# Selling it ALL for a new life



## cougarkid (Mar 11, 2008)

Hi all,

I find myself in a unique situation.  Bear with me while I explain.  My questions will come later.

I just turned 49 years old.  BTW, this is NOT a mid-life crisis!  I have a good job making good money with a great, local firm in a career I have been at for 30 years now.  My wife works part-time as a school bus driver.  We have been happily married for 20 years (both our 2nd marriage) and have raised 6 children (yours, mine and ours) to adulthood.  The kids are doing fine (out of the house) and our marriage is solid.

I was looking around the house the other day at all the stuff we have accumulated over the past 20 years.  House, 4 cars, a truck, a trailer, a motorcycle, furniture and a lot of misc. â€œwantsâ€.  It got me to thinking.  What do we really need?  What do we really use?

I suggested to my wife that we sell almost everything we have.  She said it sounded like a great idea to her.  She has been slowly selling off things we donâ€™t really need for a while now.  We talked and decided we should keep 1 Classic Mercury Cougar, the Kia Optima (newest car), 32â€™ Class A RV (paid for), the motorcycle (paid for), 2 computers, clothes, a tool box full of tools  and that is about it.  The only thing out of the list we owe money on is the Kia.  It would be paid off from the proceeds of the sales.  Some of the stuff would go to the kids.  Figure we can be completely â€œout from underâ€ in under 2 years or less.

We can live in the RV in a rented spot for about $400.00 a month including electric, water and sewer.  Only other hard costs would be vehicle insurance, cell phones, food and gasoline.  We are going to buy a large enclosed trailer that would handle 1 car, the motorcycle and the tool box full of tools with a little work area.  I figure something like a NASCAR racing trailer.

We will be able to do whatever we want.  Good income and low living cost.  If it gets too ruff in the RV, we can rent a small apartment for the winter months.  We like spending time together, always have.  Grandkids are starting to pop out, so traveling to see them will be easier, too.

Any thoughts or suggestions from the full-timers?

Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?

Thanks,

Mike


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## TexasClodhopper (Mar 11, 2008)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life



Believe me, you aren't alone in making those calculations. Ours is very close to yours. 

Two questions: [*]Are you planning on towing that trailer everywhere you go with the MH? [*]When you sell the house/property, how will you resist buying a new MH?  [/list]


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## DL Rupper (Mar 11, 2008)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

There are lots of folks out here doing just that.  It makes finding site vacancies harder and drives up the cost of the vacant overnight sites for retired "on the road" full-timers and vacation RV'ers.  However, that's life.  I'm just looking out for myself with that remark.  

Just try to keep your RV in decent shape and don't accumulate a new batch of things you don't need and have them cluttering up your site.  That happens with individuals that don't need to pack up the RV every so often.  It's easy to spot the people in an RV park that live there year round.  I know this sounds elitist, but it does happen.  

My question to you is can you REALLY adjust to living in a small RV and staying in one spot?  I love full-timing, but would find it difficult if I wasn't moving around all the time.  

Personally I would do your fall back position and rent an apartment and put/invest the proceeds from selling everything aside for going "on the road" full-time after retirement.  It will be a fresh an exciting experience then.  Just my opinion. 

Check out my thread Full Timing:  "RV Park Laundry Facilities".


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## Bigman (Mar 11, 2008)

RE: Selling it ALL for a new life

Mike,

I am in the military and had a house but moving every couple years and selling became a real burden these past few months.  Finally getting it sold, tho.  We live in a 36" fifth wheel and love it very much and the kids are grown up and the expense of the camper site is really nice.  In a few years we will look at getting a house when the Army can not move me around any more.  I have a few things in the storage lot but only what I need for fishing, extra camping stuff and what nots.  It is a great life.  We almost went into an apartment last month but we held on and now it is warming up.  

Stay safe
Bigman


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## cougarkid (Mar 11, 2008)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

All good comments and questions.

We are not going "full timing" on the road.  Just going to live in the RV full time.  It will go on some trips, too.

Figure we will live in this one for 2 years or so and then look to buy a newer/nicer used one and pay cash for it.
Once again, almost no costs to live, so save more money for later.

Planning on renting a spot in a "trailer park", not in an RV campground.  We will leave those for the travelers.

Trailer would go along if we change living location but not on normal trips or vacations.  It would serve more as a garage at out living location.
We could tow dolley or open trailer a vehicle behind the RV for trips.

Again, the plan is to sell EVERYTHING and not buy stuff to replace it.  Hopefully we will stick to it.

Thanks,

Mike


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## H2H1 (Mar 11, 2008)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

I wish I could go FT but the DW would missed the baby granddaughter and that not going to happen yet! I have always wanted to see every part of the great land and I still do and I will but a slower pace. I don't want to sell the wood/brick house, just would like to keep it on the side for a while. Maybe one of these days we will on the road FT.


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## cougarkid (Mar 11, 2008)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Guess I left out a line to start with.

We are both keeping our jobs.  Mine is full time and hers is seasonal (school bus driver).
We are just planning on living in the RV.

