The Horrible Misconceptions of Getting Off The Grid!

OP, IMO you are very much on the grid.

Your country living is not my idea of being off the grid.

My view of the term "off the grid" means you don't sponge or use anything off society.
No power usage other than that you generate. (this is the intended meaning to the term)
No more groceries, cause you are self sustaining from farming.
No more Internet, cause...it's a grid. This includes on line virtual schools.
You just can't pull this off at any given location.

I think you would be safe to say that you are lowering your dependence from society, but you are no where near independently "off the grid"

This is my perception, albeit brutally honest.

None the less, you are doing much more than most, so pat yourself on the back for now.
Just know that you are not even close to being "off the grid".

Country living is the best! The serenity of only hearing the birds and the wind, the peacefulness of not being crammed up against a bunch of other people, the beauty of driving without traffic, and the ability to see millions of stars in the sky at night make the long drive into town for groceries entirely worth it.

I would love to be entirely off the grid but I can't get my husband to cooperate on that one. I worry that the grid will fail us and then we'd have problems because our house is 100% electric and has no wood stove or fireplace. I'm ok with being on the electric grid out here because we're part of an electric co-operative and our power bills are CHEAP We have our own well, and I do a garden.

I would like a fail-safe back-up in case we suddenly have no power, but I can't get hubby to see that this is a real possibility. I guess if we suddenly have no more electricity, he wouldn't be stuck on the internet 24/7 and he would actually have to figure out a way to heat the house and cook the food.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


just squirel some decent camping gear into a closet and don't tell him..
if and when the time comes wait till he is cold and hungery and bummed right out
and THEN save his A44

this way too you get to pick board games you can win while passing the time

hi there... what a wonderfully worded thread OP ! s+f for thee... and congrats on getting off the grid

im off grid and live on a small island off the west coast of scotland with my boyfriend... and i have to say i would never ever go back on the grid !!! its so incredibly peaceful and such a simple fulfilled way of life... its bliss
apart from allowing ourselves the little on grid luxury of having the internet (which does help as a great source of info and keeping in contact with friends - as most mobiles dont work here and we dont have a land line).... we dont need or want for much at all.... in fact these last 2 days we have had glorious weather so ive been out digging the huuuge new onion patches... hard work considering the ground up here lol
but its great and i love it !! also you get left alone to your own devices... never get bothered by authorities, or police etc tis superb !

many of my friends are also off grid.... their children are home schooled, they have their own veg patches, they have incredibly efficient wood burning stoves which were made out of old gas canisters (thanks to my very clever engineer friend!) they have chickens, and most are vegetarians so have no need for meat etc....

i think going off grid is the best thing you could do... you really start to become one with nature and your surroundings... its like going back to basics... i would highly recommend it... and for those who say you need money.... well you dont !!
i managed to do it with nothing and even now i dont really have any money... i dont really need money apart from the odd bit if i need to grab a coupla things from the local shop....

if you're thinking about going off grid... dont think just DO ! if you cant cope, well, you can always go back on grid... i know it isnt suitable for certain people - i have seen that happen... but try. you will never know till you try !!

but good luck to thee all... whatever you plan to do in life....
peace, fluff x

reply to post by FissionSurplus


I have EXACTLY the same problem with my SO. I purchased the woodstove at a steal of a price without "permission" and stashed it in the granary. I keep pluggin' along doing what I think is right, a little here, a little there. It adds up. P.S. my policy: It's easier to ask for forgiveness later than permission first!

99% of the time, the irritation quickly turns to "not a bad deal/idea" type of comment and a bit of enthusiasm about it. The other 1%.....well, that's life.

Danbones and Gridrebel, you are right. I should start squirreling stuff away. Camping gear should be easy to get a bit at a time, and yeah....a woodstove would ease my mind somewhat. I guess it could get it first and explain it later!

I'm a little concerned about our electric well, because it is a deep well (this is a desert area and we are tapping the Ogallala Aquifer)...but there is a house a few acres over that is abandoned, and I walked over and checked it out one time. They had a truck motor that ran on natural gas to run their pump. I kid you not.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


We're pretty much on the same page. If I can get a power source for my well, I'll be set. I have enough dead trees around me for my wood stove to last the rest of my life. My only issue is water and of course, the money to get the power to get it. My well is 240ft deep if I recall correctly. I would love to have a windmill to drive it but I just can't build one and can't afford to buy one. Yet. However, I want one NOW so somehow, I am going to have to figure something out. I want simple power, wind or sun but I think sun is too expensive and even more complicated. Wind power can be done cheaply or not. I'm just not capable of doing it myself.

i grew up in the southern appalachian area in a time when indoor plumbing was still to some a fancy accessory. i have lived without electricity and/or "running" water and when it got cold you built a fire (with wood you cut with a buck aw and split with you axe) or you were cold. a lot of people who i know now who are choosing to "get off of the grid" are in my opinion doing nothing more than getting back to basics. admittedly learning to live like this when you are "older" as opposed to living this way as you were growing up is more difficult, and i have probably forgotten more about the simple life than is good for me. however, i DO have a stock of dried goods and i do have a small stock of what i consider to be the more usefull firearms for survival. my reason for keeping some of the firearms is more than simple hunting and more for defending what i do have from the inevitable looting that will take place when sthtf. no matter where you live, know your neighbors, it can be helpful and mutually benificial and it can also give you the "heads up" as to where your most likely source of problems or danger may come from.

being viewed as a criminal for living the way i choose os nothing new for me and quite frankly causes me no distress whatsoever as i couldnt give less of a #*&% for what other people think of me.

