To my husband, Richard, and to my wonderful children, who make every day in this journey called life a delightful adventure. Thank you for your willingness to not only put up with, but go along with some of my “interesting” ideas. And thank you for believing in me.

Thanks to my parents and siblings for their encouragement and support.

Thanks to my writing “sisters,” who sent encouragement, support, chocolate, and good vibes my way.

Thanks to my editor, Kate, for her swift responses and encouragement.

And, finally, thanks to my Heavenly Father for creating this magnificent world we get to live in, with all of the astonishing animals, plants, and natural wonders we have stewardship over. May we all remember to be grateful and wise stewards.

The Top 10 Reasons to Live Off the Grid

To create a more self-sufficient lifestyle for you and your family
To be more conscious of the environment and your impact on it
To feel more secure away from the issues associated with urban areas
To be the master of your own destiny
To have a simpler, more satisfying lifestyle
To raise your own vegetables, fruit, and livestock
To live free from debt and learn how to be frugal
To know that no matter what happens in the world, your family is prepared
To learn to live off the land
To give your children a legacy of independence

Introduction

DO YOU WANT TO stop receiving electricity bills? Are you willing to spend money to make money? Do you want to have things like electricity and hot water at any time, no matter what’s going on outside your property? Do you want to have more control over the things you eat, and know how they are processed? Do you want your family to be safe and secure from the worries of a bad economy, crime, and terrorism?
If your answer is “yes” to questions like these, then living off the grid is something you need to consider.

Although living off the grid means hard work, the benefits you receive will make it all worthwhile. Just imagine how you will feel running your home using clean or renewable energy sources. Think of the pleasure of harvesting your own fruits and vegetables, or picking up fresh brown eggs from your own chicken coop. Envision enjoying the sounds of nature, rather than the noise of expressways, sirens, and airplane traffic.

But perhaps more important than these benefits are the groundbreaking steps you will be making for your children and their children. When you choose a self-sustaining, eco-friendly lifestyle, you are making the world a better place for future generations by decreasing your carbon footprint and by demonstrating that you can have a successful and happy life without all of the hustle and bustle of the city and suburbs.

When you move off-grid with children, you are allowing them to learn life lessons they will never forget. They will understand how to respect life by helping to raise livestock. They will understand the natural process by helping to plant seeds, weed gardens, and finally harvest produce. They will learn the value of hard work and the joy in a job well done. They will climb trees and run outdoors, rather than sit in front of a screen and play video games. You will work together as a family and create memories and bonds that will withstand generations.

Even though hundreds of thousands of people have managed to move off-grid, some people will only be able to incorporate part of the off-grid
existence into their lives. You need to understand that any effort you make toward living a more self-sustaining life will help you and your family in the long run. Whether all you decide to do is put a solar panel on your roof, grow a small vegetable garden in your backyard, learn to cook using basic ingredients, or get out of debt; this book will help you.

However, if you are considering immersing yourself in an off-the-grid, self-sustaining lifestyle, this practical and informative guide will ease off-the-grid beginners into a more independent way of living and give you enough of an overview to be able to make initial decisions and move forward in the right direction.

CHAPTER 1
The Reality of Living Off the Grid

“Living off the grid” can refer to two different, but similar, ideas. On one hand, the term has become a catch phrase for a more self-sufficient lifestyle. But, taken literally, it means becoming energy independent, so you are not attached to a utility grid for any of your power needs. This book will focus on the first definition, with information that will help, if you so desire, to incorporate the second into your life.

Why Should You Move Off the Grid?

The answers are as varied as the individuals who choose this lifestyle. You may want to move off-grid because you’re looking for a “greener” lifestyle and want to lessen your carbon footprint. You don’t have to move out of town or even from your current residence to do this. You can install solar-energy shingles on your roof or a geothermal heating and cooling system in your home. There are even designs for low-impact wind turbines that generate electricity. You can install energy-efficient appliances and low-water-use toilets and showerheads. Implementing many of these measures will not only make an ecological statement, it will also save money in the long run.

Go Green:
ditch the bottled water. Bottled water has a huge carbon footprint; it’s bottled at a central location in small plastic bottles and shipped all over. Try buying a reusable water bottle or canteen for your water. Many plastic water bottles are recycled, but most are not, making the footprint even bigger.

You may want to move off-grid because you are looking for a simpler, back-to-basics lifestyle. Perhaps the hustle and bustle of the city is too much. You want to raise your children at a slower pace in a place where they can grow up understanding the benefits of hard work and responsibility. You want to feel the pleasure of a pantry stocked with jars of your own homemade preserves and pickles. You want to walk outside in the early morning light and scatter feed to your chickens and collect farm-fresh eggs. You want to gather your own vegetables and grow your own meat. You enjoy the security you feel knowing your family would be able to get by, no matter what the machinations of the economy.

You may decide to move off-grid because you are concerned with security. You don’t feel that the world is a safe place for you and your family, especially not in its large cities. You want to move to a place where you don’t rely on power grids that can be destroyed in terrorist attacks. You don’t want to be in a populated area where you might be a target for a biochemical or nuclear threat. You are moving off-grid for safety and to create an
independent lifestyle for yourself and the ones you love. You have a sense of urgency, and the sooner you can relocate, the better.

In March 2010, the U.S. Congress heard testimony about a scientific study that appeared in the journal
Safety Science
. This study presented a model of how an attack on a small, unimportant part of the U.S. power grid might be able to bring the whole grid down. A second article came out in the journal
Nature
the following month. This article presented a model of how a cascade of failing interconnected networks led to the 2003 blackout in Italy.

Finally, you might be considering living off the grid as a necessary option because of a financial setback. Living a back-to-basics and no-frills lifestyle might be what you need as you look for new employment or get out from under an upside-down mortgage. Many of the things you will read in this book will help you save money and learn to economize. However, it is important to realize that moving off-grid is not an escape hatch for any financial bedlam you have created in your current life: you are still responsible for resolving any owed monies or loans in your name.

Depending on your resources and your motivation, living off the grid can be done quickly, or it can be done in a series of small steps. Either way, you need to be sure you have taken into account more than just solar power and dehydrated food. Moving from a life that is reliant on the ease and convenience of nearby malls and thermostat-regulated environments to one of making do or doing without, and chopping wood to heat your home, can be overwhelming. You need to be sure you prepare yourself physically, mentally, financially, and emotionally.

The good news is you can start today, no matter where you are or what you are doing. You can start looking at your finances to see where you can economize. You can look at your food preparation and substitute basic items for quickly prepared foods. You can take an inventory of how often you run to the grocery store, the coffee shop, or the fast-food restaurant and limit your exposure to any or all of them.

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