What is blogging and who are bloggers?

• Is it a stay-at-home mommy blogger giving parenting advice and sharing recipes?
• Is it a self-proclaimed marketing guru, teaching people how to become a millionaire?
• Is it backpacking through Europe on a budget and sharing your stories with family back at home?
• Is it rambling about your mundane, daily life and what you had for dinner?
• Is it teaching people how finish a basement?

It’s all of the above and much more.

According to Dictionary.com, a blog is “a website containing a writer's or group of writers' own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other websites.”

It’s much more than that, but to make it super simple, I’d define it as an independent source of information that is regularly publishing new content.

What's So Special About That?

Before the internet came around, the average person didn’t have that many opportunities to share their ideas, express themselves and so on and so forth.

You had conversations with friends and colleagues but that’s about it. Perhaps publish a book and influence people that way, if you’re lucky.

Blogging is an amazing opportunity we have to share our ideas, opinions, knowledge and anything else you can put in writing, with other people.

It has given average people the ability to share their voice with millions of people all around the world.

You’re also going to get feedback, deeper insights from experts reading your materials and serious discussions about topics that you care about.

Freedom of Speech

This is critical.

The blogger who started the platform is in full control and no one has the ability to censor what they say or what subjects they cover.

No one is going to ask if you’ve got a marketing degree, before you publish a blog post about the subject.

These are just some of the wonders of blogging.

How Does Blogging Work?

Basically, bloggers publish “blog posts” or articles for others to read, usually talking about one specific topic.

The MonetizePros blog is about internet marketing and that’s all we’re going to get into. We’re not going to discuss world politics, religion, fitness or anything of that nature.

That’s the way the majority of blogs work nowadays, they have a niche.

There are bloggers from all around the world and from very different backgrounds. This makes it nearly impossible to generalize the meaning of a blog.

It could be something educational, like we’re doing here at MonetizePros.

A website posting funny cat pictures with the goal of entertaining other people can also be referred to as a blog. The same goes for Mr. John Doe who just wants to publicly write about his everyday life, with no goal in mind.

A Blogger is Someone With a Platform

Bloggers aren’t just writing for the sake of writing. They’ve got a platform, an asset. Every time you hit publish, you’re building something new on the foundation that is your blog.

Over time, as you stay consistent and dedicated to the journey, you’ll build up an audience and it’s extremely likely that you’ll start making money off your blog.

There are bloggers out there making $100,000+ per month talking about things they love and helping other people – it’s amazing!

Common monetization methods include using display advertising, promoting other people’s products as an affiliate, creating your own infoproducts, selling fan-gear and finding sponsors for your content.

A Blogger is Someone With a Legacy

I’ve had a few personal friends compare blogging to social media, like Facebook.

It’s the same concept - you could just as easily post super useful and educational content on your Facebook and have people like it, share it and discuss it in the comments.

Blogging stands out because it’s permanently there, it’s not going to disappear into your “newsfeed”.

Something that we wrote three years ago over at MonetizePros is still relevant and getting hundreds of readers per day – it’s evergreen content.

In fact, as long as my hosting bills get paid, people will still be reading this after I'm long gone.

Unlike social media posts, blog posts also get picked up by search engines like Google and that means you’ve got the potential of receiving millions and millions of readers, without the luck of having something go viral on social media.

A Blogger is Someone With a Variety of Skills

Although there are bloggers out there who just do their thing and write, it’s usually much more than that.

If you’re looking to take it up as a career, there’s a myriad of skills that you’ll pick up on the way.

You’re not going to be a world-class expert at most of these, but you’ll be good, I promise.

You’ll start to understand how search engine optimization works, learn the basics of online marketing, know how to create and maintain websites, how to do basic web design and many other interesting things.

A blogger is a true jack of all trades.

What’s the difference between a website and a blog?

So this is probably the most confusing part for most people... How is this different from a website?

Which one do I need? Websites vs blogs?

Websites tend to be static, meaning that they do not get updated very often. Blogging is all about frequency and consistency.

Blogging is very informal and conversational - I'm talking to you like I would talk to my best friend and that's alright.

Blogging is also much more personal - you probably know who is behind this blog post, if you follow MonetizePros. Not only that, but it's not a one-way street.

Websites usually just push their information out and don't allow comments or any sort of communication/feedback except email. 

If you've got anything to add to a blogpost however, you can easily leave a comment at the end of the post 

How do you become a blogger?

