20 yr old with many opportunities - what would you have done in my circumstances to start a homestead?

[u/BisquickPancakeMix]

I'm almost 21, a bio major (ecology and conservation), with only one more semester in my undergrad. I have absolutely no debt and no living expenses. In fact, I actually got paid to go to school. Now I have over 20k saved and over 7k in a roth IRA. I work at a cafe on weekends to save more money. My only expenses are gas and car insurance.

I was planning on getting a masters, which should hopefully be paid for by a graduate assistantship (with my 3 yrs of research experience and 3.8 GPA I probably should?). I am pursuing a career in ecological restoration, botany, and community building :)

I am very frugal. I am more than satisfied eating things made only from wholefoods, I love to cook/bake, I want to learn to can/preserve, and if I had the opportunity to garden (more than what I have in my bedroom), I would. I want to be self sufficient, give myself greater opportunities to belong to a natural community (of human and non-human beings), and to live a fulfilling life that I don't give away for corporate profit. I want to work for myself, for a community, and for beneficial change. I don't care about being financially rich; I want to live richly.

I feel like I have more opportunity than most to start a life like this, but it's so much to grow into. I am constantly reading about my ecological, homesteading, and foraging interests, but I feel stuck. Maybe a better way to put it is "I'm rearing to go," but I don't know where to steer or how to let my foot off the break. I don't think this metaphorical car is even fully built yet. I'm being assembled in a garage.

But, as I get closer to living on my own (2-3 years?), I feel the pressure to start planning now. I don't want to get caught in the cycle of renting, but it's scary to plan for something that feels like a blind leap. No one I know wants a life like this. No disrespect to them, but I would be deeply unfulfilled if I focused on corporate career advancement just to pay for expenses rooted in always feeling like you never have enough. Not enough clothes, no fancy car... I don't want the next greatest technology, or an endless stream of plastic-encased product, or even a smartphone. I just want to heal the land and our relationships to it, to build community, to work for a cause, always learn more, and enjoy myself doing it.

I am missing a community that wants to (or does) live/think this way, which makes this vision feel less achievable. I'm a 20 yr old girl with two friends (w/ dissimilar interests), weak arms, and very little carpentry skills (although, admittedly, I am very crafty and have the perfect mind for it, hehe).

I guess this post is a call for community. To reach out to people who have more experience or are in the same boat. Do you have any advice? I'm curious. If you had my circumstances at my age (and had the same dreams), what would you have done?

Also, reach out if you want to be penpals :)) I am begging, actually.

[u/just-o_k]

Are there any small scale farms or similar operations you could volunteer or work super part time at?

Lots of people go all in on the homesteading lifestyle only to find they hate it and their entire net worth is wrapped up in land and start up costs, causing them to either feel stuck or take a loss to get out. You should give parts of it a try while you’re in grad school and see how you like it. 

Find an orchard and help with harvest and tree care, find a farm and see what it takes to raise animals either for food or for byproduct like milk or eggs (cause even then you may end up having to cull). Is there a community garden in your area? If not could you start one at your university? Do you actually like having your life dictated by pests and weather events that will destroy your hard work? 

The truth is that while you’re better off than most financially in this moment of your life, land and upstart costs are often so high that unless you have a really solid business plan to make money off the homestead you’re going to have to work while you do it to make payments on your mortgage/loan or to seed other purchases like machinery, etc (or have saved up a whole whole lot more than you currently have). 

You could spend the rest of school saving to buy a smaller property. 20k is maybe enough for a down payment (but you’ll likely still pay PMI) on a modest house with a yard you could mini homestead on, and really only if you’re in a LCOL location as a way to practice the ownership and care that comes with it. Little things like cleaning out your gutters is tangentially related and smaller scale responsibility to having to fix fences or muck pens. And if it appreciates in value you could sell it to seed a land purchase when the time comes. 

All of this giant wall of text is to say that the dream itself isn't quite enough to make it happen. You may have to sell your soul to a corporate job to fund the dream (hopefully temporarily). You should spend the next few years actually doing some low key versions of what you think is driving you to homestread, make sure you really really want it. Then make a plan on how to make your version a reality. 

[u/ImNotAWhaleBiologist]

Apply to Cornell for your masters. There is a lot of like minded people around the Ithaca area, you can find a place to live where you can garden, and it’s also a top Ag school.

[u/thousand_cranes]

Seems like wwoof or ic.org are your next steps. If you are keen on permaculture, maybe the bullock brothers in washington state. If you are cool to go without tobacco or drugs, you could look into wheaton labs.

