7 Things I wish I knew Before Going Off-Grid

There are many things people can tell you about living off-grid: there is freedom to not be dependent on the power and water systems, a sense of being self-sustaining, and of course the picture we all have in our heads of slow mornings by the fire and getting lost in the sounds of the mountains. 

But living off-grid with a large family is entirely different from living off grid as a smaller family. More people require even more power, more food and food storage, more laundry, more water consumption etc. With seven children, nearly every system in our home needs to work hard enough to support nine people. 

There are things that I wish we would have known before going off grid- not because knowing them would have changed our decision, but because it would have made the transition a little easier. If I could go back and talk to the version of myself who was just beginning this life, there are seven things I would tell her. 

I wish we had more money before going off grid

This one kind of goes without saying but is worth a mention. When we pulled the trigger on our off grid home we went in totally blind. Going off grid was definitely a dream of ours some day, but was not something that we were ready for when we bought our house. We bought our home in early 2020 right before the market skyrocketed. Luckily, we got our home before the prices got too high which was an absolute act of God. Because we hadn't planned on being off grid just yet, we had only a certain amount to work with. My husband was also getting out of the military that year, so the money we did have was meant to get us through that first year. 

Not only was our house off grid, but it needed many updates that didn't have much to do with being off-grid. It needed to be properly insulated, the foundation needed to be better supported, it needed a new wood stove- the list went on and on. Then there were the off-grid systems themselves. The house needed more solar panels, a new battery system, a new converter, and a new generator system. 

Because we are a larger family, our system requires much more power than your typical off grid family of 4. Our home is bigger which means more space to heat, more laundry to wash, more water to pump, and more electricity to generate. We also run a homestead. We have two milk cows which means we need more refrigerator space than the average off grid family. When we first moved, we only had one milk cow and her calf which eased us into being an homesteading off grid family. Even then,I had to make that extra refrigerator for all that milk work!  

If we’d have a bit more money going into this lifestyle, we could have upgraded our systems much sooner to better support the needs of our family. It wouldn't have made learning the off-grid life easy, but it would have made the transition a little smoother. 

THE SIMPLE LIFE DOESN'T MEAN THE EASIER LIFE

Is it just me or when you think of going off grid do you think of children frolicking in the woods with baskets full of wildberries while you are wearing the latest Christy Dawn dress living out your wildest Laura Ingalls fantasies? I'm here to tell you it is absolutely not that way- well at least not all the time. There have been many occasions where we are picking berries and the kids are running around with huckleberry fingers and faces and I truly feel grateful for this life. However, I would never do it in a Christy Dawn dress, in fact I'm more paranoid over all the ticks I will find in our hair after we are done picking. 

There are many beautiful moments of this slower kind of life, but those beautiful moments dont come without plenty of hard ones too. When our water pump isn't working we're hauling water just to do the dishes. When we run out of propane, showers are quick because cold showers are not fun.  Winters are especially rough around here. We’ve had weeks when our water pipes have frozen and we are boiling snow just to take baths. And because we live up a mountain, even getting home can become a chore. I’ve hauled groceries up the mountain for a mile with all 6 kids in tow- and trust me, there was plenty of complaining along the way. 

I think that is what I misunderstood about the “simple life” before we actually lived it. Simple doesn't necessarily mean easy. Sometimes it means doing things the harder way, learning to live with inconveniences, and finding beauty in this life anyway. 

LAUNDRY BECOMES A DIFFERENT THING

This was definitely one of the biggest shocks when we moved off-grid. Our system wasn't built to sustain a large family- I couldn't even turn on the kitchen sink and flush the toilet at the same time when we first moved here. Laundry was initially done at the laundry mat. I know many off grid families that do laundry at the laundry mat and it works well for them. 

For us…it was not going to work. I have too many little people that have accidents in their beds at night, as well as boys that are working hard outside and muddy up their pants daily to go to the laundry mat several times per week. Our road makes it difficult for me to make that trip. We spent the first winter doing a lot of trips up and down the mountain with a sled full of laundry, but with as many kids as we have, it's just not practical.  

For a smaller family, it could work well, but for a family our size, we needed to upgrade our batteries and propane so that I could do laundry here at home. And yes, during the summer, I take advantage of the long sunny days and hang out the laundry on our clothes line- it really does channel my inner Laura Ingalls, however, imagine all those baby socks I have to hang…yeah it gets old fast!

