u/masonzxx

 I just finished my year-end books and I am devastated. I hit over 30w in revenue last year, which sounds great on paper, but my actual profit margin was a pathetic 14%. After COGS, shipping, and those insane ad spends, not to mention the endless fees for apps, photography, and freelancers... it feels like everyone is getting rich off my business except me. I spent a year grinding just to be left with scraps. I am putting all my hopes into claude, chatgpt, and acciowork now to see if I can automate the creative and ops side to slash my overhead. If AI can't fix these margins, is it time to just quit and find a better way?

I have a ~40 acre fully off-grid ranch. There’s a small cabin on the property with 2 bedrooms, a living room, and a bathroom. I usually only go there on weekends with my kids.

My daily electricity use is very minimal, mostly just a few string lights. But when the kids are there, it can get a bit boring without power or internet.

I previously had an older solar system, but it broke and was dismantled. This time I wanted something more durable, and since my area gets plenty of sunlight, I bought a Jackery 5000 plus portable solar generator. I've already plugged in the new refrigerator and barbecue grill, and everything is working perfectly and very quietly. This means we can have BBQs at home on weekends, which makes the kids even happier. We even occasionally use it to charge our electric bikes, power the water pump, and connect the lawnmower, which has greatly improved the overall utilization of our garden. So far, I'm very happy with my choice of generator, and the TOU also helps me save on electricity bills; maybe I can use it for 16+ years, lol.

So I wanted to ask here, what do you usually use solar generators for?