you give an example of what, how...?
We're currently renovating an old (OLD!) farmhouse in France and plumbing will be an action point very soon, so... open to all new ideas!

This might be hard to do in an existing house… I believe the idea is to have the sewage exit on the opposite side if the house from the main hot water usage, so that the warm water stays in the house. I suppose, theoretically, you could take a roundabout route with the pipes, but I don’t think it would be worth the clogged drains!!
Maybe others have additional thoughts. Maybe you could rig up some kind if heat exchange system, where the pipes are in contact with thermal mass - like, pack cob around the sewage pipes? Or have them run through a water basin? Not sure if it would be worth the trouble unless you are using a lot of hot water…

Nina Surya wrote:

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:Run the plumbing in such a way that hot water going down the drain gives back at least part of its heat before it really leaves the house (not sure I'm phrasing that the right way).

Ellendra, I'm trying to come up with some kind of practical solution to what you said "Run the plumbing in such a way that hot water going down the drain gives back at least part of its heat before it really leaves the house ". I think you're phrasing it right but can you give an example of what, how...?

One way to do what Ellendra is referring to is by using some kind of "Drain Water Heat Recovery System"  (see diagram/picture below)
Basically some kind of heat exchanger to use heat from the (shower) drain line to preheat the incoming cold water.

DIY is one most efficient things one can do to cut costs.  

Learning how to change the oil on the car can mean a change costing $35.00, instead of $70.00, or more.  

To the end of being able to take the DIY path, it's worthwhile to invest in basic tools. If you don't have them, buy some of the essentials every house should have. For example, pliers and Channellocks, a set of screwdrivers, a couple of hammers (for small and large work), a small level.

To do that oil change, you'll need wrenches, including an oil filter wrench.  

Other good tools to have is, a set of 3/8" drive sockets and a ratchet.  

For all things wood, a scroll saw, circular saw and drill, and layout tools (e.g., tape measure, Try-square, Speed Square, some straight edges, level, chalk line) can, easily, pay for themselves over an over again.

It is imperative you learn how to, SAFELY, use tools. They can save a lot of money. I look at things I was able to build and am, often, pleased that I could build what I couldn't afford. Too, there is that I am able to repair things I'd have to pay someone else to repair, or replace.  

To up your DIY even further yet, consider things like circuit testers, a multimeter [if only for the ohms function]. Of course, learning how to use them safely is critical. A wire stripper would be a good item to have too.

Having saws and such, and being able to use them safely, will allow you to build all manner of projects, from the crude to fine. You could build the same bookshelf I could, you'll just have to work a little harder than I would using my cabinet saw and nailers.

You can do yourself a big favor by learning how to do simple outlet and switch changes. For example, that duplex receptacle, which won't hold a cord, needs to be changed. Not only will that problem go away, it will be safer to use the outlet, because there will be less heat build up from the bad connection.

And it would be a great opportunity to label circuit breakers, for quick location and before testing the outlet to insure there is no power to it.

Then there is the light needing a new cord or plug, or the lighting fixture that went south.

Start out with the basic tools. Buy other tools as you can, even if you don't need them at the time you buy them.

And don't forget lubricants for the squeaky door (car or home) and so on.

Simple things like using more expensive synthetic oil can save you money, because you can go nearly twice as far between oil changes. And you may get a little bit better mileage, and longer engine life, thanks to reduced friction.


Years back, I rented a poorly insulated house in Olympia, Washington.  My normal electric and gas bills were $300.00 to $500.00 per month. It was worth it to me to buy a couple hundred dollars of blow in insulation for the attic and blow it in (there was no charge to use the machine used to blow in the insulation, if you bought enough, and the $200.00 qualified.  

Though it was improving someone else's house on my dime and by my labor, it helped keep the house warmer, and reduced the electric and gas bill.

Said another way, others' suggestions to insulate was a good one. Especially since power is not going to get cheaper.




