Computers Are An Important Part Of Homesteading!

No Rules For Homesteading Anywhere You Want To!

One thing I see time and time again on homesteading forums and magazines is the question, "how can you be homesteaders if you are using a computer?" Okay, I can come back with, "how can you be a homesteader if you are using a motor vehicle, a refrigerator, paying an electric bill or buying food from the grocery store?" What I have said right from the start is, "there are NO rules to be a homesteader!" You can live anywhere and do whatever you want. If you want to be or consider yourself a homesteader, than you are one. Yes, the idea situation would be no bills from electric or fuel companies. All your food comes from your land as in gardens and livestock. But even back in the day, they still bought flour and sugar and other supplies.

I have been working on a fictional book from a blog I started as just fun. And since it takes place in the 1830s, I have had to learn and do research about the things they used and how they lived. Our house was built back in 1850, and I could see how they used the root cellar and pantry in connection with each other to store food. They just learned to do what needed to be done. Our house had much more land with it back then. And in fact, was known as the old Tucker farm. According to the old deeds we have, there was also a sawmill on the property and we know there was a big barn. Nothing is left of either now. All over in the state land around us are old foundations. We could see it was a thriving community at one time.

Once a bustling community.......now gone.

Now it is all hunting camps, our neighbor up the road and us. I like it that way, but I like to imagine all the bustling of the surrounding area in those days. I have researched my area and have read how the people sort of forced the Indians out of the area. Not for any reason except they were afraid of them and thought of them as savages, not as people. Across the road from us and through the woods, you come to the creek as it comes around a bend and there is the ruins of an old mill. It is a beautiful setting. If I had my choice, that is where I would have built a house. With no road to it. It would have been a nice setting to live this life in.

Modern Technology For Modern Homesteaders

Anyway, in answer to the question about using a computer......well, I am a modern homesteader. I like technology. I like using computers and mine are powered by my solar system. They go hand in hand. If you have to drive to a library to use the internet or borrow a book, you are wasting time away from your homestead. I find that I have more friends into homesteading than I would ever personally know in my area. Lots of farmers, but that is not the same. Books and magazine are outdated the day they are published and for sale. The internet is constant. New information and new contacts by the minute.I can run a home based business because of my computers and internet and never leave my homestead to do it. I can check what is wrong with my horse or chicken by going to Google or Homesteading Today to ask someone. It is a whole new world out there just waiting for us! Every day when we fire up our solar system and turn on the laptops we have the entire world before us. Sometimes, I have sales that came in while we were sleeping........now that is definitely, modern homesteading! 

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Making A Home Based Business Work

Rain clouds passing through my world.

I have been busy working this week on adding items for sale to my Bonanza booth. Did you remember I was selling on Bonanzle? Here is the post I wrote about it, Selling On Bonanzle. Well, they have officially changed their name to Bonanza. Things are happening there and I can feel the excitement! The sales have been slow coming, but they are coming. I just had one last night for a book I had just listed. One thing I learned from selling in my eBay store, was that the more you list, the more sales you get. That is what got me motivated to start listing this week. The sky's the limit.........but you limit yourself if you don't do anything.

katlupe's booth

One of the first things you must do if you want to have a home based business is to set up your business right from the start. That means with all the proper business licenses, state and federal tax filings, business bank account, payment module for your website if you are selling online, business plan, marketing plan, business goals, business calendar and a proper place for your inventory. It can be mind boggling, but is all important to the operation, of even the smallest home based business.

Working from home enables me to spend the time through out the day working on the websites while I am also doing chores around our homestead. Today being a rainy day, means I probably won't be outside, so working in my kitchen a bit this morning. I take a break and sit at the computer, and then get back to whatever job I was doing online. It is nice to be able to work on two things at once. I like to have my evenings free to read aloud to my husband, something we do nightly.

Sometimes you need to take a look at how you can improve your financial state. See if there is some way you can add more income to your home. Selling off things you already own is a good way to get rid of your excess of years of accumulating. Or if you are talented in some area, like sewing, knitting, crocheting, wood work, art work, etc. then you can make your own items to sell. The actual web work is fun after you know what you are doing. You can take online courses for computers and web design, or take them at a local community college. Or as my husband did, teach yourself by buying computer books and work as you learn.

