Off grid electricity systems
Rain water harvesting
Composting toilets
Principles of Permaculture
Building your home
Developing income streams
Budget planer
Frugal shopping
Growing your food
Keeping chickens
Homestead
maintenance
Carbon offsetting
Heating
Composting
Grey-water re-cycling
Swap shop
Favor Bank
Rain water harvesting
Composting toilets
Principles of Permaculture
Building your home
Developing income streams
Budget planer
Frugal shopping
Growing your food
Keeping chickens
Homestead
maintenance
Carbon offsetting
Heating
Composting
Grey-water re-cycling
Swap shop
Favor Bank
No Bills, Carbon neutral, Organic food, Free-range eggs, Free heat, Free water, No waste No stress, No debt.
If this sounds like your dream, come and visit us. We live it every day, and we can help you to do it too!
If this sounds like your dream, come and visit us. We live it every day, and we can help you to do it too!
Last year we ran our Homestead -
Food, Electricity Gas, Heat, Car, Phones, ....Everything
- For 8,500 Euro!
Food, Electricity Gas, Heat, Car, Phones, ....Everything
- For 8,500 Euro!
To find out what our courses are all about visit The Experience page.
Covering:
The Homestead Experience
©2009 www.thehomesteadexperience.com
Residential Homesteading Courses in Malaga, Spain Tel: 00 34 651082731
Residential Homesteading Courses in Malaga, Spain Tel: 00 34 651082731
Downshifting
Not as simple a concept as slowing your car!
While the basic meaning of Downshifting is, “changing the way you live your life”, the reasons behind the decision to downshift, and the actual changes made, are as varied as the people who do it.
Some of the reasons I frequently hear are:
“I'm tired of working long hours and never having time for my family and myself”
“I have always dreamed of being a …….. and if I don't do it now I fear it will be too late.”
“I've had enough of making money for other people. It's time to do it for myself.”
“Why shouldn't my hobby - which is the only thing I really enjoy- become my job? I will need to be more frugal and clear my debts, but it will be worth it.”
“I'm sick of the rat race, always hurrying just to stay in the same place. I want to simplify my life and really enjoy it.”
“My job is not secure, my mortgage is huge, it costs a fortune to live here and I am up to my eyes in debt. I want less stress and more control over my life.”
“New taxes, new laws, suspicion, restrictions, consumerism, waste, criminal politicians, repression of personal freedoms, a total reliance on big business, a profit driven society, I want to go back to a time when individuals relied on themselves to provide for their families. A time when we had real freedom to live our own lives without big brother or the nanny state trying to make us all perfect little tax payers!.”
“I am being made redundant; everything I have worked for is at risk. I want a future that allows me to keep what is important to me regardless of what happens to my work.”
“I am sick of being held to ransom by greedy banks, businesses and politicians who have no regard for real people. I want to vote for change in a way they will eventually have to listen to - by using my money to only support things I really believe in. I want to start trading skills and products ,re-using, repairing, re-cycling, using only cash, and supporting only local suppliers. In this way, I can avoid giving them money. If you hit them in the pocket, they will have to change or fail.”
“I want to really make a difference to the planet. The way I see it - the biggest contribution I can make, is to be the steward of a piece of land, and ensure that everything that I do is in harmony with nature.”
“I have always wanted to build my dream home. A place that reflects who I am and that will allow me to develop over the years.”
“I want to live in the sun. Wake up every morning and walk on my own land. If I wait until I retire, I might not be fit or well enough to enjoy it. I want to do it now.”
“I worry about my children. I have bought everything for them. They are growing up not aware that they can do so much for themselves. What sort of adults will they become - will they have to call an electrician to change a plug? Will they be able to cope if there are food shortages or energy becomes too expensive to heat their home? I think a life that revolves around self sufficiency and self reliance, will do more to prepare them for real life and an uncertain future, than giving them everything and educating them to be credit junkies.”
“There is only one way to be sure that everything we eat, drink and use is not harming the environment or us, and that is to grow, collect and make it ourselves. I am going totally green.”
“The kids are grown up and don't need us as much. It's time do what we have always wanted.”