Consider tuning in to the Ramsey shows. He goes against the flow by promoting common sense.  Things like owning your home, rather than using it for a loan source or tax deduction. This not only removes a huge debt from your life, it can mean the difference between surviving a lost job or other major event that could knock you down.

The show is, as much as anything, about changing one's mind set from the garbage we were taught (e.g., using other people's money, for the tax breaks).

I love these older threads as they are a wealth of information.

The way I battle inflation is to have a large area for food storage.

The money I spend I consider to be an investment.

Rotation is the most important chore when doing food storage.

Buying or growing only food that your family will eat.

Meal planning is also inportant.

And including a freezer in the equation is important.

Here we aim to produce most of the food we and our livestock consumes. We have 1/2 acre including our house. We run it as a small homestead. My goal is to grow enough food, so that when the kids have left the nest and we retire, Peter and I will have food security. This means producing a minimum of 1 million calories and an estimated metric ton of produce.
I am not done harvesting all of my crops yet, but so far I have harvested 1758 pounds of produce for a total of 392535 calories for the produce alone, not including what I grow for animal feed. If you include our egg and meat production, we are at 687.576 calories.
I am still getting eggs, and I need to harvest the last of my tomatoes, cassava and sweet potatoes. I also haven’t pressed my pumpkins, squash and sunflower seeds for oil, so that will add even more.
I just did a series of garden tours showing locals in our area how you can grow large amounts of food, with minimal work and high yields, using permaculture and regenerative practices. We have a 33k square feet food forest garden and a raised bed and livestock garden that’s 43k square feet. That said, since we are in SoCal in grow zone 10b we do grow food all year round, so in a way it’s doubled the space, since we never stop growing.
During late fall and in spring we are very busy and even the kids pitch in, because we are both harvesting, prepping beds and planting. The rest of the year, I do all of the maintenance and rarely spend more than 3 hours a week in the garden. The rest of the time, it takes care of itself, so I have time to play with propagation, food preservation and cooking. It also gives me time to do tours, talk with new gardeners and give away cuttings and extra seedlings. I love how the things I do inspire my neighbors and locals to get rid of their lawns and instead grow food and stimulate the local ecosystem.
Right now we are working on figuring out how to harvest a lot of water, since our biggest expense is the 300$ we spend on water every month.
As for money, after the initial investment in plants, beds and tools. We are now saving a lot of money, and we have things growing that you can’t find in the grocery stores. In 2023 I saved around $4k on groceries. This year my estimate is that it will probably be around $10k since I tripled our produce production and we raised our own meat birds for the first time. We will see at new years when I do the math for 2024.

On the matter of investments, we made the leap and bought a freeze dryer a couple years ago.  

The way I look at it is, some people, including those who complain about the initial cost of the dryer, spend money on four wheelers, boats, fancier cars and trucks, and fancier houses that cost far more than the freeze dryer, even after buying Mylar bags, a freezer to pre-freeze, extra trays, a vacuum sealer, storage racks, storage tubs, and so on.

Unlike the aforementioned more frivolous expenditures, and fishing aside, the freeze dryer continues to pay for itself. And, if power was knocked out one time, causing the loss of the contents of one of the freezers would make the dryer an even quicker pay off, for the hundreds of dollars in food that does not have to be frozen, but which, when re-hydrated, is indistinguishable from fresh.

Anne Miller wrote:I love these older threads as they are a wealth of information.

The way I battle inflation is to have a large area for food storage.

The money I spend I consider to be an investment.

Rotation is the most important chore when doing food storage.

Buying or growing only food that your family will eat.

Meal planning is also inportant.

And including a freezer in the equation is important.

We live in the burbs, we took a master gardeners class on basic food storage techniques/preservation. The instructor also lives in the burbs. He walks around his neighborhood and sees ( as do we ) homes with fruit trees that go untouched. He approaches the homeowner/renter and volunteers to keep the tree mess cleaned up in exchange for the fruit, he cans/dehydrates and he also trades harvested fruit for meat and eggs from friends in the countryside. We share our extra fruit with family, friends and donate some ( some trees produce so much you can’t even give it away ) to the local food bank. We are learning to can and dehydrate fruits, herbs and veggies. Wish we could afford one of those freeze drying contraptions.
This year, 2024, we saw organic zucchini going for $3.49 lb and we were giving it away. 4 plants produce a lot of fruit.

