Living Off The Grid - Tips for Success

Many people ask Jane and I how we got started living off the grid and if we could offer some tips so that they could do the same thing.
For many of you out there this is a very real dream that follows you around wherever you go. What if you could get rid of that power bill, grow our own food, have more time for my family, quickly get out of debt, and even build my own home. Wouldn't my life be so much better? Living off the grid sounds great on paper, or in dreams but the reality is more like sweat, work and more sweat in the beginning. Once your life is set and you have all of these things in place, then life does improve substantially. But how do you get there?

One of the most important things that we have found living the way we do is the added value of time. We have time to do the things we want to do and help others achieve their goals of a better life too.

Tip #1- Living Off The Grid
The very best place to start is with a family meeting. It is no fun proposing a different lifestyle if everyone is not on board. Try and set aside a time away from home, go to the park or somewhere that there will not be any normal distractions
Have one person bring a note pad and take notes of the meeting. The most important thing to remember is that this is a long term commitment, not something that can happen overnight. Long term commitments require planning and team work.

Tip #2- Living Off The Grid
That really brings up what is contained in the second tip for you, and that is planning. With a good plan you can achieve almost any goal given enough time and persistence. A good plan includes a living plan while you build your new life. A financial plan and a time frame for achieving those goals.

This really needs to be a team goal too, one that everyone contributes to and one that everyone understands, including your children. It is often overlooked that children can provide a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and persistence when provided with a challenge, or adventure.
That is how we looked at our own family move in 1993, an adventure. Once it was set that we were moving some 300 miles away from home, and the kids had a chance to visit the new property that we were to call home, it instantly became an adventure.
While some of you may choose to do all of the things that are recommended here right in the home you now reside in, for some of you a move may be in order.
Once the kids realized it was an adventure, building a new house, living outdoors for the summer, camping out with campfires every night and new wild animals and trees to explore, it was fun.
This may not sound like fun to everyone, most of you will have no desire to live off the grid in a rural area, or in the wilderness like we have chosen, but it is an adventure nonetheless.

Tip #3 Living Off The Grid- Beware the Naysayers
When we first announced to our family that we were moving to build a new life some distance away, to live without hydro, homestead our own farm, and become self-sufficient we expected a very positive response. What we got was blank stares and a whole lot of grief. "How can you take your family off to some wilderness? Why? Are you crazy?" Well possibly we were, but we had set in our mind a new life, and we both loved trees, fishing and the outdoors. None of those things existed in the very suburban, agricultural, very tame environment in which we were both raised.
It was a decision that Jane and I made very cautiously, but once we did we knew it was right for us. But that does not mean we were not scared though. Jane slept in our van with the kids for 2 weeks when we moved while we built our first cabin, so she would feel safe. Once we told family and friends what we were doing only a very select few, people who had always encouraged us gave us positive response. Thank you to Ron and Nancy the most, and to our good friend Steve who launched our dream in the first place. We miss you Nancy most of all, as she was killed in a car accident just before their own off grid dream move to Mexico was to begin.
I would caution all of you to be very careful who you tell about your own dreams, friends and family may think they are doing the right thing by dissuading you from your dreams but they are truly hurting your ability to be happy with your family. Jane and I know, we have been there, and for most of our family and friends they continue to do so, even though we have proven our happiness and the fact that we were right. Most of them just don't want to hear that there might be a better way.

And that is really what living off the grid boils down to, a better way to live. For those of you who want to test out the dream, there are many modular ways you can do so. Start small, by changing just one part of your life, and then change something else. Build a wind generator for your back yard, then solar panels, then work on your debt situation (actually you should do this first, as peace of mind is the most important gift of all). Living off the grid is not for everyone, but for those who give it a try they never go back, that says a lot.