Everything You Want to Know About Living Off Grid

Some people embrace the opportunity to live an old fashioned lifestyle, and rely more on their hardwork, skills and nature to provide the necessities of life than living on the grid.

With increasing popularity of tv shows displaying families and individuals that have taken to such extremes, the idea is becoming more of a dream than others.

Homesteading is the gateway to living off grid. Living a more self sustaining lifestyle is rather thrilling and exciting. Lessening the things you need to buy from the grocery store and providing more homemade, homegrown necessities provides a sense of pride and independence that’s easy to want more of.

Imagine waking up in the morning, walking down the hall to go to the bathroom. You flush the toilet behind you as you make your way to the kitchen where you hit brew on the coffee machine and through a bagel in the toaster while thinking about the tasks you have to do at work.

Then, think about doing the same but instead of going to work you head outside and start your morning homestead chores?

But what if you skipped the bathroom and had to go outside first thing to the loo, then head back to add wood to the fire, pump from the well to fill up your water for coffee, dishes and breakfast then finally take a sip before starting your days chores?

Most of us wake up according to the first circumstance. Dreamy isn’t it. Homesteading can offer the second scenario, and thirdly you’ve stepped back in time or to an off grid home.

WHERE CAN I GET LAND?

Living off grid doesn’t require lots of land. Homesteading on a 1/4 acre to 1 acre is plenty for providing the basics. But it is important to consider land that will provide a great environment and weather for renewable energy sources like solar wind and water power.

It’s also important to choose land that offers vast opportunities for wild food foraging all year round.

IS IT ILLEGAL?

This is a common question that really involves much more research than simply reading this post. But basically in both Canada and the United States, the answer is that technically it is not illegal. The problems often arise from national building codes, restrictive city and county ordinances and zoning restrictions.

Perks include saving money, and tax credits. But homesteading is also a great way to save money, there are small hobby farm tax credits it most areas. Plus there are numerous ways to increase your income from your homestead

RELATED: MAKE MONEY HOMESTEADING

If you’re wanting to save money, going off grid is the extreme. Some things you might consider before taking the dive could be reassessing your needs.

RELATED: HOW TO SAVE MONEY WHEN YOU’RE BROKE

Not quite ready to take the leap? Why not expand your list of homesteading skills and start practicing the off grid lifestyle before really going for it.

RELATED: HOMESTEADING SKILLS

This really is dependant on you and your current lifestyle. But a good way to test it out is to pick up new hobbies and skills and do a social media detox for awhile.

Don’t have a hobby? Learn a new one! CREATIVE HOBBIES

HOMESTEADING SKILLS TO LEARN NOW!

Honestly, how else do we learn anything? But really finding the experts and people that are living the off grid lifestyle will really help you prepare and determine if this is for you!

MISTAKES you don’t want to make!

Off Grid Living in Missouri

Living off grid is becoming increasingly more desirable in places like Texas, Alaska, Canada and more. My homesteading friend Teri lives off the grid with her family in Missouri.

She’s an expert and the go to gal to learn everything there is to no about going this route with a young family.

Learn more about Living off Grid in our Happy Homesteader Interview with Teri. I’m extremely excited to share with you my friend Teri. She is a master gardener, and all around expert on starting your off-grid homestead from scratch with a family.

In October of 2012, my husband and I, and our two young children (then ages 2 and 5) packed up our homestead of 14 years, and moved across country to begin our own off-grid adventure: starting a homestead on raw land in NE Missouri.

READ THE INTERVIEW HERE

While we had many years of homesteading experience, starting a homestead from scratch was a huge learning opportunity.

We did a lot of research and talked to experienced people, but ultimately we just had to jump in. We made lots of mistakes along the way, and found that everything took much longer, and was more expensive than we anticipated.

This is the book I wish we had when we began creating our off-grid homestead.

It contains equal parts practical information, encouragement, and radical homesteading inspiration. I will share with you how our family created an off-grid homestead from scratch, working in phases, and adding projects and infrastructure as we had time and money.

You’ll hear what worked, where we made mistakes, and how it fit into our low budget, DIY approach to building a homestead without debt (and with two small children).

Creating Your Off-Grid Homestead will provide you with the support and inspiration you need to make your dreams come true.

Creating Your Off-Grid Homestead is available as a PDF download and contains 95 pages of information to help you start your own off-grid homesteading journey. In it you’ll learn:

• Why we decided to go off-grid
• How much it has cost to build our off-grid homestead
• The solar electric system that we use, and how it works for our family
• How we catch water for drinking, cooking, and growing food
• How we store and prepare food in our outdoor kitchen and with creative cooking methods
• How we bathe, do laundry, use the internet, and go to the bathroom with solar electricity and no running water

You will be guided with dozens of questions for thought, so you can apply the information in this book to your own unique situation.