We get it.. we’ve been there… longing for better days ahead when we might have more land, more time, more space, more dollars… The future is always so elusive and discouraging at times! Hope often seems to disappoint us, doesn’t it?

One of the worst mindsets to fall into for someone striving for hoped-upon future – whether that being grid-independence, homesteading, self-employment, or anything – is thinking it all has to happen right now. Impatience can prevent you from taking any steps towards your goals.

Regardless of your situation today, there are things you can do TODAY to prepare you for your future homestead:

Develop your library

You’re going to need to know a lot to live a homestead lifestyle, especially if off-grid or off-grid capable (“OGC”). Sure, you can learn a lot on YouTube, but do you really want to rely on a service that could be there one day and gone the next? Invest in real, paper-based, low-tech books about subjects you want and need to know about. Energy, plumbing, building, gardening,

Learn skills that you can put into practice now

Some skills that you’ll need can be pursued in almost any environment.

• Food preservation is one such skill.
  • Learn to home can food
  • Learn to dehydrate food
  • Learn to make preserves
  • Learn to pickle
  • Learn to make fermented food and drinks
• Learn to knit
• Learn to sew
• Learn about electricity
• Learn about plumbing
• Learn first-aid and CPR (hopefully, you’ll not need the latter!)

Get to know others around you who are homesteading and, off-grid or off-grid-capable

Ask around to find out who in your area or community is already living these kinds of lives. Who is it that raises their own food, produces their own energy, etc? Make an effort to get to know these people and learn how they live. Most, after getting over the initial awkwardness of wondering who you are, will probably be inclined to share their knowledge and insights with you. Bring cookies  – it will help! Or canning jars 😀

Volunteer to help those already doing it

Once you find people living the lifestyle you hope to live, offer your time to help – even if it’s not much. Firstly, if you don’t have time to help now, you definitely won’t have time to live this lifestyle! Secondly, there is a lot of hard-work and time involved in living a homestead or off-grid/capable life. Helping those already doing it would be appreciated and you’ll gain first-hand knowledge and experience that could serve you well for decades. Consider it mentoring! You’ll also see first-hand what it is really like and know for yourself what you might be getting into. Many could save themselves great expense and hardship doing a “try before you buy” run at homesteading.

Look for classes about related subjects

Many municipalities offer classes to their citizens. The land-grant university system resulted in most counties having an Extension Office. These Extension Offices often teach many useful classes on gardening, composting, and other useful skills. They’ll also put you in touch with like-minded people. Learn how to garden. Learn how to weld. Learn how to shoot a firearm.

Get to know senior citizens

Most senior citizens alive today grew up in a time when many of the skills necessary for living these lifestyles were commonplace. Get to know them, ask questions. They’ll likely be delighted to share their stories and knowledge with you and you’ll be honoring their experience and life by providing them the company.

Consider your energy consumption, then lower it

Many people are absolutely in the dark (pun not intended) about the ability to maintain their energy consumption habits in an off-grid or off-grid-capable context. For example,  the solar power necessary to support a home of several thousand square feet with all the modern amenities could cost $100k.

Living off-grid full-time or part-time requires changes to consumption habits, usage patterns, and also realistic expectations. No need to wait until later to start these. Begin today to set goals for reducing your energy consumption by a percentage. Once you achieve that, go to the next level and so forth. Doing so will be good training and also allow one to understand how much energy would be required to live off-grid.