For many of us, the weekend is our time of freedom. Sure we have small amounts of time during the week to cook, exercise, spend time with loved ones, and relax. But Friday night through Sunday night is our time to really get things done.
Use the weekend wisely and you will be well on your way to personal sovereignty. Use it poorly and you are at least one more week behind your goals.
There are only four situations that I can condone the use of debt:
It is very difficult to just show up and pay cash for a home, especially as a first-time buyer. However, you do not want to be over leveraged and end up underwater with the loan if housing prices ever take a dive. I recommend the 20% downpayment, or at least enough to be sure that you do not have to buy mortgage insurance. Also, be sure that you could handle a raise in interest rates if you intend to take a variable rate mortgage.
I highly recommend that you listen to podcasts whenever you doing something that allows you to. Turn your daily commute into ‘Drivetime University’, listen while cooking or doing dishes, and definitely turn your workouts into podcast time. With time, you will learn which podcast tends to be best for what activity.
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You can only learn so much from YouTube, movies, video games, and websites. This is especially true when it comes to firearms. When learning to fire guns and rifles, nothing can replace experience and professional instruction. Putting rounds downrange with your own finger on the trigger is the best way to learn – then supplement with books, online courses, and even quality YouTube Channels.
This past weekend I decided to head off to the indoor shooting range in our city. This gave me the opportunity to get familiar with and try out various handguns, shotguns, and even some carbines. Whether you are just getting started with shooting and aren’t sure it’s for you, or maybe you are just trying to decide between a few different weapons for your next purchase – a trip to a gun range is likely the right move for you. Continue reading
I grew up on a farm in the country, spending my early summers in the bush or by the creek: building forts and catching frogs, snakes, or crayfish. Later, when I was a bit older, I spent a lot of time working in the garden, doing chores with the chickens & livestock, throwing hay bales, and working on our machinery and vehicles. This is how I spent my youth up until I was 19 and went away to university.
One of the most patriotic things you can do is reducing your taxes. Yes I mean that – let me explain: This prevents the tax revenue from growing as fast and helps to prevent the various governments from getting as much of a taste of your money as possible. Because once they taste it they will never let it go, and will deploy this money into more wasteful programs. Wasteful spending can’t grow as fast if the tax base doesn’t. See, I like my logic.
Political contributions are a decent way to reduce your taxes. But of course you do have to have a particular political party that you support and it is real money that you are giving.
I have some more research to do on this topic, but it appears that you can contribute a few hundred dollars each year and receive a decent tax credit.
Some links that I have used for research:
This is a page to bookmark as I share my favourite permaculture videos on here.
Mostly for my own use to be able to summarize and save videos that I have liked.
You’re welcome to comment, share, or even send me videos that you have liked.
I recently purchased the book The Backyard Homestead by Carlene Madigan (ISBN-10 1603421386 / ISBN-13 978-1603421386). I found it to be a great introduction on the various fruits, nuts, vegetables, animals, and other items that you can have yourself; even in your urban backyard. This is a great book to keep around for getting ideas for next year’s garden, figuring out how to preserve your harvest, and even giving me some ideas on how to incorporate animals into your food sovereignty plan.
Also, if any friends, family members, or spouses are reluctant to explore producing their own food, this is a great book to leave laying around for them the possibly pickup. Covering most topics that a backyard homesteader may want to research, this book does make things seem quite simple and accessible to most people.
As a Canadian who is interested in personal sovereignty, you may be someone who votes for the Conservative Party by default. I suggest you rethink that because they stand just as much for the expansion of government as the Liberals and socialist NDPs. But perhaps with a bit more of an elitist and corporatist flavour than the other two.
For the fourth time during his tenure, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has prorogued the federal parliament. This time, it was to prevent having to answer questions over senate expense account scandals. This scandal involves inappropriate expense account claims by Mac Harb, Mike Duffy, Patrick Brazeau, and most recently Pamela Wallin. The short version of the story is that these senators expensed hefty travel charges for activities that were unrelated to the Senate. We’re not talking $5000 here; some of the figures I’ve seen thrown around are of the $100,000 order. Just more examples of government misspending our money. Thankfully, it is a continued topic of debate whether the Senate is still relevant and worth the cost, or if it should be abolished.
Knowledge, experience, and attitude are the most valuable assets you can have when it comes to being self sufficient. However, owning some equipment or stocking up on some supplies can speed up the process and makes things a lot more enjoyable for you.
This list is a live document and I will make additions from time to time.
Here are some good lists of equipment, tools, and other supplies that I have found online:
Intermediate Information on a Basic Tool Kit Part 1 / Tool Kit Part 2