How we FOUND and AFFORDED our OFF-GRID Homestead in Tennessee 

As a 50 year old, I can say your story is impressive. Looking back, so many missed opportunities, time goes to fast. Glad to see how your priorities and determination has made you two who you are, keep it up!

Think Tennessee Think storm shelter A simple diy works just fine A hill of dirt with a door Peace of mind

I've lived off grid (solar, wood stove, rainwater catchment) for 3.5 yrs. It isn't easy. Lots of manual labor and sacrifice. CONGRATULATIONS.

I just found your channel. I am moving to Tennessee as soon as I find land. Want to live away and quiet. And the Chattanooga area is a blessing from God. Outside the city is breathtaking

I moved on to a small piece of property. Sight unseen. I had been paying on it for almost 2 years before moving here. For 3 years I lived totally off grid in a shed. I had just enough solar to charge my phone and some batteries. Installed solar lights and set up a rain water catchment. I now have a camper with some electric but still use the rainwater catchment. I love what your doing.

As a Realtor for 29+ years I am Happy and Proud of what you accomplished by buying this land. It looks beautiful and yes you do have to have the vision of what raw land can be. But that is how you afford a better deal. You made a terrific buy and with a little work your property value will increase a lot. But you have a wonderful place to be and I look forward to watching your journey.

I love your off-grid living, holistic view on life, but what impressed me most about you two, is how supportive and genuinely in love with each other you are. Stay together through thick and thin, I've watched other channels where a few years down the road they split. Stay away from Splitsville.

Congratulations You two are awesome. I am a retired aircraft mechanic from Miami Florida.15 years ago I bought 40 acres deep in the woods of South Central Tennessee.i cleared 2 acres and bought an old 35 foot trailer. I loved it. My wife not so much. She's a CITY girl. I still have the 40 acres.as my playground. But had to settle on a house in Loretto. She is happy. I'm happy.

Thanks for answering these questions. I am so proud of both of you. Most people your age wouldn't have made the smart decisions that you two have made, I been subscriber since the video on State says we can't live in tiny house. My heart broke for you. You both have wonderful attitudes. I have been so looking forward to following your journey.

We have 20 acres in TN outside of Clarksville. We built a house on it and paid $3,500 an acre about 3 years ago, it is worth about $15-18,000 an acre now.

I give you guys lots of credit for answering those questions. That info is really no ones business. But I am guessing that you were tired of the repeated inquires. The value question is really a moot point. You are happy - nuff said

Your story is very similar to our families, we sold at the peak of the market and paid off all debt. We are never going back to corporate and debt slavery again. Congratulations on figuring this out young.

Nice for you..I did a restart on life when we got tboned on my Harley. Bought a place in Hannibal Missouri. An old 1882 house. Now my dad was put in a home in Alabama. So i got custody of him and heading down tomorrow to get him..I'll be running through Tennessee tomorrow..

You guys have a relationship that is rare you have the same dreams in life and that's what makes the dreams come true I wish my ex wife was like that you guys are blessed to have each other don't lose that

When cov hit I retired and gave my house to my youngest son and I traded up to a new 1500 Ram 4x4 off road package and got a 24 foot camper and I hit the Road alone ...37 states later I'm loving this life 😌 I camp 99% free and I do 1 RV park once a month to dump black and gray waters. Sometimes I just dump at a dump station if one it close by . I have saved thousands in taxes living this free life . I'm glad i saved 83k so I started debt free and I'm still debt free today . When I say debit free I mean zero credit but I have Truck insurance of 104 a month and 45 cell phone , it's a Walmart straight talk deal . I have 2 propane tanks and my truck gas ⛽ and food to buy and some states tax that when I buy so no one is 100% tax free I guess ... But not more house taxes or Truck taxes or camper taxes . I served 5 years military and 31 years coal mining so I paid 36 years taxes and I had enough of that . House taxes 31 years was enough for me too and the government controlled anything I did to the house I had to pay them for permits like a communist country does . They come up with new regulations every year to get more money . It's all BS. When my state started taxes , fruit trees I said if they tax one more thing I'm leaving , well the next year they did a rain water tax , Yelp if you had a house in city limits you got taxed 8 dollars a month for rain water run off they called . And they taxed city workers 4% of their pay checks if they worked in city limits .Americans it's pass time to wake up before they take every penny you have .

