Can you make money homesteading?

You’ve been dreaming of homesteading for a while, maybe entertaining ideas of living off the land or being self-sustaining. Then reality hits.

Maybe you quit your job so that you could keep your focus solely on homesteading or maybe you needed to quit your job because you just didn’t have time to maintain your property and hold a job at the same time. Maybe your homestead property is located in an area that makes your commute too long and costly.

Whatever the case, the bills don’t stop. Some bills such as mortgage and property tax as well as daily expenses will not go away. Learning how to make money homesteading becomes a priority.

Why You Might Need to Earn Money Homesteading

If you can’t work, you aren’t likely to have an income stream that is adequate to support your needs. Newly purchased property typically carries a monthly payment and if you have not gone totally off-grid, then you will still have to pay for utilities. If you don’t have a well, then you’ll need to tap into the public water system which also carries a price.

And let’s not forget the government that will most certainly have its hand out for its piece of the pie. Property taxes are relentless.

Add to that equipment and vehicle registration each year, regular maintenance, and eventual replacement.

You will also have your own daily expenses for the things you do not or cannot make yourself such as toiletries, cleaning products, food that you don’t grow, furnishings, cooking utensils, and more. There is the potential for several different expenses that will vary according to your personal level of homesteading and your family’s needs.

5 Ways to Make Money Homesteading

If you put some thought into it, you can probably think of many ways to make money homesteading. But if you’re drawing a blank, here are a few ideas for inspiration.

• Sell Food Products – Sell extra milk from your cow or goats, eggs, vegetables, poultry, beef, fresh fruit, or homemade jellies and jams, Make homemade dairy products like cheese to sell or homemade baked goods.
• Make Your Own Products – If you are adept at candle making or soap making, put those skills to work for you. Create your own lotions, cleaning products, and balms then sell them. If you can sew, quilt, or knit, create handmade items to sell.
• Sell Animals – You can breed animals like goats or sheep for other homesteaders to purchase or incubate eggs and sell the chicks. Sell wool from sheep or alpacas. You can even sell worms to be used for composting or fishing.
• Teach Others to do What You Do – Get an account on Parler or a similar site and charge a membership fee and publish your hard-earned knowledge. You can also teach classes, write books, or start a blog.
• Turn Your Homestead Into an Experience – If you don’t mind having other people on your homestead, you can turn it into an experience. Turn a portion of it into a venue for events like weddings or parties. Grow Christmas trees or pumpkins for some holiday profit. Or you can keep a few tiny homes or cabins to rent out.

Look around you and think about what you are capable (and willing) to do to earn money, then just take the plunge.

But Can I Show a Profit?

A single project is not likely to show much if any profit. However, if you find several projects that are the right mix of long and short-term endeavors, you can create a pretty steady income for your homestead.

Some projects require long-term planning, such as a fruit orchard that will take a few years to grow and bear fruit. Other projects can be started pretty quickly such as selling produce from your garden, making your own cleaning products to sell, or selling eggs from your chickens. While these may require a little prep time and probably some investment, they can be turned around pretty quickly and you can see a profit almost immediately.

Proper planning and good research will help to ensure that your homesteading projects will indeed be profitable and serve you and your family well.