For the past two months we have lived without grid electricity. It took a little getting used to, but now it really doesn’t feel all that difficult. Amazingly, we can do much of what we did before, we simply do things more deliberately and have dropped that monthly electric bill.
Part of our goal when we moved off-grid was to not have to work away from home in order to sustain ourselves. Right now we are just starting our homestead, so a bit of capital is helpful, though not required, in order to set up some infrastructure. We moved to our two acre plot of land with nothing but a 20 foot camper, a 20 foot roofline, and a 1500 gallon water tank.
From there we have built a small, very basic cabin that connects to our camper, created a system of waste management, set up solar panels, heated our home with wood harvested from our land, and cooked with a combination of that wood and propane that we still have to buy from town.
Dropping the Monthly Bills While Being Mostly Unemployed
Since moving we have been able to drop our monthly telephone, electricity, and rent bills – all very significant in our budget. We continue to build our homestead, which is mostly part of our savings, and still have weekly grocery bills.
Neither my husband or myself is employed full-time. We both work as independent contractors, in a way, as an intermittent means of feeding our family and taking care of very basic necessities. This is until we can produce more of our own food and other goods. That winter garden and three chickens just aren’t enough yet. Right now, though, most of our time is spent maintaining the homestead.
The only monthly bill we currently have is for internet – a big part of what makes working from home doable. We did not want to start out with debt, considering that we had just paid off a very large student loan. So we bought small, starting with two acres bought out right. It will take us quite sometime to just develop this land for chickens, gardens, fruit and nut trees, etc. Eventually we would like to expand to include dairy animals and a pig, but that is somewhere down the line.
Resisting Temptation
One thing that we wanted to start producing as soon as possible was animal products. But my husband, very wisely, pointed out that we should not keep animals that we have to commit to buying feed for. Waiting until we began producing root vegetables, grains, and more to feed our chickens and pigs seemed like less of a financial entrapment than being reliant on store-bought feed for months or years.
Needless to say we will be working our tails off come spring in order to put enough in the ground to get our family of (almost) five and our animals fed.
So while this current way of life does not involve much of the comforts of our old life, we are still able to have our basic needs met with some luxuries like solar-powered running water in the kitchen and solar-powered computers and internet.
Best of all, though, we are spending our days working alongside our family and always trying to avoid debts or monthly bills.
Not sure which state you live in, but I know if it were my state, depending on the county, the DCS would be all over you. I am a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), a volunteer whose job it is to advocate for children who have been removed from their home due to neglect or other crimes committed by the parents. I have seen DCS remove children for no greater reason than that they have a case of head lice. We have a large Amish population around here and they have not escaped the long arm of the overreaching child welfare department. You do not have to allow them access to your home without a written order signed by a judge. I wish you well in your homesteading endeavors. I think it is a wonderful idea.
Beth, if its illegal to live off grid, then 1/2 of Alaska needs all there children removed. DCS has no business messing around with people who do not conform to industrial standards.
If they would stick to the real issues of real abuse, then they might not be stretched so thin.
I totally agree–that’s why I am a CASA. I go up against DCS all the time just because they are too agressive (in my county) and too willing to snatch kids for the least little reason. One caseworker quit because the judge agreed with me.
Oooh! I’m a bit envious! My husband and I have discussed doing this before, but I’m not sure that he is really willing to go that far. I will have to keep working on him
How long did you plan this before you “made the switch?” Did you sell your belongings? I’m guessing that they all don’t fit in your new home. I would love to hear more about this as my husband and I are looking at doing something similar to this. Thank you!
I would love to be able to have this system put on to my home for elec. and that I am disabled and really need help right now my daddy died this year and I need help with heating and elec. I can’t get any kind of help what so ever because all of my money goes right to the house payments each and every month really it does i have no money left what so ever to do anything at all ; I got robbed 6 times while my daddy was on his death bed and after he died i came home to find that i need to replace all 9 windows in my home and now that i turned it into the insuraance that daddy paid for each month they are not dropping me saying that i had to many claims when i only really had one claim that i know of period and so they don;t want to help me with the windows i had wind damage to the roof last year and now that i came home to find this with the windows i need help & can’t get any kind of help at all for the heat and or elec what so ever and i can’t get anyone to instalate the house or anything the lights do strange things as follows it goes from normal lighting to dim all on its own by its self then they flicker all on their own by them selfs then the go back to dim to normal lighting . i am scared that something is not right with the way that it was put in and i can’t even get help with that stuff no matter what i have done and no matter how many times i have asked for help i can’t seem to get REMC light company to help with the light matter and or OVO which stands for Ohio Vally Opertunines they do the weatherzion for the disabled ; the elderly ; the low income and the mentaly handi capped ; but they didn’t help me at all really they never done anything to get the house warm for the winter months and my daddy and I froze every winter now it is just me that freezes every winter I just pray that somone out there will hear me and listen to me here & that they will be someone out there to help me for real please somone help me i am freezing as i write this to you on my friends email please someone help me pretty please help me . I have been trying to look into this stuff of solar heating and lights also to have the light company to have to pay me back money each month that would be really nice since i have paid a lot of money all of these years and can’t seem to get their help with the lights i wish the people that do these kinds of things the best with the solar panles and that i just can’t pay the stuff to make something like this or get the help to do so . thank you for listening to all of you take care God bless one and all Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to one and all .
yours truly
Penny M.
This is inspiring!! I pray God continues to sustain you in this new season of your life!