I live off grid in a small 20 x 20 house and I love it. If you can love can life you can live off grid. My next step is growing food!

As an East Tennessean who has wanted to go fully off grid for some time this is very inspiring! I live in a town of 6k people yet land around here is very expensive, so congratulations to y’all for finding this needle in the hay stack! I hope everything goes well for y’all and I look forward to watching more of your videos!

"You're never going to make a change unless YOU make that change." This statement really hits home for me. 44 years old and I'm getting ready for a huge career change that I've been putting off for years because of my own fears and anxiety. Changing chapters is something very scary but folks like you two give so much inspiration. Thank you both and keep doin what you're doin!

A wood stove is your best friend when you’re living like us. Also you can make hot water from your wood stove to wrapping copper tubing and using a pump to circulate it through a hot water heater tank. You get an old hot water heater and just don’t plug it in just circulate your hot water you make through it so it helps to keep your water hot basically. Really easy. Solar panels are a great thing too really good for everything basically just buy a really nice power inverter tho get a huge one you can always add more panels later on.

I would say, you have mastered the art of frugal living, and it paid off BIG time! Congratulations on all of the awesome blessings! I hope you praise Father God for every good and perfect gift He has given you through Jesus! You've worked, saved, done without, and it is Father who has blessed you! Keep the videos comin'!

We had a similar issue. We sold our house in Georgia and moved back to Florida. We took Two Fay’s to look. The realtor we were working showed us homes that were way over our price range. She finally showed a home wet could afford and we put in an offer that day. It was accepted later the same day. I couldn’t be happier.

Running water is free power and water. Research Rampump.... Pumping water uphill without power.

We just closed on our Tennessee property on the Cumberland Plateau! Super excited to get started building our offgrid homestead!

what i miss about rural tn is all the small local lumber mills. you can save a TON of money buy getting rough cut lumber from them versus lowes or home depot. fasteners are the rough part believe it or not

I realized a few years ago that Im really not interested in working my life away just to barely survive and be miserable. So, I bought a very small piece of land in Charleston Tn. I knew that I wanted something that I could just straight out buy, no financing, and it had to be close to my dad, so I wound up buying 1.66 acres for $23,000 .... It's perfect for a single older woman like me though, I don't think that I would be physically able to take care of much more than what I have. But, I didn't realize the requirements for getting a driveway 🤦‍♀️ i spent every penny that I had on the property, and they're telling me that it's $4,000 just to get started on my driveway 😢 so, I will be staying in my camper in my dad's yard for a very long time to save up for the driveway 🤷‍♀️ hopefully I will be able to have access to water soon, but as of right now I really don't. My dad and I are on different schedules, and we are rarely awake or home at the same time, and he has a great Pyrenees that won't let me in his house 🤦‍♀️

I'm wanting to buy some land someday. I'm retired now and will have my home paid for in another 4 years. At 67 now so I'll just have to see how things play out. I'm a research fanatic, it took me three years of research before I purchased my Victory Cross Country Tour motorcycle. I don't like spending a lot of money only to be disappointed in making a poor decision. Enjoy watching you guys work on your property. Thanks for the video, hope you enjoy it.

Sacrifice to obtain a goal makes you appreciate the goal more. Some of my best memories of my married life was when we worked together to obtain a goal. Of course it all fell apart shortly after 😂😂😂

70K is crazy! I was guessing 300K.

