Today I am interviewing Tag from Life Done Free on the Living Free Podcast. He will share strategies for system-proofing your life and we will take your questions.
Want to meet Tag in person? He is speaking at The Self Reliance Festival Oct 4-5: SelfRelianceFestival.com.
Connect with Tag: https://lifedonefree.com/
Connect with us!
TheLivingFreePodcast.com
LivingFreeinTennessee.com
@nicolesauce on instagram
@LFTN on youtube
@lftngroup on Telegram
Today I am joined by the Tactical Redneck to talk about flock management, getting ready for a homestead sitter, frolicking in the herb garden and more!
Featured event: Biochar Meeting and Small Engine Class: LivingFreeinTennessee.com
Sponsor 1: StrongRootsResources.com
Sponsor 2: DiscountMylarBags.com
Promo the weekend
Promo SRF
Community – meetup Sunday and class Saturday
Caught the rat in the coop – leg caught
Boy sheep cleared the 1st paddock well at basecamp
Processing the rabbits 2 at a time
Breeding the grey one
Dingo in tomorrow so we can fill in the failed pond and do other things
Frolicking herb collection – winter is coming
Visitors this weekend – reset for both
Getting set for a homestead sitter
Watercress patch looks great right now
Peppers are basically done
Goldenrod is ready
Wildflower bouquet season
Duck setting eggs
Coyote story
Finances: Ram for sale for breeding inquiry
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. It makes a great Christmas Gift!
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Advisory Board
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Stop. Let’s figure out what’s actually worth your time.
That’s what I wish someone had said to me a month before everything fell apart.
And a cherry on top: giving a talk about avoiding burnout… while completely burned out.
It wasn’t that any one thing was bad. The problem was all of it landing on top of me at once.
Here’s the truth: Abundance comes from consistency, not intensity. If you want to build a life that works, you’ve got to stop sprinting into overwhelm and start walking, every day, in the right direction.
What Actually Works
When things get crazy now, I focus on two things that keep me grounded:
That’s it.
Simple. Repeatable. Real.
When I started doing these things, I could finally see where the real time leaks were. I stopped reacting and started building systems: like our Power Pantry method or checking my calendar before saying “yes” to anything.
We didn’t just get through that season. We ended it with a three-month calendar and enough breathing room to actually work ahead.
Where People Get It Wrong
Let’s name some of the traps:
It’s easy to make those mistakes when you’re tired. That’s why consistency matters more than willpower.
Your Turn
Start with this:
Total time investment? 15 minutes. Return on investment? Massive.
You don’t have to go faster. You have to go wiser. That’s how we build resilience. That’s how we build lives that actually work.
Want help making this real?
Join me at the Self-Reliance Festival
– October 4–5 in Camden, TN.
I’ll be there. Real people, real skills, real momentum.
!
Want to hear my audio segment on this? Check it out at The Survival Podcast
Today I am interviewing Spags from MWPP and The Great American Preparedness Tour and Alan Booker from The Institute of Integrated Regenerative Design to talk about building community.
Sponsor 1: Above Phone: https://abovephone.com/?above=104, Coupon Code LiveFreeTN for $50 off
Sponsor 2: SelfReliaanceFestival.com
Connect with all of us:
Spags at MWPP
The Great American Preparedness Tour
Institute Of Integrated Regenerative Design
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
Resources
Ever feel like you are watching the world burn? That is exactly how the Media wants you to feel. Today, Sue Zoldak joins me for a chat about this, Charlie Kirk, and other important things. We will also cover our usual Monday segments.
Connect with Sue
Featured Event: Small Motors Maintenance And Repair Class, Saturday at 10 am in Lancaster, TN: https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/event/small-engine-maintenance-and-repair-class/
Sponsor 1: AgoristTaxAdvice.com
Sponsor 2: The Wealthsteading Podcast, InvestableWealth.com
LFTN Stocking Exchange – Sign Up Today: https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/2025/09/08/lftn-stocking-exchange/
Weekly Shopping Report
Main topic –
This is a discussion with Sue Zoldak and myself about the Charlie Kirk Assassination, the subsequent reaction and the role media played in it. Most of our discussion centers on the bigger picture problem, as well as what we can do to from here. This is not a play by play break down of the shooting, but rather a discussion about confirmation bias, the incentives of the media and social media, mental health, building community and more.
Make It A Great Week.
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
Resources
Last week, I found myself staring at the same mess for the third day in a row: jars and containers stacking up in front of the short term storage shelf, the wrong lids always in the wrong place, the same stuff getting shoved around just to find the coconut milk. Again.
And I had that moment. You know the one.
“Why is this a thing?”
I finally did the thing I always tell y’all to do: I fixed the system.
Not the symptom. The system.