Shannon, I applaud you & your husband for taking such a big step into the unknown & for your endurance & perseverance it must take to get thru each day. I want to do exactly what you are doing. There is so much land available today in our country at rock bottom prices I’m puzzeled why so many other people don’t do the same as you. Over the last 5 years I researched my family history & when I studied my grandparents lives & how they suddenly found themselves out of work in 1929 I was amazed to discover how today is nearly repeating itself. 1929 wasn’t much different than today – my grandparents lived in a city, had a house with running water, electricity, heating – nearly everything we have minus cell phones, internet & tv in every room. Suddenly men were out of work, banks were closing, loan companies were foreclosing, gasoline was too expensive… Sounds like today. I discovered that my grandfather packed his wife & 4 children into his Buick, traveled to Missouri where he leased what people called “the little dirt farm” – 7 acres & an abandoned garage. With a borrowed horsedrawn plow, he worked the land, dug a well, put in an old cast iron cookstove, put up an outhouse & a make-shift barn while my grandmother cooked, cleaned, sewed, baked, scrubbed clothes by hand & washed them with homemade soap. They didn’t have a refrigerator, electricity or plumbing & daily she fetched water from the well & even used the well as a make shift cooler by lowering her butter, eggs or meat in the bucket & lowering it in the well to keep it cool. My grandparents did what they had to do – unlike today when people can get food stamps or cash aid. My grandparents learned that if they were going to survive it wouldn’t be from standing in the long lines of soup kitchens. They borrowed, swapped & bartered for 6 years (& 2 kids later) & they had a happy family. Today, my husband & I (both our 2nd marriage of 1 year) have decided to move out of our apartment & onto some land & start over. Are we too old? (I’m 57 & he is 62). No, we don’t think so. Maybe we don’t have the energy of two 20-yr-olds, but we certainly have the motivation, drive, & willpower & I am certain we will accomplish our dream of being debt free by the time the good Lord takes us from our earthly home. Maybe, we’ll leave our own story for our 10 grandchildren to tell someone about.
Follow me on my blog http://theleavittlodge.blogspot.com. Become a member, post your comments & maybe we can learn together & educate others about living a frugal lifestyle.
Congratulations! I’m looking forward to the day that I can also have my off the grid homestead!
Shannon, I love your blogs and admire the lifestyle you’ve chosen. I can’t imagine a better life for children. I just had to respond to your first comment regarding the DCS issue. I’m not sure what state that commenter is in, but in my state…liberal California…DCS has to prove to a judge imminent danger in order to justify removing children. And, there are LOTS of children who live in drug infested, violent, neglected squalor daily, who are never removed from their homes because quite honestly, DCS has too much to deal with and too little money. In our county, DCS doesn’t pull kids because they don’t have anywhere for them to go…foster families are few and far between.
So, unless your state is rich, I wouldn’t worry too much about anyone taking your children. The state has bigger fish to fry, so to speak. I think off-grid living is a far cry from imminent danger.
We pay rent for our off-grid cabin ($700/month), buy gas for our generator ($20/month), and otherwise we don’t have monthly housing bills anymore. We have had to learn to live with less, as you say. We don’t have an Internet connection or phone service. We heat with wood, which takes a lot of time and effort. I can’t use my kitchen appliances. We share 300 square feet with two children! I don’t think many people would be willing to live this way. But it is so rewarding.
I don’t think we can live without working, and buying land won’t happen for a long time since we live in NorCal where land is very expensive. But paying $700 a month is very different from the $1200 we were paying for a fully-outfitted house in town, plus $200+ for utilities. We’re saving tons of money every month and slowly unplugging from the industrial lifestyle. I’m visiting my parents right now and it feels like an obscene privilege to have lights come on with the merest flip of a switch.
Shannon – I am now going to devour your posts. Years ago, our family bought lots of acreage together. We sat on the land until we could afford to build homes, but we didn’t do what you are doing with no debt. All of us built larger homes with the desire to live off our land and now it’s three siblings with our 25 children who live out here, but we are more and more convinced we need to be self sustaining, so we’re slowly educating ourselves and getting ready for that time that may come sooner than we all want.
Loved reading this! My preference will lean towards not needing to be self sustaining unless we are forced to it, but I am thrilled that there are families like you, who go before us and help lead the way, if I ever have to.
I too wondered where you lived not because of social services taking your kids but because here in NY you would never get a certificate of occupancy to even begin living in your cabin. Local zoning laws are very restrictive and put an end to many people’s dream of living a more self sufficient life. Some little examples: many places in NY you cannot rise backyard chickens unless you have 5 acres, you must put in a septic tank even if you are planning on using a composting toilet and a well thought out gray water system, EVERY little thing must be inspected by some government inspector BEFORE you can actually live on your own land, in your own home…..I think it is so sad that we have allowed government to tread upon us like this. I am sure it was thought to be a good idea at the time but our rights as citizens have been eaten away over time. God bless your efforts!
I think you will love it! I have lived for 13 years off-the-grid in upstate NY and it has been the best time of my life. You learn as you go and grow your system. After awhile it seems to be normal life. What Heidi says is true about NY state, but if you do as we did and buy a hunting camp, it falls under the “grandfather clause” because it was already here for years (1850) and functioning. Since it had an outhouse and it was sold with that as the bathroom, that too, fell under the “grandfather clause”. There are ways around some of those zoning laws but you have to research the areas of where you are looking to move to. Good luck!