r/SelfSufficiency

I’m 46 and have for the majority of my life been stressed out not knowing if I’m gonna have my job in five years what’s gonna happen? I’m sure everybody on this this community knows how that is. I have five kids three adults two little and I’m so sorry for bringing them into this world and that sounds so bad. I don’t want them to struggle and I’m at the point where if I can’t live life on my terms, I don’t wanna live anymore. I’m hoping there’s somebody anybody out there. Who can point me in the right direction I’m about to lose my job of 12 and I don’t wanna work for anybody anymore. I’m tired of that stress just the stress that comes with having a job. I have a good 401(k) that I’m willing to cash out on and I’m gonna get a really good severance package from this job and I’m just trying to find people like me who wanna maybe get some land somewhere secluded away and start building and live and really live live on my own terms there’s anybody out there please, God bless

I learned how to ride on a Jincheng motorcycle, and looking back, that decision shaped a lot more than just my riding skills. My dad got it for me because it was affordable and beginner friendly, or at least that’s how he explained it. He said it was a good place to start before touching anything expensive or powerful.

What he didn’t mention was that learning on that motorcycle would also mean learning how to fix things. I had my fair share of minor accidents. Nothing serious, but enough to bend a lever, loosen something, or knock a part out of place. Most times, fixing it fell on me. If I wanted to ride again, I had to figure it out. That’s how I slowly learned basic repairs, troubleshooting, and patience.

For a long time, my dad didn’t interfere. I assumed he didn’t care much since he said it was affordable. That illusion shattered one day when he finally snapped and told me I could learn riding techniques on YouTube instead of risking my life through trial and error.

I later checked Alibaba to see what he spent on purchasing the Jincheng motorcycle. That’s when I realized affordable didn’t mean cheap because it cost him a great deal.

That particular bike taught me a whole lot. Every mistake cost me time and effort. And every fix made me better, not just as a rider, but as someone willing to learn the hard way when necessary.

I’m looking for a bit of a reality check here. For a while now I’ve been seeing people talk about using scythes for mowing larger areas and making it sound very doable. The idea of using a quiet tool and not relying on machines is appealing to me.But at the same time I’m not sure if this is something that works well in practice or if it just sounds good when people talk about it. I’ve seen different scythe setups and designs discussed, even comparisons that include ones similar to what’s mentioned across online , and it made me realize there’s more to it than I thought. I don’t want to invest in something that ends up sitting unused after a few tries.If you’ve used a scythe for regular mowing, how realistic is it to keep up with it over time. Is it something you stick with or something people try and drop later?

Hi everyone! I’m starting to prepare my beds for this season. I have a ground garden approximately 30ft by 40ft. for the last few years I have dealt with horrible noxious weeds that get out of control and I end up giving up on my garden and it really upsets me. I think I’ve been my own worst enemy by tilling it every year.

This year I plan to put down cardboard in all of my pathways and cover with sawdust from our sawmill, so free for us. It’s untreated. I then plan to add some compost to my rows and making them slightly taller then the pathways through. I know weeds will still grow, but if I can limit them in my pathways to make things more manageable I feel as though that will help me tremendously so I can focus on other tasks around the farm. Thoughts?

I stumbled across this book after seeing it mentioned in a thread about long term blackouts. What made me actually take an interested in it was the fact that it’s written by a Venezuelan surgeon who had to keep treating patients after their healthcare system basically stopped functioning.

She wasn’t experimenting or theorizing. She was actively working in hospitals with no meds, no reliable electricity, and empty pharmacies. The book is a collection of the workarounds and protocols they developed just to keep people alive.

It covers everything from how to recognize a heart attack or stroke without machines, to what medications are still safe past expiration, to how they handled infections when antibiotics were scarce. A lot of it is stuff most of us have never had to think about because we assume help is always available.

I found it interesting not in a fear based way, but in a “this is what real-world medicine looks like when systems fail” way. It’s honestly more grounding than dramatic.

Posting here in case anyone else is interested in that kind of real, experience based knowledge rather than worst case hypotheticals. Definitely the most unique books I've read in the past few years. survivalhealthmanual.com is where I had to buy it because the author sells direct to consumer instead of through Amazon or other retailors.

Hello, not sure if 13F yo are allowed to post but sorry I just need help, throwaway bc people are mean and creepy. Anyways I'm 4'9 my mom about 4'6-4'8 and dad 5'2-5'4. I want to be tall but genetics. How do I get taller by exercise or eating?

Anything specifically I should eat? And how much should I exercise? My doctor said I'm not growing anymore since I already hit my growth spurt (I think). Any tips? Like habits, eating, and exercise?

No DM's please! And don't be a creep on my age. Thank you! Edit : my bad guys the title is supposed to be how do I get taller

One thing I’ve been realizing in my 20s is how easy it is to fall into a cycle where every day becomes about optimizing somethingCareer growth, studying, routines, networking, fitness goals, side hustles, constant self-improvement etc

After a point my brain starts feeling weirdly overstimulated even though technically I’m being “productive”Lately I’ve been trying to intentionally break that cycle in small ways. Going outside more, learning random things, talking to people outside my usual environment, spending less time consuming algorithm-driven contentStrangely enough, even random conversations( this is my favourite time)with completely different kinds of people online sometimes feel more mentally refreshing than endlessly scrolling curated feeds

I think a lot of us underestimate how mentally repetitive modern life becomes without noticing

Curious how other people here avoid feeling mentally trapped in the same productivity/work/study cycle all the time ?

P.S. I have been using Vooz to chat with random strangers and it's fun . Love it

We are getting about 25 chicks soon. We have a 2-stall barn (about 2,000 sq ft total) plus a tack room. We were thinking of blocking off a stall or 2, putting roosting poles in there, and using the tack room for nesting boxes. We can block off the rest of the barn. They can get from stalls to tack room easily. We have power & water. We would use mesh wiring to try to keep predators out. Is this a better idea than making a separate chicken coop? We plan to free range and will make a run if that doesn’t work. Right now we have no other animals, may add goats down the road.