Any homesteaders on site?

[wulfman92]

It’s pretty common knowledge that the fine folks on this site are thrifty and handy minded people, but do we have anyone who lives remotely off grid? I don’t mean in a total prepper way (which also interests me), or a weirdo Ted Kaczynski way. I would like to know if anyone decided they aren’t going to mold to the regular 9-5 and waste their lives in the grind. Perhaps you inherited a place or cashed in your 401k and went. Living on your own acreage and have your own animals, well and garden. Anyway, I’m interested if anyone has done it, where they did it, how they did it, and what they would do to better prepare or change for it? Or the biggest question, how to afford it?!

[Dieselhorses]

I would love to do this but seems impossible given the fact that my wife will never get over the fear of snakes. BUT, anything is possible.

[jmort]

A good source of info
Country Life and Small Stock Journal
They, the readers, are doing it
No grind and freedom
https://countrysidenetwork.com/magazine-previews/100-years-countryside-and-small-stock-journal/

[gpidaho]

I'm too old to wander "Off grid" but if you can make it into retirement debt free it gives a pretty self sufficient feeling. Gp Look into getting a copy of the old "Whole Earth Catalog" Written and edited by an old friend of mine from younger days.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

We have chickens, goats, sheep, a yearly hog, and once a steer. We heat our home with wood cut off the property, butcher our own meat, grow a garden, and I've planted all manner of fruit and nut trees. We could never make it pay its own way without working our tails off on some sort of labor intensive cash crop(s). Instead, we use investments purchased while I was working and my wife's job income to make ends meet.
People are forever telling us we should do this or that, bees, milking, etc, but we decline. Make no mistake, a homestead can be just as much of a grind, or more, as a 9-5. I drew the line on many endeavors because I wanted it to be fun, but there are still days a house in the burbs sounds mighty nice!

[toallmy]

My thoughts on this subject ; if I wanted to work all day like a mule , worry about , and be responsible for everything - I would keep my day job ' self employed ', But semi retirement sounds fun .

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

While our friend, AlaskanGuy hasn't been online for over a year, I think he qualifies.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?261825-AG-is-still-Alive-But-No-Internet-no-Phone-and-no-Power-lol&highlight=

[trooperdan]

I haven't seen a post from AlaskanGuy in over four years, hope he is still working at it and is OK!

[merlin101]

You might want to check out the https://www.survivalistboards.com/ tons and TONS of info on what your looking for.

[abunaitoo]

Living off the grid, on your own privet land, what kind of taxes do you have to pay?????
Seems like no matter what, taxes will always have to be paid to someone.

[wulfman92]

You might want to check out the https://www.survivalistboards.com/ tons and TONS of info on what your looking for.

I’m a frequent reader of prepper sites, however, I’m curious about the perspectives of those who just do it for the “freedom”.

[owejia]

Hard to do unless you live among like minded people an example would be the Amish. Every thing turns to work eventually.

[trooperdan]

Officially, "Homesteading" ending in 1976. The ability to gain federal land by homesteading it at least did. Originally, a person could claim 160 acres of land and gain ownership if he lived on and improved it,. later that was reduced to just 5 acres. In practice, it was often abused as large entities made deals with individuals to secure water rights then deny shared use of that water to competition.
Too bad there isn't still such a program, even for "just 5 acres"! I suspect more than a few of us here would give it a try.

[lancem]

Going on seven years ago the wife and I sold our house, "retired", and moved to our 120 acres in West Texas. Four miles to the nearest paved road and power lines, 60 miles to the closest real town, 120 miles or so to the nearest crappy Wal Mart. We are all off grid, using solar for power and rain catchment for our water. We are building our own house here, and are working as general contractors doing steel construction in the area. Though we work, it is no where like 9-5, more like 10-2 or so :) Once the house is finished we hope to go into full production in our 26 x 50 greenhouse producing vegetables for the local area and kiss ladder climbing and welding good bye!

My observations over the years here off grid have been that though many people want to live the lifestyle the majority that try will fail. You need a broad skill set because most likely you are the one that will be taking care of business. You will need to be a mechanic, a fabricator, an electrician, a builder, heavy equipment operator, and have grit like nothing else. Living in a 30 foot RV with a wife, a dog, and a cat for years can put a whole new light on the true strength of your marriage. Some call the area I'm in the land of broken dreams, many ruins, half starts, and abandoned RVs lay here in the desert. Local joke is that many come here with $300 in their pocket and a dream, both seem to run out about the same time!

