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Practical Gifts for Every Budget, Plus 5 Frugal Gift Wrapping Tips

November 25, 2018 By August Neverman Leave a Comment

This is a list of practical gifts for those you care about. These are safe, reliable and practical items in a variety of price ranges. My wife won't let me buy her jewelry (she rarely wears it anyway), but she does appreciate a gift that keeps her comfortable, makes a job easier or solves an ongoing problem. (We don't have any rules in this house about not buying gifts that end in “er”.) For us, perfect gifts are ones that you use again and again.

After over 23 years together, we're still best friends, so often we pick out gifts together and use them as family gifts. Speaking of family, there are a couple of not-quite-so-practical gifts that we got for the boys on the list, too. To wrap up the post, Laurie shares some tips for dressing up gifts without spending a ton of money. [Read more…] about Practical Gifts for Every Budget, Plus 5 Frugal Gift Wrapping Tips

The Doable Off-Grid Homestead – Homesteading on the Cheap

November 10, 2018 By Laurie Neverman Leave a Comment

The Doable Off-Grid Homestead by Stewart and Shannon Stonger gives the reader a taste of off grid life on a tight budget. When they say “off grid”, they mean it. They have no grid electricity, no well or conventional running water. They share their mistakes as well as their successes. If you have a determination to get back to the land, but little money to follow your dream, this book may be a good resource for you.

Meat Rabbits – What You Need to Know About Raising Rabbits for Meat

May 5, 2018 By Debra Ahrens Leave a Comment

Are meat rabbits easy to raise? Yes! Raising rabbits for meat requires just a few basic supplies and routine care. Meat rabbits are an excellent animal to teach you about a life of animal husbandry. According to RabbitBreeders.us, a single commercial doe can produce offspring to yield 300 # of meat per year! Rabbits have excellent feed conversion rates, low startup costs, healthy meat and don't require much space. We'll walk you through rabbit hutches, watering and feeding, which breeds make the best meat rabbits and basic rabbit care. Let's get started! [Read more…] about Meat Rabbits – What You Need to Know About Raising Rabbits for Meat

Rural Internet Options – A Comparison of Rural Internet Services

April 29, 2018 By August Neverman 17 Comments

Living in the country has its benefits, lower cost per acre, fewer regulations and more freedom. But with those benefits comes a distinct disadvantage, slow or no rural internet options. Finding stable, fast rural internet can be like looking for a unicorn, but for the homesteading commuter, farmer or rural entrepreneur, high speed rural internet access can be a necessity.

How to Make a Burn Barrel – Burn Safe with Less Smoke

December 29, 2017 By Guest 73 Comments

These instructions will help you make your own burn barrel for a country property or for emergency trash disposal. There are also a couple of commercial burn barrel options you can buy at the end of the post. You don't need to “build a burn barrel” so much as assemble the right parts correctly to minimize smoke and ash. Love them or hate them, burn barrels are a part of country living. With the cost of dropping trash at local dumps going up, more and more people are returning to using burn barrels. People sometimes complain about the smoke and the smell of a burning barrel of trash, but if you burn correctly, smoke and odor should be minimal.