How do you make a living while living off the grid?
Here’s how to make a living while living off grid. This article will help give you some ideas on what you can do for a living from your off grid homestead, even if you live in the middle of nowhere on a remote wilderness property. You no longer need to live in or even be close to a major city to make a living. You can make money from the comfort of your own homestead. Even on remote land.
Create Multiple Income Streams
You’re going to want to have multiple streams of income while living off grid. There are many more ways to make money off grid than listed here in this article, this list is just the basics and most obvious solutions to your income needs.
Some folks would like to be rich, others just want to make enough money to make a living and provide for their families. The most wealthy folks will tell you that having multiple income streams is safer and more stable financially in the long term than only having one income stream. The point is you’re not limited to just one income. Use the list below to help you build a healthy income for you and your family.
Off Grid Internet: High Speed Satellite Internet
High speed satellite internet technology (such as StarLink) has made it possible to work from home anywhere in the world and gives you access to the world’s largest marketplace. You don’t have to live close to a town anymore, though most people will choose to be close enough to “run into town to pick up a few things”, or to go to the movies or a local town event or celebration. Other than that, you’ll likely be spending most of your time on your homestead, working.
High speed satellite internet is here to stay and this enables anyone to connect to the internet at any time from anywhere in the world. Communications technology has advanced to the point that it doesn’t matter where you live, you can still be connected to the internet.
The Internet Is The World’s Largest Marketplace
The internet connects you directly to your customer anywhere in the world, instantly, all around the world. There are 7.9 billion people (as of this writing) on this planet we call home. About 5 billion of which are on the internet. That’s a massive customer base.
You don’t have to sell stuff to everyone, but the internet, and high speed satellite internet in particular gives you access to a massive global customer base and that is the start of building a foundation for making a living off grid.
HOW TO MAKE MONEY WHILE LIVING OFF THE GRID
1. Sell Food & Produce (Organic Fruit and Vegetables)
Everybody’s gotta eat! You’re going to be growing your own food, fruits, and veggies while living off the grid. It makes sense to grow a little extra for sale, and sell the surplus produce to local area grocery stores, restaurants, and eateries in your area. You can also sell your fruits and veggies at your local town farmers market. Farming and gardening is one of the world’s oldest professions and it makes perfect sense that you would make selling fruits and veggies part of your off grid income.
FRUITS & VEGGIES
This will be your bread and butter income, so to speak, if you’re a farmer looking to run an off grid farm and garden for a profit. There are many off grid farms and farmers who grow fruits and vegetables for their local grocery stores and restaurants. As I mentioned above, you can also sell the food you grow at the local farmers market.
LIVESTOCK
If you raise livestock you can raise chickens (and other poultry), pigs and cows. Sell the meat or the animal either way, it’s an income stream. Though you’d likely have to specialize because you’d be competing with all the large factory farms out there. That’s ok though, organic is better, right!?
AQUAPONICS
Raise fish like tilapia and set up your garden and farm to use the nutrient rich water to fertilize and feed your off grid farm and garden. Tilapia are the most common fish raised for food stock. They grow fast and the fish tastes great fried, broiled, seared, and grilled. Local area restaurants may be interested in fresh fish. And if you’re really passionate about it you could expand you aquaponics farm to include other breeds and species of fish. You could literally have a fish farm.
BAKED FOODS: BREADS & PASTRIES
Do you know how to bake cookies, cakes and pastries? Artisan breads and homemade pastries and desserts are a great way to make money off grid. Many folks love baking, most folks love eating good bread and pastries. You can make a good income just baking and selling a special artisan bread.
2. Arts & Crafts
There are hundreds of products you can make and sell online. Do you like knitting, crochet, etc.? Make and sell these products in your online shop, on Ebay or Etsy. There are a lot of websites out there to sell you arts and crafts. You could sell them locally as well to folks in your town, you don’t have to sell online if you don’t want to.
REFERENCE LINK WITH HUGE LIST OF ARTS AND CRAFTS YOU COULD TURN INTO A BUSINESS:
Crafts – Wikipedia
3. Art: Painting, Sculpting, Drawing, Pottery, 3D Modeling, Digital Art
Maybe you’re an artist as well as a gardener/farmer. You can sell your artwork online through any number of art marketplaces like Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, and through online ecommerce shops like Shopify or Squarespace, or your own website gallery. The point is you can sell your art to a global market.
4. Blacksmithing, Metalworking, Fabrication, Welding, Machining/CNC
Blacksmithing will always be an artform and trade that you can make money with. If you can fix things and make things, are handy and have the interest and passion, then blacksmithing and metalworking is for you.
