Shore is a LOT of money moving out for the first time on your own! I bought a small house (same one I still live in) over 6 years ago when I was 23 and moved out of the 'rent's house. All I had was the **** that was in my bedroom and a few odd and end tools I'd acquired. Didn't have any extra money saved up for furniture, big tv, or ****! Luckily I went to school with the couple I bought it from, they were a few years older than myself, and they left all the appliances and living room furniture in on the deal. Clean people and the house was only 3.5 yrs old, so that was a pretty sweet deal. It was a struggle off the bat to afford the lifestyle I was accustomed to living and paying everything that came along with a new house. For the longest I had a shitty old school 27" tv and a cheap dvd player on a little bitty tv stand, one recliner, and one couch in the living room, that's it. I bet I lived there for close to 2 years before it actually looked like someone lived there because there was so little **** in there lol. I made a lot less money at my current job then, and really cut my finances close moving out on my own. I wasn't extremely in debt, but I had a few toys, a couple of which I owed on. Looking back, I was not prepared like I should have been, but I made it.
That's the only advice I can give you, be fully financially prepared, it will be one thing after another, just like building a rig. With that said, if you are ready to make the move, I fully advocate independence! Rock out, live life, and see new places while you are young!
Edit: Oh, and I went to a concert in downtown Knoxville a couple years ago, really enjoyed it up there. Don't know much about the surrounding areas, but downtown was pretty cool. Now if you want to talk about Chattanooga, I fawking loooooove Chattanooga. That's about 50 min north of me. We go up there to eat/drink a lot. Ride bikes up there a bunch too. Super awesome badass city imo. Best choice of pubs/bars/restaurants around. Centrally located to a lot of stuff, including offroad parks.