Do you feel stressed out? Are you always driving for hours in traffic every day? Tired of paying the never ending bills? Find out 5 reasons why you should live off grid.
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1. Cheaper and more cost effective
Prepare
Thinking about going off grid can feel overwhelming. Some of the investments you have to make when you go off grid are up front. For example you have to prepare for winter in the summer time. If you are going to be chopping your own wood that is obviously ideal, but if your buying chopped wood thats an upfront investment. For our situation we bought wood super cheap from a neighbor. It was already chopped, ready to go and he charged $100 for a cord. We spent $600 worth of wood and this will last us 2-3 years since we live in a tiny house. Think ahead and be resourceful.
Solar set up
Our solar system investment has been $3600. Why so cheap you ask right? Well we have been resourceful and one of our other neighbors is a genius and installs solars. He is all about using and storing energy efficiently. We helped him with his stuff, he helped us custom build using lithium ion batteries with the installation. Our set up is 750 watts and about 2 cloudy days worth of stored power. Soon we will be posting all about solars in an upcoming post.
So a few upfront investments but on the other hand you are cutting our monthly utility payments.
You can do it!
At first it was hard, the transition phase was very unknown. Somewhat stressful and different. Going through difficult situations made us stronger, mentally, emotionally, and physically. You have to be creative. At the end of the day, looking back, all of the problems that come up are ALWAYS figure out-able and are momentary issues.
After 8 months of being off grid I would say the hardest months are the winter months but they are still manageable as long as you prepare! Spring, summer, and fall months are easy and adventurous.
Disclaimer
Of course people are different and this is not for every one . There are those who love the city life and we have friends that do. Others have an inner drive or a calling for freedom. Some call it a pioneers spirit. If thats you, TRY IT. Try something out of the ordinary. Something that helped us keep going and made us feel better was knowing that if it gets too much or too hard there is ALWAYS a way back.
Debt free
Our goal from the beginning was to be debt free and going off grid was our solution to get out of debt. We achieved that goal within the first 8 months living off grid. This means we lived more simpler and modest.
2. Self-sufficient
No utility bills
When you live off grid you become more self sufficient. You rely on your own water. Forget paying the city for water, sewage, or garbage. You don’t pay for rent. We lived in rent for the past 5 years and we paid $140K to someone else’s pocket. We could have put that into our land! You invest in yourself, in your land.
3. Connected to nature
On our land we can hike up to the mountain and have a view point with fresh breeze, forest and wild life around you. It feels amazing. If you go down the mountain we have a lake where we fish and eat fresh trout for dinner. You can go swim in the summer or ice skate in the winter. We don’t spend money for entertainment like going to the zoo or going to the movies, instead we spend more time with our kids surrounded by nature. Its so much more peaceful.
4. Quality family time
Another big goal for us to move off grid was to spend more time as a family. In the city the norm is to send your children off to day care or school so you can go to work to pay for the house you only sleep in and see your children a few hours before bedtime. Your children are the most important. Being off grid helps with our homeschool as well. A lot of our homeschooling is hands on and true life skills.
5. Healthier
Since you are 90% of the time outside you breath fresh air getting more oxygen to your brain and blood.You move more, walk, run, chop wood. Ever since we moved off grid we have seen drastic changes in our bodies.
Spiritually healthier
Seeing Gods creations, from the starry night to the wild flowers you are humbled and awed. You are more spiritually connected. We have more time to read, and self examine.
Restful
We have the ability to have lights but being away from the city, you don’t even want to turn on the lights. Choosing to go to bed slightly after the sun sets and get up with the sun. We feel rested and healthy.
Finally
We want to encourage you and say that moving off grid is actually more achievable and affordable than you actually think.
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