You can make knives and swords like they do on the show Forged In Fire, and sell them online or in local shops. Or you could make art and metal sculptures, you could repair horse trailers and utility trailers. You could fabricate specialized metal parts, sell them online, and ship them anywhere in the world.
There are no rules here saying you have to limit yourself to selling in your own town. You don’t have to only sell locally, you have the option of expanding your market globally if you wish. I know of companies that do custom machining and CNC work. People can send over the designs and have them machined to their specifications, then shipped when the part is done. The internet makes it possible to expand your reach to billions of customers.
5. Digital Products
Create and sell digital products like ebooks and magazines, apps and video games. Do you know how to write well? Are you a talented artist? You can sell your work online. Digital products are really the best products to sell online because they are the most profitable. You have the initial cost of production which includes your time and labor, skill and knowledge. Then once the product is created and ready for sale, you can copy and sell it over and over again without any more cost involved. Software is a digital product. Artwork printed on a tshirt is a digital/physical product.
6. Make Organic Soap And Other Cleaning Supplies
Humans have been making soap for thousands of years. It’s another very old profession, and one that many people are very passionate about. Also, the profit margins on “boutique” soaps and “organic/non-toxic” cleaning supplies is fairly high. The market is also a multi-billion dollar market with hundreds of millions of potential customers.
7. TShirts, Textiles & Clothing
This should be filed under “Art” but it’s a physical product all on its own. You can also make and sell customer clothing, or even offer repairs of clothing (since it seems most people don’t know how to sew anymore).
Selling tshirts online is a lucrative business if you’re a good artist, you know how to leverage free or royalty free licensed artwork. You don’t even need to be an artist to make tshirts.
ON DEMAND PRINTING
You can make tshirts with quotes and words and fun designs licensed from iStockPhoto and other online image platforms. They allow you to license the image for commercial use. You put it on a tshirt, open your ecommerce store and start selling your tshirts online through other platforms that have online design templates where you simply upload your artwork to the site, and it puts it on the tshirt for you. Then you add that item to your store. Most of these platforms, like RedBubble, and other tshirt printers will then print and ship you tshirts direct to your customer without your ever having to touch the product.
Or maybe you know how to make jeans or other clothing yourself. You can make homemade clothing, start your own brand, and sell them in your online shop.
8. Cabin Rentals – Vacation Rentals, Business Travel Rentals
If you have a large enough parcel of off grid land, you could build multiple cabins and rent them out as vacation rentals on sites like AirBNB, VRBO, and Homeaway. This is a very lucrative and highly profitable business, and can add massive value to your property. There is a caveat here though, and that is liability.
Are you willing to accept the risks involved with it? It’s a big decision, and relatively high risk, high cost business to get into, but the rewards can be much greater. If you did your research, found the right piece of land, and it’s legal in your area, renting cabins is a good business to get into. Think of it like an off grid campground.
People book your cabins online and come stay. There’s a lot of work and maintenance involved and a lot of regulation and higher taxes to pay, but, having said that, it’s an extremely lucrative business. Prices range from $100/night to $1500/night.
Even at 50% vacancy rate annual, that’s still $18,250 to $273k annual gross revenue. Costs vary greatly from 25% to 75% depending on the area you’re in, management, maintenance, permitting, insurance, etc. Margins are still good and it can produce a nice income for you.
Cabin rental could pay for your off grid land and home. Think about it like that.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I wrote an article similar to this one many years ago where I mentioned cabin rental as a source of off grid income because I predicted that the cabin rental (vacation rental) business would grow exponentially) since the writing of that original article (on OffGridWorld.com titled 17 ways to make money off grid; this new article here on Off Grid Living & Survival magazine blog is an updated version of that original article I wrote) The vacation rental business industry has seen massive growth globally and now AirBNB, VRBO, Homeaway, are multi-billion dollar companies and these sites have made many a property owner millionaires. I knew this was going to happen and the growth potential was massive for this market.
If you know the real estate and hospitality markets, have an interest or are passionate about it, the cabin rental business might just be the perfect thing for you.
EVENT HOSTING, PARTIES, WEDDINGS, REUNIONS, BUSINESS MEETINGS
You can host events too. This is all part of the cabin rental, vacation rental, hospitality business. Events like weddings and birthdays and business trips, all can be monetized on your off grid homestead if you have the resources and knowledge to do it.
9. Horseback Riding
Assuming you have a large enough parcel of land, vacationers love to go horseback riding. If you love horses and have them, why not offer horseback riding as one of your income streams for your homestead?
10. ATV, UTV, & Snowmobile Rentals
If you have a large enough property, and are will to take on the risk and have the proper liability insurance, then renting ATVs, UTVs, and Snowmobiles could be another income stream for making money off grid. Again, this one in particular comes with a high liability issue, and you will likely need to have a good lawyer on retainer and excellent liability insurance. I’m not trying to scare you away from this lucrative business, but I think it’s important you know what you’re getting yourself into. Know the law. Have the proper permits, insurance and waivers in place.
