How do you give up most of your worldly possessions and go full time ?

[digger]

We have ordered a Big Horn and hope to take off in Jan. We owned a large house and 65 acres and found we had become slaves to it. Sold the house and 10 acres and moved into town in a duplex that is very small. Have wonderful renter on the other side to take care of the place when we are gone. Had a big auction and sold everything except 2 rooms of furniture.
My kids said they are glad we did it to save them from having to do it later. We still have a home to come back to but don't have to worry about it when we are gone. Really looking forward to spending the winter in Texas instead of Ky where it is way to cold for us.

 

[Reyllock]

I found it very easy thanks to an ex wife from ****, and don't think I was ever really comfortable being tied to solid house, and as I was already spending most of my working week a way in my 'tiny' 02 Fleetwheel Prowler 270FQS. (still in it till 15 Dec) And finally got my life sorted, and am now awaiting a 2011 BH3583RL being shipped from the States, and due to arrive in UK Dec 15. Onwards and upwards, and never ever looking back! Life is too short.

 

[TXBobcat]

One way to find out what is important to you is, Set your alarm for 2am. When it goes off run through the house for 5 minutes and take the most important things to the garage. Anything left in the house is just Stuff and you can sell it, give it to family that might want it or give it away.

We had my Grandmothers Singer pedal sewing machine. When we started giving things away we called our daughter and offered it to her. Her comment was, "Sorry it does not fit our decor." HUH?? That is your great-grandmother's sewing machine. It is a family heirloom!!! What do you mean you don't want it??? Well I gave it to my cousin's wife who sews a lot. She really appreciated it.

BC

 

[2010augusta]

Moved to Full-timing area.

 

[SouthernNights]

Actually we are in that process right now.

The hardest thing for me to give up were some of my engine tools and my tool boxes. And really didnt give them up. My son in law is taking them for his business with the understanding that I get them back on demand.

What we found out so far, we would rather give the stuff away to someone who would appreciate it rather than sell it. I know we would never get what I think it is worth if we did sell it....so really couldnt see the point of going through the aggravation of selling it.

It does carry some emotions with it when you give stuff away though. At least with us, it is not a bad emotion like you are losing something but more like maybe someone else will appreciate the item as much as we did. And funny enough, with each thing that leaves the house, we feel one more step closer to freedom...well, maybe that is not the right word but it is the best one I can think of right now.

 

[ParkIt]

Over the last 3 years I've been narrowing down the stuff in the house to what we really want to keep and what we don't. Some of the rooms look pretty bare but I kind of like it that way (less cleaning!). The only thing I'll miss will be our very large bedroom & bath - that's it.

Already thought about my tools (decades of working on vehicles to home building) and decided on a cargo trailer to hold all that. Considering I built a 10x10 shed that holds it all with plenty of room to work in, a cargo is just the ticket for storing and accessing those items. The rest of what we are keeping has been gradually going into storage though again, it looks like a cargo trailer would be optimal when you figure in cost vs rental. It does help we'll have a fully secure place to keep those somewhere else if we chose.

It is kind of difficult to think of leaving this house but its huge, takes up so much time, insurance and taxes keep going up and its becoming a burden. We are lucky that Microsoft has a rental program or would even buy the house at a set market value and I'm just not having a problem with that. I told the spouse it would be a lot more fun to rent a different house half the year in a different place and live in the 5er the other half of the time. We can have a 'new' house every year and not worry about the above cost plus if anything breaks - we don't have to pay for it. "Hello? The water heater is not working" "Hello? The roof is leaking" "Hello? The oven doesn't work" and so on.

With computer technology I can scan & store ALL our paperwork/receipts/pictures onto external drives. The really important stuff including back up drives would be in bank safety deposit with my son to access it if we need and aren't close by.

Always had a bit of gypsy in me and spouse as well - this house is the longest I've ever spent in one place (17 years) and really have dreaded the last 5 of it so .... its time to make a change for the better

 

[jmgratz]

Over the last 3 years I've been narrowing down the stuff in the house to what we really want to keep and what we don't. Some of the rooms look pretty bare but I kind of like it that way (less cleaning!). The only thing I'll miss will be our very large bedroom & bath - that's it.

Already thought about my tools (decades of working on vehicles to home building) and decided on a cargo trailer to hold all that. Considering I built a 10x10 shed that holds it all with plenty of room to work in, a cargo is just the ticket for storing and accessing those items. The rest of what we are keeping has been gradually going into storage though again, it looks like a cargo trailer would be optimal when you figure in cost vs rental. It does help we'll have a fully secure place to keep those somewhere else if we chose.

