Listening to my family and friends talk about their plans for the upcoming new years I realized something. If all of them would just pick up some self sufficiency techniques all of their resolutions would be resolved. Why? Let me explain using the two most popular resolutions.

Resolution #1 Lose Weight: To do this requires two things. Exercise and eating properly. When you learn about self sufficiency you realize that you become more active by doing things instead of sitting back and paying someone to do them for you. Even little things burn calories. Working in the garden, cooking your own meals, etc burns calories and they add up. On the flipside is eating healthy. I think this is an obvious one. Cook your own foods. Better yet, use your own home made ingredients in your own home cooked meals and you will lose weight. It is that simple.

Resolution #2 Save Money: Here is a real break through for you. If you spend less, you can save more. I’m a genius, right? No. It is simple and obvious. Stop spending so much money by paying a middle man to do work for you. Learn how to repair your own car, fix something broken in your house, and provide your own food. Do it yourself and you will save money. Trying to earn more money is not easy but what is within your control is how you spend your own money. Be smart about it and learn self sufficiency. Learn to live a self sufficient life and keep your own money in the bank instead of someone else’s account.

So what is your new year’s resolution? Are there things you can do yourself with it?

If you enjoy having a bottle of wine over a nice meal or to relax after a long day at the office, why not learn how to make your own wine so that you always have a supply and can make sure the flavor of your wine is exactly how you like it. To make your own wine you do not need anything that you don’t most likely already have in the comforts of your own home.

The process for making your own wine is (as with most things) pretty easy. All you need is two bags of grapes (you can use black or green) depending on your own preference to taste. You will also need two full bags of sugar and one ounce of yeast in addition to one gallon of water. That is all it takes to make up your own wine and you might have it already in the cupboard.

To get started with your own wine making break apart the grapes from the stalks. Pile them in a bowl and then crush them by hand so that they are all mashed. Boil the one gallon of water and then pour the water in with the mashed grapes. Allow this to sit for about two days.

Once the time has passed, strain the mixture but be sure to capture all of the juices. The goal of straining is to get any seeds or stems you missed. Now pour the grape juice into a bottle that can be sealed (not the bottle you plan on storing the finished product in). Add the sugar into the bottle and mix the sugar and the grape juice until you are sure all of the sugar has been dissolved.

After the sugar and grape juice has been well mixed and is in the bottle, add in the yeast to the mixture and stir it in. After you are confident the sugar, grape juice and yeast have been well mixed, you are ready to seal your bottle and store it.

Let your sealed bottle sit for about two weeks. During this time, be sure to seal stir it two times a day. This is called the fermentation period of wine making. Once the two weeks have passed, you now have made your own wine! Take the bottle and transfer the wine into the finished bottles for storage.

After you taste it, here are something’s to keep in mind. Was it to dry? Add more sugar next time and it will be sweeter. Did the final product not taste what you expected? Be sure to taste the wine during the process to make sure you are happy with it before moving to the next stage. Make changes as needed.

Who doesn’t love peanut butter sandwiches? They are simple, basic and yet always bring back good memories. Making your own peanut butter is actually pretty simple and rewarding as peanut butter sandwiches might be the most popular lunch for kids (and adults) of all options.

Want to learn how to make your own peanut butter? Keep reading!

First thing you need to do is go get some peanuts. You have two options here. You can buy roasted peanuts (which you basically just paid a little more to do something you could have done yourself) or buy peanuts and roast them yourself. Roasting your own peanuts is easy. All you need to do is crank on your oven to 350 degrees. Crack open all of the peanuts and remove them from their shells. You should have 4 cups of peanuts when all said and done. Take all of the nuts and spread them evenly out across a baking pan and let them bake in the over between 15 and 20 minutes.

Once they have cooled or if you bought roasted peanuts, take ½ of your peanuts, 1 and ½ teaspoons of peanut oil and grind them in a food processor for a few minutes until the blend is clumpy. At this point put in the other ½ of peanuts and another 1 and ½ teaspoons of peanut oil and again, blend. At this point keep blending until you reached the texture you like. If you want chunky peanut butter you may only blend for a little while but if you like to make your own creamy peanut butter then you might blend a little longer. Once you have achieved the texture you like, add 1 teaspoon of salt and blend for one minute to mix it in.

That is it! Doesn’t take long and shouldn’t make a mess out of your kitchen. Keep in mind, your homemade peanut butter that you just created does not have preservatives so it will not stay as long as the store bought kind. It should be consumed within two weeks and keep it refrigerated.

