Living 100% off grid,alone, old, on social security. 4 years now. Been trying to find others to join me. Cheap way to live. Most don't want to make an effort or let go of the grid. Their future is very dark. Do it now, before it's too late.

My 30-something "neighbor" here in western OR bought 5 raw acres (for 50g a couple of years ago), and he and his gf are making a great life. They truck in water and have solar for power for now, but they want to build some day. For now, they live in an RV.

My favorite saying is "If it's free, it's for me." Start building your materials hoard now for use later.

Most people don't know how to set long term goals, the instant gratification Era is hard to escape. It took me 14 years to build my home, it was done without loans, it was super hard doing all the work pretty much alone, but I have no debt. I pretty much fabricate everything myself out of scrap, but you would never know because I make sure it looks like it was built by a high end company 😂

Once again, it’s so refreshing to see young families, people living an off grid or a homesteading life. People used to snicker when I said I live within my means, not understanding, I guess. Making do, working towards goals, living a simple life is a wonderful way to live, not easy, however, rewarding.

Loved this quote: "if you dont know how to do something, learn how to do something!" great advice.

People such as you will make it when times are so hard .

Well said - earning a paycheck is not the only way to work - learning new skills is where it's at - you grow through it and become more useful to yourself and others ❤️

Your family shows how it can be done without compromising health and happiness. Well done.

I absolutely love your channel ❤ it’s the little things like you said as a single mum I had to learn plumbing and do my own yard work to save money 💴

The part about new skills was really inspiring

Loved what you eating out and cooking from scratch and childcare are forms of income. You were spot on !!

You have a lot of wisdom when it comes to finances. Very impressive. I’m sure you will be successful at achieving your dreams.

I am in my late 50s and you inspire me. Being efficient a great tip! Love your channel!

Great video! I am attempting to build a she shed in my backyard and it's a little scary because it's new for me, but I am a DIYer. I just told a friend that the thing I would do differently is buy marked down wood at Home Depot and cut the damaged pieces off since I cut up my full price wood. Then you dropped this video. I wish I'd known ahead of time. I'm not only attempting my own build to save money, it's just a freeing feeling. I'm a divorced single mother and I work a full time job, but have a creative mind. I love your content.

To do this people need to lower their expectations in the beginning. You can't do it all at once, even if you have a big nest egg. With permits, other paperwork needed things take time. Live on the land if possible, and with temporary fencing for your animals. Find out where the wet spots are, where does the water run? Where is the best pasture? Or garden spot? Use the least valuable part of your land to build your home and other buildings. Put in your well first, then your septic later. Everything you do needs water, you can get by without a septic system for awhile or permanently. And don't overwhelm yourselves. Take things 1 step at a time, in baby steps. Having to make a "do over" or "move something" is time consuming and EXPENSIVE. After buying your land start with shelter, water, and food, then waste. All of these can be temporary. Now live there for awhile, especially if this is a new state or climate. And watch your land. It will tell you where things should go.

I dont look at things for what they are, but for what they can be used for.

Good for you!! We are in the process of doing the same thing but ours is a major fixer upper home on 9.9 acres in California. Total dump with a bus and huge RV on the property, have no idea how to get it off the hill but it's cheap. We can garden and raise chickens. So glad for you!!! Such great advice you have to offer everyone. I am subscribed but put it to ALL so hopefully they will notify me as you have a new video.

My mantra through tough skill building things in my life has been, "short-term sacrifice long-term benefit". This helped me persevere through many difficult challenges. There is no better feeling than when you have persevered and are able to reap the rewards of your learned skills.

Dave Ramsey is right. Delayed gratification and short term sacrifices are necessary to achieve long term goals. Not just financially but also in terms of health and other things. My wife and I lived way below our income in our 30s, saving 80%. We decided after 40 we would take it a bit easy , then retire at 50 and not have to live too frugally. We achieved that by working very hard in our 30s, we were high income so we still had a good quality of life in terms of comforts, travel etc . But still way below our means.

