[chriso]

Can you make some sort of living with a smallholding or do you do it just to live a cheaper/better life style?

[Rosemary]

The latter at the moment, although we might make an income from our new place, albeit a modest one.

[JulieS]

I would say it has to be a mixture of the both and it really helps to have a another income too.

[chriso]

The reason I ask this is that I have a full time job now and hardly manage to put money away and if I was to take on a smallholding it would probably cost twice as much as my mortgage now, I'm just trying to justify how I would be able to afford it.

[Hilarysmum]

IMHO dont even consider it.  What will start as a wonderful experience will quickly deteriorate in to a 24/7 nightmare.  Worry about income, trying to hold down 2 jobs to pay the mortgage, and any "spare" time to be used on keeping the holding going.  Animals, vet bills, feed etc will become a nightmare.  Its happened here a few times, seeing poor devils weighed down almost to sucide before finally shooting their animals and upping sticks. Its not easy to spend your last 5 euros on pig food when the fridge is empty and the electricity is about to be cut off.  Not that it cant be done, but you do need to have a reasonable income over and above mortgage repayments, and to be absolutely blooming marvellous with making £1  stretch to do the work of £10.     

[HappyHippy]

I'm afraid I've got to agree with HM
If you had a large holding (maybe over 15 acres) and a niche market you might manage to make enough profit to live, but you'd have to dedicate LOTS of time to it - a real struggle if you were working full time.
I do it because I enjoy it, but I'm never going to get rich doing it (financially anyway) it's a great way of life and very rewarding - though ask me in the depths of a cold, wet, muddy winter and you'd probably get a different answer 

[plumseverywhere]

We only have 3 acres and currently keep chickens (for our own eggs and to sell at farm gate which pays for the hen feed/sundries and leaves a small profit). we have newly aquired 4 goats - I am milking one of these as 3 of my 4 children are cows milk intollerant and we will probalby make a small saving on goats milk.  eventually hope to make goats milk soap and cheese.
we have an orchard of 70 plum trees which we use to make preserves and wine (this is a great saving as hubby and I can put away quite a bit of wine!!) and its good for gifts - bottle of wine and pot of jam.
none of this would be possible if I still worked full time or even part time. I am home with the animals and one toddler all day. we also breed lion lop rabbits and guinea pigs which means that a few times a year i take a nice round figure from a friend who owns a pet shop and pays for the stock from me.
we are lucky not to have a huge mortgage, hubby works for a farm union so i have access to a fair amount of support info - wise.
i feel that the profit of my current life style isn't financial but physical and psychological. I call my home 'natures prozac' because I've never felt so well!!

[bamford6]

we have a small farm rented . i do rare breeds sheep and fowl the feed bill for the last six months is just over 3000i havent made a penney since november the shopin 150 a week on top gas etc spent 2 hundred thousand in 3 yeres sheds stock living money all gone .we should off made money this yere but very bad winter and this week very cold for lambing snow on monday tuesday .i start at 6 till 5 or nine o clock .spent christmas digging snow out the fields .think on for a hard time

[chriso]

Thanks everyone for the honest opinions this is exactly what I was looking for.

[doganjo]

I think the solution is partnerships. 
1. One partner works full time, the other manages the smallholding
2. Both partners work part time, both mange teh smallholding.
3.  It could work with families too, so long as there is the equivalent of a full wage coming in to cover their needs
4.  It could work with a  group of friends if they could live together or if there were two home units on the land - such as a cottage and a residential caravan.

[bazzais]

Just a better lifestyle in general.

It does also depend on the size of the smallholding and what your going to do with it.

Plan carefully and have a backup of cash, your effectively buying into running a business and your going to need someone on the yard full time if your going to be keeping animals.

In general farming is long hours, hard work and expensive to start. People who are born into it have had a long time to work out how to get support from government subsidies, diversifying there business and economising there outgoings.  IMO its generally the case that people who move into owning smallholdings do have to have the capital to take it on as a hobby at first and not have to earn a living from it.

Ta

Baz

[Snoopy]

I believe it is a lifestyle choice - and old habits are hard to break.

I went from living in the rat race earning 70,000 per annum seventeen years ago - to living in rural Ireland with no income for three years.

The learning curve and spending cuts were huge, and I missed shopping and eating out, I was earning more some months than my friends
earned in a year, travelling the world and buying great clothes - now I live in wellies and jeans, hardly ever eat out, cannot afford expensive
clothes and shoes, but am much happier.

I live outdoors, in the fresh air, we have lots of animals and hobbies, and more than anything we have time.  We are not tied to the
clock - which is brilliant.  Most days if we want to do nothing we can - if we want to go to the beach for lunch we can, if we want
to take three days off - we can.  Freedom, quality of life, and quality of food are much more important than clothes, holidays, eating out and
having the latest this or that.
The main advantage is, if its a sunny day, we can take off and enjoy it - whilst others are stuck in their 9-5 mon-fri, we are free to use
our time to our own advantage.  We often are making sauasages at midnight so that we can spend a day in the sun with our daughter and the dogs.

In my opinion money is not the issue, it is quality of life and freedom, and if you believe it will work - it will - we have achieved so much on our
journey into making the life change that we did.  Do not go into it in debt though, we lived in a mobile home to be mortgage free, now we own a farm shop a butchery and a log cabin, and still have an old house to renovate, and still have no mortgage.  Believe in the dream and make it come true

[sabrina]

I work part time my OH has a full time job so running the place is up to me. As we only have 5 acres there is no way we could give up work but it does allow us to have most of our own meat, pork and lamb, eggs and veg. I love our way of life, does not leave much time for anything like visiting but we find our friends enjoy coming to us.

[plumseverywhere]

I think last night things finally hit home for hubby that our lifestyle might not be what he wanted. now the goats are here he said to me" well we are totally tied now aren't we" and we ended up with a bit of a row. I'm happy but he is obviously not so.  talk things through before making any life changing decisions I think.  I am a bit miffed because I kept trying to talk to my OH about goats etc but he's never much for lengthy discussion, once we had them (and he did build the shed and come with me to collect them so was involved really!) he's now wobbly.
friends keep saying how lucky we are to 'live the dream' with our own fruit veg and animals but obviously not both of us are feeling that happy 

[Dangermouse]

Im not sure if I can class myself as a smallholder or not to be honest...I have some odd plans for my land

I am going to be keeping some sheep....goats and hopefully some Alpaca is funds allow

Im a pretty large scale reptile amd rodent keeper which will be a majour part of my income but not your standard farmy type animules I guess

I think in the currant market the secret must be to diverseify (not sure how to spell that?)