What is Rural Budgeting?

We live on a 5 acre plot not far from decent sized cities, but you'd never know it from here. We're "in the middle of no where" but still not more than 30 minutes from town. I left my full-time job 5 years ago to spend more time with our kids. I left an ok part-time income almost 2 years ago and am barely working at all now. My husband works full-time but had a significant pay reduction this past summer. We have one kid in private school and one in public school. My job is to make ends meet and help everyone be happy.

I do couponing to help with the groceries, but living outside of the larger cities, it's not as effective as it would be if we lived in a metropolitan area. We try to reduce our out of pocket expenses as much as possible. Last year I taught a class and found that I've discovered some ideas for saving money and time that many others haven't thought of, so I thought I'd share. My personal goal (with my husband's support) is to ultimately "grocery shop" in our backyard.

This blog is to share my progress on couponing, gardening, raising animals (and kids too), and a little foraging on our 5 acre parcel of heaven in Florida.

Our current status: 2 kids (8 yr old boy & 7 yr old girl), 1 pair of geese, 2 chickens (1 hen, 1 rooster), 8 new zealand rabbits, 2 miniature horses (mares), 40ish coturnix quail with 100 day old chicks on the way, 1 greenhouse (pumpkins, peppers-many varieties, beets, beans-many varieties, peas, tomatoes-many varieties, melons, watermelon, marigolds, petunias, oregano-mexican & greek, chives, cucumbers, yellow squash, roses, raspberries, grapes, cabbage, strawberries, cilantro, parsley, stevia, carrots, dragon's blood tree, jasmine, tea tree, aloe, soapwort, sweet potato, winged pea, squash, basil-green & purple), 1 pool of hopefully growing tilapia and 1 tank of koi in the greenhouse, and trees-apple, peach, plum, pear, lemon, lime, loquat, pomegranate, and hickory. 

Growing on our property I've identified: poorman's pepper, oxalis, pawpaw, blackberries, nightshade, beauty berry, shepard's tick, cat's claw, polk weed, stinging nettle, thistle, prickly pear, dandelion, live oak, pine, and a couple others I know are edible but can't find the name for.