Topics
Nine subjects, one aim: do more for yourself and spend less doing it. Each topic has guides in the library and plans from members you can copy.
Scratch Cooking
A sack of rice, a bag of beans and a dozen eggs go a long way. Cooking from scratch is the fastest way to cut a grocery bill, and you know exactly what's in your food. We start with a plan for the week, a few base recipes and the habit of cooking once and eating twice.
Home Products
Most cleaners are water, a little soap and a lot of marketing. Make your own laundry powder, bar soap and all-purpose spray for pennies a batch. Some of it uses real chemicals, like lye, so every guide that needs care says so up front.
Home Maintenance
A dripping tap, a running toilet or a loose hinge shouldn't cost a call-out fee. Learn the small fixes, the tools worth owning and the jobs worth paying a licensed pro for, like gas lines and main electrical panels.
Gardening
Start with one bed or a few buckets. Grow what you eat, in the season your region allows, and build the soil every year. Guides cover beginners through to people feeding a family, with region-specific planting times starting with Florida.
Raising Animals
Eggs, meat, milk and honey, raised humanely in a backyard. Before you buy a single chick, check your local rules, plan the housing and know what feed and vet care will cost. We cover all of it plainly.
Power
Use less first, then make some of your own. Solar panels, batteries and generators can keep the lights and the fridge on when the grid fails. Electricity and fuel can kill, so these guides are careful, cite their sources and say when to call an electrician.
Water
You can go weeks without food but only days without water. Learn to store it, catch rain, and make it safe to drink when the tap stops or the boil notice goes out. Every guide that treats drinking water follows CDC and EPA guidance and links to it.
Off-Grid Survival
Hurricanes, ice storms and long outages happen. Build a plan for your region: what to keep, where to go and how to manage for a week or more without power or shops. Members' go-bag lists and checklists live here too.
Homeschooling
Routines, record-keeping and lesson plans that families actually stick to. Rules on homeschooling differ by state, so start with your state's requirements, then build a system that fits your kids and your week.