HOMESTEADING CAPITAL IS WHERE YOU FIND IT

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Instead, we've found that the would-be homesteader needs a whole new economics textbook. And for us, that book's first rule was: "It's not how much you make, but how much you keep." Or, in plainer words, cut down the spending and bank the cuttings.

Here's an illustration: In 1962, our monthly food bill—for seven people—ran $75.00 ... a figure that's slowly inched its inflationary way up to $120 in 1971. According to USDA budget sheets I've used to counsel debt-ridden clients, that monthly sum should have been $300 to $350. Over nine years, of careful shopping we conservatively estimate that we've banked $4,000 saved on groceries alone, and I can't honestly say that we've eaten all that badly.

How did we manage? For specifics, I refer you to Joan Ranson Shortney's How to Live on Nothing (the Pocket Book edition is 95¢) and to Champagne Living on a Beer Budget by Mike and Marilyn Ferguson (out of print ... see your library). For a general guide, though, I offer a theory "M" and I used: "Anything we go through today to get our place, we'll not remember when we're on the land and free."

EXTRA MONEY ON THE JOB

Another pointer for anyone who's trying to get homesteading money together: Milk your job/career for every dime. Obviously, I'm not talking about the status racket played by the pyramid climbers. I mean picking up on the deals every occupation offers occasionally, deals that no one else wants because they might mean extra work or inconvenience. These windfalls give you a chance to keep more of what you make ... to put more "land bucks" away.

Our own wrinkle was working overseas. Of the ten years I caseworked for the American Red Cross' military welfare program, six were spent in such places as Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines and West Berlin.

Yes, I was separated from "M" for a total of 26 months ... and I was sometimes shot at. But, "Anything we go through today What mattered was that we walked away with $13,400.

You can save like that overseas because of three built-in benefits. One is that most companies lure you across by paying bonuses—or extra amounts per diem—for service abroad. In our case, for my 366 days, 12 hours and 37 seconds in Vietnam, Red Cross shelled out an extra $4,135.

Second, living is cheaper outside the U.S. of A. Whenever we were out of the country "The Bloody X" (the Red Cross) provided free housing, free utilities and free hospital care. We also had access to military post exchanges for such bargains as a $274 Singer sewing machine for $141 and an $86.00 Winchester .30-30 rifle for $56.00. Then, too, the foreign local markets are usually less expensive. We bought our new station wagon in Berlin for $1,975 when the same car selling for $2,815 on the East Coast.

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