I’m sure most people feel an emotion akin to the one expressed above at some point. The desire to get away from it all, the everyday and the daily grind. But is it a feasible option? In this day and age, can living self sufficiently be a viable alternative?

For most of us, withdrawing 100% from society is not quite an option. But a bit more self-sufficiency and less reliance on rising prices wouldn’t go astray.

Gridlock

There are increasing numbers of people living ‘off the grid’, meaning they live without reliance on one or more public utilities. Often that utility will be power or a rain tank. Far from being a radical fringe activity, more and more people are turning to power they can generate themselves. According to USA Today, in America, the number of people living off the grid jumped 33% a year for the last decade.

A lot of the time the motivation to become entirely self-sufficient is political, and that’s reflected in a lot of the information (occasionally, diatribe) you’ll find on the Internet. Marye Audet manages to avoid that and gives a concise discussion on what you need to think about before you off-grid entirely, http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Live-Off-Grid-Successfully

If you’re interested in implementing some self-sufficiencies into your lifestyle, here are some tips. While becoming totally self-sufficient is an intense undertaking, introducing aspects will save you money. If your time is money, perhaps a veggie garden isn’t for you but there are other things you can implement to become more self-reliant.

Don’t be a chicken

My aunty lives in Bronte, heart of the ritzy Eastern suburbs, and keeps chickens. The lady across the way keeps ducks. They’re relatively easy to keep, and produce more eggs than you can eat. A nice guide to backyard chooks is here, http://9am.ten.com.au/article-pets-keeping-backyard-chickens.htm. The price of a chook is apparently the same as the price of 12 free range eggs, which will end up saving you a lot of money.

Make your own…

Worried about the products going into your soaps and shampoos? Problem solved, make your own! http://www.makeyourown.net/ has lots of recipes to make your own products, from furniture polish through to air fresheners. I liked the look of the rose vinegar recipe. Buying simple ingredients and making it yourself will save.

Bake your own…

Apparently there’s no better smell in all the world than bread baking. Personally, I would have no idea if that were true but people seem to swear by it. If the mood takes you, and you’ve decided to say no to additives or preservatives (but don’t want to have to spend a month’s wages on organic foods) then there are some great recipes here, http://www.oldaussierecipes.com/. I love the look of the jams and preserves.

And if you happen to have the time….

Why not grow a veggie garden? There is a wonderful guide here http://www.backyardgardener.com/veg/VEGETABLE/growingvegetableforbeginners.htm, with all the starter tips you need to know.

For most of us, getting away from it all isn’t an option most weeks of the year. Introducing some aspects of self-sufficient living into your life might be just the bit of peace you need, and the best part of it is that it’ll save you money.

Do you have self-sufficient elements in your life?

Taking care of children is not only time consuming, but physically and emotionally taxing — when you finally get a minute to yourself, all you want to do is rest.

While you could definitely do with some extra pocket money you can spend on yourself, a part-time job is simply impossible to fit into your schedule.

As a full-time mother, how do you make extra cash?

I guess the key would be to think and start small. Start off by allocating 3 hours during the week to doing some work, no matter how tired or worn out you may be. The first $50-$100 you make can be an unbelievable motivator and soon you’ll find yourself with the energy and enthusiasm to turn what little spare time you have into profit.

Here are seven money making ideas for mums:

Sell pre-loved items on eBay

Don’t underestimate the power of eBay, there is just about a buyer for anything and everything and it’s pretty simple to set up. Sign up for an account, take good photos of the items you wish to list and provide good descriptions — you’ll be turning old clothes, pre-loved homewares and baby clothes your kids have outgrown into cash in no.

Become the Avon lady of your neighbourhood

Turn your afternoon cuppas with your friends and neighbours in business. Avon products have a great reputation and usually sell themselves. All you really have to do is provide the latest catalogues to your friends, family and neighbours and be the person they can trust to fill out their orders and get them the goods.

To find out more about becoming an Avon representative, visit Avon.

Catering

If you love cooking, take a tip from Martha Stewart, the famous homemaker started her multi-billion dollar empire in her kitchen catering for friends and family and eventually the word spread and the rest is history. Start by offering your services to friends, family and neighbours who are throwing kids birthday parties or baby and bridal showers at home. Plus, you’ll be killing two birds with one stone: reserve a few portions for dinner and the next day’s lunches.

Start a salon at home

Offering beauty services at home requires experience or training. If you’ve worked as a beauty therapist or manicurist in the past, you’re in luck. If you don’t have any experience, getting some training in your local area should be easy, but it can be costly. My best advice is to start with waxing. You can learn to wax within a day or two, the products don’t cost a lot of money and the profit margins on waxing are larger than any other beauty service. Once business picks up and you have a client base to offer more services to you can start thinking about expanding your offerings.

Babysitting

Start talking to your neighbours and find out if there are any full-time working mothers who currently drop their children off at day care and offer your services at a slightly lower price.

Tutoring

If you’re academically inclined and confident about tutoring high school children then you can give tuition. Don’t worry about having to recall everything you learnt in high school, it will come back and if you get stuck, let your student know you’ll look it up and pick up their question during the next lesson. The main thing that’s going to help your students is helpful tips and techniques to get their head around confusing concepts and a place to practice what they learnt in school, so quiz them and challenge their knowledge.

Market research

Participate in market research. Register with market research companies — they’ll get you to fill out a profile and assign you to suitable focus groups. The work isn’t very frequent and tends to take up blocks of 2-3 hours at a time but it’s still a great income supplement.

Few market research companies our readers have used:

• Sensometrics (Based in Sydney)
• Stable Research (Based in Sydney)
• Mr Groups (Based in Brisbane and Sydney)

What are your ideas for making money at home?

Share with us your thoughts by dropping a comment below. Any other methods of making good money at home?