What would you do differently?

[protus]

a place like this to come to and learn and talk about all things -- not just tinfoil 2 days from now talk---- real talk.

imho that is what seperates this place from almost 98% of the forums out there.
We are all a good mix of new,old and intermediate survivalist,preppers,homesteaders and folks with the "be prepared" mindset. It is a healthy balance.
which plays into this Ops topic.
a good balance is key from the start. It is a hard line to walk, and imho we all go in spurts or for example the tide.
some months,years we swell and gain ground,,others we fall back and work with what we have.
Like by some before the "net" or forums like we see the last 5-7 years, you had to self teach or already know folks in the " know".
Information wasnt that easy to come by, like it is today. But, like already posted there is so much " info " now that it can get out of hand at times with some of the crazy stuff you read.

[rice paddy daddy]

I think my biggest mistake was not converting to solar power years ago. I let the initial cost scare me into not doing it. Now we just don't have the money, and being debt free and very close to living on social insecurity I refuse to take out any loans.

[Bama]

The other issue I have and regret is financial. After a bad divorce and child support ( while still raising my kids, but that is another story). I fought my way back to nearly debt free, when I heard about what was left of my greatgrandfathers farm about to go on the market. I jumped on it . I have no regrets about the purchase, but it is hard having to manage this place on a shoestring budget. I have mentioned looking to our past on several ocasions because I find myself doing it everyday. I " shop " in my old barn, in the old dump site or around the property for materials instead of at lowes. It has taught me diffrent ways to build and plan projects, and how best to use what is availible to you. This past few years has given me a newfound respect for our forefathers and the troubles they faced daily. Good old grit and determination coupled with a little ingenuity can accomplish alot. It is what our great country was founded on. Most would be suprised at how well things can be "repurposed "to fit ones needs.

[RVN11B]

Risking sounding sarcastic here, I am going to say something in all seriousness.
If I could do things all over again, step one would have been to never, EVER, marry my first wife. No joke! That 'person' has done more to try and destroy me than any other enemy ever has.

I lost years and I don't know how many thousands of dollars in trying to deal with her insanity. Once, however, I managed to get away from her garbage it has been a hard climb to where I am now.

Got my own country place, my horses, my guns, and my damned freedom.

It just took me ten years longer than I am happy with.

[rockriver]

a great thread.

differently...
lots of things.
1 area relates to my location improvement. i tried to move out of the city for a long time.
nothing "came together"
finally realized i may have to stay where we were.
so we went to work on that house. water filters. planted fruit trees. grape vines. dug out a secure room by hand under the house. tools. tractor, even though the lot was in a subdivision.
i should have started those improvements years before. i should have started prepping right where i was, instead of spending years dreaming of what i would do "when i found a little homestead"

[Benn Gleck]

Knowing what I know now I would have purchased my BOL years before. Our plan was to wait till our daughter graduated high school and started college before buying, then sell our current house thats paid off to build on our land. Now if we sell we won't make near as much as we would have in 2007.

We have a crappy trailer that is already there but would really like to build something more suited to our needs.

Hind sight. ;)

[Maid Marion]

No doubt I would have spent more time in the kitchen canning with my mother then outside doing carpentry and hunting with my dad. A balance of the two would have been better. Its nice to be a jack of all trades but being a master of almost none has its definate drawbacks. We started to seriously prep four years ago and only then realized we had been doing some of it anyway for quite a while before. My better half (the x died) is really good with electricity, plumbing and several other things to include many types of self defense, even though he is a semi city guy. I'm a gardener, hunter, food storage, rough carpenter and fishing person (yes I can tie flies). It is my wish we had started sooner with the LTS foods. There just seems to be some comfort in knowing it will last 20+ years. We moved from a 98 acre farm in the woods of Maine to very rural log cabin in New Hampshire and even we were surprised by the things we had accumulated. Got the water covered, lights and heat covered and would like to build a smoke house. Time to update that master list. Dad is long gone and mom's ashes are sitting up on the mantle place. Sure wish I could pick their brains some more. Maybe its time to go volunteer visiting some of the nursing homes. This forum has a ton of great information and I am thankful for being able to be part of it.

[ssonb]

I would have listened to my Dad when he showed me 22 acres of land on a paved road with a well and power and axcess to county water with an old farm house on the front side, All for the smashing sum of 17,500 dollars!! I was so into building cars that I could not see the literal forest for the trees. I still kick myself for that, As a BOL it was and is almost perfect.