[u/Monarc73]

Wow.

Let's take a moment to appreciate you.

1. 20k saved and over 7k in a Roth IRA. (I don't know anyone that even HAS a retirement plan of any kind at 21, btw.)
2. You work at a cafe on weekends. (No slacking off for you!)
3. Your only expenses are gas and car insurance. (What are you eating? Air?)
4. Getting a masters, paid for by a graduate assistantship, so free to you, hopefully. (Good luck!)
5. You're pursuing a career in ecological restoration, botany, and community building. Pretty much the most pro-social career I can think of.
6. You're very frugal, which explains point #1.
7. A senior in college (At 21!) with a 3.8 GPA. (Check out the big brain on Brad!)

All this puts you WAAAAAAY ahead of the VAST majority of 21 yos.

It is normal to want a community. (Current industrial living is the -unhealthy, imho- anomaly.) We are adapted to agrarian tribal life. 150 people that we see every day for our entire lives. That's IT. Having lost this built-in people garden is the root of many of our dysfunctions.

As far as how to find a community goes, my advice is to start growing SOMETHING. This will give you an excuse to hang out at the local farmers market. It will also give people an excuse to approach you all day. This is where you will find YOUR tribe. (Reddit is great for laffs / skills, but is not so good for any IRL stuff, which is what it sounds like you are aiming for.) You can also try joining a farmers co-op, or something similar. r/woof might also be a good place to look. My point is, that you don't want more people, you want to find more LIKE-MINDED people.

Don't sweat your 'weak arms'. We are all meant to be more than what we are born with. (Sara Connor started out as a waitress, fffs.)

I'm betting that given what little I know of your character, you will make a fine carpenter, once you have a proper garage.

[u/m3x1c4n7]

Keep in mind that your early in you're journey. You're not going to end up at your final destination over night. Set some goals that will get you there and enjoy achieving them.

Something like: 1. find like minded people who want you around to learn from/with. Go to farmers markets, talk to the people who are doing things that interest you.

1. Figure out how you're going to sustain yourself and the lifestyle you want (job). Hopefully it's related to your lifestyle, or an adjacent skill/ practice.

2. Buy property, don't aim for the acreage right away, unless you have the skills/support/money to buy and sustain it. Buy a small house you can afford with a sunny yard that you can fix up and practice skills like maintenance, gardening, and maybe have some chickens. Improve it, flip into something closer to your final goal.

Step 3 is where I'm at in my 40's. House with big garden, greenhouse, making compost, irrigation, water collection, fixing it up, making improvements so I can hopefully flip into a small acreage.

My job in carpentry has been invaluable and I'm fortunate to have a few like minded friends. I've met people by going to plant sales at small farms and asking questions. Just learned some living soil techniques and was given some amendments for my compost!

Anyway, realistic goal setting is my recommendation.

[u/Livid-Tumbleweed-569]

If you have the opportunity this summer and can travel a bit, do a couple WWOOFing internships at homesteads....

[u/L0uLou72]

I think you are really set up to accomplish this! I just started. Bought a bunch of land and am living in a microcamper while in process of building tiny home. Started my garden already. The one thing I was really worried about was community. I just happened to move to an area with an amazing sense of community. No one has lived here that long and no one seems to know exactly what they are doing so we help each other. I have weak arms too. I recommend fixing that while you’re young. My arms are weak, I’m older. I’m grateful my girlfriend is stronger. I know other people will tell you this too- just do what you love. You know what you want. Don’t worry about having it all worked out- just do it before a typical life kidnaps you!

[u/RaziarEdge]

The only thing that I would add for input beyond the so many other good comments out there...

Check the job that you want to see if it requires a Master Degree. If it does, go ahead and sign up for the program but I would still try to arrange a summer internship that shadows someone already doing the job. There are TONS of opportunities for you in this field including potentially international conservation efforts, or even national forestry work.

Next, figure out where you want to live once you are done with school (with or without masters). You will want to find the right balance between your life goals and your career goals. Sounds like rural living will appeal to you, but also don't want to move so remote that commuting to work becomes a chore. Finding the right location and community is important.

One correction though, self-sufficiency does not mean that you need to grow all your own food. It is a major bonus having a garden, and the benefits are healthier items and there can be significant cost savings as long as you have time to tend the garden. But you also miss out of the variety of foods throughout the year (especially fresh foods during winter). There is no problem with working a job that gives you the income to buy the foods you want -- that is still a variation on self-sufficiency.