Congrats on using your common sense as part of your decision making during your process. I personally grew up poor in the Appalachian Mts of N.C. so when i became of age and moved away i got into the weaving industry and did well for myself. Unfortunately it took me until i was mid 40s before i realized i was living way above my means. I realized i was trying to fill a void in my life with material things to make me feel validation and fortunately i learned i no longer needed all the worldly possessions to be happy in life. I now have came back to the Appalachian Mts of N.C., 4 years now with my humble and grateful attitude. I can truly say for me it's came full circle and I'm content.

You two are such an inspiration, a really cool back story. Me & Julie are chugging along down here in southern Alabama, we only have 2.76 acres, but the property sits on a 800 acre spring feed private lake and we are also off-grid. We do have a well and septic system in place so that has helped....

Your tiny home camper must feel like a palace to you! It's so cozy too. Looking foward to seeing how you decorate the interior and the space around the exterior- deck, roof over the camper, landscaping around it? I really like how the living room is positioned in this model of camper.

i bought a foreclosure property in east tenn. in 2009 thu a realtor listed as 1.89 acres. day before settlement the agent called me and said there is a second lot next to the 1.89 that is included with the deal and it is another 6.36 acres. at settlement the deed description of the property boundaries described a much bigger property than we were expecting. after we moved into the property neighbors were telling me the property was like 24 acres. long story short about a year later i hired a survey company to survey the property and permanently mark the corners. the original realtor description was correct. i had the deed updated the 2 lots total a little over 8 acres and some neighbors still swear that i own more property than was surveyed.

Interesting idea: land that is very steep that would not be suitable for conventional development might be great for off-grid, tiny or modest size homes. In general, what direction do your slopes face? It seems like for solar and gardening, south facing slopes would be better. Do your slopes go uphill from the road or downhill, or both?

Love your channel and what you’re doing such an inspiration to all young people. I wish you both so many years of happiness and blessings.

I'm with Cass. Looks like a million dollar property to me! Thanks for sharing that with us. Love ya both!

You both have such happy personalities. I’m an old lady and watching the two of you cheer me up. Thank you.

Congrats on that purchase price - great deal and you are happy

The prices are crazy right now. My brother bought 14 acres w a cabin, utilities last year North or Rockwood Tennessee for 300,000. Crazy. Arizona is really crazy since 2020. Good luck yes you got a deal. ❤

That’s an awesome price for your vision!! With the waterfall alone some people would ask that for 1-2 acres!! Like they say, location location, location!! Have you named the 5’er yet?

Pretty cool

Health Insurance? Thats what always gets me..

I’m in middle Tennessee and was curious as to the area you are in. I would love to come help and learn during that process. Providing you’re not too far away.

Just to let you know about your cabin. You can hire someone to come out and take the moisture content and if it’s good they can stamp it for you.

You have it figured out. Claim your dream, make it a goal, and live beneath your means to enable it. Find land you can afford and make it work for you. So many people want to groan about how 'impossible' it is to afford/create a homestead/farm. We paid a little over $4K an acre for 26 (15 open) acres 25 years ago but we also got a small 2 story home in very good condition, a 2 story barn with electric, a pond, a tractor shed, and gardens. Since then we've bought surrounding acreage (20 acres) to flesh out our farm. My folks are moving here (their home on our farm is almost done) so it's really becoming a family compound. At this point, we paid off our extra acreage a long time ago and only owe $50K on our home and the 11 acres it sits on. Keep up the great work making your dreams come true. Thank you for helping prove that people CAN do this if they start thinking outside the 21st century comfort box and set goals and diligently work toward them! You rock!

Impressive goals. Enjoy the journey

welcome to Tennessee

Thats awesome i bought 40 acers of raw land for 22,000 3 years ago

good luck you deserve everything you acheive well done❤

That was not a good deal but an excellent one. Wow! Congratulations. I have been looking in TN as well but for the same price people are offering up to 5 acres. I don’t even need that many, just a couple I can use as a home base to park my rig when I take a break from traveling. I will find something at some point.

