Has Homesteading Become a Scam? What No One’s Talking About
🌾 A Hard Truth I’ve Been Sitting With
This isn’t an easy post to write — but it’s been stirring in me for months. Somewhere along the way, the homesteading movement I fell in love with started to look… different.
It’s not the life itself that’s changed — growing your own food, raising animals, preserving the harvest — those things are still beautiful, grounding, and deeply worthwhile. What’s changed is how it’s being sold to people.
More and more, I see new homesteaders feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, and buried in debt trying to chase a version of this lifestyle that looks good online but doesn’t feel sustainable in real life. And that’s when I realized: homesteading has started to look a lot like a scam.
💰 The Homestead “Dream” That Became a Business
The truth is, “homesteading” has quietly turned into an industry. There are courses, products, systems, and aesthetics — all marketed as the keys to self-sufficiency.
It’s subtle, but dangerous:
You start out wanting chickens… and end up convinced you need a $10,000 barn.
You want to grow tomatoes… and somehow feel like you need branded garden beds, a freeze dryer, and matching linen aprons.
You want to live simply… and somehow find yourself hustling harder than ever.
It’s not that these things are bad. But they’re often marketed as essential — and that’s where the line blurs. When a simple life becomes another form of consumerism, it stops being simple.
🐓 The Reality Behind the Scenes
Homesteading, at its heart, is about contentment and resourcefulness — not perfection. The truth is, most real-life homesteads don’t look like Pinterest boards. They’re muddy, messy, and full of small wins and daily lessons.
But the pressure to make everything look perfect online can lead people to spend more time filming, buying, or comparing than actually living it. And that disconnect — between the message and the meaning — is what I believe has turned something sacred into something performative.
💡 Returning to the Real Meaning of Homesteading
True homesteading doesn’t require a certain amount of land, followers, or equipment. It’s a mindset — one rooted in gratitude, stewardship, and creativity.
It’s growing a few herbs in your kitchen window.
It’s learning to mend instead of replace.
It’s sharing eggs with a neighbor or cooking from scratch for your family.
That’s what this movement was meant to be — and it’s where I’m turning my heart back to.
🎥 Watch the Full Conversation
I go deeper into all of this — the marketing, the mindset traps, and what I think needs to change — in my latest YouTube video:
👉 Watch “Why I Think Homesteading Has Become a Scam” on YouTube
If you’ve ever felt the pressure to “keep up” with the homesteading world, this one might help you exhale.
🌱 Let’s Bring Back the Heart of Homesteading
Maybe it’s time to stop chasing the version of this life we see online — and come home to the version that’s right in front of us.
The dirt-under-your-nails kind.
The make-do-with-what-you-have kind.
The kind that makes you breathe deeper, not buy more.
That’s the homestead I still believe in. 💛