You can often work with your spouse as a partner and that makes it even more fun. I like looking for items to sell as that means we usually take a ride to an antique, book or thrift shops and go out to breakfast. That makes a nice day for us as a couple and also gets us away from home and the computer work for a day. I love listing the items on my sites and try to make them user friendly to my customers. It is work, but is working for yourself, not having someone else telling you what to do. And that makes a big difference! Is there something you are thinking of selling? Is there a homebased business inside of your head? It doesn't cost anything to list on Bonanza until you sell. It doesn't cost anything to open your booth there. And it is so easy to do. The sky is the limit! But don't limit yourself by not doing anything. 

Have a great week-end!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Social Media On The Homestead

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

Social Media has become very important to me for my business. I am networking with people in all walks of life. Not just friends and families. Being in business means networking with potential customers as well as other business owners. Where do you find them when you live out in the middle of thousands of acres of state forest? Not around the corner that is for sure! The towns around us are not big cities. They are your classic small towns. I love them, visit them often, and shop there too. But for business contacts and customers, my aim is the internet.

Myspace was the first one I was on. It was new and I learned a lot there. I can't say I haven't enjoyed being on there and networking with many people. Most of my connections there are Christian related. I have a page there for my business too, String Baby. Now those friends are mostly musicians or music industry related. Those are my potential customers. If you are in a different business, you can most certainly find your niche there if you search your keywords.

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

When I finally went to  FaceBook, I loved it! The fact that I was able to reconnect with all my old friends, especially in Florida was awesome. I went to school in Crescent City, FL and Flagler Beach, FL. I never in a million years thought, I would be friends with those people again. It has been great talking with them, seeing their photos and their children's photos and hearing about their lives. I have also connected with my friends from Homesteading Today  and it gives you a more personal relationship than the Homesteading Today site does. I think that is because you control the conversations and can eliminate the friends who put you down, or boss you around or make people afraid to post anything. Those people are blocked from my page immediately. We talk about all our homesteading activities and ask each other questions and encourage each other.

I am also friends with people I have met through The Blog Frog. I love that site! You can start your own community there if you wish, that is connected with your blog. I haven't done that and don't plan on it. I do not have enough hours in the day as it is. I belong to several communities there, and there are two I think homesteaders would like. One being the Homestead Revival and the other is the Frugal Living community. There are many others and I am sure you could find one to suit your personal preferences or blog.

The one I spend the most of my time on is Redhead Riter Community. I have met many online friends in that community and sincerely enjoy them, their posts and blogs. We are a community for sure. The Redhead Riter is outstanding as business woman who knows her stuff. She knows how to network and promote within the blogging community. Her blog gets a lot of traffic and is an excellent blog to read and source of information. Everyone should check her blog out and you will see what I mean.

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

On LinkedIn you can network with lots of business people who are sharing their information. I have spent a good part of my morning reading articles written by a very impressive man. I plan on implementing some of his information into my business as soon as possible. Some of it is exactly what I have been working on presently and that showed me that I was on the right track.

I also sell on Bonanzle but have written about that on this post, Selling On Bonanzle. And through that site I have become a member of Treasure Sellers Unite Network. They are an awesome network for online sellers,  who sell on eBay, Etsy, Bonanzle and others. So if you network among other sellers and everyone purchases from their networking friends we should all make a good living online. What do you think about that?

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Organizing The Modern Homestead

Elderberry plants earlier this month

This blogging network is huge. There are so many communities to join to network now that I can hardly keep up with it. Since I blog, I belong to more than a few. Then there are the networks I joined that are for people who sell online like on eBay or Bonanzle. After that of course, is Facebook, which my networks there are many: homesteaders, solar people, plant people, natural medicine people, classmates and friends from Crescent City, Fl, Flagler Beach, Fl and Harpursville,NY, business networks, on and on.........you get the idea. I also belong to a few homesteading forums, a herbal forum, myspace, linkedin, and some others. I haven't been finding the time to go to some of them much lately.