I love this video. We have definitely been programmed to think that earning money at a job is the only income, that the other parts arent important etc. I took a couple weeks off work a while ago and felt like being home was a fulltime job. I got to a point where i needed what I call an 'emergency holiday', I just needed a break for my sanity. Things at home weren't getting done like I wanted so I took vacation time so I could get some cleaning done at home. It was fall so I needed to bring wood home from my Dad's before winter as well. I can see being home, living the way I want to, being a full-time job. Im still working on how to get there lol. I stupidly got a vehicle loan when I should've used insurance money to buy something outright, delaying my goal. Lessons learned. I do own my home though, I do have a little bit of property, a garden, chickens. We are working on making it more efficient and teying to do the best we can with what we have. Im so glad I came across this video and look forward to watching more.

My favorite tip always keep learning my tip don't pay any attention to the haters

I bought 5 acres of raw land March 2023, now I have a couple gardens, chickens that support themselves through egg sales, had a shed (tiny house) purpose built but Ive done the inside myself. No electricity or running water inside. I agree with all the stuff you have mentioned here. Best way to start. Well done you guys

"Snuffy is our lawn mower." 😀 Regards to your being more observant, I saw a good idea where you make notes on a calendar regarding weather, crop planting and harvesting, germination times, when certain flowers bloom, rain totals, etc. Then the next year you have a good guide. You can't remember everything on your own.

Making a very simple plan (and sticking to it) as regards retirement living has allowed me to live 100% debt free, pay cash for EVERYTHING, put back $500 / month and ALL on ONLY my monthly social security AND I retired early, taking an 8% early-retirement PENALTY per year for 5 years. That's a 40% penalty . . . and I am still able to LIVE LIKE A KING debt free. Edit: Leaky toilet? Easy fix -- I don't have a (traditional) toilet -- nothing to leak. I use a composting toilet. 😂

Awesome video. Agreevwith knowing how to do and repair things. My husband and i have done so many things around our house over the past 38 years. Very satisfying. Good luck with your homesteading.

Enjoyed your tips. I have so many questions! I hope it’s ok to ask a few. Do You and hubby ever get burned out? Do you ever second guess doing this homesteading? It’s so much work! I know your feelings about living in Florida and why you left there. Do you have family like siblings, parents, or cousins that may come to help out as your homestead grows? Living this lifestyle, do you feel like your kids need to be having more socialization with kids their age? Where do you go for socialization? After working all day outside , how are you able to go inside to cook meals? Aren’t you exhausted? Lol I can’t tell you how enjoyable it is to follow your journey. Thank you!

Saving money building it urself good way of living.

All your tips are valuable, planning and budgeting are key! I wish you the very best in this endeavor, facinated by your ability to move forward you have done so much in a short period of time! You give us lessons for life!

Good advice for those who dont make much in terms of hourly wage or live in countries where labour is expensive or not easily available, to learn how to do some work themselves. For those who make a good income and are not very good at hands on stuff it may end up being cheaper to hire someone. But every homeowner can benefit from doing somethings ourselves , at least for convenience.

I appreciate your comment about work/income contributions outside of corporate paychecks that are of financial value.

Thanks for these videos. They are inspiring. We are about to begin our off-grid adventure - only a tiny parcel, but it's something I can afford and will own 2/3 of an acre within 2 years. It's not much, but it is cheaper than renting and allows us to begin what we need to do, while watching for a larger parcel.

I appreciate the story of your journey. I especially like the background in your film. Rolling hills. Seems your day to day is not a chore, rather a life style of joy within the tasks. Key is to do what is in rhythm with your joy. Cheers

Doing everything yourself is a great tip. We are always learning new skills. That's why I'm watching you.

Can you do a video about how to make a rainwater harvesting system, please?

I've been out of the loop on your channel for a while. Congratulations on your land/homestead development! I agree with you...learn skills, cut costs, diy, etc. That's how we've developed our homestead. God bless!

Snuffy looks so healthy now. I hope you are feeling better.🌻

First video of yours I watched! Super impressed! Just bought my first homestead myself out towards Columbia, TN! Thanks so much for your info! New sub’d :) happy to follow local TN people!