As a new subscriber, I am curious about where y'all grew up. You mentioned slivers and the Buffalo Bills. My wife is from Buffalo. We now live in Mississippi. I just bought an off-grid acre of land a half mile from the Natchez Trace near Tupelo, MS. I want to use it as a getaway spot. It was a tax lien purchase that only cost $1000. It is on a small lake. It is beautiful. I am living vicariously through your experience. God Bless y'all.

Awesome y’all Be well be safe

I was watching about the ready removable building, if you run steel straps through rafters and anchor it to the ground it would be like a mobile home not ready removable.

Awesome of you to share all the details. Thanks for the video!

Thanks for the info. The plat that was being sold, were there deed restrictions for all parcels? Running into probs with deed restrictions even on lots way out in nowhere land NC with developers putting standard deed restrictions of no campers for long period of time, basic road maintenance agreement (no biggee on that one), no manufactured homes, must be minimum 1200 square feet. Finding non restricted land is proving to be a challenge for 100K and less.

Your story and passion for freedom is so refreshing. I unfortunately grew up in the 70’s when owning a home, stuff and status was what we all were taught to believe was the American dream. While I had the opportunity to do that now that I’m in my early sixty’s I find your lifestyle so attractive. Keep up the great work and I love your video’s.

It's pretty incredible how far small money will get you in this area of the country. I'm just 60 miles away in Alabama and recently found a comfortable 2 BR/2 BA house that included the adjacent empty lot for 30k (almost half an acre) in a peaceful small town...so not a country homestead, but still, plenty of garden and chicken space :) My ideal would be WA State (North Olympic Peninsula) or somewhere remote, like the very "Northern Exposure-like" Republic, WA .. Spent some years there and it's literally paradise on earth. But heaven cost big money, so dreams will have to wait.

Regarding your other situation of not being able to stay there in your cabin ... what if you were to host other tiny houses on your land. Could that help you out?

such nice people

Like or videos I live in Texas full time in my Rv. Not as you do have all utilities but being old it works for us. Disabled and continue to live life.

Always Awesome! Wishing you well in all your endeavors! Merry Christmas!!!

I actually moved to Chattanooga to get away from the Nashville area. I was homeless for a year and now live in the the projects in Chattanooga. Yall are doing the same thing that Ive been dreaming of doing. This is the inspiration i need to get me back into the planning of buying land and building a log cabin. Just not sure if north Georgia might be cheaper land wise.

As long as you're happy with it. That is all that matters. You're in a great 4 season area, with mild winters. You should get great fall foliage. Good luck to you both moving forward.

A RU-vidr The Nomatic movement plumbed water from a spring 200 ft with a pressure system without power .Now they have solar power

That's awesome! Finding the right property to live off grid can be very daunting. Congratulations on finding such a beautiful place. Can't wait to see how you develop this into your dream

I live off grid and have everything paid for. My monthly bills total 50 dollars a month. Being free from Bill's is worth every discomfort I have endured to be free

Good job guys. Your living a dream.

I 'found' you by chance and I am so pleased I did. It's great to see you being honest about how hard it can be living your lifestyle (I don't think I could give up my central heating!)

Love your channel, so glad you found your land and look forward to seeing all of your projects. We have a place upstate and have been doing projects since 2015. Rewarding to look back and see all of the accomplishments!

Matt + Cass your Awesome Happy Holidays thanks you the videos are great

Awesome video God Bless you and your family

New subscriber. I’m hooked. Waits to see what and how your acres turn out

Now this is a video that has super value for those that are interested in living the homestead off grid living styles ...great video love yall we live in Tennessee and have land in another state and hopefully will be building in april Thanks again

My husband an I just love your channel. We love watching your journey I subscribed to your channel.

Given the abundance of fallen trees, why did you go the route of a diesel heater instead of a small wood stove? Might you consider getting one and then reserving the diesel heater as a backup?