As per the definition, a blog is a website, too. Websites are scary for the Average Joe. The idea of starting a website seems fairly similar to rocket science and astrophysics.

Actually, it’s the opposite! Starting a blog in 2016 is super easy and should take you less than twenty minutes.

We’ve created an amazing, super in-depth tutorial on how to create a blog – click here to follow along!

If you’re not yet convinced that blogging is for you, perhaps check out some of the 46 benefits?

9 Annoying Dating Trends Every Modern Romantic Needs to Know

They didn't say that many people are Hollywood delusional in their expectations.

Now that social media and dating apps have infiltrated our love lives, relationships can get confusing in entirely new ways. It's easier than ever to meet new romantic prospects, as well as disappear from their lives, pop back in again, and/or generally confuse the hell out of them. Why did they send you that cat video with no comment? Now that they've Instagrammed a photo with you, are you two "official"? They haven't texted since the fourth date. Does that mean they've moved on? (And are you tired yet?)
As new dating behaviors arise, so too do new viral terms to describe them. In fact, there are so many weird-sounding dating terms circulating these days that it's hard to keep track. Just when you start to get used to the word "ghosting" in your everyday conversations, other words like "phubbing," "benching," and "breadcrumbing" enter the mix. But these words exist because shitty dating behaviors are depressingly common, and they're worth calling out. To help you identify and avoid them (or simply understand what your friends are talking about), here are nine of the most popular viral dating terms defined. We're hopeful this guide will help you spot a "kittenfisher" before they reel you in.

1. Ghosting

Let's start with this OG of modern dating lingo. Ghosting occurs when a person suddenly halts all forms of communication with the person they've been dating, ostensibly hoping the ghosted person will get the hint without the ghoster having to break up with them.

2. Haunting
Haunting is when a person continues to interact with you on social media after you've stopped seeing each other. Haunting behaviors are often on the passive side (for example, liking your photo instead of commenting on it) so that you end up thinking about the person but still haven't been invited to respond in any way.
This pattern can seriously mess with your mind. Imagine finally feeling like you're over your ex...then seeing that they've liked an Instagram photo of you and the new person you're dating. This can be as exciting as it is infuriating: Does it mean your ex still misses you? Are they jealous? Why won't they leave you alone?! It's a combination of thoughts virtually guaranteed to throw you off.

3. Breadcrumbing

When you picture someone breadcrumbing, you might think of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, in which two siblings drop morsels of bread as they walk in order to find their way home. The dating version is a little different (and I'd take a bloodthirsty witch over a douchey ex any day). Similar to haunting, breadcrumbing is when someone continues to leave little clues that they might be into you…only they aren't into you at all.
As Bela Gandhi, founder of date coaching company Smart Dating Academy, explained to Today, breadcrumbing is "leading somebody on with no intention of following through," often to get attention. This behavior can manifest in a variety of ways: a random text just to "check in" here, a flirty 2 a.m. Snapchat there. But the breadcrumbs don't lead to actual plans, making this a really frustrating — and potentially heartbreaking — dating behavior.

4. Benching

Benching is another term for leading someone on, but there is a bit more intention involved in it than in breadcrumbing. Benching is when someone keeps a potential partner on the romantic back burner. They don't make serious moves to deepen the connection, but they don't extinguish the hope of a future relationship, either. It's like when an athlete is benched during a game: They're not actually playing but they might get put in later if the coach needs them.

5. Stashing

If you're being stashed, it could take a while for you to realize it. On the surface, your relationship might seem perfect: You go out all the time, they text you consistently, and you're spending almost every weekend at their apartment. There's just one problem: You haven't met a single one of their friends or family members, and, come to think of it, they haven't posted any photos of the two of you on social media. Congratulations, they just might be stashing you — in other words, they're keeping you separate from the rest of their life, possibly in order to date other people at the same time. Definitely a low blow.

6. Submarining

Submarining is sometimes the sequel to ghosting. Picture this: After an amazing handful of dates with someone, all of a sudden, they disappear. Boom, you've been ghosted. You pick your ego up off the floor only for them to text you weeks later, asking to hang out again as if nothing happened. This is submarining, or peacing out and then popping back up like a submarine resurfacing from underwater. If it seems like a submariner genuinely wants a relationship with you when they reappear, it's worth asking them what happened, because this is shady behavior.