Thanks for the reassurance about starting small land-wise. I originally was going to eventually purchase 2 acres once I had enough money saved up, but then I found out that if you want to heat your place by wood and don’t want to keep buying firewood each year. Getting about 7 acres of forest to be your woodlot would be advisable, something I had planned to do since I want to be as off-grid as I can get for most things. My mom is trying to convince me otherwise but I am pretty much decided that I want to heat my homestead with either firewood or solar power or maybe a combination of both. So plan on eventually getting 10 acres, which will give me 3 acres to live on and the remaining 7 acres will be my woodlot to carefully manage and care for

We have purchased almost everything on marketplace: land, camper, mower, tractor with attachments. Going to try do a shallow well next

my husband loves watching your videos

You are doing such a great job. Your advice is what more people need to hear and embrace. I will put you all on my prayer list. ❤ you will be doing better in the long run then most people. 😊

"Snuffy is our lawnmower" Love it! 💛

Live life as you want. Others don’t have to do anything with that!

I’d love to see how your garden is doing. Thank you for your videos. It’s great to see your family not following the norm!

I was blessed with a huge promotion at my factory job (that I absolutely hate). My wife and I have been working so hard, made sacrifices, sold almost everything and bought land 200 miles away from our home in the city. My family think I’m absolutely nuts for leaving my $30+/hr job to live in the mountains and working as an independent contractor. I’m sick of working 6 days a week on midnights at a job I hate. Now we’ll have zero utility bills, my wife doesn’t have to work, and I can work when I want.

Change is painful. Embrace the pain!!❤

Snuffy is so cute when he photobombs! Lots of good advice in this one.

Great recommendations! This is smart content and will go a long way in guiding the serious listener. Thanks.

The 3 biggest mistakes I see people who homestead make are 1. Buying too much or too little property, They want to buy 50 acres, which is way too much in my opinion because you can't properly care of it and they just waste the land or they wanna buy 2 acres which is too small for a homestead, When I bought my property I bought 8 acres, Which was still too much BUT there was a reason I bought it, first off it's right on a large lake (Lake Conroe) in Texas, 2nd I took 3/4 of an acres and built a 2nd tiny cabin that I rent out as a income vacation/weekend getaway to earn extra money. 2. Lack of Socialization/Not socializing outside of their circle/ lack of entertainment. We as humans need to socialize and need entertainment for our mental health. I grow/raise about 60% of my food, I also live right on a large lake so I also fish and hunt plus I go to town once a week and buy some of meat like hamburger, pork and other stuff. That gives me a way to socialize outside of my circle of friends plus it gives me a chance to look into city/county social events that are free/cost just a couple bucks or I go to the local mall and just window shop, it helps to reduce stress and burn out and making you want to give up. 3. Thinking you have to "Build your own" and not thinking outside the box to find a cheaper way to get it done. When I bought my property one of first things I did was go to a mobile home dealer and bought a 12x60 "Junk" mobile home for $500 plus a $500 delivery fee, then I guttted it, sit it up on jacks, framed up the frame and the interior walls 3" apart in the middle on each side and cut it in half and then turned a 12x60 mobile home into 2 12x30 (360 sq ft) tiny houses one of which I moved to the other side of the property for the vacation/weekend rental. I saved ALOT of money doing that way because each half cost me $500 for the structure, your not building a 12x30 structure for $500 even if you harvest and mill the wood yourself because your still paying for gas and/or electricity for the chainsaw and miller. Then I got all of my wood from a local saw mill for dimes on the dollar to build them both out, inside and out and once I was done you'd never know they were mobile homes much less 1 mobile home cut in half.

Fantastic Video! Do everything yourself is by far my favorite tip. When you know the ins and outs of your build, set up, machinery, whatever it is. It will be so much easier to fix things, to make adjustments, and to care for. Projects big or small. Unless it's something that you absolutely need an expert for. Do it yourself. And even then, we have had plenty of of people come in for certain repairs and we always ask a ton of questions. Or ask them to show us what they are doing so next time the thing pops up we are familiar with it and can probably do ourselves.

Raw land is I expensive but takes a lot of time to establish. I know it’s hard but it’s worth it . Great Video

I was always told to start one big thing once a year within reason, so last year was chickens and this year is bees

Looking forward to hear what you've spent so far it will give a person a idea what to expect

I just moved to border of Western Kentucky and western Tennessee and fixing up a tinyhouse offgrid and learning as I go

You are a very wise woman to start like that I also started from 0 but it's doable remember working full-time job I got a city garden and I'm starting weekend to build my homestead dream with no mortgage I'm doing it all cash as I go no credits😂

Snuffy is looking really healthy! Good on you!