It is kind of difficult to think of leaving this house but its huge, takes up so much time, insurance and taxes keep going up and its becoming a burden. We are lucky that Microsoft has a rental program or would even buy the house at a set market value and I'm just not having a problem with that. I told the spouse it would be a lot more fun to rent a different house half the year in a different place and live in the 5er the other half of the time. We can have a 'new' house every year and not worry about the above cost plus if anything breaks - we don't have to pay for it. "Hello? The water heater is not working" "Hello? The roof is leaking" "Hello? The oven doesn't work" and so on.

With computer technology I can scan & store ALL our paperwork/receipts/pictures onto external drives. The really important stuff including back up drives would be in bank safety deposit with my son to access it if we need and aren't close by.

Always had a bit of gypsy in me and spouse as well - this house is the longest I've ever spent in one place (17 years) and really have dreaded the last 5 of it so .... its time to make a change for the better

I like you outlook. It is an interesting outlook. Maybe I need to begin the 'purging process'. And you may have hit on the possibility of a possible part-time job...that of offering scanning process for secure storing of photos and documents for those who are not computer savoy...hmmm

 

[2psnapod2]

This is how we did it. We have been full timing now for a month. Yes we are still newbies. We started purging and once it was time to move into our new Landmark we put the rest of the worldly belongings into a 5X10 climate controlled storage locker. Once we get to each of our 2 kids it will be much less packed. We do plan on keeping some stuff. Mostly family hand-me downs. But most of the stuff became "really not needed" and was either donated to the needy or sold.

 

[jpdoggett]

We will be spending 3 months this winter in the new rig. Although its super nice by the end of the the 3 months I know I will be going stark raving nuts! I need my SPACE. I like to go out in the garage a piddle around and work of a few ATV's for some beer money. Play in the yard and mess with the trees and flower garden. I can not sit around "relaxing". Full time may be for some but just getting away for a while is fine with me.

We still have our house and at this point we are planning on keeping it, I like my house to come back to. We are spending 6 months in Texas and 6 months in Kansas, What I have started doing was going through the photos and scanning them that way we can keep them and give the kids copys also

 

[ParkIt]

I like you outlook. It is an interesting outlook. Maybe I need to begin the 'purging process'. And you may have hit on the possibility of a possible part-time job...that of offering scanning process for secure storing of photos and documents for those who are not computer savoy...hmmm

While I'm not a 'pack rat' my husband is - and I'm always having to sort foot lockers of "stuff" to give to various charities. Maybe 2 or 3 items are worth keeping so if you look around your house, you'll start to see the same thing. A couple of things you want and a lot of stuff that you never really notice, use or care for in the first place like the hideous 20 lbs plaster cast of a gargoyle candle holder in limish green the husband brought home one day. That found a new home within a month and he didn't notice! lol

Overall I'm that person who goes to Europe and has everything in a carry on, I want to explore places off the beaten path and you can't do that with a ton of luggage. I've met people where we could get by with hand gestures & some of the native language invite me for supper and a night - you just can't beat that with a stick (or house full of stuff). I still keep in touch with them from all over the world & states, it makes life interesting!
I do like this house but as mentioned its time for me to try to stop living like a normal person. Seems like the more we do everything right the more expensive it becomes. Not sure how that equates into a good life but that's just me...and my DH.

As for your little business idea...I'll give you a lucrative add-on: the IRS accepts PDF documents in lieu of paper receipts. Since you can access most everything important online now there really is no need to keep anything once its scanned in or downloaded and the bonus is if there is an audit you just hand them the 2"x6"x4" external unless you have a large enough flash drive and organize it by years or categories (hmmm, another idea!). The only paper documents we keep in a SD box are those that are not accepted by any entity other than its original format (birth certs, passports, wills etc).

I really have tried to stay in one place but honestly, I bought my MH *before* I bought the house and pretty much lived in the MH the first 6 years of owning the house. Now I'm getting stir crazy from the gap between being mobile and stuck here - remodeled the house out of boredom - time to move on!

 

[neegirll]

The process for me began in 2006 when I was out on assignment in VA from CA for my job. I had a corporate apartment (700 Sq ft) for a year. The only thing that was mine was my clothes and 3 small dogs. Sitting back in CA was 2000 Sq ft home full of beautiful furniture, disney collectables and lots of holiday decorations. When I returned home I gained a different perspective of my stuff. Between Ebay and Craigslist I literally purged. I began a new relationship with a person that had left a 3500 Sq ft home and had done the same. Together we moved into a 800 Sq ft home. Our life for the past two years has been about having "experiences" and not about "accumulating stuff". We just moved up from a small trailer to the Cyclone 3800 this year. Our goal is to go full timing in 3 years. It is interesting to see how different people react to all of this. My family members are collectors and think I was crazy to sell the "stuff".

 

[ParkIt]

Our life for the past two years has been about having "experiences" and not about "accumulating stuff".

