Fulltiming - and keeping my stuff!

[JRS]

We're glad to have sold the house and have not storage costs. Unfortunately everything goes cheap in estate sales....

 

[Jim]

We, at a previous home that was small, kept stuff in a storage locker for 6 years. I forgot what was in it. It cost $60 per month. When we opened it to look in and decide what had to be moved to our new home, we decided that most of it was worthy of donation to Goodwill. Money down the drain...learn from our mistake.

As they say, "been there, done that".

When we sold our business in FL and moved to NC, we brought with us ALL KINDS of furniture that we (my wife) just couldn't live without. When we got to NC we stored all this gotta-have furniture in one of the houses we were renovating. Fast forward a couple of years and we were looking at the "stuff" and wondering what the hell we were thinking of. Now mind you, we had paid a moving company to move all this furniture 550 miles for us. Funny how we can get emotionally attached to stuff that really has little real value.

 

[Neal]

I think we (me) are more emotionally attached to what I paid for it vs. "it". I just sent several piles of a lot of computer accessories, wiring, audio/visual cables, etc. to the trash, probably 1-2K when bought which made it hard to part with. I'm glad it's done, it was consuming an entire bedroom. With Amazon these days and the "just in time" delivery, i.e. if you need something you can get it fast and easy, it helped part ways vs. having a mountain of stuff on hand.

I just bought all kinds of stuff to build a woodworking shop. I really don't want to see this stuff go. I need to figure out how to accept keeping the house and fulltiming at the same time and not get in trouble with the HOA if they find out (ratted out by neighbors) the house is vacant for extended periods. I have lawn service, it's all well maintained.

Sorting this out, but not in a rush either. As I have a long winter/spring trip ahead it's not a now decision but I realize where my heart is and how much I love the nomadic RV lifestyle so I'll keep trying to solve this puzzle.

 

[Neal]

I think the parallel is how people own multiple houses. You have to accept and have some system for not being at a house for an extended period of time.

 

[Jim]

I just bought all kinds of stuff to build a woodworking shop.

Oh my goodness, the woodworking shop. lol, two years ago I bought a bunch of woodworking tools, routers, sanders, planers, jointer, dust filtration system, and even a sawmill to harvest the Red Oak and other trees on the property.

And then we bought a motorhome.

Anyone want to buy some woodworking stuff?

 

[Neal]

The furniture you can have, I'm laying on my woodworking stuff, blocking with my body!

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I keep my woodworking stuff in a 16ft cargo trailer that I store for less than most people store their stuff in storage. I do my projects on the LTVA during the winter mos. got my pie with fingers in it.

 

[BGMAC]

Oh my goodness, the woodworking shop. lol, two years ago I bought a bunch of woodworking tools, routers, sanders, planers, jointer, dust filtration system, and even a sawmill to harvest the Red Oak and other trees on the property.

And then we bought a motorhome.

Anyone want to buy some woodworking stuff?

I’ll be in Concord the weekend of the 11th of October to watch the race...

 

[Webz]

When we were forced to sell our house for a new turnpike, wife suggested we buy a RV and travel. Our kids got the furniture and my friends got good deals on equipment in my metal working shop. Wife scanned all the photo albums and put them in a digital picture frame. Gave the albums to the kids. The few personal items are in one tub in the bays. My friends miss my shop more than me.
Getting rid of the 20 plus years of stuff was truly uplifting. We do not have anything in storage. It is not for everyone.
No regrets.

 

[Vick-rose]

for what you can't sell easily or quickly enough and don't have a reason to hold on to, consider donating it and taking a write off on your taxes. Standard deduction increases may have changed whether or not you still itemize or not, but your accountant will be able to advise. If you can't sell it, can't donate it and write it off, don't wanna give it away and don't want to carry it around, put it in one of your boxes.

Once most things are sold, donated or packed, you'll know if you need to rent a unit or if it makes sense to store by the box. My sister in law stores most of our stuff but for things we want to be able to get back at a moments notice, we store by the box at a facility that will ship it back to us. This allows us to swap things in and out of storage on the road.

Hi, sorry but can you explain what are the names of those storage by the box facility. No that I am planning to go full timer but it's always good to know information. Thanks

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

When we started full-timing almost 2 years ago we got rid of everything except what went in the rig and those “key” items that we stored in a 10x10 storage unit.

Depending on the day I will tell you we got rid of too much or that we should have gotten rid of it all.

Just get a stacker trailer and take it all with you.

 

[Bob K4TAX]

Take a few precious items of value, and call the auctioneer for the rest. Turn the house over to a real estate company to sell. Tell them "this is where you deposit the money".

We've been in the rental property position, even using a property management company. They did an excellent job, but in today's market, I'm glad we are not in the rental position. In general today people do not respect others' property.

Now about full timing, you might want to have a small condo or efficiency available. Only have monthly maintenance fees, insurance, and maybe utilities. Just depends on the level of luxury one expects in later years.

Bob

 

[Russellvh]

We made the leap. Gave the kids and grand kids one week. Contacted A to Z estate sales. For a percentage they came in, tagged everything in single or lots, listed it on line as an auction with pictures, arranged the pickups and shipments. Collected all the payments and sent us 3 checks. (Separate auction for jewelry and brass). I could not believe how they sold some stuff I thought nobody would want. Watched the auction live bidding at the end.
We kept 2 beds one couch and a few kitchen items for about 4 weeks till the house closed then donated the last couple of items.

No we share a 5x7 locker with a son. ( he and I are a bit into guns and some other things I didn’t want in the RV at this time).

Wife and I have both commented how great it feels to not be having “stuff” just because we thought it was required before.

 

[Scotttkd2]

Hi Neal, we went with your option 3, sold home and everything in it and escaped CA last July. We kept a coat closet sized storage unit with a couple tubs of my computer gear I wouldn't part with, and the family pictures. Fast forward a year, and we are buying a home in Prescott AZ area for a summer home base, and we bought a deeded lot in an RV resort in Ft Myers FL for winter home base. We are finishing remodeling the home in Prescott now, and will be furnishing it with just enough to get by, then hitting the road again for Florida. Our plan is to continue to full time part time back and forth for a few more years and then decide which part of the country we want to "retire" to. We wont be renting the Prescott home, but the deeded lot can be rented for obscene amounts of money in the winters if we choose to not go there for some reason. That's the plan so far! I am sure if the rv is your happy place you will make it work out, and as others here have said, stuff is just stuff, and half the fun is getting to replace it! (Just kidding on the last part!)