Off grid checklist for moving off the grid now: How to live off the grid

An off grid checklist for sustainable living, renewable energy, disconnected from the electrical grid, being 100% self reliant.  Sometimes it means being completely disconnected from public utilities altogether and producing your own power and water. There are some of the many things you’re going to need before you get started making the move to the off grid living lifestyle. 

How To Live Off The Grid

What do you need to live off the grid?

Here is a detailed checklist for living off the grid:

1. Money – For purchasing necessities for off grid living
2. OFF GRID LAND – A Place To Go
3. Water – water for drinking and sanitation
4. Food – Healthy food, fruits and veggies
5. Natural building materials – Trees Rock & Clay 
6. Power – Solar and wind power system with battery backup
7. Shelter – Cabin, tiny house, shipping container, yurt, RV, camper trailer, traditional home
8. Infrastructure – Barn, garden shed, workshop, steel building
9. Tools & Equipment –
10. Septic System
11. Seeds – For planting food fruit and veggies
12. Greenhouse – For growing food fruits and veggies year-round
13. Compost Heap

Start With Money!

Aside from money you’re going to need quite a bit of knowledge to know what you’re getting yourself into. Living off the grid is not a walk in the park. It’s not as “easy” as they say it is. It takes hard work and dedication and the will to live the lifestyle. Make no mistake. This is a completely different way of living. You may experience some culture shock if you’ve never lived in the country before. There’s a lot of work to be done on and off grid homestead. Especially if you’re building your own cabin or tiny home or shipping container home. If you’ve done your research and your homework, your ‘due diligence’ then you will have raised and saved the money already you need to buy your off grid land that will lend itself to your new lifestyle choice.

Be Prepared For The Work!

Don’t kid yourself thinking you’re going to move off grid, save money and live free. That’s not how it works. There are still bills and ongoing expenses you’re going to have to take care of. That means having an income to pay those bills. Car insurance, property taxes, cell phone bill for you and your family members. If you produce your own power and water (well), then you’ve removed those expenses from you monthly bills, but you may have a mortgage payment on the off grid land you purchase (read more on that below).

My advice is to save the money and pay cash for the land if possible, don’t finance. But that’s just my opinion because I don’t want a monthly mortgage payment. This is about becoming self reliant and self sufficient and being free from the confines of as many monthly expenses as possible.

What do you mean by off-grid?

Off Grid Living

Definition of off grid living: Off-The-Grid – Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle^[1] designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term “off-the-grid” traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical grid, but can also include other utilities like water, gas, and sewer systems, and can scale from residential homes to small communities. Off-the-grid living allows for buildings and people to be self-sufficient, which is advantageous in isolated locations where normal utilities cannot reach and is attractive to those who want to reduce environmental impact and cost of living. Generally, an off-grid building must be able to supply energy and potable water for itself, as well as manage food, waste and wastewater.

– SOURCE: Wikipedia

Can I live off-grid? Legally speaking…

Is it legal to live off the grid? There are a number of laws (local, state, and federal, within the United States, and other countries, states, and provinces) that are not friendly to off grid living. Having said that…YES! It is legal to live off the grid in most countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, and all over Europe, Africa. You can live off grid anywhere in the world. The restrictions come from the local, regional and federal laws of your home country, state, province, county, city and township you live in. Be sure to contact your local county zoning and planning office and/or visit their website for information on the local rules and regulations, city and county ordinances, zoning maps, and taxes in the area you’re looking to move off grid. Familiarize yourself with the regulations specifically about being connected to local public utilities and whether or not it’s legal in that area to not be connected to the electrical grid and use your own septic system. This is where people run into the most problems.

Septic System Laws

Waste disposal and septic systems are governed by local, state, and federal laws, and the EPA in the United States. Some areas have strict limits on septic systems while others allow outhouses (vault toilets) and composting toilets. As long as you’re not dumping your waste directly in the natural water sources, that’s mainly what the laws are in place for. Some areas require you to be connected to the main municipal power grid. They call this “grid-tied”. Even though you have your own solar power system and produce your own electricity, the county/municipality may require to to be connected to the grid. Avoid these areas. This is where doing your due diligence in your off grid property search comes in.