One of the things that is keeping me busy is trying to update my eBooks so I can put them for sale on Amazon's Kindle. I am updating by adding a lot more information and took all the photos out. The photos take up too much space and I think people would rather have more written information.

See the modern homestead lifestyle includes having to make a living also. So you are working almost constantly. I think organization is the key to that too. I am working on the automating of the homestead as well as my business life. Trying to make our life simple and easy. Working at home means when it is time to harvest a crop from your garden you can take the time to spend a few days doing that. You are not forced to go to a job and wish you were at home canning your vegetables. I know that feeling.

The 4-Hour Workweek Blog

Tim Ferriss's book, The 4-Hour Workweek has many suggestions for changing your life to allow for all those things you have been wanting to do without necessarily becoming Donald Trump to do it. I had bought his book a few months back and then got busy and didn't start implementing those things into my life. Now I am re-reading it and studying the things I can do to improve our life here on our homestead. He has many tips for  not wasting time. His book and website gives you the idea of how you can live with the freedom of working only four hours a week to generate your income. And spend your time achieving your dreams! Now who wouldn't want to do that?

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Combining The Homestead & Business Lifestyle

 Georgie Girl, the boss mare

We had a frost last night so it is a good thing I did not try to get my plants in the ground yet. Our days have been cool but sunny. We have our big wood stove going, but keep it pretty much banked back during the day. I hate to use the kerosene heater since that fuel costs us money. This type of weather is tricky because it is not freezing cold during the day and at night it is cold enough to wear warm clothing and use warm snuggly blankets. So you have to have some kind of heat. So our big wood stove can be overkill at times but banked back has been doing a good job. I hate it when the house is cold and everything you touch is cold.

We have a variety of jobs that need to be done on a regular basis out here. Working on my business takes up a good share of my time. I am trying to develop some sort of a schedule. But I get up and there is always something else needs to be done than what I had written on my list to done first. I try to organize myself better but things get in the way. I have been really trying to get rid of all my clutter. I have things I have not used or even looked at in years. So these things need to go!

Since I need to work on the computer for my business daily, I have to take breaks from my household chores and sit down and work a little here. Then I go back to the household jobs. Today I am working on organizing cookbooks in my kitchen. My husband finished the shelf he had made for my cookbooks by adding molding and varnishing it yesterday. So today I am able to put the cookbooks back where they belong. While I do that, I will weed out any that I do not use anymore.

A sample of strings I have for sale

I sell guitar strings online on two websites. One is String Baby and the other one is my original site Larry Gene Music that I put up in 2002. Boy, we have come along way from there! This morning we got up to an international sale on our website. I am so happy to be getting more international sales. A couple of weeks ago we got one from a repeat customer from Paris and today a new customer from Japan. There is a whole international market out there for anyone with an online business. You just have to learn how to handle these sales so they are profitable to your business, but affordable for your international customers. The shipping is what stops most sellers from selling to them. And it also stops the foreign would be customers from buying if your shipping costs are too high. We worked on it to come up with a happy medium so that the shipping cost are not out of sight for the customers.

If you are trying to live independently, the most important part of it is to be able to do all the chores involved. It is pretty hard to do all the gardening and food preserving and fence fixing while having to work on your business or at a job. I get behind all the time, yet I am here at home all day. When I worked out at a regular job it was a nightmare. Could not get anything done here. What I am trying to do in my quest for organizing and automating my home, life and business is to make everything much easier. Automatic!

Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole

Making A Living From Home - It's Possible!

Working from home enables me to live this homesteading lifestyle. I try to combine both jobs every day. When I get up and have my coffee I check my computer for sales and questions and my emails. Then it's on to some of the basic chores around here. I used to go outside in the morning and help my husband with the morning horse chores which includes bringing in our water for the day. Since my legs have gotten too painful for those chores, he now goes outside and does those chores alone. Some mornings I can hardly walk. Working at home though means that I can still do my job instead of having to go somewhere or call in sick every week.

