4 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting a Homestead

There are all kinds of people that are drawn to homesteading. Some have dreamt of owning a piece of land to call their own for as long as they can remember, others came to this dream later in life. For some, it’s an opportunity to start a new life, for others it’s the draw of wide-open spaces, or a desire to escape from a hectic urban lifestyle.

Regardless of how you came upon the idea of homesteading, and if you’re still in the research phase, I hope you won’t be completely shocked if I tell you it isn’t as simple as buying a piece of land, planting some spinach, buying a few chickens, and living happily ever after. It’s so much more than this!

Here are a few helpful tips to know know before you start.

Becoming a homesteader may not be something you can start immediately. Perhaps you’re still fine-tuning your plans before you transition into homesteading full time. Perhaps you only plan to start homesteading in the future, for example when you have kids, or when you retire. In all cases, to buy a piece of land, even to buy land in Texas, is not what will make you a homesteader. As they say, practice makes perfect. You can start today by doing research. You can start growing vegetables in your garden. You can find other homesteaders and offer your labor in exchange for asking questions, building experience, and learning from them.

Once you have bought a piece of land, it will still take years to become a homesteader. No matter how much researching or practicing you did to prepare, you will still have a lifetime of learning ahead of you. Things will take time, things will be hard, and things will go wrong. You may avoid a whole lot of frustration if you take the long view and realize that success isn’t a single event. Success as a homesteader is about attaining the simple lifestyle you dreamed of and achieving your goals.

Jumping into homesteading without setting clear goals can result in getting pulled in a million directions, being exhausted, and feeling like a failure if things don’t go well. Setting clear goals will give you clarity on how you spend your time and resources. When you are overwhelmed with wanting to do everything and try everything, you can instead make decisions that bring you closer to your goals. If your goal is to reduce your carbon footprint, only eat what you can grow, or keep your monthly expenses below a specific amount, use your goals to make easier decisions of what you buy and consume, how you spend your time, or even what crops or animals you choose to farm with.

When you have big dreams, it is easy to give up before you even start. You also don’t need to wait forever before you start Homesteading. It is possible to buy land in Texas. The right piece of land should be matched to your goals, your budget, and the lifestyle you are seeking to create. To get started, you need someone that can answer your questions and give you expert advice. Here at Lonestar Land Sales, we can advise you on all aspects of finding the right piece of land, from the many types of land available, location, legal considerations, and financing.

This is just a short list there is so much more to know. If you want to learn from a professional homesteader, visit The Simple Life by Gary Collins.