Hi from knoxville 👋😊

I'd be nice to have the personality like you two have to be able to do the RU-vid thing. I love this kind of stuff, it has replaced a lot of regular TV. Keep it up and ill keep watching!

What's the name of the "Runaway thought it thru and there ain't nothing that I thought I couldn't do" song playing at the end? Who's singing it? Sounds kinda like Dolly. Love your videos. Congrats! Good Job! LOVE the windfalls and creek and trees and shed and van and cat and all of it! :)!

We moved fairly fast on our property too. Definitely makes a difference being focused on the goal.

Over the years Ive started to share more and more financial information with friends, and such. I really think of it as just data for people to process how they are doing - good or bad. I've been able to find out so much about how others are doing, some guys are so lucky it's insane, some people can't seem to catch a break, and others make plans and work doggedly towards them. I like to think I've encouraged a lot of people to reevaluate their choices and see things from another perspective. I just had to let go of caring what someone might think of me financially, and I really enjoy being open to people and learning so much about what life is like for others. People generally reciprocate with finance info if you're open about your situation - and in many cases, I've been able to make people aware of things they didn't know about..

Hey, if you have land, you have a life, a resource and most of all, a home!

I generally get notifications for posts of the channels I am subscribed to, yet I have not seen one of yours in several months. (I just noticed, didn't click the bell.) We will have to go back and catch up. The last I saw, you were still having problems with the state, and then one about a camper idea. When we were your age, we took Mother Earth News magazine and even found a beautiful waterfront lot on the beautiful Greers Ferry Lake in AR. But we had to stay in Memphis due to no way to make a living there, no home computers, no internet, no solar, no Lithium iron batteries, no social media. Then kids came, eventually the land got sold, (for more than twice what we paid for it) and now in our 70s we live the life vicariously watching folks like you... No complaints though, we had a blessed life and great kids and grandkids.

Good afternoon you guys hope you guys are having a good afternoon out there on hope everything is fine out there you're I like your trailer looks good guys keep up the good work and she did a good job on the wall and God bless you ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊

You may install a well Ive seen it done. This woman held to steel rods bent 90 degd. Held them out as she walked. The metal rods cross . Theres the water. Pound down 20 feet of pipe . Hand pump at first.

I would have never guessed a virtual personal trainer.

Matt and Cass, we are in the same boat, and we have a saying in our Family, Land is the only thing they are not making more of.

Great stuffffffff

We’ve enjoyed watching your journey! Can’t wait to see how everything turns out.

That's awesome and it helps that you are both on the same page and honest with each other.

Thanks for the info!

I missed you guys last Sunday. Loved the video, very informative and transparent. Blessings from the Oregon coast.

Love your story😍

Thank you for the video

Amazing, very inspiring!

Awesome I made the list!!! You guys are great

Great video!

I live I tennessee also off grid

My son has 20 acres in sweet water. Owner finance and will work with you with the down payment. I believe it’s 20k. Beautiful flat land but you’d deal was great price

Great job guys . You made it Happen,

What a deal!!!!!❤😮

Hello from Oregon state we did the same traveled in our RV worked and found cheap land recently found our old hickory shed was to big without having an actual home on site so had to move and sell it all at Christmas me and my now x and son it was very stressful and heart braking i do still own my RV but am renting a cabin right now but own my land free n clear it had garbage all over it for 30 yrs a man told us it was raw land since then going on 6 yrs ago land is cleaned fenced gated and has tall pine trees its like a park i have future plans for it and will make sure i go by county codes and laws we had a well and septic put on it as well the counties in many states are making it so hard for people to even use there land in the old days you homesteaded built a structure to live in and called it home had out houses and creek water or home made wells'' i do understand some of there reasoning but it is total control and makes it so hard when housing prices so high people homeless living in tents or vehicles . the cities have so many unused buildings could convert to housing help get people off streets rehabilitate get jobs to pay low housing , there is so much more they could do but i just dont see it you guys are awesome know how hard living off grid is but rewards can be greater less expense