@mountainnjewel, how to quantify experience financially is really a good question and one that I've considered a lot. There is the actual years put in, there's valuing oneself and one's experience and there's the market and how much a customer values one's work in terms of how much they're willing to pay and sometimes all of these facets align, sometimes they don't. Unfortunately in my field the amount of work/years of experience and even time spent on a project often can't really be fully compensated because it just winds up being too expensive for most people, or the market just won't bear that price for that "thing" (which is another way of saying that we as a society simply don't value it enough to put it in the price range of a new car). This is why steemit has become so important for me - it's helped plug those financial gaps so I'm not always working too much for too little and get paid for more of what I do.

homesteading takes so much time and so much know-how doesn't it?!! I'm not doing it but know some who are and it's more than full time and like art making takes years to be any good at it and is a complete labor of love! My hat off to you for what you are doing!!