Homestead and Financial Ledger Books- Part 1, by S.T.

Looking back in time, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the other founding fathers of the United States all maintained Homestead and Financial Ledger Books of one kind or another. Some, like George Washington, had one for each of his businesses (grist mill, whiskey, et cetera). With the advent of computers and the move to city life, these ledgers have gone out of fashion. But they remain an important tool, and it is to sad that families do not use them anymore. We would spend less on unneeded items if more of these were used.

What Are Homestead Ledgers?

Benjamin Franklin was a printer of many of these Blank Ledger Books .

What are Homestead ledgers? Homestead ledgers are nothing more than simple ledger books that chronicle the every day life on a homestead. They show what is grown, what is made, what is preserved, and what is sold. They also show the income and expenses and net profit.

Why Chronicle This Information?

What and why would a homestead need to chronicle this type of information? For those who have moved from the city to a homestead, there are various tasks that they have never had to schedule or perform. These ledgers will keep track of these tasks. What are these tasks? Some tasks to schedule include pumping out the septic system, sweeping out the chimney, soap making, starting the vegetable plants indoors, et cetera.

But the more important use for the homestead and financial ledgers is the tracking of money spent, money earned, and the tracking of your homestead and garden input and output.

The Ledger Books

What Kind of Book to Use?

The most inexpensive way to create a homestead ledger is to purchase a lined notebook. This type and size will provide three years per page. For example, page 1 will be used for January 1, 2017, January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2019. Page 2 will be used for January 2, 2017, January 2, 2018, and January 2, 2019. This will allow approximately four to six lines for notes under each year.

For the other people, like me, who do not shop online for anything, these notebooks are also available at Staples and Walmart. If available, the outside cover should be a different color for each family member. As the products your homestead produces grows, you may find that you need a single ledger for each year and each family member.

Examples of Information Kept

Hear is an example of George Washington’s Distillery Ledger.

Week by Week Scheduled Activities

Examples of the ledger information that could and should be recorded are: the first week of January could be devoted to soap making. The family might be able to produce 200 bars of soap. With 50 bars designated for the family’s use, the balance of 150 bars could be designated for future sale.

The second week of January is devoted to making seed envelopes and seed envelope storage boxes. The seed envelopes could be made from brown paper grocery bags, which were obtained without cost and had been saved. The seed envelope storage boxes could be made from old shoe boxes and empty Kleenex boxes of which the tops were cut off. Two thousand seed envelopes could be made with 100 designated for the family’s use. Fifty seed envelope storage boxes could be made with two designated for the family’s use. The balance of these could be designated for future sale. Twenty-five seed envelopes could be sold for $5.00 along with a storage box.

The third week of January could be devoted to making envelopes that will be used by the children in their homeschooling for personal money management, math skills, and running a business. These envelopes could be made from a large stock of scrapbook paper that were purchased at a yard sale for only $1.00 and from a stack of brown paper grocery bags. Additionally, washable toilet paper kits could be made for each family member (20 for each male, 80 for each female using a different fabric pattern for each family member).

Seasonal Scheduled Activities

The period from the fourth week of January through the second week of March could be devoted to harvesting firewood. It should be noted in the ledger each day the amount of wood harvested. If you add it up, you might see that a total of eight cords of firewood were harvested, cut, split, and stacked.

The third and fourth weeks of March could be devoted to making clothing repairs and making new clothing patterns from clothing that is no longer usable. (Before SHTF, the purchase of an end cut of a newspaper roll was used to make patterns.) This time could also be used to start the garden vegetable plants indoors. As part of the homeschooling sewing lessons, fifteen aprons could be made by the children– five for the family’s use and ten for sale.

The first and second week of April could be spent getting all of the vegetable plants into the garden. Cleaning the chimney could be accomplished now that the wood stove is no longer in winter use.

During the third week of April through the first week of September, Monday through Friday could be spent pulling weeds, harvesting, and preserving all of the garden production. Saturdays could be spent at the farmer’s market selling the produce and the items that were made during the winter and set for future sale. The item, amounts sold, and unit prices would be entered into the ledger at the end of each day. A small pocket notebook would be taken to each farmer’s market to record the customer’s name, phone number, and order to be delivered at the next week’s farmer’s market.

Amounts of Fruits and Vegetables Planted, Canned, or Dried

The listing below shows examples of how a ledger has been used to list the number of various plants planted. Also, further down, the ledger can list the amounts of each fruit and vegetable canned or dried each day. You can also recod how much seed was saved and stored of each vegetable for future use and possible sale.

April Planting

April 15, 2017 Planted in the garden:

• 28 Roma tomato plants
• 35 canning tomato plants
• 20 green bean plants
• 40 pea plants
• 10 cucumber plants
• 10 zucchini plants
• 3 big dipper gourd plants
• 2 luffa sponge plants

Early September- Production

September 8, 2017

• Canned 12 quarts of whole tomatoes
• Canned 8 pints of peas
• 16 pints of green beans canned
• Canned 16 pints of corn
• Dehydrated 10 gallons of corn
• Sold 3 dozen eggs @ $2.00 per dozen = $6.00
• 1 apron sold @ $10.00
• Sold 6 pints of strawberry jam @ $4.00 each = $24.00
• Took orders for 8 loaves of whole wheat bread @ $3.00 each (This would be entered in the ledger when the money is received.)
• Took orders for 5 fabric braided egg baskets @ $3.50 each (This will be a project for one of the children to make and the money received would be entered in the ledger of the child that will make them when the money is received.)
• Purchased 5 pounds of beeswax @ $5.00 per pound = $25.00

September 11, 2017

• Canned 30 quarts of tomato sauce

September 12, 2017

• Built 2 wooden crates that would each hold 5 dozen eggs for transport to the farmers market
• Sewed fabric liners for the egg crates
• Made 15 jars of dry hand salve
• Made 15 pints of Elderberry Syrup

September 13, 2017

• Canned 30 quarts of tomato sauce
• Dehydrated 5 gallons of corn
• Set aside 4 quart jars of dried corn for seed

Later September-Baking, Making, Sales

September 22, 2017

• Baked 18 loaves of whole wheat bread

September 23, 2017

• Sold 13 loaves of whole wheat bread @ $3.00 each = $39.00, (The five extra loaves of bread will be used by the family.)
• Took orders for 7 fabric braided egg baskets @ $3.50 each = $24.50 (This would be entered in the ledger of the child that made them along with the money into their money envelope.)
• Sold 15 dozen eggs @ $2.00 = $30.00
• Took orders for 100 tomato plants due next April 1st @ $2.00 each (The income from all ordered items will be logged when monies are received.)
• Orders for 100 green bean plants due next April 1st @ $2.00 each
• Took orders for 100 pea plants due next April 1st @ $2.00 each
• Took orders for 500 pounds of potatoes due next August @ $2.00 per pound
• Purchased 800 pounds of wheat berries @$0.50 per pound = $400.00

We planned future projects for the balance of September. Also, cleaning out the garden beds for use next year. Future projects are based upon how well the items you produced sold. Also the items people were looking to purchase that were not available at the farmers market. Involve the children in this process. They provide some of the labor. Some of the financial reware should be given to them. Children should also provide ideas for the future.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been part one of a two part entry for Round 71 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chrome-lined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
5. An infrared sensor/imaging camouflage shelter from Snakebite Tactical in Eureka, Montana (A $350+ value),
6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
7. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
8. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
9. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Third Prize:

1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
2. A custom made Sage Grouse model utility/field knife from custom knife-maker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
3. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a $125 Montie gear Gift certificate.,
8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value), and

Round 71 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.