The off grid/minimalist/homesteading lifestyle

[Bigfoot]

I will never break down and join that movement. Number one, my home is smack in the middle of my farm. I'd hate to sell it, and build something small. Number two, my wife would never go along with it. Number three not sure how simple the simple life would be as I age.

It does appeal to me though. I've got it down, to just over a year and I can retire. My kids are in their early teens. Hate to see them go, but I do see the day coming when they move out. Just being totally sufficient, and living off the land. Solar lights, wood heat, eating out of the garden. Living expenses of almost nothing. Minimal trips to town (it's pretty rough here). The whole thing just seems to draw me in. I used to think it was silly, and the people doing it were just trying to get out work (still feel that way about many). It wouldn't be that way for me. It'd be a reason to work with my hands, and provide in a way that's different than I do now. Thoughts?????

 

[Bright Raven]

I think as you get older (approaching 70), there are going to be pressures to use all the modern conveniences possible to compensate for declining capabilities. At best, you will just not have the energy it takes to cut wood, raise a garden, care for farm animals, etc. At worst, you suffer the more debilitating illnesses that go with aging like joint problems, loss of flexibility, stamina, and other more serious issues and are not able to complete the physical requirements of that lifestyle. You are not that far off. Going primitive is for the very young.

 

[Lucky]

The older I get (I'm not that old) the less I care about things. I avoid going to town and don't really care if people think I'm rich, poor, lazy, or work hard. I would love to just live off the ranch and mind my business. I don't think I'd like relying on solar power, wood heat, geothermal cooling or growing my own food though. Maybe a balance of doing with and without during retirement is the key.

 

[True Grit Farms]

The wife and I are planning on living mostly off grid. My thinking is when you age and retire you need to learn it's not a race to see how much you can get done in a day. You don't need to get all crazy and go all in on the off grid lifestyle.

 

[Cross-7]

When I first got the place I have now I didn't have water or electricity.
I lived several months hauling water in 5 gallon jugs and ran a generator.
I could do it easy except air conditioning.
That's the only thing that I couldn't run on solar/batteries.
Preserving meat would be a challenge without refrigeration.
Canning food on a wood stove would be a pita.
Regulating heat with a fireplace or wood stove would be difficult.
You'll lose lots of conveniences.
Setting the thermostat at 70 degrees on your way to bed and waking up to a warm house would be gone.
Heating water without electric or gas is a huge pita.
Washing clothes would be a problem.
Drying clothes in summer is no problem but winter time is tough.
Summertime I eat mostly out of the garden. Meat and fish are the exception.
Maybe raise chickens and catfish.
Smoke meat.
Idk but it'd be a lifestyle change.

Solar panels and batteries are expensive. It's cheaper to stay on the grid.

It can be done obviously but it'd be tough

 

[TCRanch]

There is a Amish family that doesn't live too far from here but even they now have electricity, even internet. Paring down, staying home, being somewhat self sustaining is great but I think Ron nailed it. If I want to go off the grid I'll go camping for a weekend - then back to the comforts & convenience of my home.

 

[Bigfoot]

I just pictured my wife under a shade tree using a dasher washer. Probably a deal breaker there.

 

[1982vett]

Bigfoot, for some of us (and myself) it's like Bright Raven said. Age catches up with us, some sooner than for others. I just don't have the stamina I did just a few years ago. I probably couldn't hold a candle to my Dad when he was 75 and I sometimes was a bit irritated when it appeared to me he was slow getting something done. I fully understand now that some things just don't have to be finished right now and if I appear slow it's because I'm pacing myself so I don't just fall out. Sometime just getting out of this chair to go to bed is a chore.

 

[sstterry]

The wife and I are planning on living mostly off grid. My thinking is when you age and retire you need to learn it's not a race to see how much you can get done in a day. You don't need to get all crazy and go all in on the off grid lifestyle.

Then how will you get your Cattletoday fix?

 

[greybeard]

I just pictured my wife under a shade tree using a dasher washer. Probably a deal breaker there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjWiRMAivMs

 

[wbvs58]

I live off grid and I have all the comforts except the high power consumption of the like of air con. Heating is wood stove and it is easy to regulate the temp, I do wake up to a warm house in winter. I am in the process of upgrading my system, it is about 12 yrs old and lead acid batteries are very tired and moving to Lithium ion batteries and upgrading other things. I will probably spend about $12,000 so not cheap but I reckon still well ahead of paying power bills. I like the independence of my own system like if I loose power it is my problem and I fix it. I hate hearing people procrastinating about the power companies when they lose power, it is the highlight of their day.