This goes great if you make your own jam as well!

It happens all the time. You put on your favorite shirt or pair of pants and snag it on something resulting in a small tear. You could throw it away and pay more money for a new one or just fix the issue and save yourself some money. If you interested in repairing your torn clothing, keep reading.Take a look at the torn clothing. Is it a big hole or small one?

If it is just a small tear in your clothing then the repair will only take a few minutes if you have the tools at hand. If not, it is still cheaper to go buy the tools so you have them for the next time. For a small tear, you will need just a needle and thread (ideally the thread color matches your clothing) – and complete a zigzag stitch along the edges to rejoin the tear. We are not talking about rocket science; you can do this on your own.

If it is a larger tear where a piece of the clothing has been torn out, it will require patch. To do this you again need needle, thread and a piece of cloth which will blend in with your existing color of clothing. To get started, trim the edges of the tear in your clothing to make a clean spot for your new cloth. Cut your new cloth to the proper size leaving about an inch on all sides larger then the hole it is about to patch. Fold the patch cloth under using the excess and hem your patch cloth to your clothing. This will provide a clean and finished look.

Other options exist for handling a tear in your clothing. For example if the colors are hard to match or it is a bigger and will be obvious, go decorative with it. Sew in a pocket, add a contrasting color, use a ribbon or bow. There are many options to keep it a useable piece of clothing, and you can do it yourself!

We use it everyday (well, you should… and more then once), so it is a great item to consider trying to do on your own. Making soap on your own is not very hard to do and once you get the basics down you can go in many directions with it as far as the various scents and styles soaps can come in.

To make your own soap you will need to have two pans: a dishpan around 10″ x 12″ and a glass two quart saucepan. You will also need one can of lye (twelve ounces), water, three pounds of lard and for safety, plastic gloves and protective eye gear.

Once you have all of your ingredients, get to work. Empty three cups of cold water into the two quart saucepan. Very carefully (I can not stress that enough) add the lye in with the water while stirring it with a wooden utensil. Lye is a dangerous thing, be sure no children are around and you slowly add it to the mix wearing your protective gear. Once the lye is mixed, leave it to cool for about an hour and take the lard out, place it in the 10″ x 12″ dishpan (the lard should be around room temperature).

Once the hour has passed, pour the lye/water combination in with the lard. When you do this, the lard will melt. Using a wooden utensil again mix the lard and lye together for around fifteen minutes. When you are done it should resemble pudding.

You want to spread the mixture out so it takes up the entire space of the dishpan and is relatively evenly distributed. Once you are there, leave it until the next day. Once you have let it set, cut the mixture into bar sized shapes and again leave it alone for two or three days. Over that time it will harden up and become solid bars of soap.

The only tricky part to making your own soap is the lye and making sure to use it safety. Otherwise, it is really a simple and straightforward process. If you feel comfortable, next time you run out, go make your own soap!

I am not going to tell you a world shaking idea, nor tell you something you most likely don’t already know but for some reason people just chose to ignore the obvious. Want to save ten dollars this week? Do any one of the following:

Brew your own coffee at home: I know, right? Real break though, earth shattering stuff, but it is true and most people are too lazy to do it. Don’t have time in the morning? Buy a coffee maker that has a timer. Making your coffee at home will save you more then ten dollars, even with the purchase of a new machine, so stop buying at the store. Brew at home.

Walk or ride a bike: While gas is slowly returning to normal prices, you still have to pay for it when you use it. If you live in a city, walk or ride a bike. We ALL can use the exercise. Limit your need to drive if you have to. Plan your trip so you can combine errands instead of driving each day in various directions burning gas that you could have saved.

Bring your lunch or breakfast: Stop eating out, go make some bread, go make some jam and peanut butter. Bring that instead. I know, it’s bland not as sexy as Burger King… but trust me, you will save money in the long run and be healthier for it. Same goes for breakfast. Bring snacks from home, get up twenty minutes earlier and have a bowl of cereal, stop buying food that you already have at home.

Here are just a few ways to save ten dollars any week. There are many more ways you can save. Know of some and want to share? Please do!

Tomato’s are key ingredients for many foods in your house from salsa to pasta sauce, being able to cook with your own home grown tomato’s will provide the best tasting option, also, it is cheaper and healthier for you!

