So you are tired of paying a mortgage. You are tired of working a 40 or 50 hour a week job, increasingly into the 60 and 70 hour range, and not having time to just live. You are exasperated with endlessly paying bills and having nothing left over to show for all of your hard work. This is why more and more people are starting to live off the grid; get away from the stresses of modern life without necessarily leaving it.
Living off the grid will require a change in lifestyle, and demand sacrifices of luxuries you have gotten used to. It will also require an initial investment, but the long term trade off will be worth it in the end. Consider the pros and cons carefully before jumping into that lifestyle change, however.
If you do decide to live off the grid, make sure you blog about it. Create a great domain name and share your journey from the beginning. You will be able to document your first steps, and share why you decided to make the change. You could inspire others to make the lifestyle change as well. Here are some tips you will need if you are considering living off the grid.
Tiny Home
The latest craze in home buying are tiny homes. They are hundreds of thousands of dollars cheaper than the average house. They are quicker to build and many of them can be mobile. This makes them perfect for a single person, a couple who share living ideals; you can even fit a family of four into one of these 120-180 square-foot home. These are also perfect to put on smaller plots of land, or on a large tract with plenty of space for the other things you will need to live off the grid.
You could also consider purchasing one of the new ecocapsules. While these self-sustaining mini homes come at a price tag of $98,000. They do incorporate other technologies (discussed later) that you would need for living self-sufficiently. Consider your budget, consider pricing for your entire project, then you will be able to decide the best direction for you. Be sure to include the issue in your blog. Explain what your concerns are, and why you chose the option that you did.
Personal Garden
With a tiny home on your property and your shelter issue taken care of, you now have the space required for the other necessities. Food is crucial to survival. Now, you will be growing it. Convert some of that land to planting a fruits and vegetable garden. Plant some fruit trees and create your own orchard. You will have to learn about agriculture, at least on a small scale, but the fruits of your labor will be sweet and help you live as independently from society as possible. Any surplus you have from growing these foods you can sell in a local farmer’s market or other location.
Be aware that you will have to purchase supplies for this endeavor, so do not quit that job. Not yet. Farmer’s Co-Ops run off of money, they will not take trade. Fertilizer, seeds, and replacement tools will be regularly purchased.
Water
Water is another necessity to life, and living off of the grid will require you to collect your own. This can be done in the form of barrels, where rainwater is collected from the rooftop of a home, or form a well. The practice of rainwater harvesting is in question in several states; legislation has been passed to ensure water reaches the main sources for society at-large to use. You will need to check your state’s regulations in regards to this.
Some rainwater harvesting is allowed in various jurisdictions for the purpose of watering lawns and filling swimming pools, and such. While living off the grid probably means you will not have a pool, the water you collect can, in most areas, be used to water the vegetable garden you have on the property.
Some roofs in other areas of the world have water collection built into their designs. Some are bowl-shaped and, though not a standard feature on a tiny home, could be incorporated into your rainwater harvesting system; sending the collected water from the roof into the barrels or tank.
Power
You will need a lighting source for your tiny home. You will need a means of generating heat and cooling the air inside, depending on the season of year. Just because your home is tiny, it does not mean you cannot have a HVAC system. It will be a tiny system, meaning cheaper to purchase.
The main source for your tiny home would probably be solar power. You will have to buy enough solar panels to create an array to power your appliances and store electricity for those overcast days. Back-up batteries will be a key component in your power system.
To help with those days, or even weeks, of rain or wintry dreariness, consider a wind turbine. Harnessing the power of the wind can also generate power for your tiny home. You will have to be careful with using these as well. Some states restrict or refuse the use of wind turbines, for similar reasons as they restrict the collection of rainwater. Even solar power systems may be governed by legislation, so do your research first before installing.
You can discuss the issue in your blog. You might even help change some laws to help encourage the use of such systems and energy sources rather than preventing their widespread use.
Solar power and wind power are two of the technologies built into the ecocapsules. This is where you need to compare prices of the power systems and the homes to decide which direction to go in. Whatever your goal, whatever your budget, you need to think in terms of what you can pay now and how much you can afford for monthly installments. Living off the grid is not cheap in the beginning. It is after everything is set up that you start benefiting from it.
