More Than Just Surviving

  • Survival
  • Prepping
  • Gear
  • Reviews
    • Knives
    • Multi-Tools
    • Apparel
    • Other Gear
  • EDC
  • Topics
  • Forum

10 More Self-Sufficiency Skills That Can Save You a Killing

October 17, 2016 By Elise Xavier | Updated: February 19, 2017 1 Comment

A couple years ago, we shared 10 self-sufficiency skills with you, that over time, would save you a bundle if you used them regularly. Well we’re back with some more of these, as of course there are plenty of great self-sufficiency skills that you can learn to help reduce your monthly outgoings. Chances are, even if you’ve only learned 3-4 items on this list, if you put them to good use, you’ll be saving yourself a considerable amount of cash in any given year. Learn all of them and you’re well on your way to slashing your expenses.

survivalist blog survival self sufficiency skills that save money prepper savings

Self-Sufficiency Skills That Can Save You a Lot Over Time

1. Basic First Aid

You could end up saving yourself, your family, and your friends a lot more than the cost of a hospital visit having taught yourself how to do basic first aid: you may even end up saving them a lot of pain and preventing infections from taking place in cases where you happen to be in remote locations that are difficult for emergency services to get to quickly. Be sure to keep out of legal trouble by only helping those that really want your help and only helping in cases where you’re confident you can succeed, but with family and friends who are confident in your abilities, you really can save a bundle with first aid skills: whether it’s from knowing how to pop back in a dislocated shoulder, or something as simple as knowing which medication to give and in which doses, or whether you should be staying at home from the hospital because stitches aren’t needed and instead using a bandage or super glue to seal the cut.

2. Hunting

It’s clear why this self-sufficiency skill is a huge money saver: if you can hunt for your food, chances are you won’t need to buy any. Of course, you can always buy whatever you’d like from a grocery store, but if you’re a huge fan of eating meat, and don’t really care for extra carbs besides potatoes, you could do quite well getting your grocery store bill down to zero just hunting and growing food in your own garden.

3. Fishing

Same with hunting. As a matter of fact, if you’re happy eating fish as your main protein, you could replace hunting with teaching yourself to fish, and alongside gardening, be fine without spending any money on food altogether.

4. Soap Making

Hygiene is important. Very important. And while soaps aren’t that difficult to make, they are the kind of thing that not many people like to delve into and do themselves these days.

That being said, handmade soaps sell for a considerable amount of money these days, so start up an Etsy store for your craft and you could probably reel in a good profit from this self-sufficiency skill. Even if you don’t want to sell your soaps online, chances are your family and friends would be happy to trade you babysitting hours or other goods & services for some of your handmade soap! Makes for great gifts and presents, too, meaning you can cut down Christmas and birthday present gifts year-round as well!

5. Knitting

Of course if you’ve got a knack for knitting, you can save a large family a bundle making quality winter-warm sweaters, scarves, mitts, hats, and blankets for everyone that will last years to come.

Cheap way to create warm weather clothing for the whole family? That’s a very pretty penny saved, as those are some of the most expensive clothes you’d have to buy in a store.

survivalist blog natural remedy garden first aid self sufficiency

6. Natural Remedy Gardener

I mentioned gardening in the last article, but only really with relation to gardening your own food. Gardening plants that work as natural remedies can also save you a killing, and some plants with natural remedies are actually so easy to keep as well (I’m looking at you, aloe!).

While you likely will still buy medicine for more serious colds and illnesses, growing ginger, mint, and other medicinal herbs for things like stomach aches and the starts of the common cold will really help you and your family come cold & flu season.

7. Bread Making

Save yourself the cost of bread by making it yourself, and have the added reward of always eating the best tasting bread around on top of it! Learning how to make your own bread can save you a serious killing over time – especially if you share the wealth by trading that freshly baked bread with friends and family for items they themselves make (like soaps or some meat from a hunt).

8. Knife Sharpening

Sharp knives are important. So very important that chances are you’re going to want to pay those exorbitant fees for a knife sharpener to sharpen your knives at least every few years. But the cost of getting your knives sharpened for you once is pretty steep when you consider how easy it is for you to sharpen yourself: and the fact that if you do sharpen them yourself, they’re likely to stay sharp a heck of a lot longer.

There are many ways to sharpen even stainless steel knives (some of the hardest knives to sharpen yourself), so that even if you aren’t a fan of sharpening one way, chances are there’s at least one method of sharpening that you’ll be happy to learn to do yourself.