I took 30 minutes, pulled everything out of that trouble zone. Which led me to pull everything out of everywhere in the kitchen. I tossed out things that I no longer actually like or use. I melted down in overwhelm and called a friend. We talked for 5 minutes. Then reorganized it based on how I actually use it. Teas? Labelled and easy to find. Freeze dried backpacking food, up and to the left in the back. I only need that once a month. Multiples of the same thing? Moved back into long term storage.
SYSTEM RESTORE COMPLETE.
That was it. No deep clean. No Pinterest-perfect makeover.
Just a better system for something that was annoying me every single day.
As a result the entire rest of my week flowed better. Not just in the kitchen. That one change meant fewer distractions, smoother meal prep, less frustration and that freed up brain space for the things that truly matter.
Systems beat hustle. Every time.
I think about my friends John and Amanda Willis over at SOE (Special Operations Equipment). That crew works hard. But they don’t work stupid hard. Everything has a system: from how they process orders, to how they clean dishes, to how the animals get fed.
They don’t waste time rethinking the same task every day. They fix the process once and move on.
Do they ever end up with messes? Sure – that is the sign a system is broken.
I’ve learned a lot from watching them. You can build a life that looks chaotic from the outside: multiple businesses, big family, full homestead. You can still feel calm, if you’ve built the right systems.
Look for one thing that frustrates you over and over again. Start with something small and annoying.
It could be your pantry. Your inbox. Your car. Your morning routine. It doesn’t matter how small. Don’t wait for a free weekend. Don’t make a big list. Just fix one thing.
A half-baked system beats no system every time.
I event did an expert segment on this here:
Today, I was joined by Ancap Tim to discuss his journey from high Christian Conservative to Libertarian then to full embracing of the agora. Along the way he realized that opting out is easier from a homestead and has launched his first music album!
Don’t forget to get your tickets for the SelfRelianceFestival.com, October 4-5 in Camden, TN at the Birdsong Marina! Use coupon code LFTN for $10 off your ticket!
Connect with Tim:
Self Reliance Festival Links
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
Advisory Board
Resources
Today, we talk about the homestead revenue stack as well as our usual Monday segments.
Featured Event
Sept 12: ETNHA Festival near Knoxville, TN
https://steveandsandy.com/festival
Sponsors
Sponsor 1: DiscountMylarBags.com
Long-term food storage supplies that won’t break the bank.
Sponsor 2: AgoristTaxAdvice.com
Helping entrepreneurs, homesteaders, and freedom-minded folks handle taxes the smart way.
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Frugality Tip
Join the LFTN Stocking Exchange — because life is about more than just saving money.
Operation Independence
Main Topic: Avoiding Burnout and Hard Work
If you came to hear how to NOT work hard on your homestead and still be successful you have come to the wrong place. We’ve been talking lately about the need for rest and recovering from burnout — and then I realized on a walk that hard work is part of homesteading – so burnout is one thing, but hard work another = so where is the line between these two?
Many people hesitant to get out and about lately.
Stories of burnout are common → led to conversations about resets, weekend retreats, and monthly calls for homesteaders.
Giving talks on Build Abundance Not Burnout (like at SRF in October).
Realization: some come to hear “how to make it easy,” but building the life you choose is not easy.
Burnout comes from:
Design makes things flow, but doesn’t remove the work.
Homestead Revenue Stack (Holler Homestead Example)
Each layer still involves hard work.
Smart design + add-ons keep that work from tipping into burnout.
Honest contrast: the grind is real, but structure turns it into momentum.
Hard work is baked into homesteading — there’s no escaping it. Burnout comes when that work isn’t designed well or isn’t supported. The Homestead Revenue Stack shows how to make your effort count: core products require grind, but when you design smart and bolt on add-ons (whether that’s coffee, guides, or community), the same work builds abundance instead of exhaustion.
Make It A Great Week.
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
Resources
This year we thought it would be fun to do a stocking exchange.
Each participant will fill a stocking for a randomly picked person
and mail it to them.
A few rules of the game:
Try to cap spending at $20
One item must be handmade
One item must be able to hang on the tree
One recipe card
Margo, our Frugality Tip Guru, agreed to help make this happen this year. It’s sort of like a mailed secret santa. Except if you are going to the LFTN Christmas Party on Dec 20, you could hand deliver your stocking if your person is also there.
BE MENTALLY PREPARED TO MAIL BY DEC 1!!
Sign up here:
Today we talk about the cracked fitting, sheep hijinks, the meetups and more
Featured Event: https://steveandsandy.com/festival
Sept 12 and 13
Sponsor 1: AgoristTaxAdvice.com/LFTN
Sponsor 2: TheWealthSteadingPodcast InvestableWealth.com
Forage
Livestock
Grow
Holler Neighbors/Community
Finances
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. It makes a great Christmas Gift!
Community
Advisory Board
Resources