We became debt free in 2020. We bought our house three years later 1800 miles away sight unseen. The house was a livable fixer upper and cost us less than a new car. I work as a substitute teacher to pay the few bills that we have. We are still debt and mortgage free and we love this. I cook by scratch, we have a garden, we hang our clothes out to dry, we have chickens (free eggs and fertilizer for the future!) We will also sell the extra eggs to our friends for less than anyone as long as they supply an egg crate! lol That will pay for their food making them free to keep! We want to implement a rain catchment system, get goats and rabbits and we still need to make a fire pit! My hubby is rebuilding an outbuilding into what he calls a she shed but I will be turning it into a just in case place. Our fixer upper did not have a heat source when we bought it. Insurance would not cover us if a wood stove was the only source for heat so we put in a natural gas furnace which works very well at a low cost. The she shed will have a woodstove so if we lose power we can stay in there as a back up! Katie you are so right about being able to learn new things. I love KZfaq and channels like yours that help us grow! Thank you for sharing! Stay Blessed!

I have land that was willed to me and recently I’ve been trying to figure out to mitigate my financial upkeep as much as possible. I’m grateful to have come across your channel. Thanks for imparting your wisdom on the world.

When you were talking about buying land, one thought I had was make sure you buy enough land that you are taxed based on farm land not residential. For instance our rental home on the edge of the city costs a couple thousand a year in property tax, and it only has 1/3 acre. where as our homestead on several acres costs less than $40 a year in property tax.

Thank you! I needed to hear this!

Your advice is spot on, as always.

Thoughtful and practical advice. Hope all is well little sis! ❤

We don't have a home depot, lowe's, anything like that near our off-grid property. The culled lumber is a great idea for saving money on outbuildings. I will have to check our nearest lumber yard for those deals. 😊

New subscriber, I saw this video on my feed thought let's see what up with this channel. Good video, Thank you for sharing. Till next time God Bless.

Love your videos ❤🎉

What a great video! Yes learn to do repairs yourself. Snuffy is your lawnmower hehe

Love snuffy! He's so cute!

Thank you for doing this video. More of us need to make beginner videos, or even tutorials on how to start

Loving your channel! Very informative and touch on so many good points!

Tha I you for sharing your journey and valuable insights!

My first time here at your channel and I must say those are excellent tips thank you.

Love your video 😊!

I bought an off grid cabin in Washington county va. Has spring water fed house, 3 bedroom 2 bath. With 2 acres with a nice stream. 40, grand. Its now worth 200,000. We put it back on the electric grid. Its a wood cabin. I absolutely love living in the middle of the Appalachian mountains! Its beautiful and the people are awesome, so cheap here!! I do everything my self. However, to get this property we purchased a POS 3/4 acer trailer, with roof and floors caving in, and fixed it up, put a huge garden in, and in 2 years, we sold it for 55, and bought this free and clear, that 1st property we paid 14,000 for it. And fixed it in 2 years to get something bigger and nicer, still not our dream property, thats 10 acers at least, but to start, its paid off, taxes are 25 bucks a year. Cant beat it here. Love this area Washington county, va, people are moving in, prices are going up, but im in the county, i bought agricultural land, wouldn't buy anything but agricultural. Because were homesteading! I paid cash for this property, i was a single mom, for 10 years, but hard work, got me here. And a very very small loan to start, 20,000. That was the budget for our 1st home. And we didn't want a city home! Because they depreciate in value. So in the country is key! Even if its falling down, if foundation is good, buy, if it has water electricity sewer that works, and thats it. Those 4 things is all i needed to make a house a home. And we found it for under 20 grand, 14 to be exact, and 2 years later we bought our dream, almost, 2 acers of agricultural land. So have patience. I made my own company, for extra income. I do landscaping, cleaning and remodeling, all for 175 a day. And of course were a hire by day labor company, and its perfect for us. But i was trained, by building the ravens stadium and grocery stores when I was younger, but i turned my skills into a business. And i sell chickens, egg producing chickens, for $30 a bird. My inventory is currently at 35+ birds, for a grand total of 1700 in birds! But only if i sell them for a minimum of 35 each, but that doesn't include turkeys, ducks, geese, ect, that we have. Thats just chickens, so assets are extremely important! God bless. Have a fantastic day, if you wanna hang out, message me, im in Washington county va. Just moved here myself and don't know anyone yet. Looking to make some friends, if you're close. Peace out! Oh btw, i own Honest Mom's, find us on fb. And hit me up!