7. Phubbing

Have you ever gotten the feeling that your partner is more committed to their phone than they are to you? Welcome to phubbing, a combination of the words "phone" and "snubbing." If your date would rather check their Twitter mentions than listen to what you have to say at dinner, you know exactly what this is. Given that many of us are glued to our phones on a daily basis — the average American spends a whopping five hours on mobile devices a day, according to analytics firm Flurry — it's no surprise that this obnoxious dating trend is on the rise. A word of advice? Keep your phone in your pocket (or purse) during date night.

8. Zombieing

Like submarining, zombieing is when someone who previously ghosted on you reappears in your life. The difference? If you're being zombied, it's usually more of a throwback — like your high school S.O. sliding into your DMs a few days before your ten-year reunion. This person from your past was out of your life, and now they want back in. (They're coming back from the dead, get it?)
But hey, sometimes reviving a long-lost relationship works out. As Nancy Kalish, professor emeritus of psychology at California State University, Sacramento, told Quartz, rekindled romances have the potential for great intensity and intimacy. The person reaching out to their ex may feel like they finally "get to 'right the wrong'" and like "this is the person they were meant to be with," Kalish explains. Just make sure you and your zombie are on the same page.

9. Kittenfishing

Thanks in part to the MTV series of the same name, you probably know about catfishing, or creating a fake online persona to trick someone into a relationship. Now, there's kittenfishing, too. Although it sounds a lot cuter than catfishing, there's nothing attractive about this behavior: It's when someone exaggerates their qualities on a dating site with tactics like using old photos or embellishing their talents or successes. While it's not exactly lying, it's still deceptive, and it might leave you feeling duped after a date. Honestly, I'm annoyed just thinking about it. Maybe we should all just stop dating and invest our emotional energy in actual kittens instead. At least they'd never ghost us.

Column: Uneducated Voters Have Disturbing Effect On Elections

With the election results looming over the majority of Americans' heads, the anticipation for the outcomes is mounting. For all of those who committed to candidates and propositions, the hopes are high for success. Yet it isn't very hard to become discouraged when you speak with fellow students about their choices and commitments in the elections.

It seems that present-day elections are no longer about the candidate or proposition with the most appealing content, but rather the candidate or proposition with the best-edited commercial, the brightest colors or the most memorable slogan. In essence, ignorance and superficiality have taken a stronghold on our voting system. People, more than ever before, are voting without knowing what they're voting for.

For young voters, especially students, extensive research on such things as economic plans and propositions isn't always practical. Between midterms, the constant bombardment of work and homework and the much more appealing idea of Halloween, most students are more apt to spend their time thinking about costumes and studying than who they believe is best fit to run the country. The problem is that many people take their lack of knowledge to the polls, casting their votes out of pure ignorance.

When I asked a fellow student how he had voted on a few of the current propositions, he recited to me his "yes" and "no" votes with a great deal of passion. But when I asked him to explain what a few of the propositions meant, I was surprised to find out he didn't know. It was all the more frustrating when he followed his admission of ignorance with the explanation that he had only voted that way because a friend told him to. In another such instance, a close family member I talked to recently also expressed a great deal of passion about their choice of candidate. When I attempted to say anything in support of the other party, they retorted, reciting verbatim a commercial I had seen in favor of their candidate choice.

Yet the truly troubling factor was the fact that the points they were making had been addressed and discredited in at least one of the three televised presidential debates. It brought to mind two possible explanations: The person had most likely not watched any of the debates, or, likewise, probably hadn't even looked into as much as a commercial for the candidate. In either of the two situations, they hadn't displayed anything even resembling convincing or credible arguments for their decisions.

In both of the aforementioned situations there is a common theme. Americans, nowadays, are beginning to drift away from being informed voters. For me, it is very scary to think people are voting on issues and candidates based on arbitrary criticisms or hearsay.

Individuality is crucial in situations like elections. Consider this: If every fourth person you meet votes the same as one of their friends or bases their vote on one catchy commercial or slogan, and that is a constant throughout the university, then a fourth of the university is essentially voting blind. This means that roughly 9,000 students are voting for things they may not understand. Now take that percentage and transfer it to the United States. If only one-third of the country votes, that's more than 100 million people. And if a quarter of them vote blindly, that means more than 25 million people are voting blindly. Twenty-five million votes could swing an election, which means that people who might not even know more than his name could decide our president.

With ideas such as this one present and even probable, it's hard to keep a considerable hope for a better future when it seems that for every educated voter there is an ignorant one to counter his or her vote.