Mike


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## DL Rupper (Mar 11, 2008)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Good luck.  Like I said previously, I'm not sure if I could live in my RV full-time if I wasn't moving around all the time.  It does get small, but when you move around the being small is made up for by seeing new sights.  However, lots of people live and work year around out of an RV.

Getting  rid of all the stuff we really didn't need was the easy part for me.  I am not much of a collector.  That is the hard part for some individuals.  The really hard part comes when friends and relatives give you gifts that are well suited for someone living in a stick house, but for the life of me I can't figure out what I'm supposed to do with the dumb things living in a small confined space.


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## C Nash (Mar 11, 2008)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

I could not live in the rv fulltime and not move around. Not enough room in a spot to stay there for me.  I know, the next spot has no more room than the one I left but the scenery changes. Only you can decide for you and yours. Might just want to try it for several months before selling out.


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## PattieAM (Mar 12, 2008)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Not having personal experience in full-timing, but having read alot, I would suggest that you hone down your possessions now, but not sell the brick n stick until you've had a few months of living in the RV as it might not be your cup of tea.

I agree with C Nash's post as well as DL Rupper's.


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## cougarkid (Dec 15, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Well, it is 21 months later and it has been a crazy last year.  Sorry for no updates.

Took a 5% pay cut in January and another 10% cut in July, but at least I still have a job!
Sold the Kia, so no more car payments.

Got the last 2 boys finished up with schooling, but got behind on the house in the process.

On December 4th, we became another statistic in the recession of 2009.  House was forclosed and sold.

We have been selling/moving for the past month.
Got a warehouse/office space to get things sorted/sold/finished and gone.
Now living in the RV, parked beside the warehouse.  Under our 2 year mark, but not the way we wanted to get there.

The front furnace has a burner (Co2) leak and the water heater is leaking!  So, low on heat and no water in the RV.

Of course, it has been in the teens here for the past 2 weeks.  Got down to 12 degress last night with a 15 mph wind.
Space heater up front and the rear furnace ran almost non-stop all night.  Still chilly inside.

What a way to start out!

Mike


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## Triple E (Dec 15, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Well as long as you still have each other not all is bad. Wouldn't it be nice if your plan would go as wanted.  The way this country is going I will not make any plans until the Lame Duck is out of office.  I wish you the best of luck.  Have a Merry Christmas.      


 :8ball:


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## C Nash (Dec 15, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Sorry to hear of your troubles Mike and Carla but a lot of folks are in the same and worse shape.  We are retired but the prices of everything going up has really hurt as far as rving.  Looks like we will be sitting at the home base for now. keep us posted


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## cougarkid (Dec 16, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Trust me, I am VERY happy to still have a job.  Less pay is better than no pay at all.
Whole company (45 employees) has taken cuts.  Owners have taken the biggest cuts.

Still have my benefits (very good Health/Dental/Vision Insurance).
Carla had double by-pass surgery on September 2 of this year.  Wasn't feeling good, went to doctor, then cardiologist, then hospital next morning for surgery.  My out-of-pocket cost was $525.00.  

Letting the house go back was our decision - not worh throwing good money after bad just to sell it in 6 months.
Sorry for the "screw it" mentality, but I/we don't qualify for any kind of assistance/bail-out stuff.
Going to get all my bills payed off and be ready for the impending deepening recession.

Heat and water are fixes I can do - just need time and a bit warmer temps.  I like fixing things!

We have a warm place to stay with running and hot water. 

All is good!

Mike

It will all work out


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## SnowbirdInFlight (Dec 16, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life



Mike sorry for your problems, but you are right, you've got a place to stay and the one you love with you and that is all that counts!

We had planned on taking off in November but we've had some truck trouble and are still stuck here in the cold. We are hoping maybe by January we can go at least a little farther south to warm up.  

Janeen


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## cougarkid (Dec 16, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Should have said this before...........

I am NOT complaining.

This just pushed us out ahead of schedule.  Really, it is a good thing!


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## frednjeri (Dec 16, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

My husband and I would love to hear about your selling it all. We are in the same boat. Would like input on Florida places to stay. Or maybe Texas; if its safe now. Anyone with any input. We are living in our rv at this time. Made it a  whole year. I'm very excited about snowbirding. Please, we welcome any input.
Thank you,
jeri robinson


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## TexasClodhopper (Dec 16, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Jeri, who told you Texas wasn't "safe?"  :laugh:  Come on down! I heard there's still a little room down near Johnson City.

Hey, Mike and Carla, we're all in the same sinking boat. We might as well talk to each other about it.


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## DL Rupper (Dec 17, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

We just recently went the other way.  After 15 years of full-timing I (not wifey) burned out on moving down the road.  It seems we have been just about everywhere about 6 times over.  The thrill was gone and Icouldn't keep the old RV maintained the way I wanted.  We sold ALL the RV stuff,including the truck, and settled down in the Condo we bought last March.  I guess subconsciously I could see it coming.

Another factored in our decision is the high cost of RV parks now.  It's hard if you are moving frequently to keeps nightly costs under $30.  Passport America helps, but most of the PA parks are only good for 1-3 days and not on the weekends.  

