How far do you want to go off-grid with your lifestyle?

Dig your OWN well Dude !!Summer time is the best for machinery .
DO-NOT break through the HARD pan , But go right down to it .
Mine is 7' deep in one area & 25' in the other on the ranch.
Learn the rest & hide it , feed it with solar power so it's not reporting a smart pump to a Smart Meter for extra TAX billing..
This is in some areas NOw !
sloth

 

It takes $ $$ to be doing that .
I'm not rich . I live on SS .
Coming up with property taxes is a challenge year to year.
Right now i am debating selling the place and moving , but I'm not sure where just yet.

 

That's one thing that causes a lot of guys to move abroad. I cannot count the number of guys who live in SE Asia, and just draw SSA or Social Security Disability.

 

so what do you do when the chickens stop producing? they lay less in the winter and about every 2 years they molt and don't lay eggs... how do you deal with the cycle of life?

 

The cheapest way to go solar is to reduce your power needs.

We're off Grid here and that means 100% solar and occasional genny on these stupid hot days where I chicken out and turn on the AC. Drove our own well and got water from the stream before that. Plan on going as far I can which will include cutting our wired internet connection (which will PO the cable company since they ran half a mile of wire to get back here lol) but still need it for my day job.

My gardening skills have to be sharpened before I consider replacing my produce with homegrown, we don't eat much for meat so raising meat birds or rabbits is just not necessary, but eggs and dairy are big so the chicks and milk goat are hopefully going to be part of the homestead this summer.

So, yeah, we're taking it all as far as we can go. Cut all ties that we can and live a life of simple minimalism.

Just found this forum today so saying hello, BTW.

 

@WTF Off Grid
Pictures are needed !!
I lowered the usage till ice cubes came from the hot water tap

 

I don't have many pictures worth a poo. We shoot video but I don't want to be the new guy posting my youtube videos. LOL

 

Yeah that works!


Me using an engine hoist to pull well point out last weekend, the muddy road we cut in, our shower, some wild flowers in the clearing.

 

My BIL is totally off grid and has been for years - a really basic lifestyle. His biggest concession to 'modern' stuff is a Coleman gas stove to boil water for coffee. Nothing I would be interested in.

This kind of life was something he got used to, I suppose, from being a sheepherder for so long.

 

Perhaps I am comprehending this incorrectly? How far off the grid do I want to go. I WANT every modern convince I can get for daily life. But I still take at least one Rustic Vacation a year just to ensure that I'm still capable.

 

Who says you cannot have those conveniences, while still living off-grid? Although I thought we would have moved to the farm by the 15th or so of this month, we are still working on some things out there. However, once we are done, we will be completely off-grid, while still enjoying everything available to us in the city - with the exception of dirtier air. The air at the farm is much fresher, and I'm pretty sure, much better for us.

Unfortunately, some folks' idea of "roughing it", is having to stay in a Motel 6.