Tilly Monaghan became very accustomed to being called a “hippy” when she and her husband bought and moved for the first time off-grid property in central NSW almost a decade ago.
But these days, he no longer accepts mocking comments and instead raises detailed questions about how they manage to live disconnected from water, sewer and electricity services.
“People are much more interested in that and they always ask things like,‘ How do you cook? How does water boil? ’” Monaghan said.
Tilly Monaghan and her husband Enda bought their property off the net near Mudgee nine years ago. (Supplied by: Tilly Monaghan)
Rising housing, food and energy prices, as well as fears about climate change, seem to have made off-grid living an increasingly attractive option, with many people previously considering it. too alternative now consider making the leap.
Lifestyle Facebook groups have reported large influxes of new members.
Bek Morris helps manage the popular “Off-the-grid Australia” Facebook page, which now has nearly 200,000 members.
“Only this year has the group been seen to almost double,” he said, adding that interest began during the pandemic and continued from there.
“Since COVID hit, I’ve noticed a lot of people trying to get away from the city and go rural.
“The cost of living has also led people to this way of life, as well as the rental crisis, and more people want to be self-sufficient.”
“You can’t just light a teapot”
Monaghan said she and her husband, Enda, fell off the net almost by accident, but that the affordable lifestyle was certainly a playing card.
“We had been looking for a property to buy for a long time and we were struggling to find something within our budget and something we both saw potential,” he said.
“We came across this property and we both fell in love with it.
“It happened that I was not connected to the network.”
Tilly Monaghan has been living offline for nine years. (Supplied by: Tilly Monaghan)
The small three-bedroom house, about 45 miles outside of Mudgee, comes out of the water from the reservoir.
The five tanks on the property can store nearly 100,000 gallons of rainwater, which meant that even during the long years of paralyzing drought in central NSW they would not run out of water, Monaghan said.
A head tank uses gravity to drip the feed water into the house, so no pumps are needed.
Gas is used for hot water and cooking, and 14 solar panels power the house with electricity.
A diesel generator provides backup power when bad weather causes the solar panels to generate less electricity.
Having both grown up on rural properties, Monaghan said she and her husband adapted well to life offline, but that some things took a while to get used to.
“They were simple things that were sometimes the hardest, like now you can’t just light a teapot or put a piece of bread on the toaster,” he said.
“The toaster in your house uses so much electricity that people wouldn’t even notice.
“I also discovered that I couldn’t get up and comb my hair some mornings in the middle of winter.
“I can’t turn on the hair dryer or the hair straightener because there was no charge overnight, so if I did, I would dump the batteries.”
Tilly Monaghan and her husband Enda produce much of their own fruit. (Supplied by: Tilly Monaghan)
The house was connected to the NBN satellite, which made it possible to work from home and watch the latest Netflix shows, he said.
As for food, Monaghan said his home was “more supplementary than self-sufficient.”
“Unfortunately, although we like the place where we live, the soil is very sandy and that affects what can grow in our area,” he said.
“But we still grow a lot, we’ve done really well with fruit this year and it’s great for green beans and seasonal things like cucumbers and tomatoes.
“We have sheep, and every year or so we also have a piglet that we raise and then we also sacrifice ourselves.
“We also have a lot of chickens. We haven’t bought eggs in years.”
The couple’s food and energy bills are very low.
Monaghan estimated that she and her husband would spend about $ 130 on gasoline per quarter, a maximum of $ 100 on diesel per quarter, and about $ 100 a week on food.
“We were able to pay off our mortgage much faster than we could have lived in the city and had many of those bills,” Monaghan said.
Fresh eggs and vegetables produced on the Monaghan farm. (Supplied by: Tilly Monaghan)
“We’ve lived here offline for about nine years and we’ve almost paid off our 30-year mortgage.”
Monaghan, who works part-time from home while studying, said she and her husband chose to work so they could afford to maintain a lifestyle that included traveling abroad.
Technology makes it easier
Although he often asked questions about how to make the leap to life offline, Monaghan said his advice was simple.
“You just have to do it; it’s thinking about it that really makes it more daunting,” he said.
Technological improvements over the years had made life offline much easier, he said.
“The technology out there now is much better, and really, we don’t miss any of the amenities.”
Dr Rachael Goldlust of La Trobe University in Melbourne has researched the growing number of Australians who choose to live offline.
Living the simple life off the net did not come without its challenges for Tilly Monaghan, which included learning to leave the teapot and toaster. (Supplied by: Tilly Monaghan)
Although it was previously considered a radical way of life, it was becoming more popular, he said.
Goldlust said expanding the renewables sector and new accessible technology meant living off-grid made economic and practical sense for more people.
“If you were someone in the 80s, that would be talking about living off a battery and a solar panel, people would have no idea what you’re talking about,” Goldlust said.
“But technology has grown to such an extent that it’s cheaper, more affordable and more accessible. It’s also more legitimate, so you’ll see more people talking about living offline,” he said.
While it was difficult to determine how many Australians now live off the grid, climate change and high housing costs have certainly sparked interest in living more simply and sustainably.
“It’s something that’s more common in rural and semi-rural areas, but it’s probably a lot more common than we think.”
An Australian “homesteader”
For TJ, who lives with her husband on a five-acre semi-rural property in south-west Brisbane, it is a desire to be self-sufficient and simply live what drives her lifestyle.
Although it is not completely off-grid, as it is connected to electrical services, its property has no water connection or sewer connection.
The couple grows about half of their vegetables and is part of a local growers ’cooperative, which allows them to sell or exchange what they don’t need.
Chickens provide eggs and plans to start raising chickens will soon also supplement their meat intake.
TJ says it’s a farm, but in a purely Australian way. (Supplied by: Tilly Monaghan)
TJ said he identified with the concept of “homesteading,” a lifestyle of self-sufficiency, but not so much of the way the term was used in the U.S.
“In America they are a little more extreme. I think in Australia there have been farmers for a very, very long time,” he said.
“I don’t think we called ourselves homesteaders because I think the American connotation was that if you were a homesteader, you know, you had this bunker, you had all this ammunition, you were ready to go to war.”
Often, family ownership involves using traditional skills. TJ said she started making her own soaps herself, but now she also sells them online.
The business has also recently expanded to include homemade skin care products.
TJ said the farm was natural to her and recalled the way her grandparents, who are from Europe, lived in the villages, producing and preserving their own food.
“I think my parents’ generation has skipped a bit, but then for my generation, we say, ‘Wait a minute, we actually prefer to do things this way and keep those older traditional skills.’
Contact journalist Emily McPherson at emcpherson@nine.com.au.