“We are about to retire, and the other day we realised that spending all day in this house, on this street, in this city, is not how we want to spend our retirement! We want a nice place by the sea, somewhere warm, where we can pursue our own pastimes. A place for the grandkids to come visit.”
“I have the house paid off, but my retirement fund is not going to pay me nearly what it was supposed to. I want to sell up, and buy somewhere cheaper, and use the money left over to generate extra income.”
“This is my life, and I want to; “ work to live,” not, live to work. To hell with the Joneses, I don't need all this stuff to be happy.”
It really doesn't matter why you want to downshift, what matters is that you have a clear idea of where you want to end up, and have a plan and the skills, to get you there.
We decided we wanted a simple life that we could support on a very small amount of money, and we now live in a way that makes the credit crunch something that other people talk about.
Our energy costs went up a little for a while, but we covered this by adding an extra second-hand battery to our system, giving us more time without the generator. We also reorganised our driving to do more things on each trip. Problem solved for €20, and a little forward planning. we were back to the same fuel bill.
The increase in food prices is irrelevant, as we grow most of it ourselves and trade for the rest.
The income from one of our sources dropped a little, but we just added a Sunday morning market to our rota and covered the loss.
We don't use credit cards, and have no direct debits or mortgage, so we are not “crunched”.
We cannot be made redundant, fired, or have our benefits cut. Our home cannot be repossessed and we keep our joint income low enough to be tax exempt.
In the last three years, we have only used professional services once. We used a mechanic, because it was more expensive to buy the tool for the job, then it was to have him do it!
Downshifting for us is; no one telling us what to do, when or how to do it, and no dependence on others that if withdrawn, would make our lives less manageable.
For you it may mean something different, but the mechanics of planning and implementing the changes will always be the same. On our courses, we spend as much time with you as you need, in order to really evaluate the changes you want to make, and to design a plan that suits your present circumstances and future aspirations.
This is not a theoretical exercise for us; we have been through the process, and know where the pitfalls are, and where your focus needs to be.
Downshifting need not require that you move house, change job, or eat nettles, it can just be about reducing the stressors in your life and exploring new ways of doing things. What it is always about, is making your life - your property, to live at a pace that suits you.
Most people who toy with the idea of Downshifting and never make the move, are worried that the shift will require skills that they don't have, or that when they shift they will not be able to cope.
Just because you have been in the same job all your life or because you left school early, does not mean that you have no marketable skills, or, that you cant learn new ones. Before you make the mistake of not pursuing your dream, talk to us. We have tools that will allow you to look at the problem in a new light, and possibly find the solution that you may have missed.
As for not being able to cope with your new life - you have already changed it once, just do it again!
Not as simple a concept as slowing your car!
While the basic meaning of Downshifting is, “changing the way you live your life”, the reasons behind the decision to downshift, and the actual changes made, are as varied as the people who do it.
Some of the reasons I frequently hear are:
“I'm tired of working long hours and never having time for my family and myself”
“I have always dreamed of being a …….. and if I don't do it now I fear it will be too late.”
“I've had enough of making money for other people. It's time to do it for myself.”
“Why shouldn't my hobby - which is the only thing I really enjoy- become my job? I will need to be more frugal and clear my debts, but it will be worth it.”
“I'm sick of the rat race, always hurrying just to stay in the same place. I want to simplify my life and really enjoy it.”
“My job is not secure, my mortgage is huge, it costs a fortune to live here and I am up to my eyes in debt. I want less stress and more control over my life.”
“New taxes, new laws, suspicion, restrictions, consumerism, waste, criminal politicians, repression of personal freedoms, a total reliance on big business, a profit driven society, I want to go back to a time when individuals relied on themselves to provide for their families. A time when we had real freedom to live our own lives without big brother or the nanny state trying to make us all perfect little tax payers!.”
“I am being made redundant; everything I have worked for is at risk. I want a future that allows me to keep what is important to me regardless of what happens to my work.”
“I am sick of being held to ransom by greedy banks, businesses and politicians who have no regard for real people. I want to vote for change in a way they will eventually have to listen to - by using my money to only support things I really believe in. I want to start trading skills and products ,re-using, repairing, re-cycling, using only cash, and supporting only local suppliers. In this way, I can avoid giving them money. If you hit them in the pocket, they will have to change or fail.”