You said a mouthful right there! I suppose that would be the best way to sum up my life overall as well as DH. Everyone wants us to "tell us the story about..." and to some extent we are good "story tellers", a long lost art though having something acoustic does make it a bit more fun. Better start working on that.

We just moved up from a small trailer to the Cyclone 3800 this year. Our goal is to go full timing in 3 years. It is interesting to see how different people react to all of this. My family members are collectors and think I was crazy to sell the "stuff".

It never struck me until just now that no one in our families thinks we are nuts about going full timing and will ask "did you have another garage sale yet?".
Between both sides most have a 2nd home/cabin/time share/mobile home (about 700 to 1,000 sq ft) in another state or country or large camper/5er/TT and they travel at least half the year. My Grandparents on both sides had Avion TT's and spent at least 4 months a year going everywhere you can imagine in North America and took the barge to Panama a couple of times.
My parents built a much smaller home, about 1300 sq ft from over 4,000 sq ft on a 80 acre farm at age 75 giving away so much 'stuff' it was going out by the UHaul load. Even my son can up and move in less than a day - he only has 2 boxes of things he will never get rid of from his travels.

Maybe its something in the water we all drank since we aren't all blood related but its funny to stop and think - we've always been on the move for that experience and the most interesting stories when we do gather in one place at one time. Its great to be laughing to tears from the predicaments we've all been through or very colorful people we've met and never enough time to tell all the stories!

I suppose the best way to rationalize it all: if you dropped dead would you rather do it walking back from your mail box griping about another bill or doing something you really love and enjoy?

Perspective is an interesting concept.

 

[Corky & Johanna]

While your "collections" hold a very special place in your heart now, the retired/ RV lifestyle allows you to create an entirely new "collection "in life. Your life will become so enriched. After the adult children selected what they wanted, the rest became just material things! There are decorative ways to keep a few things in your coach. Attend one of the Heartland Rally's. Association with other fulltimers allows you to see and hear others experiences. Best wishes! Johanna

 

[lmcclure]

We have just sold the house and are now packing up for the closing. We are renting a climate controlled storage for items that we will keep. Furniture is small just 1 bedroom suite and the dining room set. 2 wardrobes for clothes. Don't need formal clothes anymore. About 20 boxes and the gun safe. We are moving into our Sundance until we make a decision on a new rig. We consider this another stage of our lives, we have lived on a houseboat for 6 years, and in houses for 30 years. The fiver has more room than the boat, and we still like each other. Collections are just that and being able to remember things are for ever.

 

[goldenbetty]

That is just what our daughter-in-law says "all of this is just STUFF". I had antiques from three generations. Our one and only son and his wife didn't want them, so I decided to sell them so someone could truly enjoy them. I kept a few select lamps and pieces from Germany, and I'm happy I did. Less to be concerned with when we do decide to full-time, or downsize our present home.

 

[trackeer]

I like this Thread,

This is the same discussion we've been having lately, course we had one of those late life children, hmmmmmmmmmmm, but the thoughts have been evolving more and more how we could make the move away from the stick built abode and see what's over the horizon. Thankfully I have been evaluating our needs and trying to reduce the things we have, amazing the stuff you amase over the years and selling stuff on ebay and Craigs List, the later is free.
It would be strange to leave the place we've called home for 20+ years, but life is about change and sometimes the best things happen in life when you do make a change.

Good Thread

Moe in NH

 

[gjackson]

I love this thread! We sold our home and had an estate sale the first part of May. We keep a climate controlled 10x10 storage unit with the few things we decided to keep. My hubby has a gun safe there, some tools, boxes of pictures I need to go through, and my mom's crystal that actually goes to my daughter. It was such a feeling of freedom to get rid of 3 generations of keepsakes, furniture, and a lot of junk! Don't get me wrong, I loved that my grandmothers and mother left me some wonderful things, but my children had no use for them and at some point they would have to be sold anyway. Like someone earlier said on this thread, I have the memories and that matters most. We use my sisters address as our permanent address since we are now full timers, so we have no issues there. We are looking forward to seeing this great country of ours!

Sue

 

[Bighurt]

Mother nature made it easy for us...our home is under 9 ft of water.

We'll be full time till we build a new home.

 

[gjackson]

Mother nature made it easy for us...our home is under 9 ft of water.

We'll be full time till we build a new home.

That is not good news at all. I really feel for you and your family. I guess if you look on the bright side, at least you have the Sundance to live in, something I would guess many of your neighbors probably don't have. It's hard not to wonder about the why in all this. . . Texas needs rain so bad and you all have too much water. Best of luck to you.

 

[Renee]

I spent a year on the road as a single parent with my then five year old. I had what was left of our possessions in a small storage. I kept a digital picture frame with pictures of family and friends so we were able to see them. I think after a person is full timing for a while possessions become less important. The people we met on the road were much more important then our belongings. Many of them are still our friends today.