Here is how you can grow your own tomato plant from seed:

First of all, if you are very new to gardening, I would recommend buying a tomato plant from a nursery and skip the seed part. This will allow you to harvest and learn how to grow on a developed plant. As you get more experienced, then go from seed. Remember, it’s all about learning. Don’t bite off too much in the beginning, allow yourself time to mature in your living a more self sufficient lifestyle.

If you do go from seed, pick up your seeds and keep reading. You will need to start them out in a peat pot and transplant them once they have three leaves or more on each. They require a sunny location and the soil should always remain moist. Keep them away from the cold.

Once they have matured and they have three leaves, move them into a larger pot planting the peat pod into the soil. Provide the soil feed or fertilizer and water often as tomatoes like to be well watered. Like any plant, you will want to watch your tomatoes for bugs and treat accordingly. Remember, you will eat these tomatos later on. When choosing a treatment for bugs, always remember that!

The stems of the plants will eventually get weighed down by the weight of the plant. To help, use either a cage or drive a steak into the soil to help support the plants weight.

As you can tell tomatos are easy to grow. The best part is that you can grow your own tomatos in a pot or in a bed which means anyone living anywhere can grow them. All you need is seed, peat pods, water and fertilizer. Eventually a larger pot or garden bed, and treatment for bugs as needed.

Keep the soil moist and in a sunny location. Eventually your plants will show you why it was worth the effort.

People need to remove the idea that unless you have a full blown farm you shouldn’t bother to try and be self sufficient. Sure, without some land you will not be able to raise cattle, pigs and other livestock, but there is so much more you COULD do even in an apartment.

Look in your kitchen. Open your refrigerator, freezer and cupboards. I bet you there are at least 10 things in there you can make on your own if you just tried. Don’t believe me? Well, do you have ketchup? Salsa? Bread? Any bread product for that matter? Pasta? Jam? Peanut butter? The list I am talking about are common day to day things you will find in almost everyone’s house. You paid for them, now learn how to do it yourself and become a little more self sufficient.

The more land you have, the more you can bite off. If you have a patio, have a potted garden. If you have some land, grow vegetables. This can go from having chickens, to livestock and on and on. It is a scalable thing, not all or nothing. Go in your kitchen and find one thing you want to make on your own and do it!

Nothing beats homemade jam and it’s one of the most common things most people use. The best thing is, anyone can make their own strawberry jam. It’s easy! Save yourself some money, some calories and spend some quality time with the family and go make some jam! It doesn’t take all day, just a few hours.

First thing you will need is the strawberries. Ideally you have the ability to grow them at home, but if you don’t go to a farmers market and pick up some. Worst case, go to the grocery store and buy them there. Again, you don’t have to do everything, do what you can, anything you can cut out is better for you in the long run.

Take about six cups of strawberries. Remove the hulls and wash them thoroughly. From there, they need to be mashed up. I use my food processor to blend them up until they are nice and mashed.

From here, you need to blend with your other ingredients, sugar and pectin in a sauce pan. Usually it’s about 6 cups of sugar and the amount of pectin depends on the type you bought so be sure to read the directions on the box.

Now time to heat it up. Turn the stove to medium heat and be sure to stir often. After about five to ten minutes the mix should be boiling. After you have made sure everything has stirred in well and has been at a boil for atleast five minutes, remove the sauce pan from heat.

Use a ladle and remove the foam from the top. It is not needed. Now, test the mixture with a spoon. Does it seem thick enough? Is it the right texture? If not, no worries, put it back on the stove and boil it for another minute or two and retest.

Once you are happy, let it sit for five minutes and then you’re done! Congrats, you have made your own strawberry jam. Homemade strawberry jam is not only great tasting at home, but a nice gift for friends!

This also goes great if you make your own peanut butter!

The more money people make, the more they would prefer to pay someone to do something for them rather then get their hands dirty themselves. On a whole, we have become very dependent on our neighbors in order to complete very basic functions in society. This, however, has come at a cost.

Every time someone does something for you, you overpay as you could have done it yourself and save the labor costs. Every time someone else prepares your food they could be using ingredients that have various preservatives harmful to your health. Every time someone else prepares your meal so you can relax at home in front of the television, you just got unhealthier.

Life is not that fast. We have the time and the ability to do many things on our own. Sure, there are something we depend on others for, especially those of us living in a city whom do have the ability to own land for various things. But every single thing you can do, do it and the goal of this site will be to teach you how!