I Would go absolutely nuts if I had to stay in 1 place in the RV, so with the way the economy is going we decided to get back in a low maintenance Condo before the economy totally tanks and our taxes get TOO high.

Luckily we have our pension as long as the Government doesn't go bankrupt.


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## TexasClodhopper (Dec 17, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Uh .... PS. The government (US) is already bankrupt.


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## Triple E (Dec 18, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life



> DL Rupper - 12/17/2009  5:30 AM
> 
> We just recently went the other way.  After 15 years of full-timing I (not wifey) burned out on moving down the road.  It seems we have been just about everywhere about 6 times over.  The thrill was gone and Icouldn't keep the old RV maintained the way I wanted.  We sold ALL the RV stuff,including the truck, and settled down in the Condo we bought last March.  I guess subconsciously I could see it coming.
> 
> ...



DL, Was it worth it and would you do it all over again?



 :8ball:


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## DL Rupper (Dec 19, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Hey Triple E, It was more than worth it.  We would do it all over again in a heart beat.  It was one heck of an adventure.  If you can do it, go for it.

I just got burned out and I could no longer take care of the RV like I wanted to.  I will say that we never got bored because we kept moving on down the road.  We might stay here or there for a month at a time, but no long term stays.  The longest we stayed anywhere was when we were campground hosts at Capitol Reef Natl Park.  We stayed there for 3 mos and it was fun, but we decided it was a one time thing for us.


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## cougarkid (Dec 23, 2009)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

We had a 3-day "Everything Goes" sale December 11, 12 and 13.
Went really well - we cleared over $2000.00 in sales - but it looks like nothing is gone.

Kids (5 out of 6) were here over the weekend and took some more stuff.  Still looks like nothing is gone.

We rented a 16' x 40' storage room and are stuffing it now.  Will continue selling as we can.
Maybe we will have better luck come spring.

Replaced the water heater tank and the pipe connections at it.  The drain plug spot had a "hot stick" in it.  Original electric element went bad at some point and they didn't bother to fix it - just wired in a hot stick.  New tank, element, presure relief and drain plug.  I now have a back-up hot stick.  Running and hot water now in the RV.

Mike


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## cougarkid (Jan 3, 2010)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Well,

We finally got everything we wanted out of the house, sold what we could and gave a bunch away.  Still stuff left, but nothing we want.

RV is set up for winter, parked next to and plugged into a warehouse we rented.  Insulation and partial skirting installed.

Still aranging stuuf, but getting there!

Mike and Carla


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## frederick (Aug 27, 2010)

RE: Selling it ALL for a new life

Hi
  We've been thinking about selling our house and renting a small
one with RV space for our 31ft. Flair  and take a few short trips. 
  Don't have room to park it here unless I cut down a few trees and 
drive 70 ft. over the front lawn and stumps to get to the back yard.  
Might be a few deep ruts in the winter time if I did that.
  Now days, it's hard to maintain a house on a limited income.  Renting 
a house here in the Tri-Cities is expensive.  The Boise area, where we 
lived for 3 yrs, is very affordable but too far away from daughters in 
Seattle area. 
  If this country goes into the craper any further, and I think it may, 
then I wouldn't be able to even sell my house.  Right now, homes
under 160,000 (like mine) sell fast compared to the rest of the country.
  Of course if money was no object, making smart choices would be easy.
Best wishes to eveyone.

Fred Rubio from Pasco, Wa.


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## thomasamski (Aug 27, 2010)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Good for you! I just retired this week and next week we're going on the road for a month to two months. It's just me, wifie and a dog. The outrcome of that trip will most likely help us make a decision when it's time to full time it.


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## Angie (Aug 31, 2010)

RE: Selling it ALL for a new life

I say go for it!  "All you need is love" as the song goes. If you get burned out like some of these folks, you can always settle down in a condo or a house in the future.


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## Ryan41 (Sep 1, 2010)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

that is the best plan, try it out for a few months to see if you can last a long period of time before deciding if you want to do it full time.
hope it goes to plan and Happy Retirement


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## big bilko (Sep 1, 2010)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

OH BOY    :disapprove:


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## agravegal (Sep 1, 2010)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

Count us in the full timers, but not moving about the country column.  In fact, we don't even have anything that will pull our fifth wheel - although I have suggested a hitch on the roof of the Accord.  With the price of camper spaces, even if we were traveling full timers, we would stay at least a month in each spot.  

Our next duty station might be more than 3 years, and we are considering purchasing a small piece of land - at least an acre - to park on.  Anyone ever done that?

So far (almost a year) we are enjoying the micro-mansion.  Living large in small spaces!


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## Kirk (Sep 1, 2010)

Re: Selling it ALL for a new life

We have been fulltimers now since April of 2000 and what a grand experience it has been! We don't travel constantly but spend one to four months in an area, doing resident RV volunteer positions to stay active and involved and to learn new things. We start our next experience at Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery, tomorrow. We have been here now for two days and start training to do tours and such in the morning. We will also get the chance to experience the process of rearing rainbow and brown trout! 

It has been a wonderful ten years and we get excited as we look to each new adventure!


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