Kelly Craig wrote:On the matter of investments, we made the leap and bought a freeze dryer a couple years ago.  

The way I look at it is, some people, including those who complain about the initial cost of the dryer, spend money on four wheelers, boats, fancier cars and trucks, and fancier houses that cost far more than the freeze dryer, even after buying Mylar bags, a freezer to pre-freeze, extra trays, a vacuum sealer, storage racks, storage tubs, and so on.

Unlike the aforementioned more frivolous expenditures, and fishing aside, the freeze dryer continues to pay for itself. And, if power was knocked out one time, causing the loss of the contents of one of the freezers would make the dryer an even quicker pay off, for the hundreds of dollars in food that does not have to be frozen, but which, when re-hydrated, is indistinguishable from fresh.

We got one last year, and it has paid for itself already, and so did the plucker we bought. Since we tripled food production this year, and I spend a good part in the hospital. The freeze dryer has been god send. We run it every single day, and it saves time, since I do less canning now we have it. It also solves brassica preservation problems. We eat a lot of cabbages and other brassicas and they don’t can well. We can blanch and freeze but that changes the texture. This year we freeze dried everything we didn’t turn into kraut or kimchi. Rehydrated it’s exactly like it was before it was dried, so we enjoy slaw and cabbage salads a lot. It also made it a realistic project to produce my own gluten free flours, something I have wanted to do for many years, and which saves a lot of money.

Scotttt Davis wrote:We live in the burbs, we took a master gardeners class on basic food storage techniques/preservation. The instructor also lives in the burbs. He walks around his neighborhood and sees ( as do we ) homes with fruit trees that go untouched. He approaches the homeowner/renter and volunteers to keep the tree mess cleaned up in exchange for the fruit, he cans/dehydrates and he also trades harvested fruit for meat and eggs from friends in the countryside. We share our extra fruit with family, friends and donate some ( some trees produce so much you can’t even give it away ) to the local food bank. We are learning to can and dehydrate fruits, herbs and veggies. Wish we could afford one of those freeze drying contraptions.
This year, 2024, we saw organic zucchini going for $3.49 lb and we were giving it away. 4 plants produce a lot of fruit.

We did it for 7 years before we got a freeze dryer. During the summer you can air dry fruits, hers and vegetables. You can either use large mats covered with netting to keep insects and animals away, or you can buy cheap dehydration cages, which can be hung up and has netting already installed. Lastly you can dehydrate in your oven using the bread proofing feature if it has one, or just put it on the lowest setting.
Eggs can be water glassed if you have too many, and both fruits and vegetables can be fermented to extend their lifespan.

Kelly Craig wrote:Unlike the aforementioned more frivolous expenditures, and fishing aside, the freeze dryer continues to pay for itself. And, if power was knocked out one time, causing the loss of the contents of one of the freezers would make the dryer an even quicker pay off, for the hundreds of dollars in food that does not have to be frozen, but which, when re-hydrated, is indistinguishable from fresh.

A number of years ago, the freezer we had in the acreage died.  Since it wasn't our primary home, unfortunately we lost the contents.  There was a lot of meat in there.

At its core, inflation is a loss of purchasing power.  If one doesn't buy anything, inflation is irrelevant.  Yes, I know that's unrealistic, but that may help us to start a philosophical discussion.

My father was a farmer who grew up in the Great Depression in central Saskatchewan.  After that came WWII and, while farmers weren't necessarily all off fighting, they were considered crucial to the war effort at home.  In some respects, I am my father's son, although I've lost some of the edge.

