Going off grid works when you treat it as a plan with capital behind it: save first, research land hard, then build your own income, power, water, food and skills one piece at a time. The appeal of living off grid has grown fast in recent years, and the video argues it is no longer only doomsayers and eco-hippies talking about it. Ordinary people are packing up to get away from traditional financial, healthcare and resource systems.
The case made here is that you already have the basic skills to source food, shelter, energy and water, and that relying on yourself is now cheaper and easier. These are 15 moves, set out in the order the script gives them, with a bonus on discomfort at the end.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 moves at a glance
- Build your off-grid nest egg (1:35)
- Get out of the healthcare system by learning first aid (2:30)
- Research land like your life depends on it, because it does (3:11)
- Find a way to generate an independent income (4:24)
- Use systems and tools to stay secure and independent (5:09)
- Build independent equity in your property by doing it yourself (7:27)
- Stay connected even in remote locations (8:22)
- Generate your own power and heat (9:10)
- Source your own water (10:16)
- Go agricultural revolution style (10:55)
- Go hunter-gatherer style (11:55)
- Upgrade your survival skills (12:26)
- An alternative to your bank account (13:27)
- Be willing to live between two lives (14:23)
- Learn to love getting your hands dirty (15:10)
- Bonus: get comfortable with being uncomfortable
1. Build your off-grid nest egg
Going off grid without capital is called being homeless. This is not the option for when you are broke. If money and expenses are your reason, you have to dance to the system’s tune first.
That means working as hard as possible and spending as little as possible, to fund the one-time purchases and investments that free you from a lifetime of monthly bills. Cut costs, take a second job, live in the cheapest apartment you can and save.
The script puts the setup cost between $10,000 and $30,000, depending on how comfortable you want to be. You save for retirement, vacations and a home, so you save for this too.
2. Get out of the healthcare system by learning first aid
Living remotely makes regular doctor visits and pharmacy runs hard, so the aim is to reduce your dependence on the healthcare system. Learning about natural remedies and basic first-aid skills for minor issues is the suggested route.
It also suggests keeping a stockpile of the most important medications and investing in telehealth so you can get a remote consultation when needed.
You do not have to exit the system completely if emergencies worry you. Reducing your reliance on it is still possible.
3. Research land like your life depends on it, because it does
Buying or renting an existing off-grid property is possible, but the script says that defeats the purpose of independence. To commit fully, start from nothing: soil, nature and empty air in the middle of nowhere.
Decide how far you want to be from neighbours, how far you will travel to a store and how close you want to be to power lines and government services. Then research harder than you would for a house.
Cheap land raises the question of why. A paradise can sit on an abandoned mine, a wooded plot that looks perfect in summer can flood in winter, and a perfect property may have no easement or road. Visit in different seasons, and camp there if you can to learn what full-time life would be like.
4. Find a way to generate an independent income
Even with savings and plans to produce your own resources, you still want an independent source of income. If you want out of the traditional employment system, think about how.
Options include a remote business, online freelance work (especially with satellite internet), selling what you farm, making and selling handmade products, or running off-grid workshops.
Even if you will not start right away, having an idea of how you will earn once you are set up makes the process easier.
5. Use systems and tools to stay secure and independent
However remote your plot, you need independent systems. Be honest with yourself about what you cannot live without: waste removal, power and energy, water, and technology. Even if you are escaping a digital life, you need some connection to stay safe and call family or help in an emergency.
Safety nets can sit between your digital footprint and the outside world’s systems. Weather forecasts and some financial transactions still happen online before you move away from them, and while setting up the homestead you will likely rely on public wifi.
The question is how to balance independence and security with the need to stay connected. Encrypting your data on less secure networks, masking your location and limiting tracking of your browsing history are the kind of protections the script points to.
6. Build independent equity in your property by doing it yourself
Living off grid is not a reason to ditch common sense or financial responsibility. You should still be increasing your property’s value.
This is a chance to stay away from mortgage debt and finance the project yourself. That is why it takes time: as you save, you buy materials and build piece by piece.
Doing it yourself gives you ownership and the value that comes with independence. There is a lot you do not know, and this is when you learn, with no builders, construction workers or hired help. Your commitment shows in putting up with the challenges and frustrations.
7. Stay connected even in remote locations
In a rural, remote place your only link to the outside world will be the internet. If connection is exactly what you want to escape, skip this step.
If not, you should not have to derail your plans because the location has no internet. Starlink is the suggested answer: low-Earth orbit satellites that give connection even in the most remote places on the planet.
You can run the compact dish on solar power or a battery system, which gives you practicality, anonymity and connection in one.
8. Generate your own power and heat
This is the exciting part. The modern comforts you took for granted will be gone, so you start from scratch, even with heat and power.
For power, learn about renewable sources such as solar panels, wind turbines or micro-hydropower. Solar-powered versions of appliances from fridges to ovens cut your consumption. A backup generator helps if your location is cloudy, and solar generators can store power until you need it.