Generally speaking, the more remote the land the less restrictions there are. The exception to this rule are large counties with large cities with large populations of people. Even if land in that county is zoned rural agricultural/residential, there are likely too many restrictions and local ordinances that prohibit the off grid lifestyle.

Check Your Local Build Codes, Local Ordinances, Minimum Lot Sizes, Minimum Square Footage, Setbacks, etc.

The best off grid land is remote land, in counties and areas that do not have large cities. These areas are more open to people living off the grid and the rules are much less restrictive. In some cases (like some places in rural remote Alaska) you don’t have to have a permit to build a cabin if it’s under a certain size in square feet.

The legalities of off grid living are many and this is not legal advice. Just make sure you do your homework, read the local zoning and planning rules and regulations.

PRO TIP: Never Ever Buy Land In A Subdivision! Subdivisions, even rural subdivisions, usually comes with their own list of rules and regulations IN ADDITION to the local county regulations. Subdivisions have covenants and restrictions that must be adhered to and they likely will prohibit certain types of dwellings like mobile homes, modular homes, and may require a minimum square footage larger than the county requires. 

Is it cheaper to live off-grid than it is to live in the city?

Well, if you pay cash for your land and solar power system and water system, and all the essentials, then your only monthly expenses will be insurance, taxes, internet and cell phone bills. So yes. It’ll be cheaper. Property taxes are lower on rural/agricultural land. Other ongoing expenses might include some monthly entertainment, medicines/prescriptions if you are on medications for any ailment you might have, and some incidental expenses.

How can I live off the grid with no money? Can you live FREE off grid?

No…it’s not possible to live for “free” off grid (unless you live primitively in a cave somewhere), but if you do it right and plan right, save, pay cash for your land and materials, and equipment and tools then you can technically live “rent free” off grid. We wrote a couple articles titled How To Live Off The Grid With No Money, another article How To Live Off The Grid Rent Free, and another article How To Build An Off Grid Cabin For Free, which detail what that actually means and if it’s possible. It’s good reading for when you have more time.

The full off grid living checklist of things you need to live off the grid.
Bookmark this page and revisit it often because this page is updated often!

What are the first steps to living off-grid?

Saving money and raising the funds to buy your land. Researching and finding the perfect off grid land.

Checklist for Living Off The Grid

1. OFF GRID LAND – A Place To Go

Pay cash for your vacant land if possible if you’re planning on building your own place. If you’re planning on purchasing a prebuilt tiny home or shipping container home or having a traditional home built by a contractor you need to have the money saved up and ready to go. Always figure at least 3X what you budget. If you think it’s going to cost you $50k, figure $150k. Build is not cheap, permits and hookup fees are not cheap (if you build in a subdivision; which you won’t be doing because you’d never pick a parcel of land in a subdivision, even a rural subdivision because those parcel usually have some kind of covenants and restrictions that may prevent you from building the kind of dwelling you want to live in and may even prevent you from having livestock on your land. Do your homework before purchase the land.

READ OUR ARTICLE: How To Find The Perfect Off Grid Land

2. Water – Besides Money and Land It’s The Single Most Important Resource

You need a source of fresh potable drinking water. Hauled water (unless from a clean and safe natural source nearby) is not an option long term. A well, spring, creek, river, mountain lake, pond, anywhere that natural water flows is what you’re looking for.

3. Food – The ability to grow food on your land

Fruits & Vegetables – The list of fruits and veggies goes on and one. Thousands of heirloom seeds for thousands of kinds of fruits and vegetables are available on the market today. Buy enough seed and store it safely to last years. Grow enough food to feed your family 3 times over in case of an apocalypse or collapse of society.

PRO TIP: Learn basic food preservation techniques: Canning & Preserving

Learn How To Grow Basic Staple Vegetables – There’s a huge long list of veggies and fruits you can grow for food. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of different fruits and vegetables and all their different varieties etc. This list is just the basic staples for survival, and is not comprehensive. It’s just the necessities and a beginners guide to starting your off grid garden.

• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Corn
• Wheat – If you have the space and climate for it.
• Barley
• Flax
• Celery
• Radishes
• Asparagus
• Miscellaneous Herbs and Spices
• This list goes on and on…

Livestock For Meat – Meat has been a part of the Some folks balk at the though of eating meat, and that’s ok, that’s their lifestyle choice. But when it comes down to long term survival, meat has been a staple food for humans for hundreds of thousands of years. Ever since Neanderthals and other early human ancestors, meat has been on our diet.

• Chickens
• Pigs
• Cows
• Goats
• Rabbits
• Ducks
• Geese
• Quail
• Pheasant
• Etc.

4. Trees – Natural Building Materials

Trees provide you with the natural material resources you need to build your cabin. Especially in mountainous forested terrain.

5. Rock Or Clay – Natural Building Materials

Rock and clay also provides you with the natural materials needed to build with in desert and arid climates. Build walls, fireplaces, brick ovens, outdoor grills, etc.

6. Solar & Wind Power System With Battery Backup

You need electricity! Unless you’re planning on living primitively off the grid, then you’re going to want electricity to run your appliances, tools, equipment, charge your portable electronic devices, and provide power to your home in the event of a blackout survival scenario. You’re going to need a battery backup system attached to your solar array and your wind generator. No solar power system is complete without a battery backup. In my opinion I would place multiple wind turbines/generators atop the buildings and on towers throughout the property and run the wires back to the central battery box. (shipping container)

PRO TIP: If you’ve got the cash to invest, put your battery backup system and solar panels on top of a 20′ to 40’ shipping container! This is just my opinion, but it’s lockable, very secure, and it will protect your batteries from theft and making it centrally located on the property between all the buildings, This makes sure you minimize the amount of wiring and trenches you’re going to have to dig to run the electrical writing to each outbuilding. Place it far enough away from other building and put your electric panels, charge controller, inverters, batteries, and all the other electrical equipment inside the shipping container. For safety reason, if there’s a fire, it reduces the chance of fire spreading to other buildings, and shipping containers are air tight and fire needs AIR to breathe. Make sure you have a way to shut off the ventilation inside to smother a fire, and proper fire extinguishers set about inside and outside the battery power unit. The shipping container then acts like a giant battery pack. And it’s portable! (minus the wiring in the ground. If you ever decide to move and take your solar system with you, it’s ready to go. 

READ OUR ARTCLE: 17 Survival Scenarios Your Must Be Prepared For

7. Shelter – Cabin, Tiny House, Shipping Container House, or Traditional Home

After you find a piece of land with all the natural materials and resources you need to live for a prolonged time off grid, then you need to focus on your shelter. 

Temporary shelters like a travel trailer, camper trailer, even a large expedition tent or Yurt will work well enough while you build your main shelter. 

So which one will you build? A traditional off grid log cabin like the old time settlers?

• Log Cabin –
• Tiny House –
• Shipping Container House –
• Traditional House (wood frame or brick/block) –

Modern Sustainable & Renewable Material Homes

• Hemp House – 
• Earthship – 
• Cob House – 
• Straw Bale House – 

8. Barn, Garden Shed, & Steel Building Workshop

You need a workshop and barn! You can build a simple pole barn and then a workshop next to it or between the home and where you do most of your work on your parcel. The placement and location of the workshop is important and it’s wise to pick a place far enough away from your home or barn that way if there’s ever a fire it won’t take out the whole farm. 

SAFETY TIP: Leave lots of space between your home and other outbuildings like your barn, workshop and garden shed., in the event of a fire, you don’t want all your buildings to burn down. Keeping them far enough apart reduces the risk of losing multiple buildings to fire.

Most larger homesteads have 3 main buildings. At the very least 2 buildings. The home and a barn. Add in a small garden shed near your small garden if you don’t feel like walking all the way to the barn or workshop for a tool. Think about the layout of the property and how you will be moving about the property. Is the property flat and easy to traverse? Is your property large and sprawling? Will you need a vehicle to get around your property quickly and efficiently?

