How Prepare for Full Timing....give us your best advice

[GoinAnywhere]

We are currently going through this as well. We are doing one room at a time and breaking it down to - toss, sell (or donate) and keep. We are not putting ANYTHING in the camper until the very last minute - at which time we will go through all the "keep" again and do another weed.

We are giving heirlooms to family members so they can be enjoyed rather than stored in boxes. We are not doing any storage...as the only way to really store things is air controlled which is simply too pricey and we don't want the monthly bill.

Tag sales, Criegs List and posting things on FaceBook for friends and family that may be interested in buying stuff. Then pawn shops, estate buyers, pickers....and finally donating (you can get tax right off depending where you donate). I am also making care packages to send to the Troops (such as books, movies, cds, small stuffed animals...they give these to local kids...).

Pictures (I have TONS of photos, albums and framed pics) I am scanning and putting on an external hard drive. Selling the frames and dispersing the pics.

We are trying to keep it to only having one or two bins that we will store with a family member of personal memorabilia that only means something to us (military stuff, our wedding, etc...)

In the end it is all "stuff"....

[Dog Folks]

There is a lot of good advice on how to prepare and get rid of "stuff." Here is our BEST advice:




One item: Be debt free when you start to full time!!



We have never been real “responsible” with our money. We spent what we made. Too many toys.



We bought a less expensive camper than we wanted, and a late model used truck rather than new, but we were debt free when we started. We are still debt free. That is not to say we don't have bills, but a no installment loans, no credit card debt.

We don't have much, but what we have, is paid for. This was the best advice we ever received and for once, I was smart enough to take it.

[JFNM]

Originally Posted by Mike_Harriet

This is a little off topic but... 10 years ago my DW and I sold everything and moved Fulltime aboard 42' trawler. We've cruised many great miles and places, but now the boat is for sale and we want to Fulltime in an RV. My question is, how big and how much "stuff" is needed for full time?? We carried everything we owned on the boat. Didn't even own a car most of the time. But with weight limitations in a coach, looks like I need to get rid of more stuff. Any thoughts would be most welcome!! Thanks.

I have no trawler experience, sorry. I do know that my 34' sailboat did not carry anywhere near as much stuff as my 33' class A. I suspect you will find that if it fit on your boat, it will more than fit in a similarly sized RV.

[phinneyj]

We are on the way to going Full time. Kind of rushed when the wife could no longer work. I am retired so my income will support us fairly well. Our original plan was to pull up stakes in 2010, but the economy tanked our home value. Looks like I will have to sell short. Otherwise the cash bleeding will become more than we can handle. Been doing the declutter, still got a long way to go. 30 years of accumulated "Stuff" 99 percent we do not need.

[Rick 2005 Dolphin 5376]

Keep as little as you can. Sell or give away everything you can. Keep the rv lean. I mean really lean. We have in the kitchen: One stock pot, on cast iron pan, one sauce pan, one 4 qt pan. 3 stainless bowls for mixing. One small toaster oven sitting on the stove that we NEVER use and the Keurig coffee maker on the counter. A Vitmix blender and a small foreman grill stored up front in the passenger foot well.
Clothing? We have about 10 days of clothing. We rotate summer and winter clothes and keep them in plastic boxes stored outside in a compartment. We do laundry twice a week.
All music is kept on the iPod and streamed to the stereo via bluetooth.
We do not collect cd's or dvd's. We do not collect stuff from the flea market or garage sales.
All files are scanned and stored in the cloud and backed up on an external hard drive. No paper mess. We keep 3-4 days of food in the refer and have a cabinet near the front entry we call a pantry.
Two sets of towels for the bath, 2 set of sheets for the bed. 4 kitchen hand towels. We use throw away sponges from Trader Joes.
I keep a small set of tools that can do most handy man stuff I need to do around here.
Everything we own can be stored in outside compartments or in the Jeep when in tow. If I had to leave the spot we are in now, I could be gone without a trace in 20 minutes.
It took us 4 years to finally get rid of the junk most people can't live without. When you free yourself of all these useless possessions, you will truly be free.
You get the idea? There's more I could tell you but you get the idea

[bdickson]

Originally Posted by Rick 2005 Dolphin 5376

Keep as little as you can. Sell or give away everything you can. Keep the rv lean. I mean really lean. We have in the kitchen: One stock pot, on cast iron pan, one sauce pan, one 4 qt pan. 3 stainless bowls for mixing. One small toaster oven sitting on the stove that we NEVER use and the Keurig coffee maker on the counter. A Vitmix blender and a small foreman grill stored up front in the passenger foot well.
Clothing? We have about 10 days of clothing. We rotate summer and winter clothes and keep them in plastic boxes stored outside in a compartment. We do laundry twice a week.
All music is kept on the iPod and streamed to the stereo via bluetooth.
We do not collect cd's or dvd's. We do not collect stuff from the flea market or garage sales.
All files are scanned and stored in the cloud and backed up on an external hard drive. No paper mess. We keep 3-4 days of food in the refer and have a cabinet near the front entry we call a pantry.
Two sets of towels for the bath, 2 set of sheets for the bed. 4 kitchen hand towels. We use throw away sponges from Trader Joes.
I keep a small set of tools that can do most handy man stuff I need to do around here.
Everything we own can be stored in outside compartments or in the Jeep when in tow. If I had to leave the spot we are in now, I could be gone without a trace in 20 minutes.
It took us 4 years to finally get rid of the junk most people can't live without. When you free yourself of all these useless possessions, you will truly be free.
You get the idea? There's more I could tell you but you get the idea

Couldn't have said it any better.

[okmunky]

And once you do start traveling be careful what you add to your RV. I collect only the postage stamp sized enameled pins as momentos of where I've visited. With new clothes and shoes it's one in, one out.

You will find some things you'll need to add but try to buy the smaller, lightest one of everything you add.

Have FUN!