9. Aquaponics

Combine fishing and farming and what do you get? Aquaponics. Grow your own protein-filled food source in your backyard – hell even in some cases indoors, so that you’ll have plenty of fish to eat even when you haven’t got a place to fish around you.

Just like fishing, aquaponics can save you a killing on grocery bills over the years. If you’re happy eating fish as your only protein – again this can save you so much in the long run!

10. Butchering & Cleaning Meat

I list this as separate from fishing and hunting because you can still both fish and hunt without knowing how to properly clean that meat and prepare it to be cooked and eaten. Teaching yourself how to butcher and clean meat is an important skill if you’re planning on using hunting and fishing to keep your monthly food bills down. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay someone else to do this for you, which won’t be as expensive as getting all your meat from a grocery store, but it will take a chunk out of your savings for sure.

self sufficiency skills prepper finance savings survivalist blog

More Self-Sufficiency Skills That Save?

What other self-sufficiency skills can you think of that would do wonders for your bank account over time? Know how to do any or all of the skills on this list? Let me know in the comments!

Filed Under: Prepping 1 Comment

About Elise Xavier

Spyderco diehard and shutterbug. Into prepping and self-sufficiency.
Coauthor and photographer of survival blog More Than Just Surviving.

Google+ / Twitter / Pinterest / Tumblr / Website

Related Posts

  • 10 Self-Sufficiency Skills That Will Save You a Bundle10 Self-Sufficiency Skills That Will Save You a Bundle
  • 14 Ways Prepping Can Actually Help You Save Money14 Ways Prepping Can Actually Help You Save Money
  • 6 Steps to Re-Organizing Your Unruly Prepper To-Do List6 Steps to Re-Organizing Your Unruly Prepper To-Do List
  • Hate Budgeting? How to Build Killer Savings AnywayHate Budgeting? How to Build Killer Savings Anyway
  • 10 Tips for Building a Stockpile on a Budget10 Tips for Building a Stockpile on a Budget
  • Best Prepper Gear: 21 Big Ticket Items Preppers Will Want to Save Up ForBest Prepper Gear: 21 Big Ticket Items Preppers Will Want to Save Up For
  • Make Money Prepping: How to Put Your Preps to Work for YouMake Money Prepping: How to Put Your Preps to Work for You
  • How to Stockpile Food and Other Goods CheaplyHow to Stockpile Food and Other Goods Cheaply

Subscribe to More Than Just Surviving

No fancy free e-book or shiny product bribe incentive offered here! If you like our blog and would like to get emailed whenever we publish a new post, fill in the form below and hit "Subscribe"!

Comments

  1. Ray says

    January 25, 2017 at 8:06 am

    Your last point about being able to butcher meat is a great one. A lot of people get sucked in by the front end of hunting and forget that there is work to do after. They have no place to hang and clean and don’t know where to start. The show Meat Eater has a great primer for deer.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Survival Blog More Than Just Surviving

About FAQ Resources Disclosure Contact

Subscribe

Enter your email address and hit "Go" to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Elise and Thomas Xavier

More Than Just Surviving is a survival blog that concentrates on wilderness survival, preparedness, and gear. Run by a two-person husband and wife team, Thomas & Elise Xavier, this blog's mission is to offer a down to earth resource for both survivalists and preppers alike.

survival kit list prepper gear to stockpile folding knives by dollar valuetop prepper and survivalist books best sellers survivalist and prepper gear for affordable prices bug out or bug advantages and disadvantages super gluing cuts first aid benefits to prepping without teotwawki top survival foods to stockpile top knives best edcs on the market best first aid supplies to stockpile prepping

prepper gear deals survival sales

Top Articles

  • The Complete Guide to Paracord
  • How to Tell If Your Cut Is Infected
  • Knife Blade Steels - A Comprehensive Guide (+ Steel Comparison Chart)
  • Imodium’s Survival Applications

Popular Topics

  • Survival Gear: Affordable Quality Gear, Making Your Own Kit, & More
  • Knife Guides: Best EDC Knives, Myths, Sharpening, & More
  • First Aid: Super Gluing Cuts, Imodium for Emergencies, & More
  • View all topics here*

Questions?

If you have any questions related to survival, preparedness, and/or gear that you'd like to see answered on the blog, don't hesitate to send us an email. We love answering reader questions!

  • Find out how to contact us here
© 2013–2019 More Than Just Surviving. All Rights Reserved.
Authored & photographed by Thomas and Elise Xavier.