Books are handy things. They open new worlds to us, teaching us things we don’t know and opening our minds to new ideas. So set a goal to start this year off with a new book. And not just any old book. Find a book that will give you new ideas on how to improve your family’s provident living.
Don’t buy new books
You don’t have to buy a new book. Browse your library’s Do-It-Yourself or gardening section. Check out the many free ebooks available at Amazon. You don’t need to have a Kindle Reader to use Amazon’s ebooks. You can download a free reader for your computer, tablet or smart phone. Most library’s have a free e-book service as well, Overdrive and SimplyE. You don’t need to be a resident of New York City to get ebooks from the New York Public Library. Simply download the NYPL’s free app and you can access 100’s of thousands of ebooks.
So what books would you like to read?
How about books to help you improve your finances? Books on budgeting, frugal living, investing, improving job prospects.
There are lots of books on food production. Of course, I would start with my personal favorite, gardening, which would include topics like Square Foot Gardening, apartment or container gardening, improving garden yields, companion planting or cold frames and winter gardening. How about this online video course (FREE!) on permaculture? Or maybe you need help getting started with composting.
Then there are all sorts of food preservation topics: drying, canning, root cellaring, foraging, to name just a few.
Think of all the different survival skills you could learn more about in books: building shelters and lean-to’s, camp cooking, lashing and knots and winter camping (very important here in the Midwest.)
I think my favorite category is Do-it-yourself. I’m amazed at the creativity and ingenuity some people have and love reading their ideas. Of course, some DIY projects are also very important, especially to help keep expenses down and prolong the life of our home or car. So check out some books on home repair or remodeling or car repair and maintenance.
Here are my suggestions
To help you get started, I’ve made a list of books that I’ve found to be most helpful. Maybe you won’t want these books in your permanent library, but at least check them out of the library and see what you can glean from them.
Even if you don’t do everything you read about, it’s still good to have this information in the back of your mind or at your fingertips should you ever want to refer to it later
Make it a priority this month to expand your horizons by reading a book.