Anyway, a key thing to consider is what do we need?  What is a want?  At it's most basic, our needs are food, clothing, and shelter.  Depending on the weather context of where we are, some may consider clothing optional.  There are many ways to be frugal about what we do spend, but I think one of our biggest collective expenses tends to be the shelter component.  Part of that is that many (in North America at least) are living in much larger square footage compared to history.  Do we "need" all that space?  What do we have it for?  A smaller space is easier to heat (or cool) and easier to plan for things like shade and insulation.  On a related note, we consume energy to keep ourselves at a "comfortable" temperature.  That said, air conditioning is a relatively new development.  People lived in Texas a century ago without air conditioning.  The temperatures can't have changed so much, so the rhetorical question is why is the heat unbearable now?  Has it, or have we become "softer"?  Or were the old-timers just more given to a thought of it is what it is?

So, if we agree on those needs as a starting point, how much do we spend on them?  Where can we make changes that are within our control such that we can impact what we need to pay others for?  From a clothing perspective, do we need the latest designer fashions, or can we wear something that meets the basic requirements?  For food, do we need a year-round selection of convenient food that is out of season where we are, or can we simplify our diet, eat more seasonally, and/or perhaps preserve some food when we have an abundance to utilize it when there isn't an abundance?

When it comes to producing our own food, what inputs are required versus what is perhaps just seen as such?  Yes, we need fertility, but that can be provided a number of different ways.  As Stephen's GAMCOD hugel results at Wheaton Labs showed for 2024, it is not necessary to bring in outside inputs so long as we have a source of organic matter to work with (compost, manure, woody material to bury, mulch).  Water is required for plants to grow, but depending on our context, we don't necessarily need to irrigate.  Nothing makes me shake my head more than going by a commercial building or multi-family residential housing and seeing sprinklers going on the lawn when it is raining or just after we've had heavy rain.  If we want to provide more water than nature will provide from the sky, is there a way we can capture / store / distribute it from more abundant times?  Here, nearly 20% of our annual precipitation falls as snow - if there is nothing on the landscape to capture it, it blows away (along with some of the topsoil), but having a bit of "texture" on top of the ground will capture some of that snow so it will melt and recharge the soil in the spring (and if we capture it with plants, then we won't see any wind erosion of the topsoil in winter either).  Do we have elevation changes that would allow for a swale to make sense to slow, spread, and infiltrate water into the soil?  Are we capturing the rainwater we do get?  This speaks to the permaculture principle of capture and store energy.

This topic does bring to mind the Serenity Prayer - grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.  Do we need to "battle" inflation, which is something outside our control, or do we accept that we don't have any sway over the CPI and decide to live our lives our way?

Another way to look at this topic is through the lens of the 8 forms of capital - discussing inflation is only looking at one form of capital - how much money do I have and can I use it to procure the stuff I want (need)?  Others have touched on elements of this.  Intellectual capital - build our skills and knowledge so we can be more resilient.  Material capital - resources we have like tools that will allow us to be more resilient.  Social capital - this one is huge as it is about our community - together we can be so much more than we can alone as it allows us to pool our different forms of capital so that together we have more and can be more resilient.  Living (or natural) capital - plants and animals we have in our ecosystems.  Spiritual capital - living life to our fullest believing there is something greater than us, which can allow us to more easily deem that we have enough and, to the earlier comment on health care as we age, perhaps deem that we've lived a good enough life and don't necessarily need to extend it (I'm not suggesting euthanasia, but maybe we choose to live out the days we have rather than seek out expensive medical intervention).  

Finally (I can sense the collective sigh of relief that the wordy windbag winds down), as I noted earlier, one way to look at inflation is as a loss of purchasing power, so we could grow our income faster than inflation.  How can we bring more value to the marketplace such that the marketplace pays us more?  It could mean becoming better or more valuable at what we presently do to earn money so that we can demand more, whether through a raise, or moving to be paid more for what we bring.  It could mean adding something - like selling our excesses (could be something we grow / raise, or something we produce like clothing, textiles, tools).  It could mean providing services (teaching a PDC, or offering tours, or looking after someone else's property).  If there is a level of barter, perhaps it would be an opportunity to exchange one form of capital for another (like shovelling snow in exchange for eggs as a simple example).

