Got that Fulltiming Bug

[Rogerwilson]

So we just returned home to Oregon after travelling across this great Country of ours for 4 months. Traded in our Jayco and bought a 2015 3611RL in Florida. Man oh man. Its bigger than my studio Apt. I had in college. Here's the problem. We rent an older home from our parents. Nice neighbors and a great City. We've camped (RV) for years and always loved coming home to plan the next trip. Here's our problem. We're now bummed and somewhat depressed feeling the loss of the freedom we felt (living) in our RV. We asked ourselves, can we full time? We're young being 51 yrs old to be retired but I was medically retired from Law Enforcement after 27 years due to an incident I wish never occurred. We're financially stable in that we owe no credit cards and just have to pay on this new rolling Apt. we have.

Ok ya'll fulltimers, how do we take that step forward into fulltiming. I can read all the books in world but I'll be asleep soon. We do not want to sell all our belongings in the event a year or so down the road we decide to go back to a house but what do you keep in storage and what do you sell?

Guys, what do we do with all of our tools and toys in the garage?

Thanks for any advice if ya'll have any but I have weeds in the backyard I need to go pull now

[bigskyjimmy]

Me and My wife retired early as well,we sold our house and a lot of things in it BUT there is no way around it for us we had to get a storage space close to where we hunker down for the Winter by family here in the NW (like you) for like you said tools for me and my wife saved a lot of stuff that was not replaceable and winter clothes,summer clothes,generators etc.. that would be dead weight on the road in the summer when we travel, as far as mail and a "permanent" address we use a trusted family member and she will mail it anyplace we want via USPS general Delivery in a town we are in, but we do not get much mail because we pay all bills Online that's why you HAVE to have good Secure internet (Verizon Jetpack) it has been a Great life for us for 4 years now and as long as my health holds up we will Keep on truck'in

[1retired06]

We sold the house, put selected stuff in climate controlled storage. Six years later when we came off the road, much of the furniture did not go with the house we had built anyway. Set up banking and bills so everything can be done online. For legal reasons select a state residency, we picked South Dakota and used a commercial mail forwarding service. Figure out a medical and dental plan which is transportable with your travels. Have a plan in the event for any reason you must come off the road. Those are the key things to consider.

[bigskyjimmy]

Yep forgot about Medical like 1retired06 said for sure have a PPO like us so we can be covered at any Hospital/clinic around the country

[halfwright]

I had tools that I had earned a living with at various times since 1963. But, they did not love me. It is the memory triggers associated with "stuff" that makes the "stuff" dear to us. If you have doubts about being able to full time, store as much of it as you can. Then, after a period of time that you have set, 6 months or a year, passes, go back and look at it. You will be amazed at your attitude change. What was dear 6 months ago, you will see as a weight around your neck.
I kept enough tools to be able to work on our trailer, clothes and camera equipment. All else was given away or sold. My wife kept a couple of collections (stamps and postcards and pictures of her family), clothes and some expensive kitchen equipment.
If you don't go full time, what will you be doing in the meantime?? Almost anything beats sitting around waiting to die.

[Virginia Young]

When we sold our house, we put furniture and everything we couldn't part with in a 10x20 storage unit. Tools went to my Dad's shop and photos in his spare bedroom closet. After a year, we gave all the furniture away, hauled several truck loads to Goodwill, and downsized to a 5x10 climate controlled storage unit. It's amazing how much stuff you are prepared to part with after a year. Honestly, if somebody wiped out our storage building, I probably wouldn't be too terrible upset - except for my trophy saddle. That's the one thing that couldn't be replaced. After another year, we might just go thru it again and haul some more stuff off.

I love the freedom of full-time RVing waaaay more than I love the "stuff."

[DonandBonnie]

We were fortunate enough to have kids that were in need of some furniture. Most of our stuff went to them on temporary long term loan, meaning that Don doesn't want it back but Bonnie wants the comfort of knowing where it is if she changes her mind. We've been full timing for almost three years now with no thoughts of either of us changing our minds. The little bit of stuff that we can't part with, but don't need to be hauling around with us is in storage at one of the kids.

