🌾 Living on a Little: When Faith Is the Richest Thing You Own

Living on a Little: What Laura Ingalls and Life Taught Me About Faith and Frugality

Senior Homesteading | The Biblical Homestead

“We are living on a little, and enjoying it.”
— Laura Ingalls Wilder, “Living on a Little,” Missouri Ruralist, 1921

There’s something about Laura’s words — simple as they are — that settle into the soul like a warm cup of something steady. They are not flippant, not idealistic. They are born of experience.

And they are truer now than ever.

“Living on a little,” for most, is more common than we let on. While society continues to spotlight the have-mores, those with carefully curated homes and retirement plans that sparkle on paper, the truth behind closed doors tells another story. The majority of Americans today are quietly living closer to the edge than they ever planned — not from irresponsibility or carelessness, but from a life that doesn’t always cooperate with the budget.

We know this firsthand.

My husband Ron and I chose a different path years ago — a life off-grid, with a modest income, simple means, and deep convictions. Many assume we were financially secure when we made that leap, that we built this homestead out of abundance. But the truth is, we built it from the opposite: from limits. From the reality that our finances demanded we live differently — not lavishly.

And like Laura wrote over a hundred years ago, we too have found that living on a little doesn’t mean a life of lack. In fact, it often means a life of abundance — just not the kind you can measure with a bank statement.

💭 False Promises and Real Pressures

In her column, Laura reflects on the shift from generations who “saved up and paid cash” to a time where debt was becoming the norm. Sound familiar?

Our world has only accelerated since then. Today, houses are built on credit, cars are leased, and education is financed for decades. Codes, permits, and inflated prices make it nearly impossible to live simply unless you’re willing to live differently. But Laura’s world, though slower, knew hardship too. She and Almanzo saw seasons of plenty and famine. Her writing reminds us that even beloved authors with publishing contracts weren’t exempt from tight times.

Likewise, we’ve had our share of those times — even recently. Though we’ve worked hard and sacrificed much to not live a life of modern debt, we’ve faced medical expenses that crept in slowly and then flooded like a tide. Unexpected needs, tax bills, surprise repairs. You name it. Sometimes the “emergency fund” is just… faith.

But here’s the truth I’ve learned again and again: living on little isn’t the challenge. Living with joy while doing it — that’s the calling.

🙏 From Grit to Grace: A Christian Woman’s Response

Laura said her family was “living on a little — and enjoying it.”

That’s the heart of it, isn’t it?

Not just making do. But choosing contentment. As a Christian woman, the challenge isn’t just to survive the season of less, but to flourish within it. Philippians reminds us that we are to be content whether we are abased or abounding. And after cycling through many seasons of limitation, I’ve learned this: if you can’t find joy in “little,” you won’t find it in “much” either. Because both come with trials. Both test your heart.

The difference is where your trust is placed.

Some nights I’ve laid in bed with worry thick in the room — bills, taxes, how-to’s pressing against my chest, even though I know, God is in control. But always, always, the Lord reminds me: “I am still in control.” I could’ve traded that worry for peace if I had only kept my eyes on Him. But even in that, He is gracious.

🍞 More Than Enough

There is something powerful that happens when we decide to become joyful stewards of what we already have. When we trade shame for stewardship. When we say:

“This is my portion, Lord. Help me to be faithful with it.”

I’ve learned to portion our resources with reverence. To stretch a meal and smile about it. To give thanks when God sends provision, even if, at times, it requires a bit of humility on my part. I’ve learned that living on little doesn’t limit the size of your life. If anything, it deepens it.

If we can face these moments with a “can-do” spirit, we grow. If we let them discourage and define us, we shrink. The choice is ours. One produces bitterness. The other — beauty.

✨ Legacy Through Lack

Ron and I don’t regret this path — though hard. It has shaped us. It has drawn us closer to each other, and most importantly, closer to God.

We’ve seen Him in the moments when money was low but joy was high.
We’ve learned that true wealth isn’t in what’s stored in barns — it’s in what’s planted in hearts.

Just as Laura once wrote that “the old days were not so bad,” I look around at our modest homestead and think the same. The world may have moved on — faster, louder, costlier — but I find deep peace in this life we’ve built on “a little.”

Because with God, a little is never not enough.

“Living on a little — and enjoying it.”
Yes, Laura. You said it best.