For many people, going off the grid is a dream come true! Not only can it save you a lot of money, but it can also bring you that incredible satisfaction of being self-sufficient, helping you and your family unplug, caring for the environment, and soaking in the beauty of nature around you.
To reach that goal, it’s important to keep in mind that you cannot do it overnight. It is a process and the best thing to do in order to ensure that you do not sacrifice your personal needs is to do it all gradually, taking it on one SMALL step or project at a time. It’s important to do your research as you take on each step of the journey. We don’t charge any interest for that reason so you don’t have to waste money as you build up your off-grid life over time. Here are our favorite resources to help you get started:
What is Life Like Off the Grid?
Deanne is a full time off gridder who works for us researching potential properties to see if they’ll be a good fit. We asked her to share a little about her own homesteading journey and how she lives off the grid outside Kingman, Arizona. Here is a peek into her life of simplifying, getting back to nature, and moving toward independence & self-reliance.
Thaddeus and I have been living off-grid since October of 2019 outside of Kingman, Arizona. We lived in our RV on the land until we were able to set up a mobile home on it. Now, did we wait until the mobile home was completely finished and fully set up? Nope. We decided we wanted to go ahead and move in and had no running water, no electricity, and no heat. Now I know what you’re thinking. Why would you move into a home without these amenities? There comes a time that you ask yourself what is important to you. I came from a 4,000 square feet home with 5 bedrooms and 4 baths before simplifying my life and moving into an RV on remote land. It’s all about deciding what you actually need and what you can live without for a minimalist off-grid lifestyle.
How do we get power? On our off-grid property, we get our power from solar panels. We’ve slowly built up our solar system and built it in a way that we could add to it as money and time permits. We wait until we have the funds and time on hand before we take on another project, focusing on one thing at a time to build up our homestead. The solar system is our biggest investment, but we just add onto it little by little. Our next project is to get the 24 panels off the ground and add an additional array for backup and additional power. We have 18 batteries that the units charge and we utilize this power at night. What does this actually mean I can run? During the day during peak sun hours, we can run two window air conditioners. This keeps our place cool and it is a luxury here in Arizona. At night, we utilize a generator to power a small air conditioner in our bedroom. We have a fellow off grid friend though, that has two shipping containers and a small retro RV, but doesn’t have the solar system to accommodate air conditioners. He only uses a squirt bottle and a small fan to stay cool. This works for him and it keeps his costs down to barely anything! Having a temperature controlled home was one of the things we prioritized most, so spending the extra money on solar and skipping out on other items was a great trade off. Again, it’s about deciding what things are important to you and what can you live without.
How do we get water? To drill a well in our area would cost an enormous amount. Did we drill a well? Nope! We go and get our water with a trailer and water totes. In our area, this is a common practice and water availability in bulk is available. We drive 30 minutes to get our water and the cost is minimal. You can also have water delivered to you directly from companies. This is not as economical for us and so we spent the money on a trailer and water totes. We don’t have a large water container set-up yet, but it is on our list of things that we want to purchase at some point. Currently, we pump the water from the water totes. For two of us, we utilize a small amount of water. We picked up 180 gallons the other day and it will last us 2-3 weeks. It all depends on what you’re using the water for and what your daily needs are. We’re pretty minimal in usage and feel we’re doing our part to sustain water in our area.
How do we do laundry? We have a portable washer and spinner combo that utilizes the solar to run and gets most of our washing done. The only time we go to a laundry mat is when we want to wash a bulk item. We hang our clothes outside on the line to dry. My grandma would be very proud! During the winter we bring the clothes inside to hang. We also have a portable “dryer” unit that we can put up if we need to get the job done faster, but rarely use it.
How do we take a shower? We have a portable propane water heater and shower pump. We hook this right into the shower hose holder. We can adjust the temperature as we need and it pumps water out of a large garbage container in the bathroom. It runs on the small propane cylinders and we utilize the ones that you can refill. This saves money and saves the landfill. Of course, on our list is to get a large propane tank outside and have the house run from that. In due time, again, it’s about deciding what is important and what can you afford?
How do we cook? We utilize a grill or we have a camp stove with two burners. In hindsight, I wish we could have afforded a side burner on the grill, but at the time the budget didn’t allow for that. I had a gourmet kitchen before, but now I find it’s amazing what can be cooked in one pan! We did splurge and got a large refrigerator with a drawer for beverages. We’re constantly pulling drinks out of the drawer but the draw on the solar system is minimal since it isn’t the entire refrigerator being opened.
How do we heat the house? We use a large propane Buddy Heater with a thermostat when we aren’t able to use portable electric heaters during the day on solar. In the winter, your solar isn’t as efficient due to the changes in the direction of the sun and the amount of sun you get during the day. We also have portable Buddy heaters that we use with the small refillable propane tanks that we can move around the house.
What do we do for garbage service? We burn our trash and the items that can’t be burned we take in to recycle or drop off at garbage refuse areas. We have a large pyro cage incinerator that we fill during the week and then burn during the weekend. We’ve used this for about two years and it’s amazing how much is at the bottom of it. We haven’t dumped it once and it’s only about a foot deep in ash. AMAZING!
What about all the little extras? One thing we had to have was internet access and cell service since we work from home. When we first moved to our location we were using our cell phones as hotspots for Thaddeus to work from home. We knew it wasn’t going to be a long term plan and now have a service that serves remote, off grid areas and accommodates our needs. We work from home on our computers, stream movies, and watch the news. We’ve added other little extra things to our off-grid homestead as well. It’s also fun to say that you have solar coffee! We have security cameras, motion detectors, etc. to assist in watching our items. In the future we’ll have a large fence and two german shepherds. Shhh… Don’t tell our indoor cats!
As I’m writing this and thinking of all of the things that have gone right and wrong it makes me happy that we chose to live this lifestyle. We’ve had a lot of fun along the way. We enjoy dancing on our deck with our music up loud under the stars. We are learning to play piano and guitar. We have two four wheelers for us to explore the many trails that Arizona has to offer. We have a telescope to see the stars at night. Our time together is more meaningful and it has made our relationship stronger. We work together on all projects and just know at the end of the day, we’re where we were meant to be-- connected with nature and each other.
If you’re thinking about this lifestyle make a list of “must haves” and then what you would like to add in along the way. Prioritize this list and figure out the costs associated with each item. The internet is a great source for getting ideas and figuring out how it will work for your environment. Always remember that you get to decide how you want this to work for YOU. I hope this gives you a small insight into our way of living and gets you excited about the endless possibilities of living life off grid.