UWIRE.com

Top 10 Cryptocurrencies

https://cointelegraph.com/category/top-10-cryptocurrencies

The 21 most disturbing lines from Donald Trump's press conference with Vladimir Putin

(CNN)After meeting one-on-one for the better part of two hours in Helsinki, Finland, Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin made statements and then took a handful of questions from reporters. It was some kind of, um, performance, from Trump as he sought to cast Russia's meddling in the 2016 election as a "both sides" issue even while running down the US intelligence community.

My initial take on what was a disastrous and shameful performance is here. But I also went through the transcript of the press conference and pulled out the 21 most newsworthy and noteworthy lines from Trump. They're below.

1. "I'm here today to continue the proud tradition of bold American diplomacy. From the earliest days of our republic, American leaders have understood that diplomacy and engagement is preferable to conflict and hostility."

"Bold" doesn't mean what Trump appears to think it means. "Bold" is about taking strategic chances with a clear plan in mind. "Bold" is NOT about blaming America for Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. "Bold" is NOT suggesting that Russia would have no reason to interfere in the election. "Bold" is NOT refusing to stand with your friends against your enemies.

2. "But our relationship has never been worse than it is now. However, that changed as of about four hours ago. I really believe that."

This comment shows both Trump's tremendous faith in his own charisma and personal appeal as well as his massive capacity for exaggeration. Remember that, according to the intelligence community and the Senate Intelligence Committee, Russia not only meddled in our election but did so to benefit Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton. According to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Russia continues to conduct a cyber war against the US. Russia also invaded and annexed Crimea. And allegedly poisoned a former Russian spy on British soil. Despite all of that, Trump feels as though the relationship between these two massive -- and adversarial -- countries is now better because he sat in a room with Putin for a few hours.

So, OK.

3. "I would rather take a political risk in pursuit of peace than to risk peace in pursuit of politics."

This is Trump's best line in the speech -- a very nice piece of political rhetoric. Of course, when you go on to say that Russia and the US are equally to blame for Russia's election interference, a nice piece of political rhetoric gets buried.

4. "I addressed directly with President Putin the issue of Russian interference in our elections. I felt this was a message best delivered in person. Spent a great deal of time talking about it. And President Putin may very well want to address it, and very strongly, because he feels very strongly about it, and he has an interesting idea."

A sign of things to come in this press conference. Trump did, apparently, raise the allegations of election meddling. But he also seems to have taken Putin's word (again) that Russia wasn't involved. The "interesting idea"? Some sort of joint operation aimed at snuffing out cyber warfare between nations. Which is rich coming from Putin.

5. "Well actually, I called him a competitor. And a good competitor he is. And I think the word 'competitor' is a compliment."

Trump actually corrects a Russian reporter here after the reporter said that Trump had referred to Putin as an "adversary." Trump, here and elsewhere in this press conference (and in the run-up to it) seemed dead-set on making clear to Putin that he was a fan or, at least, a willing partner. Which is weird, because of that whole broadscale-meddling-in-our-election thing.

6. "But we have lots of sources now and the United States is much different than it was a number of years ago when we weren't unable to extract what we could extract today. So today we're number one in the world at that, and I think we'll be out there competing very strongly."

Uh, so, um, what?

7. "I hold both countries responsible. I think that the United States has been foolish. I think we've all been foolish. ... And I think we're all to blame."

This is a line that will live in infamy. Trump, asked directly, "Do you hold Russia at all accountable for anything in particular," responded with this there's-plenty-of-blame-to-go-around response. It's a stunning response to what should be a very straightforward answer: Yes, I believe our intelligence community and the Senate Intelligence Committee that Russia actively meddled in the election to help me, hurt Clinton and sow chaos. It's hard to properly contextualize what it means when the American president, standing beside the Russian president, says that he can't say whether Putin or the US intelligence apparatus is to be believed.

8. "There was no collusion at all. Everybody knows it. And people are being brought out to the fore. So far that I know, virtually none of it related to the campaign. And they're going to have to try really hard to find somebody that did relate to the campaign."

This is part of Trump's extended answer on the question of whether he holds Russia accountable "for anything in particular" in regard to the election meddling. To the extent I could make any sense out of Trump's defense here, it's clearly wrong. He says that the special counsel's office is "going to have to try really hard to find somebody that did relate to the campaign." But already, Trump's chief national security adviser in the campaign (Mike Flynn) and his deputy campaign chairman (Rick Gates) have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and are cooperating with Mueller's probe. So...

