Homesteader shares the truth about frugal farm living as opposed to the TikTok fantasy of the cashless agrarian lifestyle: 'The work [is] pretty much non-stop, sun up to sun down'

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 22, 2024 9:00 AM EST

This homesteader reveals what it's really like to have your own farm out in the boonies, bashing city-kid expectations and sharing the realities of farm living–both the good and the bad. 

Any city person will tell you that there are many moments in our lives when we rethink living in a city. For example, when your subway is delayed, and the crazy guy at the train station starts asking you questions about the book you're reading, you might consider the beauty of solitary farm life. When flu season is in full swing, and every person in your office falls like dominoes–cubicle after cubicle–with the same foul illness, you might start to imagine a rural home. And when you're sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on your way to the grocery store after work, you probably dream of a piping hot tea on the wraparound porch of your ranch-style home as the chickens cluck away the sunset as a final goodbye to your work day. Romantically, we all naively believe that this is what homesteader life is all about (thanks to TikTok), but u/homestead_sensible is here to set the record straight. 

Keep scrolling to read the facts from a guy whose family lives happily out on a farm, working sunrise to sunset every day to maintain their simplistic way of life and maybe this will tip the scales for us city folk to drop the convenience of urban living for a couple of acres out in the sticks with a chicken coop, 2 cows, and the love of our lives. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10430798080
    via Hirurg from Getty Images Signature

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    Frugal on the farm. Homesteading in real life vs. Tick Tock. $ Finance & Bills
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    you probably won't save money. you won't be able to "give society the finger" or live out a cashless agrarian fantasy.
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    we built and operate our homestead on a single tradeworker income. home is 70% paid-off in year 2 of a 30/yr mortgage. we are otherwise debt-free.
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    we don't have the trendy, pristine, fully rebuilt 1950 Ford 9N tractor with attachments. we have shovels, forks & a 1974 dynamark riding lawnmower with a 1985 craftsman trailer.
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    we repourpose everything lumber & building materials are the top of that list. food scraps are fed to chickens and composted. sheep are pasture grazed as much as possible, stalls
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    cleanings turned into garden soil to grow vegetables. sheep are milked from April to September. culls done for meat done when appropriate. we don't buy much food at the store. but we do spend
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    $350/mo. on livestock feed. my wife is a skilled homestead veterinarian, but meds and supplies are not free. our irrigation system requires our 240v well pump to run. that is largely covered by our solar system, but we paid $8500 (before rebates) for it back in 2001.
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    we save fuel because wife never leaves homestead. we bulk purchase 2000lb alfalfa feed. we build almost everything than can be, ourselves. old busted barrel? feeder in it's 3rd life! we do in- house butcher. wife sells some livestock occasionally.
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    we insure our homestead and ourselves well. we don't travel or have a social life. we are (happily) married to our farm. despite all of our efforts, our entire lifestyle often seems to run counter to being frugal. at least we know our food, and we are deeply satisfied & fulfilled.
    via homestead_sensible
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    Daffodilly Darling The biggest thing people don't realize is the WORK. Pretty much non-stop, sun up to sun down. Once it's dark, that's when you do the indoor stuff. It's not easy and definitely not for everyone.
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    SewChill I grew up on a farm and once dated a guy who was born and raised in suburbia who had this fantasy of being some off- grid survivalist. He was also intensely lazy and couldn't even keep houseplants alive. I don't know where he is now but I'm guessing it's not a farm.
    via SewChill
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    IKnowAllSeven My mom is always saying she's going to live "off grid" and I'm like "Mom, you've never lived more than four miles from a TJ Maxx. Forgive me if I don't think you can live off grid"
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    salix620 I am also a farm kid and have also dated men like this. They are idiots. I always got the sense they wanted me to be the steward of their off the grid dreams, parasite energy. No thank you.
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    My current fella isn't delulu and wanting a farm for the gram, but he does know that he bagged what he refers to as an "apocalypse 10".
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    zipykido I figured homesteading is difficult AF when it took $50 in supplies to grow $25 worth of tomatoes on my porch.
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    Survive YourAdults Indeed! So much of media shows beautiful landscape views, sunshine, and mouth-watering produce. what it doesn't show: animal gruesome-ness, the HEAT, sunburn, blisters,
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    sore body, repetitive strain injury, the COLD, crop destruction, flooding, drought, frost damage, fencing repairs, theft from your neighbours, vet bills, fuel bills, fixing your broken equipment, waking up
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    before the sun and going to bed after sundown, and trying not to be hungry when your harvest is three potatoes. you're going to be so tired you won't have TIME to pick up a camera and record all this for social media!
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    Cool Dinner3003 I think a lot of people don't understand how hard it is to leave for even a few days. It all requires constant maintenance. It also becomes increasingly difficult to maintain as you age. It is a tough road to commit to long term.
    via Cool_Dinner3003

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lifestyle rural homestead ranchers living farmers homesteader ranch farm
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