Originally posted by calnorak
reply to post by NoRegretsEver

 

That is awesome. I totally would do something like that if I didn't have a child.

That's my only concern with the OP. It's one thing to be brought up in society and then decide to become a hermit of sorts. It's quite another to condemn your kids to a life where they won't slowly gain the social skills needed to survive in this world. This means the OP is taking away from her kids the choice to return to the grid, forcing them to remain, in a sense, social outcasts, or at least making it a thousand times harder for them to return to the grid. Pity she couldn't have waited until her kids grew up so she could have made the decision for herself and not her kids.

reply to post by Gridrebel


A 5-bedroom house for $7,000??? Where, in Ethiopia?

reply to post by jiggerj


I only wish I could have had my kids raised on a self sufficient family farm, with skills, art, creativity, green housing and a big strawberry patch, and family pets.

I would have had company too, would have turned it into an eco farm even if we had to put small cabins up and use the larger house as a joint one, ie commercial kitchen, to run businesses, extra storage and laundry and for company, then it doesnt take as much room, smaller 800 square foot cottages, so it fits under the building codes, and you could be quite free. Would have had family and friends there.

Kids don't need the urban jungle.

reply to post by jiggerj


Actually by raising my kids this way first, they can live anyway that they choose, always knowing that their options are wide and vast. They can see the grid anyway that they choose and will be wise enough NOT to fall for the traps that they know are luxuries and not necessities.

They will buy land, before entering a bank to buy a home they can afford. They will buy food from a local market, as opposed to food from a major chain. They will take care of themselves before being allowed to be over-medicated, and most of all they will know that under ANY circumstance they are survivors not consumers.

This IMHO is the best gift that I can give them, and in my passing they will find strength in the fact that their mother taught them well, and will be proud to teach their kids the same.

Peace, NRE.

Part of becoming self reliant is abandoning the labels that go with the grid.
From your post you have a restroom a place to cook, a way to school your children,
shopping etc.
You appear to be a living human being,
so why accept a label that is different then other humans?

The farther you get away from the norm,
the more the labels stand out as a temptation, and a form of control.
You moved away from label, don't accept anyone trying to issue you a label.
I think you are already there as you asked why the labels.

My favorite saying is
At least I do not have to go shopping at the McDonald's that has a Wall-mart in it.

Originally posted by Unity_99
reply to post by jiggerj

 

I only wish I could have had my kids raised on a self sufficient family farm, with skills, art, creativity, green housing and a big strawberry patch, and family pets.

I would have had company too, would have turned it into an eco farm even if we had to put small cabins up and use the larger house as a joint one, ie commercial kitchen, to run businesses, extra storage and laundry and for company, then it doesnt take as much room, smaller 800 square foot cottages, so it fits under the building codes, and you could be quite free. Would have had family and friends there.

Kids don't need the urban jungle.

edit on 25-3-2012 by Unity_99 because: (no reason given)

Granted this would be damn close to paradise, but it's not the reality we live in. What happens when these sheltered kids grow up? Can they then buy a farm of their own? With what money? They would need to go to college, and without having the experience of the urban jungle these kids would be eaten alive by the other kids. Once out of college they wouldn't know how to compete in the cutthroat business world. Can't compete = can't earn enough money to buy that farm.

Even more to the point, what we need now more than ever is scientists, not survivalists. With the countless possibilities for natural disasters (weakening magnetic poles, deadly diseases, I don't feel like listing them all), I just don't see raising children 'off the grid' as being conducive to higher learning.

Originally posted by jiggerj

Originally posted by Unity_99
reply to post by jiggerj

 

I only wish I could have had my kids raised on a self sufficient family farm, with skills, art, creativity, green housing and a big strawberry patch, and family pets.

I would have had company too, would have turned it into an eco farm even if we had to put small cabins up and use the larger house as a joint one, ie commercial kitchen, to run businesses, extra storage and laundry and for company, then it doesnt take as much room, smaller 800 square foot cottages, so it fits under the building codes, and you could be quite free. Would have had family and friends there.

Kids don't need the urban jungle.

edit on 25-3-2012 by Unity_99 because: (no reason given)

Granted this would be damn close to paradise, but it's not the reality we live in. What happens when these sheltered kids grow up? Can they then buy a farm of their own? With what money? They would need to go to college, and without having the experience of the urban jungle these kids would be eaten alive by the other kids. Once out of college they wouldn't know how to compete in the cutthroat business world. Can't compete = can't earn enough money to buy that farm.

