Want to learn homesteading skills without having a homestead? Start with these urban homesteading skills that can be done anywhere (even in an apartment in the city). Learning basic homesteading skills as a sustainable way of living is within your reach. Get started where you are with what you have in urban or rural areas. These helpful steps will get you started.
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Quick Look
You don’t need perfect conditions or a rural property to begin building homesteading skills.
- ✅ Focus on one new skill set at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed.
- ✅ Develop Kitchen-Based Skills: Cooking from scratch, meal planning, and food preservation methods (canning, fermenting, dehydrating, etc.).
- ✅ Shop Smarter: Buy from farmers' markets, bulk-purchase staples, and join co-ops.
- ✅ Audit: Keep track of what you invest (time, money, energy) vs. what you gain to stay efficient.
- ✅ Build Community: Trade skills, barter, partner on projects, and learn from neighbors.
Why Choose Homesteading?
Homesteading is a way of life. We would say that it's more of a mindset than an actual "thing." You don't need 40 acres to homestead; you can start right where you are (we started in a second-floor apartment with a tiny balcony and a tomato plant!).
While we have now fully embraced the homestead lifestyle as a family, and we live on 40 acres, we've learned a great deal over our 20+ years (and have only had the 40 acres for a fraction of that time). You can listen to our homesteading journey here.
Over the years, we've been asked how to get started homesteading, how to buy a homestead property, and how to finance a homestead. Along with how to homestead on a budget and organize your properties' permaculture zones.
You can check out those posts if you'd like to dig deeper, but I have a feeling you're here because you just want to know, "What can I do right now?"
The good news is, there is a LOT you can do without having to buy a farm (or chickens)!
Step #1 - Start Where You Are
Here’s what we keep coming back to: start right where you are and use what you already have. When you work with your real life and build small daily habits, you begin to think like a homesteader. That mindset grows roots, and it’s the best place to begin.
It doesn’t matter what your bank account looks like or how big your home is. Start learning the core skills that make a household run well. Grab a solid homesteading book, read a little each day, then try one simple thing this week. Keep it simple, keep it doable, and keep showing up. Because you can do this, and you don’t have to do it alone.
Step #2 - Start With One New Skill Set at a Time
While most of us want to jump in with both feet (start a garden, raise egg-laying chickens, learn to bake with sourdough, cook from scratch and preserve everything grown in the garden), it's actually smarter to layer in skill sets one at a time.
This layering method allows you time to make it part of daily life, instead of everything feeling new, uncertain, and overwhelming.
My biggest recommendation is to start in the kitchen. There are so many micro-habits we can implement that will add up to huge changes. Not only will your kitchen skillsets help you save money at the grocery store, but you'll also eat well on a budget and be healthier for it.
Where to start?
- One of the first steps I recommend is to start by replacing prepackaged foods with single-ingredient items. Anything that comes with an ingredients list is considered a prepackaged food and can be broken down into smaller items to be made from scratch (think spaghetti sauce, salad dressings, brownie mixes, etc.). Every time you do this, you'll not only save money, but you'll also improve your health by cutting out extra sodium, sugar, and additives that help preserve food.
- Next, start shopping locally, especially for in-season produce. Not only will they be fresher (and taste better), but they're also more cost-effective because produce is abundant when it's in season. The next secret is to buy what's called "seconds." This is produce that's a little less desirable to the eye because it may be blemished, but it's still perfectly edible. And finally, build a relationship with your local farm stands and let them know that if, at the end of the week, they still have produce left over, give them a call and you'll sometimes get a great deal!
- Become proficient in food preservation before harvest time comes. Practice on foods you can forage or find on sale at the grocery store. This way, you can practice without the pressure of ruining food you worked so hard to grow.
- Find food preservation tools on a budget, and then choose one preservation method at a time to build your skills.
Homestead Kitchen Magazine
Dig deeper by grabbing a subscription to the Homestead Kitchen Magazine. It's filled with fresh-eating recipes, preservation recipes, herbalism, and so much more.
Step #3 - Make Your Own Cleaning Supplies
Learn how to make your household cleaning supplies. It saves you money, and you won’t be bombarded with toxins from some store-bought cleaners.
Making your own will be significantly cheaper than store-bought green cleaners. Start with all-purpose spray cleaner, easy homemade disinfectant spray, my favorite homemade glass cleaner, this great homemade cleaning paste, and this all-purpose cleaning powder.
If you're not ready to make homemade cleaners, just know that vinegar will clean most surfaces, and adding baking soda or dish soap takes it to the next level of cleaning. A gallon of vinegar is inexpensive and goes a long way. Purchase a few spray bottles, and you're on your way to a cleaner environment with fewer chemicals!
Step #4 - Build Skills
Basic carpentry is a valuable skill to learn. You can start by fixing small things around the house, learning how things work, and doing minor repairs. This skill builds on itself. It doesn’t need to be a large project; like I said before, keep it simple!
Start with something small, like a wooden box for gardening or a small fenced-in area to plant a garden.
There’s so much information out there now via the internet and how-to books to learn basic carpentry skills. If you have neighbors who also homestead, they can be a good resource, giving you hands-on experience.
Step #5 - Audit Your Progress
It's important to count the cost and the benefits each project brings to your household or homestead. Keeping good records of what you are doing, such as the amount of time, energy and resources you are investing in (and the yield you're gaining from it), will help determine those projects that are worthwhile and those that aren't serving you.
Raising chickens for eggs in some areas can be less cost-effective. Yet, weighing the health benefits of fresh farm eggs and how chickens can be used on the homestead in other ways makes it worth it.
Keep good records, honestly audit your progress and make changes if needed. If you don’t know how much it costs to produce your product, you won’t know if you’re actually making money from your homestead.
Step #6 - Build Community
Get to know your neighbors and others in your community, endeavoring to learn from their wisdom, and use their skills to build a homestead.
Helping and learning from each other with building projects, sharing a community garden, and having canning parties with bushels of fruits or vegetables, adds to everybody's pantry shelves. It is fun and a great way to learn or share new skills.
Bartering is another wonderful way to add to your homesteading skills. You can barter labor, such as helping a neighbor bale and stack hay in exchange for a cord of firewood. Building skills on your homestead brings opportunities to barter everything from pruning fruit trees to basic sewing projects.
No matter where you are in your homesteading journey, there's always more to learn, more to implement and more to grow. This life is possible, and we're here to help!
