The Hard Truth About Going Off Grid
Freedom Costs Money Up Front
I posted a post yesterday that says off grid living is cheaper than living on grid. It is. But I want to qualify that statement with a little more context because nuance is important and details matter.
What I mean is this.
It's cheaper to live off grid than living on grid because you own your own infrastructure, i.e. water, power, fuel, etc.
The problem is getting started.
There's a huge barrier to entry.
MONEY!
The initial cost to go off grid is high. If you don't have money to buy land and build your infrastructure it's going to take years to save money to go off grid.
So how much does it take to go off grid? Well, that depends on your comfort level and how you want to live.
The less comfortable you're willing to be the cheaper it is. For example, if you don't care where you live or how you live, then you can literally cut ties to the grid and go live in a cave in the woods somewhere with no electricity or internet or any modern amenities. But that's not very realistic.
On the other end of that money spectrum is someone that has money to burn and they can afford to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars upfront on buying land, building out solar and wind and battery infrastructure and stockpiling seeds and food, raising livestock, and growing massive gardens of food.
The more money you have the easier it is to go off grid.
This is why I'm not off grid yet. It's also why most people aren't off grid yet or they're only partially off grid, or they're still building their homestead.
It takes a long time because we all have bills we must pay to live in today's society. Everyone has the same main bills they have to pay, the amount of which is relative to their income.
Rent/Mortgage
Utilities - Water, power, gas, internet, phone
Food
Healthcare
Education - Student loans
Car payment
Insurance
The list goes on and on. The point is everyone has these bills they must pay, and everyone spends most of their money on these bills, leaving very little leftover to save towards their off grid dream.
This is why renters are stuck in their leases, homeowners are stuck (sometimes upside down financially) in their mortgages. And wile they're trying to save money for going off grid, the bills and unexpected expenses hit. The car breaks down because they can't afford a better car. They get injured at work, or maybe have a health issue or maybe they lose their job due to cutbacks and end up getting laid off. So they have to figure out how to pay for those bills. Every single month. Every single day it's a struggle to save money.
Most folks are just barely getting by. So they're looking for a way out of the rat-race. They're looking for a way to save money and actually, maybe get ahead and save some money for retirement. People are realizing the current system is unsustainable they way it is and that eventually the system will collapse under the weight of all the greed and corruption that's causing the cost of living to skyrocket to a point where no one can afford to live.
When that happens things will get bad. But we can stop that from happening.
And while it's difficult if not impossible to save money while simultaneously trying to pay bills just to live in this system, it's possible to make enough to go off grid if you're willing and able to cut costs, increase your income by working a side hustle/job, and saving as much money as possible.
You can cut expenses, destroy your bills, cut anything that is unnecessary. Start a home based online business selling something, anything. (I'm doing this) And try to put as money away as possible for your going off grid fund.
The problem with going off grid is it costs a lot of money upfront. It costs a lot upfront because you're building your homestead's infrastructure rather than relying on public utilities. This takes time and money.
Most of all it takes dedication and hard work, and some people don't want to do what it takes to do it.
So is it cheaper to live off grid? Sure. Once you have everything built. But it's expensive to get started. It's a tough nut to crack but if you work hard you can do it. It might take years, but it's worth it. Ask anyone who's off grid now and who has been living off grid for years if it's worth it. They'll tell you it's 100% worth it for the freedom and peace and solitude. To be independent and self reliant is the goal, but the real goal is more freedom.
It's all about freedom.
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A personal note about my own off grid journey:
I grew up off grid, only we didn't call it that. It was just our home. We had oil lamps and no electricity for many years (mainly because my dad hated the electric company. We had our own well, and dad would get our 2 100 gallon propane bottles filled once every couple few months. We used propane for heat and cooking and baths, heating our water on the stove. We had to haul water inside in buckets. We didn't have but a small garden, it was my little garden, but we were on food stamps and went to the food bank quite a bit. My dad was an ex Army Ranger (Airborne) and a construction worker, a licensed journeyman plumber and pipefitter, and he could have made better money working for a plumbing company he worked for the local union and still made good money when he worked. (My dad taught me all the survival and outdoor skills, hunting fishing camping, overland navigation, etc., and other "knowledge"; that's a whole other story). Mom was a secretary and then became a legal secretary because it was better money working for the judges at the courthouse than private offices. We grew up "poor" because dad was out of work a lot and mom's jobs were spotty because she had to be at home a lot of time to take care of us kids. I was 17 when I left home (long story) and I floated around for about 10 years until I finally cut ties with my family and moved out west. Then life stuff happened, I started my own family and things got bad. I had some business successes, was a millionaire on paper very briefly and then things just kind of fell apart. My health took a turn for many reasons, and I just started traveling all over the USA to the most remote desolate and wild places I could get to. Living off grid in the middle of nowhere, just going from place to place. I've had money to go off grid multiple times, but life stuff happens, family stuff happens. About 4 months ago now I left a toxic place where I was living and because I had nowhere to go, I ended up homeless. I've spent the last 4 months in a state of limbo, just surviving day to day, sleeping in my Jeep and in a hotel for the summer. And now here I am, trying to go off grid. I'll get there eventually, I don't give up easily and I'm a stubborn son of a bitch when it comes to doing what I want to do, and I really want my own land and off grid homestead. I'll get there. One day. In the meantime I keep running this group and my blog and magazine just to make a meager income, and from time to time I ask folks to help support the "channel" (group and blog) buy subscribing to my little off grid magazine. My magazine focuses on off grid living with modern technology and taking advantage of the technology we have today to make out lives easier. Modern technology has made it possible to do much more off grid now than ever before and it's makes going off grid much easier than ever before. Except for the money part. That's the part that slows everyone down.
I had a point when I started writing this, but it's gone now. I guess the main point is this.
Off grid living is possible, it's cheaper living, and it's better living, but it's not cheap to start because we all have things we have to do just to live in this system.
We instinctively know that living off the grid is a better life, it's just getting there that's the hard part. If we all had $50k to $100k sitting in the bank we could go off grid right now. Some folks could probably do it on a budget for around $25k. but that's the problem. Money.
Where do you get the money to move off grid while you're paying all your money to the bills you have to pay to live now. There's nothing or very little left over.
So what then? How do you go off grid? Well, it's hard. Cut costs where you can. If you can swing it and not put yourself or your family or kids in a bad spot, then consider living in a travel trailer, see if you could park it on your friend's land and pay them a small rent, or ask a family member, maybe they'd let you park your camper there in their yard. Look around for land to rent to park temporarily while you save. Start a homebased business and sell stuff for extra cash. Save!
It's not easy. It's going to take a long time. And if you're serious and smart, use that time to learn as much as you can about every aspect of off grid living and survival as you can before you go off grid permanently.
That's what we're here for. To help you go off grid.
It's possible. Don't give up. I'm not giving up. There's a better life with more freedom waiting on the other side of all the hard work.
Keep your head up and keep going. You got this. If you need help that's what we're here for.
Thanks for reading.
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