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Old 11-12-2012, 09:00 PM   #15
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We sold and gave away EVERYTHING. After all its just "Stuff" I feel like i "have" more when I have "less". Once i got rid of everything i went to a cute country store and bought a wooden decoration that reads "Simplify" and it sits on my end table all by itself.
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Old 11-12-2012, 09:58 PM   #16
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I actually took on the project of scanning all hard copy family photos and digitizing my vinyl record collection in prep to full time. This eliminated a lot of bulk stuff. Then we went all in.

We sold our "big fancy house"... furnished. We took the pictures of grandma and the kids off the wall but virtually everything else... right down to my pool que... stayed.

Our other "stuff" we either gave to family, donated, or stuck into a 10x10 storage unit. That was mostly full on tools and clothes.

I can't recommend this approach as being economical... but it was pretty close to turnkey and got us into our next phase of life fairly smoothly.

We had lived in the coach at a California State Park only about a mile from our house while it was listed so the place would remain accessible to show. A favorite photo of mine (taken there late one night after the house closed) is of me tending a near bonfire of burning "paper stuff"... far too much to shred personally and far more satisfying to burn.

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Old 11-12-2012, 10:18 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RickO View Post
A favorite photo of mine (taken there late one night after the house closed) is of me tending a near bonfire of burning "paper stuff"... far too much to shred personally and far more satisfying to burn.
I've burned/worn out two paper shredders getting rid of my parents and step daughters "stuff". Parents even had the purchase papers from their first property they bought in WA after moving from Iowa in the 1940's sometime. I even found the brochure from their Foretravel that they bought in the '80's.
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Old 11-12-2012, 10:41 PM   #18
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Yep - we got rid of everthing, Really!!!! It took us 6 months but we got it accomplished. At first we started decluttering the houses before putting them on the market. We took all that stuff to a swap meet. Then we started liquidating 40 years worth of stuff that had been accumulating. A workshop full of woodworking equipment, all the family heirlooms, antiques...everything..really!! In the long run it is just stuff. In our case our kids wanted very little. Sooo, what we couldn't give to family or friends we sold on Craigslist, Yard Sales, Swap Meets, Auctions and donated the rest. We decided we did not want anything in storage to be worry about. We're very happy we made that decision. We've met several people that still had storage units that wish they'd not done that. We've been on the road going on 2 years and haven't missed "the stuff". We are very comfortable and have all we need.
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Old 11-12-2012, 10:52 PM   #19
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and this site gives so much info to full timing..like getting the mail (I'm heading to UPS tomorrow) and directv services...and repairs/fixes!!
and we like 'living with less....is best!!!'
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Old 11-12-2012, 10:54 PM   #20
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We had a 2600 sqft home on 5 acres and a 40x50 rv garage/shop full of toys and tools.
Once we decided we wanted to fulltime for sure a couple years ago I started selling things like sandrails, quads, motorcycles and other larger items.
After that and after the house finally sold and the buyer bought a bunch of our furniture we had a huge sale planned but we must live right because a dealer came buy and bought everything. What a blessing that was LOL!!!
We do have a storage unit with items that we certainly would not spend the money on to buy again but we want to make sure if we want to travel for only a year and get off the road or carry on. If we carry on we will probably have another sale.
It certainly is a jouney getting all of the details realed in. Have fun with it.
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Old 11-13-2012, 07:09 AM   #21
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I only sold my English riding gear, being out in "cowboy" land there just wasn't much call for it. Sold it all on ebay to people back East. Got great value for it. All the rest of the stuff, I donated or gave away. Didn't really trust Craigs List so by word of mouth, off it went. I did donate my books (1350) to the local prison and got a 4500.00 credit to take off my taxes. Great deal. Now I Kindle.
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Old 11-25-2012, 04:32 PM   #22
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wow what to "think" we have lived in our house since 1980....we realized how much stuff we had when the mighty Missouri flooded last may...we had to pack up everything in days and move it...and boy did people help us!! we had to live with my daughter for 7 months...moved back last December..we have a 30x40 heated shop and 28x26 garage both connected but detached from house....the garage is still full of boxes of stuff...so we know we can live with out it..but its so much work going thru all that stuff looking for this and that..even thou the boxes are labeled somwhat...it had to be done fast so its not like moving....but now we bought the diesel pusher and are looking forward to it...but not the selling...our house only got water iin basement from ground water so is not ruined and now is all remodeled ...with the insurance money from the basement which we are not redoing as kids are long gone and dont need it....and with the boom in our state our house is worth way more than bought for..200 vs 60.....jeff
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Old 11-25-2012, 06:02 PM   #23
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Our plan was to put the house on the market on May1, 2011 with hopes that we might be able to sell it by the fall and I would retire at that time. The plan called for us to have our coach all purchased and ready to go by that time. Plenty of time, right?

