How to earn a living off grid?

[Quail_Antwerp]

Property taxes on a $100K place in my area are about $1300 a year.

omg i nearly choked! are you kidding me?! I've never paid that for property taxes! wowza! Not moving up your way!! YIKES!

I think our property taxes are $100/year for our smaller lot and the bigger lot (that we have the trailer on) is about $200/year.

Crap. $1300....wow....

 

[SKR8PN]

Well Dace.........now that I have a better idea of what you want and where your at.......I'll tell you that my "X" wife was the one that always worried about income, and needed that "safety net" of a steady income...........
My dad was self employed all through my childhood, so I didn't know any other lifestyle. We always had to make do and get by with what we had.
My "X" was raised in a General Motors employee household, so she knew nothing else and she NEEDED that income safety net......she didn't know any other way to live................
You can see where that marriage ended up, and that basic difference was a root cause...........
My current wife just so happens to also be my best friend. and she is also very adventurous, thank God!!
Her father was a barber, among other things, and her mom was a stay at home type......they always had to make do and sometimes even do without............

Sometimes the other half has to either give in, or get out.
The main thing is to live how and what makes YOU happy. Life is to damn short to NOT be happy.


OK,I'll crawl back under my rock now....

 

[pioneergirl]

ok I'll confess, I didn't read all 4 pages, just #1 and #4....I'm sure this has been mentioned, so I apologize for the repeat.....

Anyway, as some may know DH and I want to go off grid. We originally wanted to start from scratch. Buy land, build a cob house, do everything ourselves. We then decided it would be smarter for us financially to just convert our current house to our lifestyle change. We also had to think of how to make enough to make the mortgage and taxes, plus any extra as 'start up'. We figured that as long as we could generate $1,500(ish) a month, we could get by ($18,000/yr). This, I suppose, is about or less than any minimum paying job. We thought "Ok, DH could work at the feed store for a standard 40hr week, no weekends, and I could sell at the farmers market". This was our solution.

We also decided that we would keep this job until the house was converted, using extra money from here to do the renovations. We are currently socking money each paycheck (nothing exciting, just what we can afford) so when we go home in July we can spend 2 weeks getting some things done.

The idea is, in 2 years, have the house/land done and ready, that way we can quit this job and just get going, having some extra $$$ for animals, starter feed, seeds, etc.

I am like you, the financial stress is overwhelming anymore. It makes me ill to think about the food I'm ingesting (to the point where I just hate eating), not knowing where it comes from or whats in it, not to mention I feel like I'm throwing my money out the window.

Ok, I'm done rambling. Just thought I'd say that if you can figure what your minimum is, then you can figure out how to make it work. DH is looking at making our own windmill for power, we've found a spot to dig our own well, and we've laid plans for heat (wood or cob stove). Plans are still evolving, but we've got the next 2 years to get them and the house/land ready.

SKR8PN had it right....having a spouse that is adventurous and willing helps, and you yourself have to have a strong desire. I came from a family that did without a majority of the time. I'm not a fan of having everything, its a lot of hassle to me. But thats just me. Some people like lots of 'things'. DH came from a family with 'things', but has enough adventure in him to give it a go. He also likes doing things....farming, building, working hard. He hates being sedintary (sp?) so our SS plan will work out well for both of us.

 

[Beekissed]

I asked my Mom last night what she felt about when they went off-grid.....did she really want to move from the convenience of electricity and running water and shove all these kids in a two room log home in the middle of winter?

She said that it was exciting....a challenge to overcome, and it really shook up their idea of life. They felt stronger the minute they embarked on the undertaking.....and ignored all the naysayers and dooms and glooms about security, your kids, blah, blah, blah...

As for me, as a 10 yr old kid? It was exciting, scary, fun, tiring, and so different than all the other kids that I was sort of a hero in my class. All the kids wanted to be "camping" all the time!

 

[Beekissed]

Hey, Dace! Found this sig line on BYC......

Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.

 

[tortoise]

Property taxes on a $100K place in my area are about $1300 a year.

omg i nearly choked! are you kidding me?! I've never paid that for property taxes! wowza! Not moving up your way!! YIKES!

I think our property taxes are $100/year for our smaller lot and the bigger lot (that we have the trailer on) is about $200/year.

Crap. $1300....wow....

Mine is about that on a $55,000 home! I didn't think it was bad either until seeing this!