These are the things you need to think about before building. If you purchase a prebuilt farm then you’re not going to have to worry about it because all that work is done for you already. 

But if you want to move off the grid and do all this yourself, just know that it’s going to take a lot of work and time and effort and planning on your part to build the perfect off grid homestead. That is a homestead that’s laid out properly and smartly with efficiency in mind.

You don’t want to have to walk a mile back and forth between your barn and workshop for tools and equipment that should be located in one area within easy reach and access.

9. Tools Equipment & Materials

You’re going to need the minimum tools and equipment to build a cabin, maintain your home, and the hardware materials like nuts, bolts, screws, fasteners, wire, fencing, posts, nails, etc. You’re going to need PVC pipe for the plumbing, electrical wire, electric panel, outlets, breakers, charge controller, inverter, (if you have a solar power system; which you will), connectors, wire nuts, lighting fixtures, etc. The tools and equipment list by itself is long and could be an entire article unto itself, but I’ll list the minimum requirements here:

PRO TIP: Buy a GOOD set of HIGH QUALITY tools. Don’t scrimp and try to save a dollar by buying the cheapest set of tools you can because that will cost you more work, energy, time and money later. Your tools need to last you a long time. You only need to buy a good tool ONCE. You don’t want to get halfway into a job on the homestead and have your tools break or the battery die because you purchased cheap tools trying to save money. Buy the BEST! It will save you time and money later! Trust me on this one. 

LIST OF HAND TOOLS

• Saws (and lots of them) – Hand saws of different sizes, carpenters saw, coping saw, hack saw, all the hand saws.
• Axe & Hatchet
• Wood Splitter & Wedges 
• Hammers – Claw hammers (buy a few of them; Eastwing makes a good hammer), ball-peen, various sledge hammers from small to large.
• Wrenches – Get a good wrench set
• Crescent wrench (adjustable wrench)
• Pliers 
• Channel Locks – Look it up if you don’t know what they are.
• Wire Cutters
• Side Cutters
• Wire Stripper
• Socket Set – A good set with lifetime warranty!
• Screwdrivers – Various screw drivers, small and large.
• Crowbars, small roofing flat pry bar and a good heavy duty 6’ Pry Bar –  for moving heavy duty things.
• Files and Rasps
• Post Hole Digger – You’re going to be doing a lot of this if you’re putting up fencing. Buy a couple good sets.
• Vice – A good heavy duty large vice mounted to your workbench
• Various wood and C Clamps – You’re going to need a bunch of these in lots of different sizes. 
• Anvil – Yes, you will have a use for an anvil later, at some point.
• Hydraulic Jack (bottle jack) – Buy a few of these 3-4. 
• Floor Jack – You’ll need to get under your powered vehicles and do maintenance in your workshop/garage. Get a good floor jack.
• Lumber Jack – This will help you get unstuck if you ever get stuck, but we all know, you’d never get stuck, right?
• Come-Along (hand wench) – Have a couple of these lying around the homestead, one in the barn, on in the UTV, in the workshop. You never know when you’ll need one. And trust me, you’ll need one.
• Chain! (Miscellaneous sizes and lengths) – You’re going to to dragging, towing, and moving large heavy objects and things like logs, and other equipment and vehicles, so you’ll need chain, and a lot of it. Small medium and large links, short, long and very long pieces needed
• Cable (and fittings) – You’ll need cable to pull things with a wench, whether hand operated or electric wench
• Rope (different sizes and strengths
• Tow Straps 
• Ratchet Straps
• Bungee Cords (assorted sizes and strengths; don’t buy the cheap ones, they’re dangerous and could snap and cause injury)