All in all it’s a lucrative business for those with properties in or near high tourism areas.
11. Workshops, Classes, & Online Courses (educational instruction)
Teach people how to do stuff! Teach people how to live off the grid and what they need to move off grid. You can teach people gardening and farming techniques like permaculture and how to plant and grow a “food forest”.
If you’re a prepper and survivalist you can teach people survival skills and how to prep for the apocalypse. Any trade, skill, or bit of knowledge that has a large enough niche following could be turned into an online courses
Teach people permaculture, aquaponics, or how to build a cabin if you’re an expert in your field.
12. Outdoor Recreation – Camping, Hiking, Hunting, Fishing
If you have a large enough parcel of land you can make money off grid by renting out camping spots, and cutting hiking trails into your property. Choosing the right off grid lan make a big difference here.
PRO TIP: Choose a piece of land that borders a national forest or national park or other public land would be the best choice. This allows you to offer more opportunities to outdoor adventurers and travelers. This is part of the hospitality business, so if you’re not a people person, this is probably not the job for you.
HUNTING LODGE & RANCH
You can be a hunting guide, especially if you live in a remote part of the world near a large section of public land open to hunting. You could even fence in a large parcel of private land and have your own hunting ranch.
FISHING TRIPS
If your off grid property has a nice trout stream running through it, then cater to the outdoor enthusiasts who like to fish.
CAMPING
Rent out camping sites and RV parking overnight. It’s a way to monetize unused land on your homestead.
HIKING
Again, if you have a large enough property and it borders public land you can offer hiking. Even if your property isn’t that big or doesn’t border public land you could off some kind of guide service, or a guidebook for sale.
13. Exotic Bird Farm
Millions of people all over the world have exotic birds as pets. You don’t have to raise animals for food, you could raise animals for pets. An exotic bird farm can produce a steady income stream for your homestead.
Author’s Note: I personally helped run a bird farm (may aunt’s) for a couple years. It was fun, but grueling work. It can be done. We had thousands of birds to care for and that meant early mornings and long days of hard work. It meant getting up before dawn, feeding the horses, and mucking out the stalls if needed. It required pushing a wheelbarrow of food around 5 acres of land to fee all the bird. Back and forth trips to the barn. Feeding and watering thousands of birds every day is a big deal and takes a lot of work, but it’s doable. I was just helping, we had 2 of us doing most of the work, and a few other family members chipped in time and labor here and there. But mainly it was just two people.
14. Remote Jobs
There are hundreds of industries with office jobs you can do from home now. There is a major paradigm shift in the labor market in how people work now. The advent and adoption of high speed satellite internet, Zoom video call services, and remote login and hour tracking software, you can get a job working from home. This is a HUGE category in and of itself and this article mainly focuses on things related to off grid lifestyle.
Having said that, remote work and the number of remote jobs is growing fast. It’s an emerging industry and it’s reshaping the labor market as a whole. Commuting to and from work is no longer necessary. You can login online and work from the comfort of your own home. No more wasting 2-3 hours per day sitting in traffic commuting to and from your office job. These jobs can be done from anywhere with just a laptop and a connection to high speed internet.
DISCLAIMER: Most remote jobs are in the technology fields, if you have the knowledge and skill already that’s great, you’re already a step ahead. You don’t have to have experience though. Many online remote jobs will train you. Online! The opportunities in this remote job marketplace are endless and I predict will become the new normal over the coming decade and generation.
15. Woodworking & Furniture
Do you know carpentry? Do you know how to build cabinets, art sculptures, or furniture? Then you can monetize your woodworking skills to make a living off grid by making things from wood. Again, with access to online marketplaces like Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, and your own ecommerce retail online store platforms, you can sell just about anything you can make.
Global shipping. You don’t need to focus on local sales either. You can if you want to and there is nothing wrong with that. I know of many local folks who build and make furniture from home and sell for a nice little profit producing a respectable income.
Your main market is online though, and if you can work out the logistics of shipping large furniture items and still remain profitable, then this business could be one for you.
16. Accounting, Medical Billing, Data Entry
These jobs can be done remotely and are decent streams of income. Some are scams though, so be careful here. Do your homework and research the company you apply to work for.
17. High Tech Jobs
Are you a software engineer? Database engineer? App or game developer? Web Designer? IT professional, cloud specialist or technician? There are remote jobs you can work in these fields and the pay ranges from $50k annual salary to $150k salary! Not bad for working off grid.