I am 67 and I have lost a lot of mobility but I don't intend to stop what I am doing, I just plug along and that helps keep me going. My daughter has moved out here and lives in her own little unit out the back and has gone back into training dressage horses so it gives me heart that there is someone to take over this place down the track so I am trying to make things user friendly as in my power system and pumps etc around the place.

Ken

 

[Bigfoot]

I just pictured my wife under a shade tree using a dasher washer. Probably a deal breaker there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjWiRMAivMs

Yeah, I wasn't off long was I?

 

[sstterry]

I live off grid and I have all the comforts except the high power consumption of the like of air con. Heating is wood stove and it is easy to regulate the temp, I do wake up to a warm house in winter. I am in the process of upgrading my system, it is about 12 yrs old and lead acid batteries are very tired and moving to Lithium ion batteries and upgrading other things. I will probably spend about $12,000 so not cheap but I reckon still well ahead of paying power bills. I like the independence of my own system like if I loose power it is my problem and I fix it. I hate hearing people procrastinating about the power companies when they lose power, it is the highlight of their day.

I am 67 and I have lost a lot of mobility but I don't intend to stop what I am doing, I just plug along and that helps keep me going. My daughter has moved out here and lives in her own little unit out the back and has gone back into training dressage horses so it gives me heart that there is someone to take over this place down the track so I am trying to make things user friendly as in my power system and pumps etc around the place.

Ken

How do you get your internet Ken?

 

[Bigfoot]

I live off grid and I have all the comforts except the high power consumption of the like of air con. Heating is wood stove and it is easy to regulate the temp, I do wake up to a warm house in winter. I am in the process of upgrading my system, it is about 12 yrs old and lead acid batteries are very tired and moving to Lithium ion batteries and upgrading other things. I will probably spend about $12,000 so not cheap but I reckon still well ahead of paying power bills. I like the independence of my own system like if I loose power it is my problem and I fix it. I hate hearing people procrastinating about the power companies when they lose power, it is the highlight of their day.

I am 67 and I have lost a lot of mobility but I don't intend to stop what I am doing, I just plug along and that helps keep me going. My daughter has moved out here and lives in her own little unit out the back and has gone back into training dressage horses so it gives me heart that there is someone to take over this place down the track so I am trying to make things user friendly as in my power system and pumps etc around the place.

Ken

Is this by choice, or are a long distance from resources?

 

[greybeard]

I just pictured my wife under a shade tree using a dasher washer. Probably a deal breaker there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjWiRMAivMs

Yeah, I wasn't off long was I?

Long enough to grow a scruffy beard...

I'veknown people that did live off the grid, but by that, I mean were not connected to the electric grid or to any municipal resources or utilities at all. Had their own electric power supply, so they could use all the comforts most of us have.
If one considers propane to be accepted as still being 'off the grid' I can see where it wouldn't be all that difficult a life.
Cook, heat, run a refrigerator with propane. You could also run an air conditioner with propane, but you would still have to have some way to move the air over the coils.
Solar power would take care of running the air mover tho. For that matter, solar power could also heat the refrigerant enough to vaporize it.
https://www.treehugger.com/solar-techno ... -unit.html

 

[wbvs58]

Internet is no problem, I have plenty of power to run modums etc. I currently get fixed wireless from a tower about 8km away. I also have the choice of a 4G cell service or a satelite connection.

It is mainly because I am about 6km away from the power lines and I would suspect the cost would be over $100.000 to get power here. Off grid setups around here are very common now as you are at no disadvantage comfort or convenience wise with your own power. People are now building on blocks that they would not have 10 or 15 years ago due to the cost of getting power to it.

Ken

 

[MillennialRancher]

What did your grandparents do? Great grandparents? People have been getting old and decrepit for a long time and they survived. My great great grandparents lived a long time making one trip to town by mule once a month to buy feed, a sack of flower and some corn mash to make liquor. My grandpa tells stories all the time about his grandparents and how they did things. He raised L1 Herefords just down the road from me and grew up in the "big house" that's still lived in today.

Kids and grandkids helped keep up the place and make sure chores got done. Neighbors helped neighbors. The church provided for those in need. It was built around family and God. Luckily my folks still live with that mindset to this day with the addition of all the modern technology, I live within walking distance to the majority of my family. That lifestyle is possible and sustainable today it just takes family.