To try and answer at least one question Wuffman92 asked, affording it takes a major lifestyle change I would say more than anything. Stockpiling goods to reduce the number of trips to town is probably the biggest one we made. The ability to "run to the store" for an item is gone, we try not to go more than once a month, two if we can make it. We have 3 freezers going, we buy in bulk and repackage for our needs. Typically going to town requires hauling a trailer as it all won't fit in the truck and if you have a project going get it all while you are there, as fuel becomes your biggest expense. Affording it is easy too when you have skill sets to sell to those that don't have them. I have a backhoe and a dump truck, so I can do dirt work along with construction, I can be as busy working as I want to be and sometimes after a big job I take weeks off to do my stuff at home or just plain goof off. Life is good :)

Living off grid has its challenges and it's rewards. My nearest neighbor is over a mile away, the night sky is amazing, the silence deafening, 300+ yard rifle range, don't know if it can get any better :)

[wulfman92]

lancem, (post #14),

I’d like to be close to your position someday. I grew up much like that, being from a ranch. Now I’m mostly wondering about insurance in that position, means I have 3 young children to care for too.

[lancem]

lancem, (post #14),

I’d like to be close to your position someday. I grew up much like that, being from a ranch. Now I’m mostly wondering about insurance in that position, means I have 3 young children to care for too.

Kids would make things harder but it is being done here locally. Insurance isn't something that anyone I know has, unless they are 65+. Mexico is close and the dental and medical available there are very good and inexpensive compared to US. A local doctor does not take insurance, charges $60 for an office call and two weeks worth of come backs if needed. There are always options.

[GhostHawk]

I would love to do this but seems impossible given the fact that my wife will never get over the fear of snakes. BUT, anything is possible.

Come north, no snakes up here. Top tier of northern states all pretty skinny where snakes are concerned.

[trooperdan]

Lancem, you are living my dream partner!

[MT Gianni]

The truth is it is a lot easier to earn a living on only 40 hours a week. Most rural people are on the grind far longer and later. Yes there are slower seasons if your ducks are in a row but you have to make enough to carry through them. Sheep can give you wool, lambs and meat but most agricultural earnings are all at once to carry you through the year.
If you own your own home do you do all the upkeep? Can you live with wood heat and open windows for AC? How about hanging your wash and limited water? My belief is that the few that live this life style have little or no time to use computers and tell others about it.

[Plate plinker]

Yep self sufficiency equals lots of hard work.

[JimB..]

Highly romanticized lifestyle.

[GhostHawk]

MT Gianna nailed it IMO.

If your off grid living it you simply don't have the time or inclination or means to jump on a computer and talk to others about it.

40 hour weeks are unheard of even out there in rural farm country.
And truly living off grid = no safety net if something goes wrong.

Its a nice idea, one I dreamed about for years. Just not very practical IMO.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Officially, "Homesteading" ending in 1976. The ability to gain federal land by homesteading it at least did. Originally, a person could claim 160 acres of land and gain ownership if he lived on and improved it,. later that was reduced to just 5 acres. In practice, it was often abused as large entities made deals with individuals to secure water rights then deny shared use of that water to competition.
Too bad there isn't still such a program, even for "just 5 acres"! I suspect more than a few of us here would give it a try.

I had to look this up, as I believe my Cousin attempted to claim a Homestead in AK in 1979.

from Wikipedia:

Homesteading was discontinued in 1976, except in Alaska, where it continued until 1986.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Acts

[jmort]

It is not all one way or another. To set up a 100% self-sustaining homestead is a commitment to say the least. To be a couch-potato is fairly easy. To be somewhere in between is going to be a compromise. My wife owns 50 acres of forrest with some pasture. There is plenty of game, but we do not hunt, raise animals or plants. We have plenty of pasture/crop land to do both. We could go 100% wood heat and raise/grow our own food. But, with utilities at arount $100, or less a month for a 3,500 square food ICF house, R-50, full on central air and heat why bother. The wood heating is in place for emergencies. We could survive as a homestead, and it would not take more than 40 hours a week. But 40 hours of dedicated hard work is more than we are interested in doing. Realistically, we do 10 hours a week housework, and 10 hours a week yard-work. I am outside, she is inside. She does not have a job and I am self-employed. My work takes about 20 hours a week plus a fair amount of travel. Like the Mormons, two years of food stored up. All in all, a good life. So homestead, no. Rural living yes.