Well, due to circumstances beyond our control, we never got the house on the market until June 2nd. Not too bad, only a month late. We still had all summer. I could still see us getting out of New England before it snowed. Our Realtor felt that an 'Open House" was the way to go and we agreed. It was held that weekend. Long story short, we had an offer by the following Monday. Not only did we have the offer but the buyers wanted us out of the house in 45 days! Well, were able to negotiate the 45 days to 60 days and that bought us a little time.

So now we have 60 days to find a coach, divulge ourselves of nearly all of our belongings, make any necessary home repairs needed to satisfy the home inspection, get a Title V Inspection done (You have to be from MA to understand) and make the rounds to all of our friends, neighbors and relatives to say goodbye. Once we had the Purchase & Sale Agreement I advised my employer of my July 22nd retirement date. That caused a couple of jaws to drop open. So much for the plan.

I immediately began placing adds on Craig's List for items that I knew would not do well at a yard sale. We also began to make a list of what we were taking with us. That list began to be shortened on a daily basis. We planned a yard sale. Things went to The Boy Scouts, Goodwill and the Salvation Army. Lots of clothes went to consignment shops. Many pieces of furniture went to our son, our nieces and our nephews.

I took two weeks of vacation time and we ran all over the northeast looking for a used (pre-loved) high end coach that fit our criteria. It became clear very quickly that most of what was available was either junk or wasn't what we wanted. We had to expand our search. I started scouring the internet, looking mainly in the southwest.

Our home closed on August 5th and at 9 PM the night before my son and I finished loading the last of our belongings into a small cargo trailer. After the closing we made a stop in CT to store a couple of items with my wife's sister and then we headed to TX to find a coach. Technically, we were homeless for two weeks before we found our Beaver Monterey coach, now dubbed the Hotel Monterey. It's been 16 months now, we don't regret a thing and we haven't looked back.
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Old 11-26-2012, 12:16 PM   #24
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We did exactly what a lot of people say not to do - we put most of our stuff in storage - and I am glad we did. It cost us about $20,000 to store it for the last ten years.
We bought a house last summer. We aren't quite ready to get off the road - so we will be snowbirds for a while.

Seeing what unexpected health problems did to several full timing friends and knowing we all have to get off the road one way or another at some point, we decided to get a place now while we are both relatively healthy rather than do it under the gun when we aren't.

We spent over $10,000 furnishing the house because of stuff we sold several years ago to reduce the size of our storage unit and save some money. If we had to buy my wife's hobby stuff, all of my shop equipment,all the kitchen appliances and dishes, pots and pans, linens, towels and so forth, it would add another $10,000 easy. I also have several thousand dollars worth of guns.
So for us storing our stuff was the best way to go.

Is all of the stuff like family heirlooms and gifts from friends and family really something that we really need?
No, but it sure is nice to have it again and we enjoyed unpacking boxes and finding the treasures. It was sort of like Christmas and I am glad we have them.

It ended up making sense from a money standpoint and an emotional standpoint for us.

Of course a lot of folks won't want to take our approach and that is fine but the people that told us the storage rent was a waste of money were wrong in our case.
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Old 11-27-2012, 08:11 AM   #25
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Really good info - thanks. I have a year and few months to simplify. I am looking forward to the travel, staying in a warmer winter climate and over all experiences. DW and I realized you can not own a house and travel. I am married to the DW as well as the house...ugh.
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Old 12-04-2012, 07:01 PM   #26
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WE went full time in 06 and we sold gave away most of our stuff. In 09 we decided to start staying part time in a home we owned in AZ. In 12 we took off for a 5 month trip up the west coast and all the way to Alaska. We realized we were happier in the Motor Home so we put the important stuff in storage and rented out the house. This time we saved the furniture and other stuff we know we will need once we really want to settle down. Storage will cost us $50 per month it is affordable.
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Old 12-04-2012, 07:11 PM   #27
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We sold the house and started FT about six months ago. Really struggled with the storage thing but ultimately decided that we just couldn't sever every aspect of our prior life and got rid of most stuff, but still keep a storage space for a few select items of cherished furniture and things of a personal nature. It may cost us 5 or 10 grand by the time it's all said and done but part of that will come back in not having to re-purchase the items and some will just go whatever personal value there is in keeping the few items that are important to us. It's a very personal decision and there is no single correct answer.
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Old 12-05-2012, 09:01 AM   #28
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We decided what stuff we wanted to keep. Unfortunately my DW has emotional attachment to a lot of stuff. That all went into storage. Of the rest, whatever family did NOT want, went to a 2nd hand consignment store.

Now that we've been on the road for 4.5 years, DW is lessening the attachment on a lot of what we have in storage. We are going back east for the summer and we will be sorting thru storage. Mind you I do not expect to get rid of everything, but we plan on getting rid of most of it. What is left will go into a smaller unit. Last summer we already donated a lot of clothing, blankets and coats to homeless shelters. More will be coming their way next summer.
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