We are a young, child-free by choice couple. We live totally debt-free, including our home. Nothing was given to us, we worked and paid for it all. We lived well within our income, but have still traveled and enjoyed rich lives. For refrence, our household income is less than $70,000 annually.
We have a large 20' x 25' victory garden that we work 4 seasons (Yes, we have winter here) and raise chickens and ducks for eggs and meat. We can and store everything that we do not eat at time of harvest, giving us at least a few months of food security.
We recently began purchasing beef by the 1/2. This lead us to think about freezer and refrigeration reliability in relation to power outages. What started out as a search for a DC freezer and a single panel & inverter system quickly morphed into us buying a fully home sustaining (minus HVAC) off-grid solar system. It can accept grid power, should our system go down, but it does not "sell" excess power down line to the electric company as a "grid-tied" system would. It has a battery bank and it can store power for up to 72 hours of use in case of panel issues. We plan to expand it to 5000w capability within the next 6 months, possibly within the next 3 months.
We are not doomsdayers. We are not nutty preppers. We like being self reliant, prepared, knowing where our food comes from and most importantly, we enjoy the homestead lifestyle as a hobby that keeps us active, involved and working together.
We don't live way out in the boonies, or far out in the countryside. Most people who meet us would never even know that we have these tendencies.
We are well armed, but of course, no one would know or suspect that.
Not sure why I'm posting this, but we are proud of what we have accomplished, and we don't do any other online communities or social media, so I guess I just wanted to share with some people I respect, and perhaps, do just a little bit of bragging.
Carry on, fellow centipedes.
The last thing I'm missing.
Pede -
Very nice writeup. Please look into mining bitcoin or raven or digibyte or QRL with your excess power.
YES, I KNOW mining cryptocurrencies is a bit of work. But since you aren't selling your excess power to the grid, when your batteries are full you can accumulate coins instead.
Tell me more.
I'm open to playing around with it in the background, but am not well versed it how it works. Not asking you to give me the full Monty, but perhaps a short ELI5 on how it works?
I do a fair amount of investing, relative to our small income, via a work tied 401-k and a private ROTH account at vanguard. also a very small amount on a taxable brokerage acct at vanguard. Just basic setback for a respectable retirement.
For the record, I do not know modern coding. My computer skills are limited to typing, markets, banking and The_Donald.
The good news is, I know very little coding myself and if I can do it, you can do it lol.
There are a lot of different possibilities. One easy-peasy way to get started is to find an old windows computer and add a graphics card to it. Then go to "whattomine.com" and it will help you figure out what coins that card is good for.
Even easier is if you have a windows PC you go to betterhash.net and it will figure out the best coins for you to mine with your excess power.
You can step up and buy a specialized miner like a bitmain L3+ and it can mine litecoin or digibyte.
Keep in mind, you're likely looking at very small rewards but the idea is if you have excess power, you are converting it to cash that is off the grid :)
In California they shut the power even of the people who had their own solar.
How are they supposed to shut off the power to people with solar systems?
It would be impossible to interrupt our solar system, unless you can block out the sun.... which might just be possible, since the democrats and liberal left seem intent on bringing about the end times.
They had them also wired up to the grid and they were somehow able to stop them from accessing their own solar stores.
Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyjJbhuwGkU
Disturbing.
Should anything weird happen in my area of the grid, ie; them trying that shit, I can just pull one hot and one common wire from a quick latch terminal and I'm grid severed.
WTF. California is an absolute shithole. Fuck that place.
Well done. I have a similar set up and it is nice to generate my own power. I like to think of it as a way to reduce the value of oil and the economic necessity for mid eastern countries. It’s a shame that some people like it for the lefty appeal, but energy independence for the individual and country is a good thing.
One of my wife's clients already asked us "what, are yall hippies now?" After he brought up something that made it reasonable to mention our solar system.
Not a chance. My wife and I simply do not like children.
Raising children is not for everyone. We do not have the interest or patience for it.
It is great for those who choose it, and an honorable choice for those that it suits, but it is not for us.
That is like me reccomending that you need to start considering buying a Prius or installing a salt water pool in your yard.
No offence, no insult intended.
Children are definitely a gift. If you are young enough just think about it. One thing for sure....as I always say...it was a good thing your parents did not feel the same way. One thing about aging...when you have children you realize this...this...is why we live our lives. ...I have experienced the loss of a child ...too long a story and it has made me stronger and appreciate my son more than I can say. I hear you and recognize that is your thought for now....one day...maybe one day ....it might hit you that all you have learned, earned and accomplished you can pass down to another generation...hats off to you for making this part of your dream come true.
We. Don't. LIKE. Children.
I felt my first response was clear, reasonable and respectful. We have clearly made up OUR minds as a married couple, about what is right for US.
your additional thoughts were unessasary.
Do you think we should have a child that we do not want or appreciate? That would be unfair to the child.
I feel for your loss. I sympathize with the heartache. You have my understanding and condolenses.
Children are not one-size-fits-all.
We contribute to society in a number of other great ways. Children, for us, will never be one of them. We may, however, via our other efforts, contribute to many households that do raise Children. That is an honorable contribution that will go unnoticed, and that is ok by us.