[wulfman92]

The truth is it is a lot easier to earn a living on only 40 hours a week. Most rural people are on the grind far longer and later. Yes there are slower seasons if your ducks are in a row but you have to make enough to carry through them. Sheep can give you wool, lambs and meat but most agricultural earnings are all at once to carry you through the year.
If you own your own home do you do all the upkeep? Can you live with wood heat and open windows for AC? How about hanging your wash and limited water? My belief is that the few that live this life style have little or no time to use computers and tell others about it.

I agree with this. Living self sufficient is a lot more work. I don’t mean work when I say “grind”. I grew up doing most the things you mentioned, but with age and now town living for my job, I’m sure I’ve softened considerably! However, mostly I agree with the fact that if anyone is living off grid, I doubt they are checking this forum to tell anybody about it.

[wulfman92]

Jmort, post #24,

I like your style as well.

[trapper9260]

I had a talk with someone years ago and he was talking about live the way that is ask and I told him that you need to have some kind of income.He wanted to trap in the fall and winter and then who knows after. I told him it will not work like stated about taxes and also need to buy items. The thing about the person I talk with he live in a big city and never hunted or trap before. He know that I trap and hunt and fish. I know he was just a dreamer. He did not had a clue all that was in it all. Too many dose not really know what they will get them self into for live like that. I was going to live that way years ago .but some health things made me change my mind on to live it the whole way.

[Shawlerbrook]

Another semi-sufficient, rural living couple. We own 120 acres, eat almost exclusively venison, wild turkey and small game. Harvest wild berries and mushrooms and grow a huge garden. Heat almost entirely with firewood. I am retired and on a pension while my better half still works. Biggest negative is the crippling property taxes here in NYS. Central and Northern NY are as beautiful as it gets, but the liberal influences from NYC and the big cities makes it difficult to survive with so many hands grabbing at your wallet.

[trooperdan]

Another semi-sufficient, rural living couple. We own 120 acres, eat almost exclusively venison, wild turkey and small game. Harvest wild berries and mushrooms and grow a huge garden. Heat almost entirely with firewood. I am retired and on a pension while my better half still works. Biggest negative is the crippling property taxes here in NYS. Central and Northern NY are as beautiful as it gets, but the liberal influences from NYC and the big cities makes it difficult to survive with so many hands grabbing at your wallet.

I have seen this in person although I haven't personally experienced it but about 15 years ago I was looking at farm property around Rome NY and saw several beautiful properties under 100,000 but was staggered at what the property tax would be!

[MT Gianni]

I was working for my father as a Senior in High School when I met a 20 something oriental man. I was up on his roof cleaning the sewer drain from the vent and he was standing bsing with me.
He said "My neighbors all hate me". I thought thats just wrong, prejudice whatever. I asked him why? He said I have a lawn care business, I earn more than they do in 4-5 months and ski the rest of the year.
That was 46 years ago and while I understood the words, I sure didn't understand the concept.

[jonp]

While our friend, AlaskanGuy hasn't been online for over a year, I think he qualifies.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?261825-AG-is-still-Alive-But-No-Internet-no-Phone-and-no-Power-lol&highlight=

He was who I immediately thought of. I wonder how he is doing?

[SSGOldfart]

MT Gianna nailed it IMO.

If your off grid living it you simply don't have the time or inclination or means to jump on a computer and talk to others about it.

40 hour weeks are unheard of even out there in rural farm country.
And truly living off grid = no safety net if something goes wrong.

Its a nice idea, one I dreamed about for years. Just not very practical IMO. It's not occur but when something goes wrong.!!!!

And remember off grid is a frame of mind

[tja6435]

Most people would rather pay for power than build themselves an off grid power system, then it also has to be maintained. The local power company wanted $55k to run power 3/4 mile to our house, I laughed and told them that kind of money buys a lot of solar these days. The power company called back a week or two late offering a deal at $35k, I again laughed at them. I have around $18k into our power system, that includes panels, charge controllers, batteries, wind turbines and wiring (which adds up quick). Basically I need another $1500 for a big inverter (that'll run the well pump during sun up hours with no problem, our current one will run for a few hours then shut itself off due to over heating), a couple more forklift batteries and maybe another 10k watts of panels at some point.
I enjoy not having a power bill, but our power system needs an eye kept on it and the batteries need maintained.