You guys are on point!!

Snuffy has a lot of available food but also a lot of work cut out for him😂 Does he need companions/ co workers to help him?

Great video! We're planning on starting a homestead in a few years and you shared some very valuable tips and insights.

Love this well done

Wow such good advice! Just staring out my homesteading journey. No land yet but started my first garden and making a lot of food from scratch! Want to learn a lot more and will continue to

Im so motivated by you!! new subbie and I love your realness

Great points :)

I agree with everything that you said. We are learning new skills everyday and are not relying on anyone else. We only buy if we have the money. Hopefully by Sept we will be living a much simpler life and growing and preserving our own food. I'm sure we will make mistakes but we will learn as we go. Love your channel!

awesome video and inspiring. thank you

New sub. You go! Rooting for you. Love your content and attitude.

Great wisdom!❤

Liked and Subscribed. I really enjoyed the video. I grew up this way, learn more everyday.

Love your advice

Great information

This was very helpful

Brilliant Vid.. Very educational. Thanks. New to you . Liked, subscribed and will share. Keep it up.

Good tips!

Sage advice! One other thing to look for while observing your land is what the water does when it rains. This is important when planning where structures and gates for fencing are located. You’ve done well for 3 months!

This video of yours really resonates with me. I like how you really break this down to people who might have this dream as well but it may seem impossible. I admire that you explain how you should be patient, take things a step at a time, and always push yourself to continually learn and improve on one's practical skills and working on becoming more of a generalist than a specialist. Being innovative and figuring out how to get things done without spending a lot of money. This is the key to becoming more independent. Enjoy the journey and all the small goals and accomplishments along the way. You can stop at the end of each day, look around you and see your progress and the beautiful place you're creating. It is what makes it all worth it. Anyone can do it if they want it bad enough and willing to put in the work. It is truly a lifestyle. I want to close by saying that I would love to meet a woman like you with your mindset and dedication.

I think finding the right land to fit your needs and cost is a huge factor. Makes it hard.

Amazing advice! Wish you guys all the best! It’s amazing what you’re doing and I genuinely hope many more people will follow. Also, I’d like to add that although it’s a fantastic way to be a “jack of all trades master of none…..” it’s fantastic being specialised in one thing first, and then diversifying into other things rather than just learn a bit about everything. No right or wrong way either way you perceive this. If for example like me, you find you’re in the trades, and like me you’re a gas engineer (hvac), if you spend 10 - 12 years perfecting your particular job & skill set, you will inevitably work alongside many other trades and you simply can’t help but pick up on other skills too, whilst equally perfecting and mastering your own, just happens.

Thats a great tip asking for a culled lumber discount.

50 years ago I was in basically the same situation as you are now. Some things I learned: my siphon-jet type septic tank worked flawlessly when a neighbor's pump-out septic tank seemed to have constant trouble. I could have saved $10,000 if I had started with a drilled well with a 6-inch PVC well casing instead of my 2 previous wells and (and it was still going strong when we retired from country life 25 years later). A submersible well pump provided flawless service when a jet pump required constant service. We built our own house as a raised bungalow allowing large windows in the basement and an exterior door to the basement. If I was building now I would have a roof with a straight south slope for solar panels. Your preferences may vary, of course.

Find a sawmill close to you and usually you can get a lot of rough lumber to make your animal pens ect..

Looks like a very nice piece of property in a beautiful area, tn, fl and nc as you say are out of reach for most people, great move and good luck.

I just started living off.. the..grid... this year with my kids as a single Mom in lovely Nevada 🏜 ❤️🫶🏽 starting up are small farm and homestead. But this summer season in the high desert 🏜 has been record temps of 121 to 125🔥🥵😩🫠 in our area, so we're going to move up north Nevada looking for 1 acre in small town with all 4 seasons and normal 98 degree weather in the summer season lol 😂 trying to find are sweet spot🤞🤞🤞