Join me today for all our usual Monday segments and a discussion of what the next six months look like in the Holler and for the LFTN Community. Changes, they are afoot!
Featured Event: Midwest Preparedness Project Spring Event: MidwestPreparednessProject.com
(ROADTRIP!)
Sponsor 1: John Pugliano and the WealthSteading Podcast (InvestibleWealth.com)
Sponsor 2: AgoristTaxAdvice.com/Webinar
A word on the audio podcast numbering: Expect extra drops this week and they will be out of order. This week is catch up week
Email feedback to nicole@livingfreeintennessee.com - Speaking of feedback: Mullein and Water Hyacinth
Livestream Schedule
Tuesday: 9:30am with Jack Spirko and John Willis
Friday: 930am Homestead Happenings
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
- We are cooking oil free in the Holler
- Been Shrinking Pantry Storage to get into a better solution for storing things
- Dedicated company freezers vs personal freezers
- Transitioning into Storing From Using: Mid Spring Herbals
- A word on devilled eggs
Weekly Shopping Report
Thanks to a suggestion on the garden shed, I found a nearby place that does business with both Amish and Mennonite builders. The owner visited us to see our proposed site on Thursday, so our first stop on Friday was to his lot, to finalize details and make a deposit. We'll be getting a larger (8'x10') shed, for at least $700 less than Home Depot's price on an 8'x8' model.
Home Depot our next stop. They've got LOTS of batteries; I grabbed an 8-pack of AA lithium which will be for a label printer that won't get used a lot, and would likely be destroyed by alkaline leakage. A 2x4x8 is $3.73.
Aldi was last. It was also rather busy. We found everything we wanted. A few prices were actually lower. Staples were: bread (20 oz. white): 1.29; eggs: $2.05; whole milk: $2.83; heavy cream: $5.29; OJ: $3.29; butter: $3.69; bacon: $3.99 (-); potatoes: $3.99; sugar: $2.99 (-); flour: $2.35; and 80% lean ground beef: $4.09.
A gallon of untainted regular gasoline remains at $3.599.
Operation Independence
What is the emergency fund for and what do you do after using it?
Main topic of the Show: What is Next for LFTN
It happened again. We turned a corner at the LFTN workshop. I kicked off the event with what was supposed to be a talk about using the #my3things method to move forward in life. But guys, I was BEAT. Like more beat that I have ever been. When I stepped in front of everyone to talk I saw much of the same fatigue on so many faces that I stopped focusing on the prepared notes and started a conversation.
By then end of our conversation I realized something: You are no good to anyone if you put yourself in the hospital. Period.
We have spent years helping people stuck in the throes of analysis paralysis just get started and then refine. We have spent years helping people who are having motivation problems, maybe a little depression or other things that keep them from persevering. We have talked about all the ways you can look at an impossible list, set a really big goal, then go for it and keep going every. Single. Day.
We have even talked about adding your personal health, relationships, and other really important things to your daily goals so that you build a happy life.
Why?
Because the problem most of us face as we begin our walk toward independence is not what other people think about us. It isn;t if a spouse is on board or not. It isnt even about squeezing that last nickel out of your day to finally put aside toward something better.
It is the broken promises to ourselves that must change.
We tell ourselves stories like: I will eat on plan, or I will do this thing by that time. Or I will by GUM conquer laundry mountain tomorrow.
Always tomorrow.Then tomorrow comes and it is so tempting to just not do what we set out to do even if we KNOW we feel better if we prioritize what we already promised ourselves (and sometimes others) we would do.
The pressure of the urgent will overpower the prioritization of the urgent if you let it. And that is what you were programmed to do. Programmed by the bell at school. By asking for bathroom breaks. By seeking permission.
Yes a corner was turned at the spring workshop, as it usually is. LFTN has grown as a community.
In fact, someone told me they wished they had a term for the Greater TSP/LFTN/SOE/DELINQUENTS community because we all overlap and we all share core values. I just call it The Community if that helps. That way when another community of doers appears, we dont have to rebrand.
The Community as in the Real Community - not a fake one that has been thrust upon us by outside forces but a group of people we can work with. Who understand the difference between friendly competition and toxic competition. Who DO instead of take.
Yes, LFTN has brown beyond the timid little group of women who decided to step outside expectations and start doing what people told us we couldn’t or shouldn’t do. We’ve grown as mentors, and leaders, and as supporters.
I’ve come to see that homesteads dont do well without women and that many of the best in this space will never be seen because they think that their “small” work on the homestead is nothing. But they are the heart and sole of the homesteading network.
And that is how this homesteading podcast started. It started because I was doing things on my homestead that men are supposed to do and laughing with another friend of mine about how we would have to adjust our approach based on such things as: oversized (for us) tools. Center of gravity differences on big projects. Not having grown up building things and not knowing what we don’t know.
In the case of my friend, her husband works full time and she takes care of the livestock and simply can’t always wait for a helping hand. In my case, I was both earning the income and needing to get infrastructure and processes in place to live what I knew would be in better concert with nature, producing food and peace from this small piece of land.
And here I am a decade later, helping to bring more people into our Community. Connecting folks with the skills they need to start their own homesteads. Like processing chickens or canning.
But the advice has not changed much. If we want something better, we have to figure out how to make that happen for ourselves. We have to move forward no matter what. We have to stop breaking the most important promises we have made to ourselves and just do it.
But because we have grown as a community, we have changed too. No longer is the primary demon inaction. No no no. It turns out that overaction is a bigger problem for us now that we have surrounded ourselves with doers.
There is always more we can do and we need a new skill: choosing to do the things that are most important. That move ourselves and our families forward. Whether your family be biological or chosen.
Most of you missed my talk at LFTN24. Members, you will get it in the portal in about a month. We talked about having three areas of focus to move me toward my personal vision: Health, Wealth, Community.
Three.
Wealth is the thing that most of us hesitate to start building. It is the reason my advice is usually to get off your ass and try. But you have all grown beyond that. And so have I.
Now it is time to get back on your ass and prioritize your three most important things. For me, my health has suffered as a result of delivering on my q1 and q2 promises. That is why I took last week all the way off.
While catching up on home and homestead tasks, it was clear we had turned a very important corner. We have grown to where more action does not build more health, wealth, and community. Focusing more effort on fewer things does. Building back time to keep the promises we make to ourselves (I’m looking at you my “quit smokers” and “more workouts” people) in service of our long-term life vision is important.
Becoming more ruthless about what you might catch from investing time in something - like the news or a toxic relationship - is important.
In short, when we started 8 years ago, we were like a tomato seedling pushing through the soil and putting on leaves. Our flourishing and future depend on pruning to allow for airflow and so we can focus our resources on the most important vines.
What does this mean for LFTN: We are still here and will go back to three shows (and maybe 2 in the future) a week. I will not be speaking at events so much because the cost of being gone from the homestead and from all of you is higher than most speaker fees. In short, we are honing in on the things that bring true prosperity and happiness.
I hope you will enjoy this journey with me - how are you honing in on better ways to bring your homesteading journey to what you want it to be?
Make it a great week!
Song:
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
- Follow me on Nostr: npub1u2vu695j5wfnxsxpwpth2jnzwxx5fat7vc63eth07dez9arnrezsdeafsv
- Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
- Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
- Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b
Resources