LIST OF POWER TOOLS

• Saws (and lots of them) – circular saw, jig saw, table saw, chop saw, miter saw, scroll saw, all the saws.
• Chainsaw
• Hand drill (screw gun) 
• Sawzall (reciprocating saw) 
• Welding Machine (and the knowledge to use it) – You’re going to need to weld things on your off grid property. If you don’t want to do this, then just know you’re going to pay professional welder hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to do welding around your property over the years. It pays to know how to do basic welding. Spend $500 to $1000 on a good quality welding machine, and learn how to use it. (you will likely need a 220V electrical service installed in your workshop! This requires a lot of electrical power so plan for this when you build your solar power system)
• Cutting Torch
• Circular Saw 
• Table Saw
• Drill Press 
• Band Saw (vertical or horizontal, spending on your preference and needs)
• Bench Grinders
• Angle Grinder

LIST OF OFF GRID GARDEN TOOLS

PRO TIP: If within your budget, get a couple of each garden tool and place them around the homestead in various places, of course inside the garden shed, but in the barn and workshop too. Tools break. Have multiple backups just in case. It’ll save you time and money from having to run into town anytime something breaks.

• Tiller
• Shovels (all kinds) – Small, medium and large, flat/square and spade point. 
• Hoe 
• Potato rake 
• Garden Rake
• Leaf Rake
• Hand Rake
• Pitchfork 
• Trimmer/Edger
• Wheel Barrow
• The list goes on and on.

Off Grid Equipment List

You’re going to need to be able to move things around your property. There are also lots of other jobs that need to be done and maintenance that you’ll be doing on your off grid homestead, this is just a small list of some of the main pieces of equipment you’re going to need to do those jobs and maintain your property.

• Portable Generator (preferably diesel powered) – Diesel powered generator give you the option of using veggie oil to produce fuel. So if you have a diesel generator you have electricity, as long as you have veggie oil or can produce it.
• Air Compressor – You’ll need an air compressor, not just for air tools in the workshop, but to air up tires on all your homestead vehicles, tractor, UTV, ATV, bicycles, etc.
• Farm Tractor – No off grid homestead is complete without a tractor. Come on… 😉
• Lawn Tractor/Mower – If you’ve got a big yard you don’t want to mow with a push mower
• Push Mower (self powered) – Yeah, you’re going to need one for those hard to reach areas.
• UTV or ATV (utility style with lockable rear storage and/or racks) – This will help you move things around easily and you can store some hand tools. It’s a lot easier and faster to get around your property on a UTV.
• Electric Golf Cart – Surprisingly cheap and you can charge them from your solar power unit.
• Utility Trailer (open) – For hauling general purpose everything. You name it, if it fits on the trailer you can haul it. 
• Cargo Trailer (covered) – For hauling sensitive things that need the protection an open frame utility trailer can’t provide.
• Horse Trailer – If you’re going to have horses you’re going to need a horse trailer or two, depending on how many horses you have.

You get the point. There’s a huge list of items you need on a homestead farm. Because let’s face it, that’s what off grid living is. It’s a farm, it’s a ranch, and if you don’t know how to live on a farm or ranch, then learn how. You’re going to need those skills.

10. Organic Eco-Friendly Septic System

The law requires you to handle waste disposal properly, and we all know that we care about the environment and don’t want to pollute our beautiful planet. We want to enjoy the rivers and mountain streams and lakes and preserve them for future generations to enjoy. Right? So that require us to properly dispose of human waste in a natural and sustainable and sanitary way. 

Fortunately there are ways to do this naturally. A composting toilet is one option, but in some areas local ordinances may not allow it. So you might  be forced to hookup to city septic systems (which means you chose the wrong land! We’ll be writing an article later about how to choose the right land for off grid living).

At the very least you should have a composting toilet or two. Doing your due diligence on you land purchase you will know what kind of septic system you’re allowed to build on your off grid land. Usually it require that you do what’s called a “perc test”, basically just means the ground lends itself to having a septic system installed. Then you have to build a tank and drain-field and blah blah blah. Again, all this depends on the land you choose and the local ordinances they allow. There are federal laws also that require a minimum septic system, so you can’t just dump your human waste in the local stream or river and think that’s ok. That’s a big no-no.

READ OUR ARTICLE: Is Off Grid Living Illegal?