For heat, install a wood stove or fireplace and cut your own firewood for the cold months. A solar water heater covers showers and cooking. You are no longer relying on traditional power sources, so you have to fit the pieces to the life you want.
9. Source your own water
You cannot turn on a tap and expect running water, so you source it all. That starts with rainwater harvesting: a setup that captures and stores rain for drinking, bathing and irrigation.
Drilling on your property is another route to a reliable long-term source. A greywater system lets you reuse water from sinks, showers and washing machines to irrigate the garden and flush toilets.
Finally, install a filtration system so that whatever you drink or cook with is safe and purified.
10. Go agricultural revolution style
Before you could pick anything off a store shelf, your ancestors grew and raised their food piece by piece. You still have that innate sense of how to farm, the script says, even if you never have, so use it.
Keep staples such as canned goods, grains and legumes, but the real work is outside. A long-term sustainable setup needs a garden, with tools, seeds, compost and soil management for fruit, vegetables and herbs.
You can add chickens for eggs, goats for milk and bees for honey. Livestock takes your food sufficiency to the next level. It demands patience and trial and error, but once you are there you are set for life.
11. Go hunter-gatherer style
Go back further still, to your hunter-gatherer ancestors. Forage for wild food, and learn to identify and harvest wild plants, berries and mushrooms to add to your supply.
If hunting and fishing are possible in your area, start honing those skills.
It calls it a fantastic way to get the purest nutrients while relying entirely on yourself, your setup and your skills.
12. Upgrade your survival skills
This is not a choose-your-own-adventure book. Your life is on the line, and once committed you commit fully, swapping modern-world skills for the natural ones you have left undeveloped.
You will learn to grow fruit and vegetables and which seasons suit which produce. When crops suffer or die, you go back to the drawing board and work out what happened.
Hunting comes next, including herd behaviour, then navigation, building a fire, extracting water, basic first aid and harvesting what you want. Failure and frustration come first, then progress. Think marathon, not sprint.
13. An alternative to your bank account
A bank account is one of your strongest ties to the system and keeps you stuck in the database. It feels necessary because survival resources are channelled through it.
Off grid it is not essential. Most of your resources come from your own work, so you do not need an account to buy them.
Another way to store money exists, the script says: with just an internet connection and a device you can manage your finances without a physical presence in the financial system. You are not tied to centralised services, can transact from anywhere and are not part of a system controlled by one authority.
14. Be willing to live between two lives
Bringing this together will take years. The closer you get to the new life, the further you move from the old one. Parts of the old life will be missed, leaving it is frightening and doubt creeps in, especially when it means stepping away from people you love.
Working and waiting wears you down, and the urge to throw everything in the car and start now grows. It can feel like your personality is split in two.
You have to be okay with that: embrace it, enjoy it and use it as fuel toward the goal.
15. Learn to love getting your hands dirty
It will be your build. Expect to hammer nails, fit timber piece by piece and count your chickens’ eggs before they hatch.
You will clear muck and tend sick animals. Your own injuries, your own roof and the security of the place against intruders and wild animals are all yours to handle.
The work is messy, so be ready.
Bonus: get comfortable with being uncomfortable
We have grown used to a type of comfort and luxury that is unnecessary. In time you realise how little you need to feel happy, good and fulfilled, but the transition and build phases are hard. Saving means cutting back on things you love, and setting up means living far from familiar conveniences.
So start putting yourself in uncomfortable situations early. Learn what it is like to live without power for a while, get used to cold water and work out how to cook on a gas stove in the dark. Simulating discomfort builds the mental and physical resources to cope, and even enjoy it, when it is real.
At first everything will be difficult and frustrating, and each step is a mental and physical challenge. You work your way up to a more comfortable life gradually, and how long it takes depends on the time and effort you put in.
Independence is built, not found
The 15 moves boil down to one order of operations: fund it, research the land, secure income, then build power, water, food and skills while you accept two lives for a few years. None of it is quick, and the script is clear that it is hard at first.
If the idea appeals, start with the cheap steps today: save, learn first aid and practise being uncomfortable.
FAQ
How much money do you need to go off grid?
The script says to budget between $10,000 and $30,000 for your setup, depending on how comfortable you want to be.
Should you buy an existing off-grid property?
The script says buying or renting one defeats the purpose of true independence, so it recommends starting from raw land and researching it thoroughly, including visits in different seasons.
How do you get internet when living off grid?
It points to Starlink low-Earth orbit satellites, which can reach remote places and can run on solar power or a battery system.
How do you make money while living off grid?
Suggestions include a remote business, online freelance work, selling farm produce or handmade products, and running off-grid workshops.
Why practise being uncomfortable before you go?
Simulating hardship such as living without power or cooking in the dark builds the mental and physical resources to cope with, and enjoy, the real thing.
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