Been thinking more about my off grid dream and what it would cost to get there. It’s very capital intensive up front, requiring a decade or two of saving and investing every penny I can get my hands on but I believe that I will eventually reach that goal.

My plan is to buy my off grid property entirely with cash. I believe based on my current estimates, assuming I earn more money in future years, after 10-15 years of investing and saving I will be in good shape to that. It turns out that in a rural area, a small off grid cabin can be had with 100 plus acres of hunting land for around $150k. In the Albany area, outside of the ghetto that only buys a run down shack. Things are a lot cheaper especially land wise in rural areas.

That said, I expect to need a fair amount more money – maybe an additional $50k to cover needed upgrades to make it a home like possible solar upgrades and new solar batteries (or starting from scratch if the cabin lacks it), generator, a tractor, four wheeler, upgrades for a hot shower, more guns and hunting equipment, etc. Plus I would want to have some other money in reserve. I’d probably also want a new truck paid off before I started out on this adventure to avoid this expense going forward.

Without rent and utilities I’d probably save a lot on a monthly monthly basis. I doubt that I would have any subscription service except for my smartphone. No television or high speed internet for me. Never had it, don’t want it. I probably would stay away from getting a large utility owned propane tank, preferring smaller 20 or 30 lb ones that I could get filled anywhere, so I’m not locked into any one supplier. I’d try to minimize my propane use as much as possible limiting it to instant on hot water and cooking, using the woodstove and locally harvested wood to the greatest extent possible.

In the next 10-15 years I also plan to continue to save aggressively for retirement. Even if I can’t tap into those funds for the first decade in my off-grid experience, they will help cover the necessities in my later years when I’m fully retired. At this point a decade plus out, I’ll be in my late 40s, if I retire at 55, there really isn’t that big of gap – although I might put it off longer just to keep busy and keep more money flowing in so I can buy more toys to use on my land.