When I first started my online business it was with every intention of selling my husband's music cd, Classic Fantasy, a soft rock cd. But before we got very far with that project he was injured in a work related accident. His right elbow was crushed and you know that puts a dent in a guitar player's career. So I started selling used items we had around here on eBay and then started buying used things at local thrift shops, garage sales and other places. I sold quite a bit and even opened my own eBay store. Then eBay started not being able to handle the load of so many people selling so many products that everyone started selling for as low as possible. So that makes it not a very productive way to make a living. It has even hurt people who sell antiques and other products off eBay in their own brick and mortar stores. Made everything lose it's value.

I tried selling homemade crafts such as crocheted items. People do not want to pay for those type of items. They would rather buy baby sweaters and doll clothes manufactured in China or India. Then I tried the dropship life. Oh my goodness, what a joke that is. You do not know when you list something for sale if they will still have it in stock when it sells. That is why you see listings with sellers saying "this item was in stock when it was listed and items do go out of stock.................."

Many times I would get questions from potential buyers that I could not answer as I did not have the product here and could not look at it. I would send the dropshipper company the question and they would never answer as most of the time they were getting it dropshipped from someone else too! What a mess that was. Plus there were dropship fees and shipping fees that were usually where the dropshipper made his profit. A few dropshippers would say they were sending it UPS and then send it cheaper through the mail, but charged me for UPS. So what do I tell a customer who paid for UPS shipping?

Since my husband is a musician and a guitar player, it only seemed natural to find a product to sell that would reflect that. I became a distributor for Curt Mangan® FusionMatched® guitar strings. He produces a premium string with sonic clarity with none others even coming close in comparison. They are strings that create a tone that is purely perfect manufactured completely, 100% in the U.S.A. Combined with U.S.A. workermanship to produce strings with exacting core-to-wrap ratios and tolerances. When my husband put them on his guitar for the first time he liked them alot. Then he played at our church and everyone noticed and for other people to notice the difference is unheard of! So we were sold on them. He would never use another kind now.

If anyone would be interested in buying them from me please go to my site at:

http://www.larrylupole.com/catalog

I sell them with FREE SHIPPING to all U.S. buyers. I have all kinds, electric guitar, classical guitar, mandolin, banjo, acoustic, etc. So please keep me in mind if you need guitar strings or are buying some for someone else. Great Christmas stocking stuffers!

So we have settled into a nice quiet life here. Working on the computer listing products or answering questions and shipping our products while we are able to be home all day. Of course, what most people do not realize is that if you are working at home, you probably work longer than eight hour days. I do not keep track of my hours. I do so many household chores while working and then during the summer I was also gardening, harvesting and canning.

Have a good sunday......it's sunny here this morning which means I have power coming into my house......how much is coming into yours?????

katlupe

"Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness shall go before Him and shall make his footsteps a way in which to walk." Psalm 85:12-13

Closed My Ebay Store Just In Time!!!!!

I was right! A few days ago, I closed my eBay store, Lupole's Peaceful Forest. It made me a little sad, but I felt it was the right move. eBay is struggling to stay on top, and in the process they are stepping on us little people (sellers). What they may have forgotton is, who do they think is on ebay all day long working on their little stores? The store sellers, that's who. Who do they think are their buyers? The same sellers of course! But they forgot that. My days of buying on eBay has been over for awhile now. I like to buy books on Amazon, as the shipping costs are so much less. I belong to the Paperback Swap at http://www.paperbackswap.com and I get my books for free there.  You will get 3 free credits as soon as you list 9 books, which you can use immediately!

The best thing to do if you are looking for a home business is to find a product that is easy to package and store. So your inventory won't take up much room. You can store it in your house and print your labels from your computer, package it up and put it in your mailbox. It is best to concentrate on one product in the beginning and then branch out from there as you have some success with the first one. You can add related products that go with the first one. One other thing to do is to find a product that is needed repeatedly by a consumer group. Something that goes with a bigger product or that is needed more than one time. Like people who sell vitamins know that if you like them and need them you will purchase them over and over.

