The off-grid homesteading movement certainly is becoming popular again! As reported by offgridharmony.com, “According to a report by the US Energy Information Administration, an estimated 1.7% of households in the US were off-grid as of 2020. This equates to approximately 1.8 million households, encompassing around 4.6 million individuals.” Although we don’t know if these households and individuals are living the off-grid lifestyle by choice, we can all agree that these statistics reflect a large number of Americans living off-grid!
Another clue that off-grid homesteading is becoming more and more popular is the countless number of Instagram, Facebook and YouTube accounts dedicated to showcasing the off-grid homestead lifestyle. Just type in the word homestead and you will feel instantly overwhelmed by the amount of homestead influencers (yes, I am one of them.) Check out my Our Baja Homestead Instagram page!
Unfortunately, what many of these off-grid homestead influencers fail to reflect in their showcasing of the lifestyle is their mistakes and failures. In the age of social media perfection, a squeaky-clean ranch with brand-new equipment and a perfect garden gains more views and followers because it is ideal to the viewer. This perfect image can be detrimental to those planning an off-grid lifestyle (especially those that are on a tight budget). It’s detrimental because ranches are supposed to be somewhat messy, dirty, and lived in!
It’s also imperative to note that the first year of off-grid homesteading is extremely difficult and there will be many mistakes made. I wrote this blog post to give you an idea of what the Three Hardest Aspects of Off-Grid Life were for us (in the first year). Although, you or other people may have different struggles than our family, I want you to be aware of what may be a struggle on your off-grid journey. Preparation is key in this lifestyle, and I want you to succeed!
1) Picking Your Location
Now this option may seem like a no-brainer to those future homesteaders who want to have an off-grid homestead nearby where they currently live. But for those who are looking into different locations for your property, this step can often times become a difficult decision. Choosing your location involves taking some time to ruminate about what you are looking for in a homestead.
Some questions to ask yourself and family may be: what kind of weather do I prefer? How far away from town would we like to be? What kind of natural disasters would we need to prepare for? Is this location compatible for gardening, hunting or farming?
These are some questions to start asking when going into the off-grid lifestyle, although you will need to give yourself a good amount of time to consider what will be your final destination. Our family chose Baja California, Mexico because our extended family lives here, it is a temperate climate, and the land is relatively cheap with no regulations or permits needed.
2) Making Money from Your Homestead
This section is for the prospective homesteaders who plan to solely make money from their homestead. As an off-grid homesteader of two plus years, I always advise people to move into the off-grid homestead world with a stable online job and reliable internet. Then, you can slowly ease your way into making a living off your homestead products or services, and still have a stable income for backup emergencies.
The reason making money from your homestead is so hard is because it takes a good amount of money to invest so that you can start your functional homestead (agricultural items, seeds, animals, animal feed and housing, etc.) Once the farm is running and your products are ready to sell you have to invest in packaging and advertisement.
It is imperative to include startup costs and monthly investments in your budgeting for a homestead if you plan to make a living off of your off-grid homestead. This budget will ideally be made before you transition to off-grid life so you do not spend all your savings on the business and homestead and end up hungry!
3) Setting Up Your Off-Grid Homestead
Okay OBH fam, we have reached the number #1 most difficult aspect of off-grid homesteading (in my humble opinion) …setting up your off-grid homestead!
With all honesty, setting up a homestead is a task that never truly ends. But you can reach a point where you feel comfortable, and where everything functions smoothly on the ranch.
If you buy a property with raw land (no infrastructure or buildings), your whole first year (and beyond) may be dedicated to clearing land, setting up infrastructure and living spaces. This will take considerable money, so include these numbers in your off-grid budget! Besides planning for the amount of money it will take to set up your off-grid homestead, make sure to set aside the amount of time it will take to accomplish the set-up.
Will you be doing all of the work yourself? if yes, then a) you’re a badass and b) make sure you set aside enough time in your day to accomplish your homestead goals. Doing all the work to start a homestead can be physically exhausting, so you will need to make sure you are giving yourself enough time to function properly (in between working and family time).
Once you have your ideal location, are making money from your homestead, and have all the infrastructure and buildings set up on your off-grid homestead, life will go more smoothly. Remember, everybody’s timeline looks different – if these 3 things do not happen the first year, it’s totally okay and normal! What matters is that you are doing your best to be prepared and giving the off-grid lifestyle your all!