9. "That was a clean campaign. I beat Hillary Clinton easily. And, frankly, we beat her -- and I'm not even saying from the standpoint -- we won that race."

The election ended 615 days ago. You know, from that standpoint.

10. "As you know, the whole concept of that came up perhaps a little bit before, but it came out as a reason why the Democrats lost an election which, frankly, they should have been able to win, because the Electoral College is much more advantageous for Democrats, as you know, than it is to Republicans."

So many things here:

a) This was a question for Putin about why Americans should believe his denials about Russia meddling. Trump interrupted to give Putin a helping hand.

b) The Justice Department began looking into possible Russia interference in the 2016 election during the summer of 2016 -- and as a result of Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos telling an FBI informant that he was in contact with the Russians.

c) The Electoral College!!!

d) The election ended 615 days ago.

11. "We won the Electoral College by a lot: 306 to 223, I believe. And that was a well-fought -- that was a well-fought battle. We did a great job."

Sure, it makes total sense to talk about the specifics of your Electoral College victory while standing next to the president of Russia. This is fine! Also: Trump wants you to know that Trump did a great job in the 2016 campaign.

12. "But just to say it one time again -- and I say it all the time -- there was no collusion. I didn't know the president. There was nobody to collude with. There was no collusion with the campaign."

I'm not sure if Trump is doing this purposely or not but he is radically redefining what collusion means here. So it's only collusion, according to Trump, if he and Putin conspired to help him get elected? Answer: No. That Trump and Putin didn't even know one another is totally immaterial to the question of collusion. It's uniquely possible that someone other than Trump within his campaign colluded with the Russians to help the billionaire businessman to get elected. That, of course, might not be the case too! But the fact that Trump didn't even know Putin -- according to Trump -- doesn't disprove there was collusion.

13. "And every time you hear all of these, you know, 12 and 14 -- it's stuff that has nothing to do -- and, frankly, they admit these are not people involved in the campaign."

One word salad, coming up! If I had to guess, what Trump was going for here was his "13 Angry Democrats" attack on the Mueller probe. But that is a guess.

14. "We ran a brilliant campaign, and that's why I'm President."

"Brilliant campaign" > "great" campaign.

15. "One little thing I might add to that is the helping of people. Helping of people. Because you have such horrible -- if you see -- and I've seen reports, I've seen pictures, I've seen just about everything."

"Richard Gere's a real hero of mine. Sting. Sting would be another person who's a hero. The music he's created over the years, I don't really listen to it, but the fact that he's making it, I respect that. I care desperately about what I do. Do I know what product I'm selling? No. Do I know what I'm doing today? No. But I'm here, and I'm gonna give it my best shot." -- Hansel.

16. "Well, our militaries do get along. In fact, our militaries actually have gotten along probably better than our political leaders, for years."

I bet you didn't know that the Russian military and the US military get along really, really, ridiculously well. So now you do.

17. "So let me just say that we have two thoughts. You have groups that are wondering why the FBI never took the server -- haven't they taken the server. Why was the FBI told to leave the office of the Democratic National Committee?"

Trump's answer came in response to this question from the Associated Press' Jonathan Lemire: "Just now, President Putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. Every US intelligence agency has concluded that Russia did. What -- who -- my first question for you, sir, is who do you believe?"

The quote above is the first thing that Trump said after Lemire asked the question. And, yes, it is a total and complete non sequitur. The question is whether Trump believes that Russia meddled in the election (as the intelligence community said they did) or Putin (who says, "very strongly," that they didn't.) None of that has anything at all to do with the hacked email server at the Democratic National Committee. Nothing. (Read this from CNN's Katelyn Polantz to understand the whole hacked server mess.)

18. "My people came to me, Dan Coats came to me and some others, they said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."

Donald Trump believes the Russian president. And doesn't believe the US intelligence community. it's right there in those lines. Amazing. And terrifying.

19. "What happened to the servers of the Pakistani gentleman that worked on the DNC? Where are those servers? They're missing; where are they?"

This is Trump still answering Lemire's question! As to what ever happened to the "Pakistani gentleman:" His name is Imran Awan and he pleaded guilty earlier this month to making a false statement on a bank loan application. The government admitted as part of Awan's plea deal that he never stole information from the DNC servers or the servers themselves. The President of the United States is engaging in InfoWars-level conspiracy theories here.

20. "So I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."

[narrator voice] He doesn't have any sort of confidence in his "intelligence people." If he did, he would believe their unanimous conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help him and hurt Clinton. Instead, Trump chose to believe Putin.