“I want to really make a difference to the planet. The way I see it - the biggest contribution I can make, is to be the steward of a piece of land, and ensure that everything that I do is in harmony with nature.”
“I have always wanted to build my dream home. A place that reflects who I am and that will allow me to develop over the years.”
“I want to live in the sun. Wake up every morning and walk on my own land. If I wait until I retire, I might not be fit or well enough to enjoy it. I want to do it now.”
“I worry about my children. I have bought everything for them. They are growing up not aware that they can do so much for themselves. What sort of adults will they become - will they have to call an electrician to change a plug? Will they be able to cope if there are food shortages or energy becomes too expensive to heat their home? I think a life that revolves around self sufficiency and self reliance, will do more to prepare them for real life and an uncertain future, than giving them everything and educating them to be credit junkies.”
“There is only one way to be sure that everything we eat, drink and use is not harming the environment or us, and that is to grow, collect and make it ourselves. I am going totally green.”
“The kids are grown up and don't need us as much. It's time do what we have always wanted.”
“We are about to retire, and the other day we realised that spending all day in this house, on this street, in this city, is not how we want to spend our retirement! We want a nice place by the sea, somewhere warm, where we can pursue our own pastimes. A place for the grandkids to come visit.”
“I have the house paid off, but my retirement fund is not going to pay me nearly what it was supposed to. I want to sell up, and buy somewhere cheaper, and use the money left over to generate extra income.”
“This is my life, and I want to; “ work to live,” not, live to work. To hell with the Joneses, I don't need all this stuff to be happy.”
It really doesn't matter why you want to downshift, what matters is that you have a clear idea of where you want to end up, and have a plan and the skills, to get you there.
We decided we wanted a simple life that we could support on a very small amount of money, and we now live in a way that makes the credit crunch something that other people talk about.
Our energy costs went up a little for a while, but we covered this by adding an extra second-hand battery to our system, giving us more time without the generator. We also reorganised our driving to do more things on each trip. Problem solved for €20, and a little forward planning. we were back to the same fuel bill.
The increase in food prices is irrelevant, as we grow most of it ourselves and trade for the rest.
The income from one of our sources dropped a little, but we just added a Sunday morning market to our rota and covered the loss.
We don't use credit cards, and have no direct debits or mortgage, so we are not “crunched”.
We cannot be made redundant, fired, or have our benefits cut. Our home cannot be repossessed and we keep our joint income low enough to be tax exempt.
In the last three years, we have only used professional services once. We used a mechanic, because it was more expensive to buy the tool for the job, then it was to have him do it!
Downshifting for us is; no one telling us what to do, when or how to do it, and no dependence on others that if withdrawn, would make our lives less manageable.
For you it may mean something different, but the mechanics of planning and implementing the changes will always be the same. On our courses, we spend as much time with you as you need, in order to really evaluate the changes you want to make, and to design a plan that suits your present circumstances and future aspirations.
This is not a theoretical exercise for us; we have been through the process, and know where the pitfalls are, and where your focus needs to be.
Downshifting need not require that you move house, change job, or eat nettles, it can just be about reducing the stressors in your life and exploring new ways of doing things. What it is always about, is making your life - your property, to live at a pace that suits you.
Most people who toy with the idea of Downshifting and never make the move, are worried that the shift will require skills that they don't have, or that when they shift they will not be able to cope.
Just because you have been in the same job all your life or because you left school early, does not mean that you have no marketable skills, or, that you cant learn new ones. Before you make the mistake of not pursuing your dream, talk to us. We have tools that will allow you to look at the problem in a new light, and possibly find the solution that you may have missed.
As for not being able to cope with your new life - you have already changed it once, just do it again!
Time to be together!
A Residential, Self Reliance, Downshifting, & Permaculture Course
Try before you buy, into it! 3 day residential courses.
The outdoor life
Post & Beam
Rain water harvesting
Double click to edit
Build an eco home
Build an off grid system
Let some light in!
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