"Trailersteading" Makes Beginning Homesteading Easier

1969 Detroiter Mobile Home with addition

"Trailersteading" is a new term, I believed coined by Anna Hess in her "Modern Simplicity" series.When most people start turning the idea around in their head to get into homesteading, they picture a large acreage with a farm house and a barn. Sounds great doesn't it? Large acreage sounds good to me too, but it also means a high purchase price and high taxes. Especially in the state I live in! New York state. I remember back in 1971, when my parents purchased their trailer. They put it on my grandmother's land, and after a dispute caused by my mother's brother, they moved it. I think that was in 1975 or a year later. 

The trailer and addition now

My mother found a 1.66 acre piece of land on a main road. Not too far to Binghamton, NY, so she could easily get to and from work. At first my father did not want it. He was a hunter and wanted more land. But my mother worked on him, because she wanted badly to move from my grandmother's land. So they bought it and had a well and septic put in. Eventually my father added a three car garage and wired electric into it, so he could use lights and tools in it. Then he added a shed with an underground root cellar that also housed the water pump. Over the years, my father covered the trailer with wood, then painted it to match the garage and shed. He added a chimney for a wood stove, that he later changed to a kerosene space heater. 

Trailersteading: Voluntary Simplicity In A Mobile Home (Modern Simplicity)

I recently bought this book, Trailersteading by Anna Hess, from the Kindle store on Amazon. It is amazing! It opened my eyes to the possibilities. There are more than a few "want-to-be" homesteaders, who already live in a trailer and are trying desperately to get out of it. But they don't have to! You can easily homestead in a trailer with no mortgage payment and fix it up to suit your lifestyle. Learn how to fire proof it, so you aren't worried about a fire in it. Install a wood stove to cut your heating cost. Add insulation to the thin walls, then change the windows and doors over to energy efficient ones. 

Keep your property clean and neat!

Most of the older mobile homes will need a roof update. That is usually the norm. I know on my parents' trailer that is the first thing that needs to be done. Along with updating with a new septic tank. An addition of energy star appliances is a good idea too. The important thing is that if you still want to build a house, you can live on your land while you do so. Or instead of spending that money on building, update and upgrade the mobile home. Then you can concentrate on the other aspects of homesteading. Such as gardens and livestock (if you plan on having livestock, I do not). It may be what is called "downsizing," but in this economy, it may help you to have your own homestead. When others are losing their homes due to high mortgages and losing their jobs, you will not be affected so much. I know it sounds like a good idea to me! 

FTC Disclosure Policy

Even though I am an Amazon affiliate, the eBook on this post is  one that I have purchased myself and used. In no way is my post made up about this eBook. Amazon did not ask me write this post about their eBooks. I buy from them and read the eBooks and post my honest opinion to help my readers.

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole