Let’s Cut to the Chase: Homesteading Ain’t Free.
The simple life isn’t cheap. In fact, it’s a paradox: you have to shovel a lot of figurative (and sometimes literal) shit to earn the privilege of shoveling the real stuff.
There’s blissful simplicity in shoveling literal duck shit on a Sunday afternoon. And, for many of us, we’ve got to go through some pretty complex and outrageous hoops—you know, like navigating the affordable housing crisis, fending off the Joneses who really want us to have 5 televisions, climbing the corporate ladder without losing our souls, things like that—in order to be able to carve out space on the planet and build a life that enables us to shovel shit.
Lucky for you and me, dear Desk to Dirt reader, we were rolling up our sleeves and opening up a fresh GSheet before that paragraph was even over.
I see you! Hang tight as I set the stage just a little more.
Now, for a long time I had a mantra: I was going to retire at age 35.
There were a few things wrong with that mantra, which is a story for another day but the gist is: I didn’t actually have a plan rooted in reality, or a clear definition of what “retire” would look like for me.
I had a vision of where I wanted to be at 35—of cultivating, caring for and living off the land (still the case)—but the how was pretty much: Hustle till your face falls off!
I’ve since refined the vision for my life. Thankfully, that vision now includes the here and now. Imagine that. And I will undoubtedly continue to refine forever and always. What’s also evolved is how I’m making it happen, with practical tools like my Money Plan.
💵 How the Envelope Method Changed My Mindset
A few years back, my friend gave me a copy of her money planning spreadsheet, which she developed as a way to track her (financial) Net Worth. I’ve tweaked it over the years to fit my approach to budgeting, which is very much inspired by Mike Michalowicz’ book Profit First or more simply: the envelope method.
The idea is: When money comes in, put it towards yourself first, and your expenses second. It’s counterintuitive, but since Mike spends the entire book convincing his reader that it’s the way to go, I’ll skip ahead to why I love this approach so much.
Why the Envelope Method Works
Let’s say you find $10 on the street. Congrats! The envelope method would have you take that tenner and allocate it to different areas of your life. First you put a buck into your Future You envelope. You put $2 into your Trip to Peru envelope, a quarter into your charity envelope and the rest goes back into your money clip (which doubles as a multi-tool because you’re such a badass).
I love the concept of Profit First because it’s a top-down approach, or a values-based approach, to budgeting.
Obviously, you have to be able to pay for expenses, so yes, there is some bottom-up work that has to be done to make this method work IRL. But the deeper point is: When we start our thinking from the vantage of what is most meaningful to us, we make different choices (like not putting that crumpled up Hamilton in our money clip right off the bat without a second thought!).
So, I combined my friend’s money planner, in which Net Worth was the guiding number, with my envelope method-inspired monthly budgeting approach, and this Money Plan was born.
But, hold up.
I’m going to come back to the monthly budgeting in a second, but first I want to share a resource I discovered a few months ago and have been stress-testing: the Money With Katie 2025 Wealth Planner. I’ve still incorporated my monthly budgeting approach into the wealth planner, but I love the way Katie’s wealth planner puts FI—Financial Independence—in the center of money planning.
Your FI number is the dollar amount you need in the bank (more accurately, in investments and other compounding accounts) in order to be able to live your life without having to bring in any more money. For example, if your annual expenses are $40,000, your FI number might be $1 million (assuming a 4% withdrawal rate).
When you can play with the numbers of what goes into each proverbial envelope and see the direct impact that has on your FI number—now we’re cooking with fire.
From Retirement to Net Worth to Financial Independence
“Retire”, for me, never meant stop working. My dream is to homestead full-time, which is absolutely work.
Retirement to me means not having to work for money. And when I can put an actual number on that (my FI number), it makes the vision feel so much more real. I become stoked to put money in those envelopes.
Envelopes + FI = 🤑
How I Combine Systems: Setting Up A Monthly Budget Based On Values and Vision
**I am not a financial advisor. This is not financial advice. This is, What does Paige do?**
The following steps are meant to be used with My Monthly Budgeter.
Set up checking accounts, which act as your virtual envelopes. These accounts allow you to allocate money each month to pay for different categories of expenses.
Home might be shared with your partner or roommate.
Vibe #1, Vibe #2, etc might be considered “guilt-free spending” or “values-spending”. These are for day-to-day expenses.
Recurring is for all automatic payments.
Set up savings accounts that support your vision for Future You, including:
Long-term investment accounts
Medium-term investment/savings accounts
Short-term savings accounts
Allocate budgets towards your “Future You” accounts based on your goals for how much you want to save, by when.
List Every Expense. Add in all your regular expenses in an itemized fashion, including
Recurring bills & subscription fees
Categories of things you spend money on (like Eating Out)
Add in the causes and charities you like to, or would like to, support.
Add $ amounts for all of your “Give”, “Need” and “Want” expenses.
Calibrate. Now, check the total amount allocated. Is it lower or higher than your monthly (post-tax) income? It’s time to tweak and refine. Adjust all numbers until you have allocated the amount equal to your monthly income.
Depending on where you’re starting from, this might be an overwhelming process. It might be a punch to the gut. It might feel like trying to fit a king-sized comforter into a shoebox—but stick with me. It gets easier.
No matter what your budgeting practice brings to light, the most important thing is that it brings your money plan to light.
When I first filled out this kind of money plan years ago as a young freelancer, I was a little disheartened by the distance between where I was financially and where I wanted to be. But by seeing the numbers all in one place, I was able to come up with some creative approaches to start to close that gap. And acknowledging the things I wasn’t willing to give up—including a not cheap art studio around the block from the basement “apartment” I was living in—gave me an energizing clarity and confidence in myself.
I hope that creating a money plan does something like that for you.
What would your ideal lifestyle look like, and how can you start planning for it today? Share your thoughts or questions below—I’d love to hear how you’re designing your future.
TLDR;
Homesteading isn’t free, obv—building a simple, intentional life often requires navigating financial and societal hurdles.
Financial independence (FI) is about having the freedom to work for purpose, not money.
The envelope method prioritizes values-based budgeting: pay yourself first, allocate money into categories (“envelopes”), and align spending with your goals.
A Money Plan combines net worth tracking, monthly budgeting, and tools like My Monthly Budgeter and the Money With Katie 2025 Wealth Planner to visualize your FI number.
Setting up accounts for specific expenses and savings goals helps you calibrate your finances and make intentional choices.
Budgeting can feel overwhelming, but seeing the full picture allows for creative solutions and builds confidence over time.
