Practical solutions for everyday people?

[Peace4Gaia]

I've been thinking a lot lately about where I want to be and what steps I need to take to get there without an abundance of financial resources. For now, I can only take small steps toward my goal, so I thought it might be helpful to gather some tips about simple concrete actions that can help us focus on reaching our goals. All the advice about buying gold & silver, etc., etc. are not very practical for those of us living paycheck-to-paycheck and unless some benevolent source decides to finance our efforts, it's unlikely that will change. Relocating to some faraway place doesn't seem likely for me either. I'm interested in what others are thinking along these lines...

My long term goal is to create my life around sustainable living, as far off the grid as possible, including generating what income is necessary without doing more harm (right now I work in Dilbert-world in a cubicle doing mindless activity that won't really create any benefit for anyone in the long run). I live in an apartment, so my next step is to find a house to rent or buy, after that, I'm aiming toward a "real" job doing meaningful work helping others.

My short term goals -- in addition to networking with others here -- are to stockpile a reasonable amount of food and water, continue to acquire camping supplies, begin learning practical skills - gardening, sewing, HAM radio, etc. I do believe all the knowledge is already out there... many solutions exist... the trick is to be able to create a life in which you can make practical use of those solutions.

I think the aim here should be to create the world WE want regardless of what the powers that be do or don't do... the less we focus on them, the more energy we have to spend on practical action.