Living Off the Grid 101: How to Prepare Yourself
In this fast paced, consumer driven society, many people are longing for a way to cut ties with the norm and live a more self-sufficient life of freedom, independence and inner peace. Maybe you’ve considered it too, but don’t know where to begin.
The idea of becoming self-sufficient can be overwhelming at first, but don’t let that scare you.
No matter if you live in a small apartment in the middle of the city or on a farmstead with 500 acres, you can easily start this journey with a little planning and prep work.
Here are 5 ways you can start making the transition to a self-sufficient home and lifestyle today.
Before you make the choice to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle, it’s important to educate yourself on what that really means, not only by definition but also to yourself.
Ask yourself what you want most from this new way of life. Maybe you simply want to save money on monthly expenses, so you start growing your own food or use alternative forms of energy. Maybe you want to go the extreme route and cut ties completely from society.
Deciding to be self-sufficient doesn’t mean you have to be all in or nothing. You simply have to determine what works for you and the end goal you want for yourself and your family.
If you’re looking to flip the switch and live a more self-sufficient life, it’s important to pay off the debts you owe and work towards financial freedom. Being in debt weighs you down and limits your options when it comes to how you want to live your life.
Begin making a plan – write out all your expenses, create a monthly budget and decide how you can cut expenses to put any/all extra money towards your debt.
As you go along, you can build a bigger savings account that will help contribute towards your self-sufficient journey.
One of the best things you can do to kickstart a self-sufficient life is to begin ridding your life of all the things you DON’T need. Clutter has a way of adding stress and anxiety to your life without you even realizing it.
In a way your possessions start to own you rather than the other way around. Depending on how much stuff you have, it can be overwhelming at first. Start small and focus on one area at a time.
Clean out your closets and donate the things you don’t wear anymore. Empty out and re-organize one kitchen cabinet with only the things you actually need. Once you declutter your life and downsize your material possessions, it will feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders.
Plus, it makes it so much easier to clean AND find things you’re looking for when there’s no clutter to get in the way.
When it comes to living a self-sufficient life, it’s important to embrace the idea that less truly is more. By taking a minimalistic approach to life, you can start to move away from the consumer led, hyperactive society that you’re used to and be happy with the small, simple moments that fill your day to day.
Be mindful of the things you do and take note of what you allow into your life, your head and your home. Start a gratitude journal, take a hiatus from social media and spend more time in nature.
When you do go shopping, search for quality over quantity, declutter your home (see number 3) and make time to relax every single day.
You may be surprised to see how fulfilling it is once you get back to the basics and embrace the simple things in your everyday life.
If you truly want to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle, you’ll need to be open to learning new skills that will help you get there. No matter if you want to go completely off the grid or simply find a more independent way to live in your current space, there are plenty of things you can learn.
Start small at first – instead of a huge backyard garden, try container gardening or make a windowsill box where you can plant some of your favorite herbs.
Learn the basics of CPR and educate yourself on natural healing remedies. Try your hand at baking bread and learn alternative ways to cook without electricity.
Make an effort to continuously learn and build new skills that will allow you to live a self-sufficient life.
Embracing a self-sufficient lifestyle is one of the best things you can do to put yourself back in the driver’s seat and have more control over your future. With a little planning and prep work, you’ll be on your way to independence in no time.
In October of 2012, Teri, her husband and two young children (then ages 2 and 5) packed up thier homestead of 14 years, and moved across country to begin our own off-grid adventure: starting a homestead on raw land in NE Missouri.
“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.
She shares with you how her family created an off-grid homestead from scratch, working in phases, and adding projects and infrastructure as they had time and money.
You’ll hear what worked, where they 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.
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I'm 69 now. I lived off our land for 20 years in the rocky mountains. It was a great way to spend 20 years of my life. We built a log home and had no electricity for one year. We hauled water for miles for 2 years. We payed off the house borrowed the money back for a woodworking shop. We had it all , it was the best time of my life.
My husband was the best. He's gone now and I live in a city. We bought the house live in because to live alone at 8000 ft with snow and all would have been hard to me. I miss my house and life will never be the same BUT ! I am smarter and wiser because of it. I will be forever grateful to him. The city is hard and the people are not where I'm at ! Anyway you can do for you and learn to be self sufficient is the biggest reward to you you can get. I live my forest life in the city ! Thank you for this article I got to go home again.