18. Realtor
Do you have a passion for real estate? You can become a realtor. It might require a year or two in office work working for another realtor, but most states allow you to have your own real estate business (licensed of course) with some state sponsored approved training programs. This takes time but it works.
19. Day Trading – Investing in Stocks
Do you like investing in stocks and bonds, or index funds? You can do that online. From anywhere in the world with a laptop and high speed internet connection.
Do you need a license? That depends. You can be a private investor and invest your own money etc. But if you are selling stocks and bonds to other investors there are laws and permits/licenses education and such that you will need to complete.
Having said that, you can still invest online and do some stock trading online through the myriad of online trading tools like WeBull, RobinHood, and others.
You probably heard the term “meme stocks” in the news this past year (2021-2022) as GameStop and other stocks were bought up by retail investors through these apps. This brought millions of new investors into the stock market and many people became millionaires overnight. Some lost all their money. This is where knowledge, research and discipline come in. Don’t do anything you’re not comfortable doing, and certainly don’t do anything illegal.
20. Cryptocurrency & Blockchain – Investing
Investing in cryptocurrency is huge. Look at the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies. Blockchain is the next “internet”. If you don’t know what blockchain is, think of it as a public ledger of account transactions, only it’s encrypted, meaning unhackable. Blockchain is also a network! Like the internet, but better.
21. Buy & Sell NFTs
An NFT is a “Non Fungible Token”. You don’t need to know what this is to understand it like this though. Create original artwork, digital or physical. Convert it to an NFT. Sell it online. (there’s more to it than that, but that’s the basic gist of it).
Legendary Beeple, a digital 3D artist, sold an NFT on Christie’s Auction for about $69 million dollars. If you don’t know what NFTs are, or this sounds like it’s not “off grid” enough for you, just know that if you’re an artist, and want to sell your paintings, drawing, photos, or any physical artwork can be converted into a digital copy product, converted into an NFT and sold at auction or for a fixed price. This is a very tech savvy business, and if you’re not into the high tech world, then it’s likely not for you. At the very least, look into it. All NFTs are sold in cryptocurrency and most are on the Ethereum network blockchain.
There Are Many More Ways To Make Money While Living Off The Grid
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to remote jobs and businesses you can start and work from the comfort of your off grid homestead. Some of these ideas might not be for you, but I’m sure there’s something you can think of that you’re passionate about, that you’re knowledgeable about, and have the skill to either teach others, or turn into a reliable income while you live your life off grid.
HARD WORK
If you’re afraid of hard work then farming and ranching and business is probably not for you. Sorry, not trying to be rude, but you have to work hard. Living off the grid requires a certain dedication and discipline. Not everything is going to go well all the time. You’re going to run into setbacks and you will need to be able to solve problems. It’s not all “sunshine and rainbows”, as Sylvester Stallone once said in Rocky!
Building an off grid homestead takes hard work. Building a business on that homestead, making a living while living off the grid takes even more hard work and determination, focus, drive and motivation. Mostly it’s about doing the work and that’s where the discipline comes in.
If you’re passionate about it, and there’s a market for it, you can make a living at it. You can produce an income and make money off grid doing what you love.
FOCUS & DISCIPLINE
Focus on your passions and your knowledge. Do what you know, and love what you do. Your passion for it will come through and help you shine. It’ll get you through those tough times and times when you feel like quitting. Stay focused and discipline yourself to not quit.
You can do this. It’s up to you. You may have a family to provide for, or you may live alone, the point is you don’t give up. Stick to it, be consistent and keep working.
Do what you know, and love what you do.
There it is. That’s how to make money while living off the grid. I’m sure you can think of some things that I’ve not thought of to make a living off grid.
The point of all this is to become self-reliant, financially independent and living your life on your terms, making your own way and your own money. Living the off grid dream and producing multiple income streams from your property.
You don’t have to choose just one profession. You can do multiple things. The biggest and most important idea here is to do what makes you happy and provides a happy life and a good income for you and your family living off the grid.
This goes to your independence and ultimately your freedom.
That’s what it’s all about.
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References:
Off-The-Grid – Wikipedia
Remote Work – Wikipedia
Self-Sufficient – Wikipedia
Sustainable Living – Wikipedia
Natural Resources – Wikipedia
Sustainability – Wikipedia
Solar Power – Wikipedia
NFT – Wikipedia
Cryptocurrency – Wikipedia
Crafts – Wikipedia
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DISCLAIMER: Check your local, city, county, state, and federal laws regarding starting a business in your area before starting any business. Do your homework. Know the law. Don’t do it if it makes you uncomfortable or it’s not legal. This article also assumes you are producing your own solar and wind power with a battery backup and have all the knowledge and skills to accomplish these jobs.
