Real Estate

The Couple Building a Home Debt-Free

by Bizcolumnist February 27, 2022November 9, 2023

The Couple Building a Debt-Free Home, image provided by Mason Dixon Acres, edited by Bizcolumnist

Saving money and striving for financial independence is hard. It’s not easy to resist the well-crafted marketing campaigns, mouth-watering restaurant advertisements, and the newest subscription services being thrown at us every day. My goal has always been to eventually live debt-free but in a very conventional way. I never thought about building a home debt-free until I saw Mason Dixon Acres.

What is Mason Dixon Acres?

Mason Dixon Acres is a 6-acre wooded plot in Southern Pennsylvania. Though, what makes this land special are the people behind it.

Elaina and Alex are a hardworking, ambitious duo currently owning this piece of land. Not to mention, Penn State Alumni—where I first became friends with Elaina.

What makes today’s communication so cool is the ability to connect with people on every medium. Elaina and I have frequently kept in touch over the years both professionally and personally. A recent conversation over LinkedIn sparked an idea to write about her unique life outside her 9-5.

This plot of land was not just an ordinary property purchase—it’s a deeply researched start to a journey.

Mason Dixon Acres is the site for their future homestead. A home being built over time using cash, not a loan.

If you watch their 15-minute cost breakdown–2 years into their project–you’ll see that $76,000 has exited their bank account into the form of sweat-equity.

However, their journey is documented for a reason. They want to help others envision a better future for themselves. $76,000 sounds like a lot, but they made $18,000 back on timber from clearing the house lot and selectively harvesting the rest.

The goal of becoming debt-free in a standard fashion also factors in long-term investments. You’ll see in all their content the long-term investments they make in themselves. Within the $76k spent is $10k for the skid steer to use on their land.

Long-term investments are necessary to save money later down the line. In all their decisions, Elaina and Alex weigh their expenses with a bigger picture in mind.

I know these figures because they’ve created a social brand for themselves. They are transparent and created a brand to bring more awareness to sustainability, financial independence, gardening, and learning along the way.

The Social Brand

I’ve written a few blogs related to social identity but Mason Dixon Acres is blowing up. I had to write about them before they forget who I am!

Sitting at 26k Instagram followers, Elaina and Alex are a powerhouse on every platform. You can learn in-depth finances from their debt-free home project on YouTube or browse their Instagram reels to find tips on seed starting.

Elaina brings trends from TikTok and other memes to deliver a unique angle to her posts. I mean—how else do you make trenching for an electric service entertaining?

Mason Dixon Acres – Electric Service Trenching

I wanted to send a question and answer document to Elaina, but I found everything I needed to know from their site. It’s extremely detailed. Their site also has essential items to begin understanding who they are and what they are trying to do for their audience.

Scroll to the end of the blog to find their socials

Continuously Learning

Even with working full-time, Elaina said she’s still learning more about content creation. It takes hours to plan and plant a garden, but it also takes hours to upload raw video, edit graphics, and publish to every platform.

As a former broadcast journalist at a central PA TV station, I find Elaina and Alex’s homestead journey intriguing. I know how living a life in central Pennsylvania can be less exciting than to people chasing dreams in New York City or Los Angeles.

Yet, dreams happen everywhere and you can be at any stage in life and reach for a goal–like building a home debt-free. For the couple, they chose to plant their dreams in Southern Pennsylvania—pun intended.

Support their pages by dropping a follow to the socials below. If you’d like to go above and beyond, become a patron over on their Patreon.