If you are questioning whether full timing is for you, if you can afford it, put your house in mothballs for a year and hit the road. At the end of the year you can decide which lifestyle is best for you. Bonnie fought full timing for many years but after we started and she determined that a full house cleaning took about 20 minutes, there was no turning back.

[DQDick]

We sold the stuff we didn't give to the kids and then built an RV home base so that we can visit the Grandkids in the summer and travel the rest of the time. Put in hookups for 2 RV's, and added two large wooden sheds. One is my wife's and has her art studio and in the attic all the stuff we couldn't part with and the other shed has my tools etc.

[JandC]

When we "sold out" and went full time there were some pieces of furniture the DW didn't think she could part with, plus some tools I knew I couldn't part with. Ended up with a 10x30 rented storage shed plus a 24' enclosed trailer. We downsized most of that after a year or so but still paid for rented storage.

We also planned on staying full time for at least 5 years and possibly even more like 10. Ended up finding a house in Florida we really liked so now we are moving to more of a part time RVing status. But the furniture we got rid of wouldn't have worked in our new house in Florida anyway, so no loss there. As the years pass rented storage fees can mount up if you are paying $1400 a year or more.

We kept a local address by using our son's address for our new mailing address when full time. There were several reasons at the time why I didn't want to become a resident of another state, and/or use a mail service. Being a retired LEO I wanted to return to my department and qualify each year for my carry sticker, plus my health insurance is still tied to my retirement package. My son didn't mind having our mail sent to his house and we would set him up with large stamped envelopes that he could simply address to us where ever we where to get us our mail. But of course we went paperless on everything so it is rare that we get any first class important mail anyway.

Good luck Roger with your decision. We don't regret doing the full time life style for one second and could even go back to it someday.

[Bigboomer]

Roger and Kim,

All I can say is GO FOR IT!

I am 53 and Sue is 29....and after 35 years in construction as a Sr. PM I had enough and retired last December 31st.

We sold everything lock, stock and barrel August 2012 and have never looked back and LOVE fulltiming.

We love the freedom and excitement of being able to see all the great places this Great Nation has to offer.

We too have no debt which to us is the key and depending on ones own lifestyle you can live as frugal or as extravagant as you like. As my wife always says, GOD has given us food, clothing and shelter and the rest is up to us!

We wish you all the best no matter what you choose!

Safe travels,

Les and Sue

[Rogerwilson]

Thanks for everyone's impute. We've decided its a go hopefully by this winter. We moved to Oregon to help my wife's parents and will make this our home. We live in their rental and just can't justify spending money on rent when we're gone 4-5 months in the winter. Oregon also reached out and spanked us tax wise this year. We have no sales tax in our state but the Govt. always gets their money. Hopefully travelling to South Dakota this Sept. to switch everything over. Not sure if we will go with the Escapees or America's Mailbox to register as residents. I know we're looking forward to the since of freedom. Shoot, just sold a bunch of garage items yesterday on FB. Its something when you really look at how much junk we just keep around for a rainy day. Well, the rain isn't coming. Thanks again everyone.

[PackerFan]

We have a PO Box at a UPS Store and that is our residence for mail, drivers license, etc. and they will forward our mail to us anywhere in the country (for a small fee). This works great for us, you might check it out too!

[mazboy]

we are SD residents and use http://mydakotaaddress.com/. they are great for everything.

just do it, that is all you have to do. the south is calling you....tucson, phoenix, yuma, florida, mexico....whatever you want is out there.

[Rogerwilson]

I looked into the difference in costs by relocating our home address to South Dakota. Right now, we're in a 9% tax bracket for the State of Oregon. As many of us know, South Dakota does not have state income tax. Registration for our vehicles and trailer are a bit higher in SD and vehicle insurance through Progressive is higher too in SD. We'll be looking into other insurance companies for better rates. Thanks Scott & Sue, that might be an option if we keep an Oregon address. I'll check out your link Eddie & Sandie. Not to nickel and penny it but we want to save every penny we can and if that is moving our address to SD then we will.

What other states are full timers registering their rigs in besides SD to save on state income tax and lower fees?