Your third income is what Homesteaders refer to as all the money you save by not spending it. Unlike our primary earned income, or job, or the second income the world refers to as ‘debt,’ the third income improves your quality of life, on all fronts.
Examples of the third income include:
The food you grow, rather than buy, (also healthier, yummier, and better for the planet!)
The money you don’t spend through your local barter economy…sharing tools, equipment, children’s clothes, seeds, and skills (also better for the planet!)
The money you don’t spend because your home decor is from your garden: dyes, dried flowers and garlands, strung dried fruit and vegetables, and dried root frames, doorknobs, handles and hooks (also better for the planet!)
The money you don’t spend by not having a car. Instead you bike, walk, or ride share. No insurance, registration, gas or maintenance (also better for the planet!)
The money you don’t spend on our dysfunctional medical system: Instead you make tinctures, teas and powders made from medicinal plants that have been healing people since time immemorial (also better for the planet!)
The money you don’t spend on animal food because you grow it instead, like sorrel, comfrey and sea kale for chickens, eggs for dogs and cats, and greens for birds (also better for the planet!)
The money you don’t spend because you recycle and reuse everything. Examples are potting soil bags becoming your garbage bags, or yogurt containers becoming your scoopers (also better for the planet!)
The money you don’t spend going out because staying home gives you more time to make art. (also better for the planet!)
The money you save by shopping at the goodwill for clothes, going to the library for books, and going to garage sales instead of Home Depot (also better for the planet!)
In the end, our third income makes us more wealth than our monetary income, and is better for the planet, our souls, our communities, and our bodies. That’s our power. (Also better for the planet!)