Marie
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What made you want to go self sufficent ish?We have gone down this road,i think, for security.
With the way the banks, goverments are gone. Although we started before all of that. Also i think for the kids. I think it gives them a fantastic education outside the classroom.
Another reason is that i see how 99% of people are on a hamster wheel, turning the wheel of an economy. Feeding the banks with there debt, having to work to pay the debt, having to pay the creche because they have to work, buying an expensive house because it is near work, having to buy the fashion that is expected at work etc..
I hope to jump off the wheel soon.
There's my rant over 
Anybody worry about the furture effects of peak oil?
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macconraoi
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Our journey started when my wife Noreen was a child and picked up a book at home,"The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency by John Seymour" it should have a government health warning on it.The thing about being self sufficient to any degree is a sense of "smugness "you get from it.Total self sufficiency would bring its own problems i think.We still need to be a part of a community and total self sufficiency could lead to a very singular existence.
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phil
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I don't think there was a plan to be self reliant it was something that evolved slowly,from growing a few veg to raising all the meat we eat.
We live in a small cottage so electric and heating bills are not a problem,all in all i think im very fortunate. With all the money problems that are yet to come i don't envy people who live in over priced big houses that are expensive to run.
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Camile
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No plans for us either ..
wanted chickens for eggs .. and a goat for fun .. and it escalated from there ..
and kept debts as small as can be (mortgage for house) and that's all ..
Camile
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wayland
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My journey started in the 60s when I got the book. "The fat of the land" by John Seymore. I think that this was his first book and it is now plane to see that he was just starting out. Being young meself I became an avid collector of his books and craved the lifestyle. This suited well the youthful rebelliousness and the age of the hippies < aint that right Blowin >. Unfortunately I was in no position to pursue the dream at that time and it was not until 40 years later with my family grown up that my dream started to become a reality. As to being smug! I have been around too long for that me thinks, but it is a full time occupation and if I could have started sooner and made good use of youthful vigor, I would have got more done me thinks. I seem now to spend a lot of time in the polytunnel chilling  . Ho Hum. Apparently John Seymore lived not to far from me in Co Wexford. Shortly before he died he said in an interview that living the self sufficient live can be a lonely affare as there are few around doing likewise. A sad thought for him me thinks.
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tractorpunk
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i found a copy of seymores book in my mates house in the early 90's and, tho i didn't know it at the time, the seeds were sown ( no pun intended), but it was really when i read the first river cottage book that i thought " maybe i could do that too..."
I'm a long way from anything like self sufficiency but i'm happy to strike the balance- create, find or repair what i can myself and work a day or 2 a week for some other bugger to pay the bills.
this will have to do untill the bank is willing to barter for the mortgage payment every month
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wayland
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I think that working at self sufficiency part time is a fine goal to work to. As was said before we have to be financially secure to do the whole thing, and then it would be a full time job. Rents and mortgages are a killer if their costs have to come off the land, but part time work will yield more cash per hour than working the plot of course. It is surprising what can be produced from a well planned smallish plot. Good luck to all of you who do it
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dizandstell
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One of the main reasons for us was the amount of "things" in our food. I have a bit of a bad reaction to orange/red food colouring. The main culprit being sunset yellow. Some kids can get a bit hyper on it. If i get enough of it in one go, the result can be quite frightening. I can get massive violant mood swings. Not a pretty site as i used to be the tighthead prop forward and box in the heavy weight class. So as the ingrediants info got smaller, the eye sight weakend and the arms were not long enough, time to change. So we did.
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Marie
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Alarming reaction to food colourings!
We dont find it that time consuming, but it is a nice lifestyle that can compliment regular life, you dont need to grow a beard and move to the mountains  I think it helps keeps life in better balance and with a better sense of responsibility and security
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wayland
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Well I have a long beard and Blowin moved to the mountains and your right. It does not help
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MrsL
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I've always lived like this as a result of parents and grandparents influence and "lifestyle".
Difficult to be totally self-sufficient these days, we prefer self-reliance; the older I get the less we can rely on other people I find, so we try and do most things ourselves; being married to an engineer helps (some of the time  )
I've done a lot of reading and meetings re the Transition Movement, but have foudn that initial enthusiasm soon wanes; people are very loath to give up what they regard as their home comforts, and a lot of it is just talk, and too much hard work for them. They think it's all about making your own jam, and can't see further than that.; the thought of doing without elctricity just  s them...............They may have no choice soon, though.
I'm as ready as I can be for me and my family, and view challenges with relish. However, if TSHTF, there's no knowing or saying what would happen.
I can see advantages both in being community-minded and totally self-reliant. Not always easy to mix the two either, I've found.
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