Winter Blues? Try Off Grid Living in New England

Then we got a six-chicken flock for eggs. We loved it, so we started to think bigger. Goats, which opened up livestock for us on a larger scale. Pigs maybe, but no cows or sheep. From there, we realized our homestead could have a smaller carbon footprint if we also went for off grid living.
Off Grid Living in New England

Granted, we aren't completely off grid thanks to our decision to work from home and a requirement for reliable internet connection. Also, we have kids. Four of them, with varying needs concerning access to ESPN, YouTube and iPad messenger. So, we do have that. But, if a severe winter storm knocks out the neighborhood, we are still the place to be with wood stoves, pellet stoves and a propane backup to keep us warm. The battery banks are large enough to last a few days with no sunlight and conservative usage practices.
We haven't truly tested the extent of our system as of yet, with only a few gray days and no real weather to speak of, but our confidence level is high. Our off grid living in New England choice was the right one to make, and though only four months into it, we're starting to find our groove.
How to Go Off Grid

Then there is the price tag of a mortgage to consider. Homesteading in a place that a bank owns isn't truly living for yourself, so paying for everything upfront in cash is the proper way to go. However, that is only a philosophical consideration. For us, it was cash on the barrel head with zero financing. Debt free was the only way for us to make sense of our transition, from credit cards to student loans.

There are no plans to go hard-core and completely separate from society, but we are producing what we can from our gardens and have reduced our costs of modern living by nearly 95%. There are the supplemental groceries we like, the cable and internet, and a few incidentals here and there that still allow us to remain under budget.
Frugal Living
Frugal living is a solid mindset to place yourself in, if of course, living off the grid is something that peaks your fancy. Frugal is a relative term, and it could simply mean changing your cable account to basic, better dinner-leftover practices for meals and planting a few tomatoes in the summer.
The draw of homesteading and off grid living in New England is the reduction of not only a carbon foot print and increase of self-reliance, but the separation of your family from the oppression of a credit-based economy. Learn to save money and how to live a better life by reduction your consumption. That is where it should all start.
Homestead Living

We'd love to know where you are in your off grid living thoughts, either as a dreamer or a long-time practitioner. Leave your comments below.
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