Top three common traits of people who live self sufficient

Kevin Quinlan — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:00:41 +0000

More people are taking the idea of living self sufficiently seriously and trying to take a hard look at their own lifestyles and improve upon it. People who live self sufficient tend to follow a similar set of guidelines and discipline to their lives in order to balance the demands of living in a society against the desire to live on their own and without a dependency upon a neighbor.

Here are three common traits of people who live self sufficient:

Interested in gardening: The reason I need to put this on the list is that no matter where you live, you can grow something that will take you one step closer to living a self sufficient life. People who live self sufficient tend to grow their own crops and use them in their own cooking.

Never wastes anything: Everything can be used and those people who want to live self sufficiently know how to make the most of everything. Garbage goes to the compost, electrical items are turned off and unplugged if not used, anything that cannot be reused goes to the recycle bin so that someone else can reuse it.

Is not lazy: Living self sufficiently means instead of paying someone to do something for you, you are going to do it yourself. This means you cannot be lazy but very active. You could have animals that need to be attended, crops that need to be cared for and random chores around the house to take care of.

People who live self sufficiently have a desire to do things themselves. Self sufficiency is very much a mindset and a way of life. What common traits have you noticed in the people who live self sufficient that you know?

How to build a self sufficient house starting with power – Part 1

Kevin Quinlan — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:00:57 +0000

Creating a self sufficient house serves two purposes. The first is that a self sufficient house will lower monthly bills and expenses and the second is that it helps the environment by conserving energy, lowering consumption of resources and making the most of what nature provides rather then what is manmade.

The first step on the journey to building a self sufficient house is lowering your consumption of energy. If your goal is to generate energy on your property through devices like solar or wind you need to take a hard look at how you are currently using the energy in your house and lower it greatly.

Here is a checklist of things you can do as the first step towards building a self sufficient house:

Replace all light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Fluorescent light bulbs use less energy and will lower your over use of energy.

Install zones in your house for your heat and air conditioning. This will allow you to control where you spend the most time in your house and only heat those areas. Why heat rooms you don’t use? All it does it waste energy. Conserve your use and it will lower your bills.

Turn off all unused electrical appliances and get in the habit of unplugging anything and everything possible. Some electrical items still pull power when plugged in for example a coffee maker or microwave. Only use the power you need.

The last step to getting your house ready to be a more self sufficient house is to take a look at all of your appliances and ensure that they are energy efficient. If not, consider replacing them. New appliances can pay for themselves in the energy they do not burn within a one year period.

If you have a goal to create a self sufficient house then start now by cutting your dependency on large amounts of energy and work to lower your consumption.

Part two on how to build a self sufficient house is continued here.

Live Self Sufficient » live self sufficiently

Top three common traits of people who live self sufficient

How to build a self sufficient house starting with power – Part 1