[ascast]

yes, soon to retire ( I HOPE ) and get back to shooting 100-200 rounds a week. Any livestock short of cats is a grind. You gotta check them once a day. You go away for a week, something happens day two, dead animals, cops, cruelty charges etc etc. No power is another huge issue. Recent thread here about stand by generators would be of interest. You might ry it out. Stop using the electric for a month. See how that suits you. Solar, windmills, all that has a down side in that batteries need to be replaced ; and all at once I understand. Depending on how much **** you can live with out determine how many batteries you need. They are 20% more than car batteries, for the cheaper low end a couple $100 for the high end.
I inherited a farm, Revolutionary War land grant. The land is hilly, loam, swamp, largely untillable. About 10 acres tiilable, 3 in Christmas trees. That takes a huge bite out of taxes. Cutting firewood heats the house, oil runs about $2500-3,000 yearly. I rent the rest for hay. I plan to get into sheep, or expand the tree business, or both.
You mostly likely will not run a welder on a solar wind rig. I have a diesel 13kw unit for that.

you get the idea....

[KenH]

Highly romanticized lifestyle.

Amen to that!!

My ex-wife and I lived "off the grid" by choice a couple of times back in '80s and '90s on a 40ft sailboat. Our times where only for a yr or so each, then back to work in USA. Solar panels and wind generator provided some power. Home schooled the two girls.

I grew up dirt poor on a farm and agree totally with JimB's statement.

Ken H>

[lancem]

Solar can be great, you just need enough of it. Currently here sitting running about 18000 btu of A/C, I can weld all day, run my plasma cutter, table saw, can't think of anything I can't do that I want to on solar. The big investment is up front which can be allot but still it can be done. We are running a little over 6Kw in panels, 1200 AH worth of batteries in a 48V system with 2 3Kw inverters. Been running the A/C 24/7 pretty much since May no problems. Those that think a couple of Harbor Freight panels and an extra battery or two are going to be enough are in for disappointment, properly designed and installed solar can do anything grid power can do. Edit, just wanted to add that the only regular maintenance I have to do on the system is check the battery water level once a week, takes about 5 minutes. Twice a year I change the angle of the panels, spring and fall, probably takes 20 minutes with the wife helping. Going on 7 years now and I don't see any of this as too much mucking around for power.

[snowwolfe]

Most people would rather pay for power than build themselves an off grid power system, then it also has to be maintained. The local power company wanted $55k to run power 3/4 mile to our house, I laughed and told them that kind of money buys a lot of solar these days. The power company called back a week or two late offering a deal at $35k, I again laughed at them. I have around $18k into our power system, that includes panels, charge controllers, batteries, wind turbines and wiring (which adds up quick). Basically I need another $1500 for a big inverter (that'll run the well pump during sun up hours with no problem, our current one will run for a few hours then shut itself off due to over heating), a couple more forklift batteries and maybe another 10k watts of panels at some point.
I enjoy not having a power bill, but our power system needs an eye kept on it and the batteries need maintained.

That’s just terrible. We built a house 600 feet off the road. Our power company came out and installed a pole and ran power to it for free. Then we paid a contractor to run a ditch digger and bury the electrical line to our house site. Another reason I am glad we left Colorado.

[GoodOlBoy]

Homestead, and homesteading can be different where you are.


Texas homestead law protects qualifying real property from forced sale by general creditors, and courts have interpreted the laws broadly to help accomplish their goals. A homestead can be either urban property or rural property. An urban homestead may be a home or a place of business, or both. https://statelaws.findlaw.com/texas-law/texas-homestead-law-overview.html

So anyway I live on 8.5 acres, of what was a 38.5 acre portion of a family farm and ranch (the total original farm and ranch was well over a hundred acres). It was all we managed to keep a relative from stealing from us and selling off in the '90s.

We've had chickens, cows, rabbits, dogs, gardens, etc etc. Over the years. I am currently not in the physical shape to fool around with stuff, but I am hoping to get back to it someday soon. The original farm used a hand dug well dug by my great grandfather on my fathers mothers side. On this side of the Farm to Market road we used to get alot of water from springs on our place, and we need to go back to it because the county water we are on kills plants, and smells horrible. Dunno what all you are interested in, or asking about. But there it is, in part.

God Bless, and One Love.

GoodOlBoy