FOOD STORAGE IS A MUCH BIGGER DEAL WITH A LARGE FAMILY

We live an hour and a half from Costco. I know, it's not close. I plan my costco trips down to one visit per month. I also order from Azure Standard once per month and I stock up. I order almost everything in bulk so I don't run out and I've learned to keep an ongoing list of what we need. If I forget an item, I am not just hopping in the car and driving down to grab that one item. This is also where meal planning becomes important.

We have a deep freezer- which you guessed it, requires a lot of energy. We butcher the cows we raise so I have to make sure I have enough freezer space for all that meat. This year we were able to buy half of a cow from our neighbor, which was a huge blessing for us, but it means even more food to store. My husband and sons are planning to hunt this year too, and if they bring home an animal I'll need to can some of  that meat instead of relying entirely on our freezer. 

Learning skills like canning and preserving food has become another important part in living this way. It's not just about having enough food for a large family- it's about planning ahead for how we are going to store it all.  And food isn't the only thing that I've had to plan ahead for. 

YOU HAVE TO PLAN AHEAD FOR ALMOST EVERYTHING

I have already talked about planning for my grocery trips, but being off grid makes me plan for more than just that. I have to plan for changes in weather. What if I can't get to town? What if I run out of supplies? What happens if something breaks? We have to do a lot of out of the box thinking. 

My husband prides himself in the fact that he keeps things for a reason. I like to think of myself as a minimalist. As someone who likes to have less, it drives me crazy that he likes to collect things that I see as useless. Low and behold, any time we are in a pickle he has a piece stuffed way back in the shop that can actually be used to fix the problem. As much as I hate collecting things, it can come in handy and actually is needed when you live off grid. I've seen the benefit of doing this- although I will never fully admit that to my husband. 

YOUR CHILDREN BECOME PART OF MAKING THIS LIFE WORK 

This is where this life gets beautiful. Even with all the hardship that we have had to endure in this lifestyle, I wouldn't trade it out for anything- especially as we raise our kids. Our kids have many responsibilities living this life. Everyone is responsible for helping. They aren't required to do all the work, but we all have a hand in making sure that we are ready for winter. So everyone helps in harvesting wood. Our boys have learned so many skills as things have broken and my husband was forced to fix it on his own. We are still in the process of learning more about hydro to generate energy to power our batteries which has been a fun project for my husband and the older boys to troubleshoot.

The kids have seen us frustrated and overwhelmed by problems around the house but have seen how we have solved those problems and worked hard to get a result. They are learning that sometimes in life you can't just call someone to come help you fix an issue. Sometimes it requires some digging for the knowledge, and getting to work. That is a concept they may not have been exercised if we lived somewhere else. They are learning that not everything comes by pushing a button or calling a company. 

My husband and I always joke about how we only have 18 more years of living this way. If we had a baby, the clock would start over again because we would be depriving that next child of these valuable lessons. 

I WISH I KNEW HOW CAPABLE WE WOULD BECOME

When we first started this lifestyle, there was a lot we didn't know. We messed up-

 big time. But now? We've learned things I never thought we would. We can now troubleshoot, fix things, live with less, learn to plan better, plan for the unexpected, adapt, and become resourceful.

But I think one of the biggest things that I have learned is how to be uncomfortable. In America, we are so comfortable- too comfortable at times. Living this way has pushed me to realize that being uncomfortable isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I don’t always know if we will have running water the next day, or if there will be enough sunshine for me to do laundry, and I’ve had to learn that I don't need to be in control over every one of those things.More than anything, that discomfort has taught me to fully rely on the Lord for my strength. None of us are promised tomorrow, so why would I waste a single moment of my life worrying about it? I cannot add a single day to my life by worrying about whether or not we will have enough water or sunshine.

This life has made me more aware of the blessings I do have and has taught me to be thankful in hard situations.I wish I could go back and tell the version of myself who was just starting that she didn't need to know everything. That she would learn. We, as a family, would learn and grow, and that the Lord was about to do a mighty work in our family. 

WOULD I STILL CHOOSE TO GO OFF-GRID?

Has this way of living been harder than I expected? Absolutely! There are things I wish I had known, and plenty that I would have done differently. More money would have made the transition easier and more knowledge probably would have saved us from a few mistakes. But I'm not sure we ever would have felt fully ready. Sometimes, you learn by just doing.  

So would I still choose this life knowing everything I know now? I would. 

It didn't start out looking anything like the off-grid life I had pictured in my head. In many ways, it has been harder. But what it has become is far more beautiful than what I originally imagined. It has changed our family, stretched our faith, and taught us that we are capable of far more than we knew. And I wouldn't trade that for the easier life that I thought I wanted.