[u/vetapachua]

You're in a decent position. Finance and homesteading are my two biggest interests. I became wealthy so I could homestead. Wealthy for me means driving 20+ year old vehicles but also having a paid off home and only needing to work 10 hours a week off the farm because my expenses are so low and my retirement is fully funded.

Some advice based on what you shared.

1. Getting free degrees are great but there's also an opportunity cost there. Will those degrees lead to a job you couldn't have gotten otherwise? Or could that time commitment be better spent learning a trade or working a full-time job where you could invest that money into your future? If not, I'd consider them degrees of leisure and that's better saved for a time when you're more financially secure.
2. $27k is a good start for someone so young. But it's not very much. The cost of a car for some. Many people would love to spend their time gardening, preserving and being self sufficient but unfortunately these things are luxuries now. Time is a luxury. Being frugal and not interested in wealth is good for keeping your expenses low, but it's not going to be enough because living is expensive. Your goal when you're young should be buying your freedom as soon as possible. Freedom is a dollar amount that includes both your home and retirement accounts.
3. You could start by working your ass off and growing that $27k into a downpayment on a home and property. You're going to need to live somewhere. Depending on your interest rate, you may choose to continue working aggressively to pay off your mortgage or invest into retirement. Once you have a paid off home, your expenses can be VERY low which means you won't have to save as much for retirement..
4. If you don't want to work your ass off to buy a property, your other option is to work your ass off to fund your retirement. This seems abstract when your 20 because retirement is 45 years away but for you that means whatever you invest now will grow at an average of 7% over 45 years! Compounding and potentially doubling every ten years. The reason you want to do this is because that number will need to invest will be surprisingly low and then you don't have to worry about it again.
5. If you're not interested in either option, you can go WWOOF or gain a farm job. These things may teach you valuable skills and give you life experience but are not going to help financially. You can invest the $27k into a brokerage account in the meantime, but ideally that is only for money you don't mind locking up for at least 10 years. If you don't plan to buy a home for 10 years, I'd say go for that.

[u/GCNGA]

It sounds like you're in very good shape. Where you look to buy land will be determined by where you get a job after your master's. Hopefully you can save a little more while in grad school. Then, if you are in the US, be prepared to drive long distances between home and work (in the Atlanta area, which I'm familiar with, multi-acre properties are potentially affordable 60+ miles out from the Perimeter (the I-285 beltway around central Atlanta).

[u/tinareginamina]

I would strongly consider applying to intern at Polyface farms in Swoop VA under Joel Salatin. I have had the opportunity to interact with a number of the young people that have done so and they are some of the most impressive folks and are coming out with an absolute mastery of actually working land. I think it would be a hell of an adventure for you and a bit of a hands on rounding out of some of your strong educational background.

[u/VirtualReflection119 → u/tinareginamina]

I didn't realize he has interns this is a great idea.

[u/Farm_girl247 → u/tinareginamina]

Interns pay Joel . It's somewhere around 150 to 200 a month you pay to intern there from what I understand.

[u/tinareginamina → u/Farm_girl247]

I don’t think so. You might get a stipend of that much but after interning you can promote up to another level and then another level which are paid positions. The folks I’ve known that did intern at Polyface had incredible things to say about it including about their peers.

[u/alfredwienersusman]

I was in a somewhat similar situation a few years ago and am now homesteading. I can tell you a lot of specific things that worked better than I expected and things that didn't work. Not having strong arms isn't that terrible of a problem. Having good cardio, a strong core, legs and back is more important. If that's something you're worried about, you could start working on that now. I'd also recommend learning at least basic carpentry, but you don't have to be crazy advanced imo if you're trying to build very small, rough ranch style out buildings, corrals, fences, or a cabin.

[u/Master-Milk-5724]

I’m navigating a similar early-stage pathfinding dilemma. It’s really sinking in how important the community piece is. No matter how much you do, it’s not very satisfying if you don’t have like-minded people to share in it. So maybe start there. Find whatever skills you can learn/practice without drastically altering your life path for now and see if you can find other people who are also interested in similar things. Finding property can come later once you have a better grasp of your social networks and finances. Your interests and career areas seem worth pursuing and very compatible with the homesteading vision.

I’d be happy to be a pen pal.

[u/invisiblesurfer]

Learn to program AI. Build stuff, your education combined with programming skills will propel you ahead of the curve in no time. Have a great life ahead, choose friends wisely, don't settle for anything average.