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I'm going to mention this and then not trigger a flame war about it.

A self-sustaining lifestyle sounds nice at first, but you have to realize that some of the ideas suggested are very much opposite of the idea of a simple, stress-free life. Growing your own food -- or at least, growing enough to actually sustain yourself -- is a lot of work compared to just buying groceries, for example.

It's impossible to get out of debt if you're not working a profitable job. The modern world doesn't make it possible to earn enough income off of this kind of lifestyle to repay past debts, and even if you could, this isn't "carefree" by any stretch. This lifestyle might help you AVOID debt, but it won't repair past debt.

It sounds romantic to live like generations past, but imagine what you have to give up in order to make it happen. Rather, try applying some of the IDEAS behind the "self-sustaining lifestyle" movement to a more realistic lifestyle: buy cheaper equivalents of things you need, get things that go farther for less money, reuse things, recycle things, conserve resources. These are all good ideas, but carrying it to extremes will leave one unhappier than just living 'normally'.