Of course, we can also work at it from both sides - decrease our spending while increasing earnings.  

To the original question of how you would design your permaculture life to be more resilient in the face of inflation, it depends.

I think the best way is to look at your finances and figure out the areas of your monthly budget that you CANNOT change. This will be where drastic changes need to be made not on the things you can control.

Things are not always what they seem.

An example might be electricity. It is all over the news and everywhere but for me, my electricity costs are petty…. $200 a month. But now heating water, that is costly for me. It means domestic hot water and heating my home. Reducing that will save me twice what my electrical costs are.

To me reducing size proportionally reduces everything. Without a huge volume of space you save property taxes, heating costs, electrical costs, and even personal purchases.

A case in point: are you going to buy a lot of clothes if you have a tiny closet?

Ultimately if you want to battle inflation on the home front go to YouTube and check out minimalist living. It becomes its own lifestyle, but really is the ultimate in inflation reduction because it gets to the heart of the problem… how you protect that tiny pile of cash we all have, yet so many people want.

Break the habit of buying and you break the power of inflation over you on every front.

Many good points have been made here, which I don't need to repeat. I would just add a couple of things:

It's easy to overlook small things that can lead to major expenses. Parts for critical machinery may not only save the cost of more expensive parts in the future, it may keep your infrastructure functioning once parts are no longer available. We've had to replace "obsolete" equipment with an expensive and shoddy new stuff for lack of a simple and cheap part.
If you have to provide your own water from a well or watercourse, I'd prioritize parts and quality equipment for that. Fastenings and cordage are other basics that are becoming harder and harder to find, replace, or afford, but are critical. Large containers, both for cooking and for storage are essential. You won't save any money doing "small batch" canning, however trendy it might be. The energy you use costs more than the food you get, unless you do large batches.

My pressure canner has fed us for 45 years, through good and bad times, and I also use it as a boiling-water-bath canner for fruit. It is especially useful for fish, which often are available either not at all or in great quantity. It's a good idea to be prepared for those times of quantity, of any resource. That's why every homestead should have a 50lb bag of salt.

Salting is a vastly underused and underrated way to preserve a surplus, especially when that surplus is large and it would be too time-consuming to can, cut up for drying, fit in the freezer, etc. All you need to preserve a food from spoilage is water, salt, a 5 gallon bucket, and a clean rock to weight food down in the brine. If you suddenly have to deal with a truly huge surplus, you can scale up to an 55-gallon drum with no change in procedure. A strong brine will assure preservation, a milder one enable fermentation, which is well worth learning, but not essential at first.

Homestead and survival books often talk about salting your own cabbage, livestock or fish, but it's equally useful for some items on sale at the store. Butter is an expensive thing that is subject to steep inflation, is compact, and goes on sale at deep discount a few times a year. I learned to do what the old fishermen used to do before they left the dock for a season in the Bering Sea--salt down a bucket of butter. It is incredibly easy, and I have reached into the brine and brought out perfect-tasting cubes when I returned to the homestead after a year's absence. The brine doesn't change the flavor, because while it keeps out spoilage organisms, it can't penetrate into the butter--the fat content is too high.

It's easy to  brine butter:
Bring a big pot of water to a boil and stir in salt until you can't get any more to dissolve. Then let it cool while you prepare the butter bucket. Take off the paper wrapping from each cube, and arrange the butter in a clean empty bucket. This can of course be scaled up to a 50-gallon drum for large amounts of butter, fish, green beans, or whatever.) You can pack them closely in a circular pattern and put in several layers. Then go find a plate and a weight. You need a non-metallic plate that goes inside the bucket with about a half inch of clearance all around. Cheap thrift store china is perfect for this. Put it on top of your butter and weight it down with a clean rock, a jar of water, or any clean, heavy, non-metallic item. Then, add the cold brine. (Never add brine before weighing down the butter, as it will float up in a jumble and you'll have to arrange it all again.) Put on a cover to keep out dirt, and you're done.