Be sure to purchase all your packaging supplies in bulk. That is the best way to get them for the least amount of money. I have bought mine for a few years now from big packaging sellers on eBay. Only thing is the seller will be a big powerseller then all of a sudden..............they are gone. What happens to them? And why? Seems as if they were selling huge supplies to the other sellers on eBay as well as others. That has happened to my suppliers three times now! I cannot understand it.

Hopefully, I will do okay on my own on my site. Just need to put all my efforts in it and it should take off. I will try to get back tomorrow to post here but will be busy working on developing my business. Have a great day!

Selling On eBay

Peaceful Forest Homestead 1999

People seem to be so interested in the fact that I sell on eBay and in fact, have my own store there. I am surprised that not many people I know sell online. Most people I know are buyers. Everybody says that they don't know how to sell there. Yet eBay makes it so easy! I started out by having my girlfriend sell a menu I had from Windows On The World Restaurant (the restaurant at the top of The World Trade Center). I used to go there with my first husband and for some reason I had saved my menu. It was signed by the captain who was there that night. My friend sold it on eBay for ninety dollars - not bad for something I had packed away in a trunk. Now someone who really wanted it has it. I have some cash!

The store fees are not that bad. Especially when you are running a store that has a world wide market. Where else could you open a store in one day? Maybe even have a sale that same day? By using PayPal I can take credit cards or e-checks. Don't have to have a merchant account for that. I love it!

My husband says "it's like a paycheck every day." Well not always. There will be days with no sales and then all of a sudden I will get four or five right together. The stuff I have been selling so far is just things I already have in my house. When that is all gone I plan on going to garage sales, thrift shops, etc. to get more items. You kind of discover what sells as you do it. Sometimes a certain item is hot for a while then it dies down.

Do not buy a book on how to make lots of money on eBay! Just go to the discussion boards on eBay and lurk around for a while. If you have questions that is where to get the answers. I have learned most everything I know from the knowledgeable sellers on the stores boards. I would add too that they are also the nicest people. Some of the boards treat you as if you are an escaped convict!

Copyright © 2005 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2005 Kathleen G. Lupole

Updated 2024

Copyright © 2005  Kathleen G. Lupole

Self Sufficiency On Our Homestead

Yesterday, I discussed my feelings on money with you. I don't want you to think I am against making money. I am not. Afterall, I have a website that is #1 on Google and Yahoo and most other important search engines. The difference is that I do live pretty simply compared to most to other people. I don't need all those extras.

I generate my own electricity, I heat and cook with wood, I grow most of my own vegetables and within the next year hopefully - my own fruits too, I bake my own baked goods, such as bread, cakes, cookies, crackers, etc., I wash my clothes by hand and hang to dry, I hope to be raising my own chickens for eggs soon and a cow for milk and dairy products. Hopefully, in the next couple of years, I will have a hybrid vehicle and a electric lawn mower sooner. Plus, I make a living on my computer without having to drive anywhere everyday.

So if you do all that, wouldn't you think your families would just mind their own business and not be concerned that you own three of the most beautiful horses you've ever seen? No! I guess some people have just got to interfere with whatever someone else is doing. Some members of our family just harp and harp on us all the time about getting rid of our girls. They think it's too much work, too much money, if they happen to come to our house (rarely) there is horseflys around or the manure stinks. All I say is that they can just stay home and not come here. This homestead is run completely for the comfort of our three horses, four cats and one dog!

One of the things I have come to realize is that whatever you do, it never pleases your families. I make sure to go out of my way to not be that way toward my son. He dresses and lives a way that I would never have chosen for him. But it's what he chose. And I will never say a thing against it or to him. He is an adult and when I am lucky enough to see him I don't want to spend that time fighting or arguing with him. It's a time to be treasured.

It's a pretty hot day here in New York so I think I might want to get outside a bit and cool off.

I"ll talk to you tomorrow.

Copyright © 2005  Kathleen G. Lupole