 

[pioneergirl]

I live on 1 acre, house and shed, in the country, property taxes are about $1,400.

 

[Ldychef2k]

Getting as close to going off grid as possible is kind of what I am doing on my "austerity challenge" blog. My ultimate goal is to get off the power grid and pay off my house, then earn as little money as I possibly can and still get by. For me the motivation is that I can never really retire at this point, and also I do not want to pay income taxes.

How that fleshes out right now is that I earn $1500 before taxes. State takes $86 a month, federal about $300. Because I am self-employed, I pay them quarterly (ostensibly). My house payment is $550.

I have cancelled my lawn mowing service, first thing to go. I have a cell phone contract until October, and then it is gone. I have a bundle of services for phone, internet, and TV. I have paid off $16,000 in credit card bills and have one left, two more years at $65 a month by agreement. Monthly utilities are water/garbage a flat rate of $85 a month, and of course electricity and gas vary, but we have scorching summers every year so the summer bills can be over $200 a month easily. Gas runs $70 to $100 winter, $30 summer. At least that's what it HAS been. I have cut down gas this year to below $40 in the winter by setting the thermostat much lower. Otherwise, I do a lot of the things you guys do to be frugal.

Ultimately, I would like to go at least partially solar. But the start up is way beyond what I can afford. I will have to do it in baby steps, such as the windowshield reflector made into a solar cooker!

Anyway, after I pay bills I generally have between $20 and 40 every two weeks for food, medications, gas for the car, and anything at all extra. This is where my food storage and free food from this agcriculturally rich area come in. And, of course, the garden. I work seven days a week at a job is slowly being phased out -- Five years ago, I made $5000 a month.

So, I decided to start blogging about how to save money, use alternative methods of everything possible, and hopefully encourage people who are struggling in a conventional lifestyle that they can make a few changes here and there and it will make a big difference.

I don't know how long it will take to get off grid completely, but I hope it's before my job disappears! Our most recent unemployment numbers in this county were 16% in December, so the chances of a 60 something, partially disabled fat woman getting a "real job" are somewhere between slim and none!

I would rather live this way any day than how I did five years ago: Lots of money, but no life, no joy, no time to do anything but work. But I think I am preaching to the choir on that one.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Property taxes on a $100K place in my area are about $1300 a year.

omg i nearly choked! are you kidding me?! I've never paid that for property taxes! wowza! Not moving up your way!! YIKES!

I think our property taxes are $100/year for our smaller lot and the bigger lot (that we have the trailer on) is about $200/year.

Crap. $1300....wow....

1.78 acres, new house, garage, outbuildings,in the country,..etc.,....property taxes are $350 a year. That jumped up from when we had a mobile home on the property,..they used to be only $40 a year. My parents place, 40 acres and an ancient house that was built before 1900, outbuildings,...etc.,... around $80 a year. Now they don't have to pay no taxes due to the homestead exemption because they are senior citizens.You have to love WV,..well at least the county we live in!

 

[Wildsky]

Great thoughts so let me rephrase my question.......

How does one unplug from their current lifestyle and move out of the area where you know no one and are in the boonies and still make a living?

I guess I do not mean completely off grid, but I do mean a radical change from suburbia where everything is only 3-10 minutes away to a life where everything is 40 minutes away. A life that does not include waking up putting on a suit and driving to work.

So Cal is so expensive it requires a high income. If we were to go else where I do not know that Hubby can find work that he is suited for. But we are very entrepreneurial so we would need/want to come up with something self sustaining. The question is .......what?

Is that a better question?

You pack up and move!

We lived in San Diego till 2007, packed up a truck with all our goodies and moved to the middle of nowhere! Hubby drove the truck, I drove the car, with two kids, two cats and two fish, for THREE DAYS!
Hubby got a job here in town, lucky I guess his skills were needed.
I quit my job in Poway, and right before I left they offered me a work at home opertunity I couldn't turn down - I'm still working for them, but now I work at home part time, I don't have to fight the stupid traffic for an hour or more a day, no more worrying about kids in aftercare or daycare.
It was a risky move but we did it ok, still struggle with the winters now and then, but I wouldn't trade this place for the city.

Grocery shopping is now an hour away, it used to be 5 minutes, and I love it this way. We live on 3 acres and can only see the roof of another house, in San Diego we could look into the neighbors house, and I'm sure they could look into ours!