[reedos]

Last year I started to rent a 2.6 acre field near my home to see whether the dream of having land. animals and growing stuff could become reality. I now have 2 goats, raised and sold 3 pigs, got umpteen birds and am growing stuff. It has started well I think.

The other side of this 2 edged sword is that in getting this far it has made me realise how incredibly unhappy I am at work and how much i want to change my life completely.

I don't have a huge amount of capital behind me and like everybody else I have financial obligations which tie me, which brings me to where I'm going.

How many of you have managed to make the dream a way of life, how did you manage it. Can you make a living from a smallholding or for the time being at least until there's a lottery win do I just have to keep dreaming and put up with work

[MrsJ]

We're still working (at paid jobs) as well as keeping the animals.  I think we would have to make the change very slowly, perhaps going part time first, but we'll probably be retired before that happens!  I'd look for a different job if I were you.  Maybe you could find something you enjoy that pays a little less, and make up the difference with the smallholding?

[chrismahon]

We are in the same boat, like most people we want to start the 'good life' but have neither sufficient land now nor sufficient income to buy larger and pay the mortgage on it. So we are retiring early, buying in France and living like peasants. When we get to 66 we can draw our state pensions, which will effectively double our income. Hopefully by then we will be established and need only to maintain stuff and will have enough money to employ people to do the work we will be too old to do. That's the plan anyway.

[Fleecewife]

I think that unless you have a private income    or loads stashed away  , you really do have to have a job.  Making a living from smallholding is a far less attainable dream than having a smallholding and working to support it.  When we began we were both working full time, then I gave up work once our children left home.  Now we are just starting out as pensioners and we'll see how we go with that, but we have no mortgage and only ourselves to support, and we can choose just how we live.  We need some sort of income to pay the electricity bill, buy toilet paper and detergent, pay the rates, empty the septic tank, run the vehicles, those sorts of things.

When I was still working I found that because I knew I was going home to such a wonderful place, I could put up with whatever work threw my way.
Is it possible to change your job?  If not, can you identify just what it is about the job that you are unhappy about?  Is it the job itself or just having to work?  Is it the people at work?  If you can sort out the problems then life at work will be easier and you can enjoy your land and animals, without even having to think about work.

[smithycraft]

When we bought our smallholding we had both given up our well paid jobs and were running a small internet business.  We sold in the south and bought outright up north so we have no mortgage.

Our business was completely portable so we continue to run it now and it brings in a basic income which keeps us going and just about supports our lifestyle and animals.

We would love to have more money to invest in the place but would rather live our lives with only a few bob in our pockets than back out there in the rat race.

Personally I think it's difficult to make a smallholding pay for itself although I'm sure it can be done if you hit on the right business in the right area.

[Mel Rice]

We came over to eastern Germany and bought cheaply with savings (a small matured endowment) We put the procedes of our large house sale into another very cheap house which we let out as a small income stream. The first year or so was tight but then my OH's works pension kicked in at 55. which made life comfortable. I too get my work pension this year (possitivly rich!!!, no not that much...total income just over ten thousand!). We were lucky that we could opt for a reduced pension at 55 rather than wait.

We dont realy earn from our plot. Egg sales contribute to feed costs and vegie honesty box pays for next years seeds but we do OK and only working for us and to our own timetable is FAB.