Living Off The Grid - Beginning The Journey
It really doesn't seem that long ago that we decided to move off the grid. In fact it's been well over 16 years since we made the blind leap. Not know anything really about building a house or how to power it we said "that's it, the electric company doesn't get any more of our money".
It's a life changing decision for sure. We were in debt up to our eyeballs, and this seemed like a way out. How you might ask? Well, if we could cut down on our expenses and still earn the same income we could pay off all of our debt faster. In fact we paid off $43,000 in debt within 3 years. That's pretty impressive if you ask me.
I'm getting ahead of myself though. Starting out we built a little cabin which we lived in for the first few months so that we could build the first floor of our house. It was cramped, but there's nothing like watching something you built yourself come together. We managed to get the house up (with a roof) in early October... just in time! It snowed a couple weeks later.
The next year we cut our own lumber to build the second story of the house. It only took us a month or so to get the second story up because all the hard work was done. The total size is a little bit under 1500 square feet and with the kids moved out it's more than enough for us.
I'm sure right now you're thinking "you're crazy"... and it's true we are crazy, but it's payed off for us. Making the journey to living off the grid doesn't have to be as hard as ours... in fact with todays technology it's easier than ever to start living off the grid.
First start out saving energy so you have a little extra money to re-invest in making your house more energy efficient. You'd be surprised how much you can save by using low cost techniques in your house. We've helped save people at least $60 on their electric bill and some have saved up to $200!
If you're looking into living off the grid then start by making your house more energy efficient. Making your house energy efficient is much easier if you do little baby steps. We've successfully gotten people off the grid in two years without changing their lifestyle at all. We just teach them to live smarter. Live smarter and you can live off the grid.
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Andrew Oke is very interested in renewable energy.He has 16 years experience living off the grid, and has completely built his own renewable energy system. Visit his website at Living Off The Grid
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