11.  Seeds For Your Garden

You’re going to want a large list of heirloom seeds for all the organic fruits and veggies you’re going to be growing in your garden.

12. Greenhouse For Growing Food Year Round

This is an absolute necessity if you are going to be 100% self sufficient. You’re going to need food year-round. To do that, you’re going to need to build a greenhouse that you can heat and keep warm enough to provide you and your family with food all year long. 

It is possible to do this without using propane heaters. You can use compost for it. Trust me, I’ve seen it done, it’s possible. It works.

Fill your greenhouse with all the foods and fruits and veggies you can grow. Build multiple greenhouses if you want.

The cheapest type of greenhouse to build is a hoop-house greenhouse and can be built for less than $500 in materials.

13. Compost Heap

There are multiple reasons to have the compost heap, not just for gardening, but heating your greenhouse during the winter. There are techniques you can use to run a network of metal piping or even black plastic coiled tubing within you composting pile (that will be located next to you greenhouse of course!) so you can use a small DC low voltage solar powered water pump to pump the water through the network of pipes through the very large composting pile, and into the grid of pipes you have under the base of your greenhouse. With this setup you can grow food year-round ANYWHERE. No matter how cold it gets. You’ll have to melt the permafrost first (if you live in the northern hemisphere) or where you have permafrost) but once it’s melted and the ground is warm, it will stay warm under your greenhouse and that will help you grow food year round.

Place your compost heap close enough to your greenhouse to run the ground-heating piping under the greenhouse, or greenhouses if you decide you need more than one.

BONUS HOMESTEADING TIPS THAT WILL MAKE OFF GRID LIVING A LOT EASIER!

14. Learn Canning & Preserving Techniques

Learn the basic of canning and preserving food. Including smoking, salting, and aging meats in a smokehouse (which you’ll have to build). Canning and preserving is tedious and takes a lot of work, but it’s worth it and it can help you preserve enough food to last you YEARS on your off grid homestead.

We’ll cover the list of tools and equipment and materials you’re going to need in another article, but just know that the skill and knowledge of canning and preserving your own food from your garden and farm is what kept our ancestors alive during harsh winters and long stretches of drought and hard times, including war times.

This all goes to long term survival. It’s a little more advanced than you average off grid living for beginners knowledge, but it’s worth learning and could save your life.

15. Build a Root Cellar For Long Term Food Storage

You’re going to need a place to safely store food long term. Not just in your garage or workshop or barn. 

Did you know that if you dig deep enough the ambient temperature underground is 55 degrees F on average? That’s cool enough to preserve most foods, especially foods from your garden and that you’ve already canned and preserved through other methods. Root cellars were created out of necessity and when modern refrigeration came along, we forgot this knowledge. Very few actual root cellars exist in modern times. But it’s a technology that uses the earth’s natural resources for cooling and preserving food. Use it to your advantage.

This list will continue to grow as we add more information.

Bookmark this page, and link back, check back often as we will be updating this page with more information and links to even more comprehensive articles about off grid living. It’s a lot to take in, and it’s a lot to learn.

This is off grid living.

This is just the basics for living off the grid.

Is living off grid worth it?

That’s a personal reflection question and one that you’re going to have to answer for yourself in the long run. If you ask me, I believe off grid living is the future of humanity. I think given the technology and how we can now live anywhere in the world, not be connected to the power grid, generate our own power, grow our own food on our own land, build our own off grid cabin, and not be subject to the status-quo or be forced to live someone else’s way of life, then absolutely 100% it is worth it because it’s about freedom and independence and being self reliant.

What you get out of it is completely personal. Is your family safe? Are they happy? Are you happy living off the grid? If you are, then I say it’s worth it.

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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Thank you for reading. I sincerely appreciate your support. If you enjoy the off grid information and content, please consider subscribing to Off Grid Living & Survival magazine to show your support for our little blog and to help me continue to provide off grid living news and information on a regular basis! Thank you again. I would love to hear from you, so if you have an questions or comments, please leave them below in the comments section or send me an email and I’ll be happy to help you any way I can.