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    Home » Money

    How to Make Money Off The Grid: 50 Ideas to Try Now

    Published: Jan 19, 2020 · Modified: Mar 26, 2022 by Sarita Harbour · This post may contain affiliate links and Amazon links

    How to make money off the grid is a key concern for most off grid families. Although it would be great to not need money at all, the plain truth is there are some things you just can't make, grow, hunt, or barter for.

    Property taxes must be paid, and I've yet to find an insurance company that will accept eggs, wild game, or handcrafted furniture in exchange for home or automobile insurance.

    Whether you're saving money to move off the grid or starting a homestead right where you are, there are many ways to earn income.

    Want this list as a downloadable printable? Scroll down to the bottom of the list for the link. 

    How to Make Money Off The Grid: 50 Ideas to Try Today

    When we first bought our home here six years ago, Dan was working in town and I was working from home as a freelance writer. I was also homeschooling child number six and 8 months pregnant with our seventh child.

    As the years went on we looked for ways to have more control over our income.  As we strive to become more self-reliant and build our homesteading skills, learning how to make money off the grid and open up new income streams is a major goal. To that end we've been careful about spending on our backyard chicken supplies, garden planning, and grocery bills.

    And as we continue homeschooling and homesteading our two youngest children, we're keenly aware that the work world will look very different for them than it did for us. As we learn how to make money off the grid, our girls are learning right beside us.

    Related: How Much Does it Cost to Move Off The Grid?

    If you're serious about living off the grid, start thinking about how you'll make money to support your family.

    How to Make Money Off The Grid: 50 Ideas to Get You Started

    There are many, many more great ideas out there for making money on your own, starting a side hustle, and launching a small business. But not all of them suit everyone.

    For example, online businesses may be out of the question if you don't have access to good  internet off the grid. Or maybe you live too far from town to sell goods or services there.

    Here's a quick list of how to make money off the grid to get you started.

    1. Teach a night school course on what you've learned - ie. battery basics, container gardening, raising chickens, installing solar panels.
    2. Depending on where you live, the laws in your area and the size of your acreage, you might be able to rent space to an alternative energy company for windmills or solar panels
    3. Create an online course on a homesteading or off grid living topic
    4. Write and sell an ebook on any topic you know about
    5. Self-publish and sell a print book on any topic you know about
    6. Write a print/digital newspaper column for a local or online paper
    7. Host a YouTube channel (like My Self Reliance from fellow Canadian Shawn James) dedicated to one aspect of homesteading or living off the grid - this has become extremely popular as there are a lot of viewers who prefer to enjoy the lifestyle from the comfort of their suburban or city home! You'll earn advertising revenue
    8. If you have good internet off the grid, you could become a part-time virtual assistant
    9. Teach English online to students in other countries
    10. Sell your digital images, printables, and graphics online
    11. Start an off grid living blog dedicated to one or more aspects of your off grid homestead. Income can come from ad networks, affiliate income, and creating products to sell
    12. Become a digital freelance writer based on your previous career (this is what I do - I'm a freelance business and personal finance writer)
    13. Open a Shopify online store and sell digital products OR run it as an e-commerce store to sell and ship physical products
    14. Start a homesteading podcast like Pioneering Today from Melissa K. Norris
    15. Sell your nature photographs and images online at a site like Creative Market
    16. Run homesteading workshops on gardening, crafting, woodworking, or animal husbandry
    17. Work as an interpretive guide at a pioneer museum or living history attraction
    18. Become a hunting/fishing guide
    19. Run a bed-and-breakfast
    20. Chop and sell firewood from your woodlot
    21. Grow your own fresh herbs and backyard garden produce - sell from a farm stand or at the local farmer's market
    22. Sell your seedlings from your off grid homestead
    23. Keep your seeds from last year's garden and sell half of them
    24. Make teas, dried herbs, potpourri, tinctures, and essential oils from your homegrown herbs
    25. Make any of the items in #18 from greens that you've found foraging for plants in your area
    26. Tap your trees to make maple syrup or birch syrup to sell locally or online
    27. Sell your preserves, jams, and jellies made from your garden produce
    28. Raise and sell baby animals - ie. chicks, bunnies, kids, piglets etc.
    29. Dogsit or operate a small boarding kennel. Check the kennel laws for your local area first.
    30. Sell eggs
    31. Bake and sell bread, cookies, and desserts at your weekly farmers market. Or contact restaurants, bakeries or delis in nearby towns to see if they're interested in buying your baked goods
    32. Sell meat from animals you're raising
    33. What about worms? Raising and selling bait worms is a great first business for teenagers living on a homestead
    34. Got bees? Sell your excess honey
    35. Sell cow or goat milk
    36. Make and sell artisan cheese from cow milk or goat milk
    37. Got goats? Make and sell goat milk soap
    38. Craft and sell seasonal decorative gifts from things found on your property, such as evergreen garlands, pinecone wreaths, and dried flower arrangements or wreaths
    39. Got acreage with lots of trees? Sell Christmas trees
    40. Own acreage on a highway or busy road? Sell sign space to businesses in the closest town or city
    41. Or sell smaller trees to landscaping companies, builders, or individuals in the suburbs or cities
    42. Sell the compost you create on your off the grid homestead
    43. Use your construction skills to help others with their homestead projects
    44. Set up an Etsy shop to sell your handcrafts
    45. Start an Etsy shop to sell your original patterns for your handcrafts - knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting, rug-hooking
    46. Learn and teach a pioneer craft such as soapmaking, candlemaking, spinning, quilting, rug-making, basket making, barrel-making
    47. Keep your old job! At least for now. Not as much fun, but it pays the bills while you learn the ropes of homesteading and off grid living, and work on cutting your costs as much as possible
    48. Work as a consultant based on your previous career. Choose your projects, only work one or two months at a time, or part-time for longer
    49. Launch a career as a freelance writer based on your previous career as well. This is what I do. I make a full-time living working part-time as a freelance business and finance writer after a career as a banker.
    50. Sell your gently used (or never used) items online to generate cash to buy things for your homestead. Top sellers include small kitchen appliances (think toasters, coffeemakers, breadmakers, slow cookers), sports equipment, and baby and kids equipment and clothes. Look for local Facebook swap'n'shop groups.

    Finding a good way to make money will be a trial and error process. Start by picking two or three ideas from the list, and give them a try. Remember, your own attitude makes a big difference when learning how to make money off the grid.

    Be creative, be open to new ideas, and check out some of the links on this page to see how others have used their homesteading, survival and creative skills to support their off the grid lifestyles.

    Grab your free printable list of 50 Ways to Make Money Off The Grid right here!

    You'll also gain access to our free resource library with 25+ free off grid living, homesteading, and homeschooling resources.


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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Joanne

      February 25, 2020 at 2:15 pm

      What a great list of ideas!

    2. Sarita Harbour

      September 18, 2019 at 1:14 am

      It's my pleasure! Thank you for inviting us - we'll be there again!

    3. Lisa L Lombardo

      September 15, 2019 at 2:12 pm

      Great ideas, Sarita! Thank you for sharing on Farm Fresh Tuesdays!

    4. Cherelle | The Inspired Prairie

      August 22, 2019 at 6:13 pm

      What a great list of ways to make money! I'm always trying something new over here... ????

      Thanks for sharing!
      -Cherelle

    5. candy

      May 31, 2018 at 12:27 pm

      All good ways to make some extra money while living off grid. Some we have done some we haven't. Found you on Simple Homestead Blog Hop

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    Sarita Harbour of An Off Grid Life

    Hi, I'm Sarita. My family and I work, homeschool, and homestead off the grid outside of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada!

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