21. "It would have been out long ago."

Trump's explanation for why Russia doesn't have any "Kompromat" on him is that it hasn't come out yet. Which is, um, an interesting way to dispute whether any such compromising information exists.

Going Off the Grid? 8 Things You Should Consider

 Are you considering going off the grid completely? If so, here are some tips to keep in mind for maximum success.

For many, going 100% off the grid is a dream come true. Not only that it could save you money, but it also can bring you that incredible feeling of satisfaction, knowing that you are doing everything you can for the environment.

To reach that goal, however, you have to keep in mind that you cannot do it overnight. In fact it is a continuous process, and the best thing to do in order to ensure that you do not 

sacrifice your personal needs, is to do it all gradually and think everything through. You have to consider carefully the location of your property, so that you can generate a maximum amount of renewable energy, and you will have to think of how to manage your water, drainage, and food supply, because yes, these are part of the “going off the grid” deal.

The best people to ask for advice on how to proceed and where to start are those, who have already walked the path and are now enjoying the benefits of a self-sufficient, sustainable living. Here is what they had to say:

1.  Realize what you are about to do.
Going completely off the grid means that you unplug from all the services that your home is connected to. These include not only the power grid, but also the water supply and community utilities, like garbage collection.

Having said that, nowadays there is nothing that can prevent you from having a comfortable yet sustainable and 100% off the grid lifestyle. Here is what modern technology has to offer:

Renewable energy is there for you- solar, wind and/or hydro power, even DIY biogas plants– everything is within your reach.
The market offers large, light and super easy to install water storage tanks.
Compost toilets and compost bins are much more trouble.
Satellite and wireless technology is always there to keep you connected with the world.
Tips on insulation and home designs for heating and cooling are available to you from everywhere.
2. The most important things to know in advance:
Summer is hot
Winter is cold
Nights are dark
Gardens need good soil
Water does not run uphill
Find a way to handle these and you will be just fine.

3. Know how to stay warm.
This is the most important and challenging point of all, because solar panels alone can hardly ever handle the whole burden. Here are a few extra tips:

Fit a slow-combustion wood fire in the main living area
Insulate all walls and ceiling
Make use of passive heating, such as placing large glass doors in kitchen to face positive sun direction
Consider the suitable home interior and exterior design, including window size, placement, and coverings.
Do not allow large trees  in the garden to block the incoming sun.
4.  What is ‘junk’ really?
Going off the grid makes you realize how many things around you are completely unnecessary, and the other way round- things that you thought are junk are in fact extremely useful. Take a good look at all these things that eat up energy, waste water, or simply block the incoming light- you will be amazed.

5. The sun is your new best friend.
And this is not only because it hits your solar panels or helps you heat up the house in winter. The most important solar-powered item you will need to put your hands on will be the solar water heater. Incoming solar light warms up the water in your existing water tanks without additional power usage, allowing you to have a nice hot shower even in the coldest winters.

6. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Going off the grid gives recycling a whole new meaning. As soon as you have something tat you want to dispose of, the first thing that crosses your mind is not whether it goes in the green bin, or the orange one. In fact, you ask yourself- “how else can I use it”.

Bio-waste goes in the compost bin, jars become glasses or flower pots, plastic bottles make a greenhouse, cans make a room heather– just allow your imagination to go crazy.

7. Choose your location carefully.
This is very essential. The chosen location should have suitable soil and climate so that you can do essential gardening and grow your fresh produce. In addition, you will need plenty of sunshine, good amount of rainfall, and of course pleasurable landscape that you can enjoy.

Yes, unfortunately, going 100% off-grid somehow means that you will have to leave your old neighborhood behind and move to the country.

8. Get familiar with the off-grid currency and the community.
Off-grid currency is something that you do not think of before you have to actually use it. That is, in fact, everything, from the organic produce in your garden, all the way to your DIY skills, streetlights, cleaning abilities, cooking abilities, sewing abilities, etc., etc..

Get to know your neighbors and your community. The best advice and help could come from the most unexpected places.

Of course, these are only tips collected from people who are already embracing a sustainable off-grid life. It is important to note that there is no single formula for reaching the goal, because it all depends on your personal needs, location, and will. You also have to make sure that you do not sacrifice safety, and you meet all the necessary sanitary requirements.

If you are really serious about it, then check out the official guide for going off the grid by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Good luck! Do not give up!

Image (c) Shutterstock