9 Ways We Found $15,000+ in Reclaimed Materials for Our Homestead

Just three months ago, we purchased 5 acres of land in Idaho to begin our off grid homestead 100% from scratch. What we bought was nothing more than dirt and trees! One of our goals is to build a full homestead (including a house and barn!) without going into debt which means we need to be creative and resourceful.
One of the ways we decided to save money was by building with reclaimed building materials. In order to protect ourselves from the harsh winter weather, we decided to use the salvage we collected to build a tiny cabin which ended up costing just $300!
If we weren't actively looking for reclaimed building materials, building a cabin for $300 would never have been an option. In this post, I'd love to share with you 9 differnet methods we used to find salvaged materials that have saved us $15-$20,000 to date in materials! Best of all, you can do this too!
1. Talk to Friends and Family
Believe it or not, if you simply talk to friends and family, you never know what they may have just laying around whether it's a few extra bats of insulation, extra 2x4s, ABS pipe, or even great tools that aren't in use. We were fortunate enough to give a home to a bunch of tools and materials that were just sitting in a garage, but we wouldn't have known if we didn't ask.
2. Keep an Eye Out for Demolitions
Believe it or not, houses are demolished every single day that are simply turned into a pile of rubbish and then burned to the ground! We were able to get in on a demolition and salvage all the materials we could in just three days... and this demolition is the primary reason we were able to build our cabin for next to nothing.