Even more to the point, what we need now more than ever is scientists, not survivalists. With the countless possibilities for natural disasters (weakening magnetic poles, deadly diseases, I don't feel like listing them all), I just don't see raising children 'off the grid' as being conducive to higher learning.

Actually this is the reality that many live in, and have for many years. Many of those that are either looking to get off the grid or are in the process, 9 times out of 10 buy their place, which is something that you later leave for their children.

There is absolutely NO guarantee that someone that goes to college will own their own home, look around many with college educations cant even find work.

As far as the urban jungle, many that live this life prefer it over the "urban jungle" hands down.

Scientist there are plenty of, but those that as you mentioned in a natural disaster, would you prefer to have the person with a college degree, owing a bank for their home, or someone who knows how to live off the land, has a place for themselves, and can continue without the need for the same things as those in the "urban jungle"?

There is no mistaking that this is NOT for everyone, but until you have lived this way, or choose to try to slowly get away from the rat race, then that is just your opinion, as I have mine as well.

Peace, NRE.

I think the government frowns on this because our system is built on people buying "stuff". As the Op pointed out,many things can be recycled and fixed. I tend to avoid buying anything until I absolutely have too.
The older I become, the less "things" I want. I do not need 20 pairs of jeans..shoes..etc.
If more people did this, it would severely limit the taxes our government rake in to do their bidding.

Originally posted by jiggerj

Originally posted by calnorak
reply to post by NoRegretsEver

 

That is awesome. I totally would do something like that if I didn't have a child.

That's my only concern with the OP. It's one thing to be brought up in society and then decide to become a hermit of sorts. It's quite another to condemn your kids to a life where they won't slowly gain the social skills needed to survive in this world. This means the OP is taking away from her kids the choice to return to the grid, forcing them to remain, in a sense, social outcasts, or at least making it a thousand times harder for them to return to the grid. Pity she couldn't have waited until her kids grew up so she could have made the decision for herself and not her kids.

Have to diasagree with you here! Good parenting is about making the proper choices for your children, while they are too young to know what is best for them. And "best" is what the parents deem is best, it's that simple, (barring abuse, negelct, etc of course). OP is giving her children an amazing gift! They will have knowledge that many others do not have, whether they ever use it for themsleves or not.

What "social skills" is she depriving them of exactly? No warring video games to be played with other children? No endless hours of watching TV? No public school "socialization" that is actually more of indoctrination and false teachings than anything else. No neighborhood "socialization" that , these days, sadly could get your child killed by just walking down a street? What exactly are her children being deprived of?

The sacrifice she makes for her children is HUGE. It so SO much easier to let TV and publuc schools "educate" your child, than doing it yourself. It is certianly easier, physically, to live ON the grid than off. Her children are learning the value of hard work by example, and THAT is something that most children never do learn in our current society. And why exactly couldn't they "return to society" if they chose to (assuming there IS a society to return to when they are adults).. Amish children do it all the time, they are raised off the grid for the most part, then choose not to stay as they grow up.

Her children will be armed with KNOWLEDGE that many others will never have and possibly could just result in their survival , as adults, when other others won't.

"Even more to the point, what we need now more than ever is scientists, not survivalists. With the countless possibilities for natural disasters (weakening magnetic poles, deadly diseases, I don't feel like listing them all), I just don't see raising children 'off the grid' as being conducive to higher learning."

Now this post from above is interesting. Let's see, I am hungry and the world hgas gone to hell, who would I want beside me? A scientist with "higher learning'', and who skills would NOT include being to help me survive, or someone who had learned about wild edible plants, how to find water when there doesnt seem to be any, what plants can I use for medicine? Decision seems easy to me.

reply to post by Nana2


Thank you, you nailed it on the head!

I do understand that some people just cant do it, and thats ok, but there still are little things that can be done, its not that hard.

Peace, NRE.

Actually I kind see grouping people up to run ethical businesses, that would be family and friends, and extra work turned into contributing businesses and handed over to those in need, ie handed over, not sold, like a non profit matching abundant business ideas with those in need, homeless, some handicapped, some single parents, sort of partnering each other, but with mentors from the non profit and ways to try to grow success but keep the work load shared and smaller. Getting more grass roots and creative on how to run businesses with more time for family is essential. In really good communities with land and homes paid for, there would be a pool to help the kids, who in turn would have work themselves, to get land.

However buying land when it already belongs to us, is slavery and the very reason people are starving by the billions. I linked my thread on this one. If everyone spoke up with dignity and said NO to this and refused to endorse any party or person politically that supported this, we could end all homelessness and world hunger in months, the time it takes to build eco homes and plant gardens.

It would be an end to monopolies and corporate corruption and ownership as people would be buying for each other and ensuring the success of their children and neighbors children so all had land.