I hope I can buy back that old plantation house one day and raise my family in it.

 

[greybeard]

Internet is no problem, I have plenty of power to run modums etc. I currently get fixed wireless from a tower about 8km away. I also have the choice of a 4G cell service or a satelite connection.

It is mainly because I am about 6km away from the power lines and I would suspect the cost would be over $100.000 to get power here. Off grid setups around here are very common now as you are at no disadvantage comfort or convenience wise with your own power. People are now building on blocks that they would not have 10 or 15 years ago due to the cost of getting power to it.

Ken

You know, in a way, some of the early electric proponents have seen their preferences come to fruition. They didn't want a grid or a centralized generator. They wanted to provide (sell) a coal fired steam DC generator to each home and business instead of metering electricity to users via transmission lines and they almost got their way until Westinghouse developed AC transmission and transformers.
Now, home electric generation has become TNB...The Next Big Thing, except it's idea is over 100 years old.

 

[Dave]

I did live off the grid in 1978. We had a hand pump on the back porch, kerosene lamps, wood cook stove, wood heat, and out house that was 100 feet too far away in the winter and 100 too close in the summer. The power simply wasn't available there. Still isn't. Where we are now we certainly don't live off the grid but the electric bill is only about $70 a month. We do have propane heat but we also have a wood stove. We have only used about 100 gallons of propane in 3 months and this is a cold weather climate here. The wood stove is our main source of heat. The propane is set low in case we forget or are gone and the fire goes out. Cutting firewood is no big problem even at 67 because I am retired. Unlike when I was working where today was the day to cut wood so I went at it like killing snakes, now I have plenty of time to get it done. If it takes one week or two weeks it doesn't matter because what else do I have to do? The garden and putting up our food is enjoyable. It is amazing how much of that can get done in a 4 hour day. Less than half spent at a day job. We could easily raise all our food but neither the wife or I wants to milk a cow twice a day. I have done that before and the wife did it for a lot of years. So we do buy some of our food. But not a lot. We only go to town about twice a week. Sunday to go to church and once mid week to do the shopping and take care of any town business. This was a change for me because for about 37 years the grocery store was only a mile away. If I ran out of something it was no big deal to run to the store. It is a change the other way for my wife. For 14 years she had a ranch that was a 2 hour drive to the nearest store. She went to town once a month. In the last 6 months we have gone out to eat a grand total of 4 times. It is just not part of the lifestyle we have chosen. It is pretty easy to switch to being a minimalist.

 

[wbvs58]

I did live off the grid in 1978. We had a hand pump on the back porch, kerosene lamps, wood cook stove, wood heat, and out house that was 100 feet too far away in the winter and 100 too close in the summer. The power simply wasn't available there. Still isn't. Where we are now we certainly don't live off the grid but the electric bill is only about $70 a month. We do have propane heat but we also have a wood stove. We have only used about 100 gallons of propane in 3 months and this is a cold weather climate here. The wood stove is our main source of heat. The propane is set low in case we forget or are gone and the fire goes out. Cutting firewood is no big problem even at 67 because I am retired. Unlike when I was working where today was the day to cut wood so I went at it like killing snakes, now I have plenty of time to get it done. If it takes one week or two weeks it doesn't matter because what else do I have to do? The garden and putting up our food is enjoyable. It is amazing how much of that can get done in a 4 hour day. Less than half spent at a day job. We could easily raise all our food but neither the wife or I wants to milk a cow twice a day. I have done that before and the wife did it for a lot of years. So we do buy some of our food. But not a lot. We only go to town about twice a week. Sunday to go to church and once mid week to do the shopping and take care of any town business. This was a change for me because for about 37 years the grocery store was only a mile away. If I ran out of something it was no big deal to run to the store. It is a change the other way for my wife. For 14 years she had a ranch that was a 2 hour drive to the nearest store. She went to town once a month. In the last 6 months we have gone out to eat a grand total of 4 times. It is just not part of the lifestyle we have chosen. It is pretty easy to switch to being a minimalist.

Dave I don't know where you get that time from, I am 67 and my life is just so full on around this place, I don't have a garden so don't grow any food just full on growing feed and doing stuff with the cattle.

My grandson and his mate were good last year for cutting my firewood. I hope he gets going on it again this year though he has been busy with his sailing, he is doing an ocean race this Easter in a Beneteau 50 so doing a lot of training.

Ken