Where to start? - Montana Owners Club

Wagonmaster · 07-29-2005, 03:52 PM

We are still about 6mns away from trying full timing. The oldest son is going to buy the stone house (hopeful) that will save us from getting rid of a bunch of stuff. But I walk into my work shop and look at all the tools I have gathered over the years and I wonder what should I take with me. Same way with clothes what to take? I know with limited space, you have to slective, so we will have to play it by ear. Any suggestions will be welcome. Thanks for reading Jack & Janet & Koko....

Parrothead · 07-29-2005, 04:18 PM

Wagonmaster
Do a search on tools. We had a long thread going several months ago with a lot of great suggestions. I think clothes were in there also.
Happy trails..........................

sreigle · 07-29-2005, 06:03 PM

We have enough clothes with us to get us through all four seasons and for a week or a little more between laundry cycles. The out of season clothes are in spacebags under the bed except one bag in the basement. The spacebags are those bags you use a vacuum to suck the air out, compressing the bags to take less space.

I have basic tools in the truck's toolbox but sold off all the power tools (you could store them) except the electric drill and a dremel. I ended up buying a sabre saw.

Glenn and Lorraine · 07-30-2005, 04:37 AM

Clothes much like Steve described.
As far as tools..
2 tool boxes full of hand tools, one in the trailer and one in the truck. Yes it is a duplication and I will be getting rid of one box probably at the yard sale this Sept at Pla-Mor
7 1/4" circular saw, only used it twice.
Jig saw, used maybe 1/2 dozen times
Reciprocating saw, used just a few times
Dremel type tool, used occasionally
Cordless drill, almost like my right arm. Would not want to be without a cordless drill.
Corded 1/2" Variable speed Hammer drill, Never used, it came with a tool box I bought at a garage sale
Volt/OHM meter, used many many times

patodonn · 07-30-2005, 10:00 AM

Tools: Basic hand tools.. A small hammer in addition to the "standard" sized one. I have a corded drill and a rechargeable one. Get a socket (19mm) which fits the drill for the rear stabilizers. I keep the drill already set up in a rear compt for just that function. Digital ohm/volt meter, not the older "scaled" one. A small mirror on an extension.

Clothing: Pretty much like Steve. Space bags for the off season storage. You will need less and use less than you think you "absolutely must take" when you start out, e.g., right now, I have way too many tee shirts. They just seem to multiply after each stop.

We do laundry every 3 or 4 days. We do a "review" of clothing used vs clothing carried about every 4 months or so. That has resulted in a lot of charitable contributions charities along the way.

You will need a dress shirt, one or two ties, a sport coat or blazer and a pair of dress shoes for those unexpected formal occasions...Niece Suzi's wedding, Nephew Tommy's baptism, that sort of thing.

A search of the Forum will show lots of suggestions.

Best,

vickir · 07-30-2005, 10:33 AM

I had a real problem trying to anticipate what we might need in the way of clothing. Like PJ said, you'll use a lot less than you may think. In my "other life" I wouldn't dream of wearing an outfit twice in the same week. Now I may wear the same thing two or three times and not think anything of it ... as long as it's clean! At any rate, I packed way too many clothes for us and, like PJ and Nancy, we've given away a lot of unneeded clothing. The only things we have a lot of is underwear (TMI?) ... mostly for those times we can't do laundry for a few extra days.

Since you'll probably need clothing for all seasons, the key thing to remember is layering for winter (helps in avoiding bringing along too many bulky items). "Mix-and-match" is a good practice for all seasons.

By the end of your first year, you'll have a good feel for what you need and don't need ... and I can pretty much guarantee you'll be "off-loading" clothing and other items.

stiles watson · 07-30-2005, 11:27 AM

The trip to Honk Kong has been a blessing as far as making a transition: first, because it has truncated the time frame in which the transition must be accomplished and second, because living in a Hong Kong apartment is about the same as living in an RV. Space is at a premium.

We handled the selection this way. We are having an estate sale. Professionals come in and price everything in your house and then display it for the sale. It is advertised and the sale is held over about three days. The estate liquidators make agreed upon disposition of whatever is not sold, i.e., storage or charity. They clean the place up give you your 70% of the take and they are gone. Whatever you want to keep, is put into one room in the house, disposed of before they come, or stored.

The estate liquidators said, "Don't throw away anything,. Someone will want it and even if you don't get but a dollar for it, it is a dollar more than you would have otherwise.

They sell everything including nuts and bolts, nails, paint, and containers of chemicals, i.e., fertilizers, insecticides, etc. They also clean out your attic and sell the stuff you haven't seen for 20 years. They sell books, clothes and computer equipment. We also included our antiques. Their statement is that the return is maximized because most buying at an estate is emotional, therefore, people pay more (and later wonder why they bought it) than at a garage sale.

We determined what we were going to take to Hong Hong, loaded up our Montana with all that we felt was important, sold off goods we could easily sell, had the kids come by and load up a few things, gave some things to charitable organizations, and walked out on the rest for them to sell.

The end.

vickir · 07-31-2005, 07:19 AM

Stiles ... That is pretty much what we did. The only thing we did differently was have the auction company pick up all of our stuff and hold the auction at their facility.

It's so difficult sorting through 30+ years of accumulation to decide what to keep and what to sell/give away. Not having to deal with selling it as well eliminates a great deal of stress. My goal in life is to take the path of least aggravation whenever possible. Using an auction service was definitely a lot less aggravating than holding heaven knows how many garage sales and then having to deal with whatever stuff didn't sell.

Some people love holding garage sales (we had one neighbor who had them on a regular basis). I, for one, do not ... I held one every 10 years and whined about it for weeks before and after the event! So we may not have made as much money going the auction route, but we didn't have to give up entire days to sit in the garage and haggle with strangers over a $1.00 garden trowel. (Not to mention that February and early March are not exactly ideal months to hold garage sales in NE Kansas!)

It's all personal preference, of course, but if you want to make a "clean break" with all your stuff and move on to the next chapter in your life ... that would be full-timing ... then I would highly recommend using an auction service.

Oh and by the way ... congrats on your soon-to-be full-timing adventure!

snowbunny · 08-01-2005, 07:06 AM

We are a bit further away from leaving (about two years) and have been trying to decide how to handle the downsizing. Both of us are packrats, Diane with clothes and decorations, me with tools, books and gadgets. One of our scenarios includes getting rid of all we can part with, putting what we think we need in the Montana and putting the rest in storage.

One of our problems is that we have lots of 'antiques' (or old stuff as the case may be) and with no kids; a brother who lives in Thailand and a sister living in Africa, there is no one to cherish the precious things that our families have passed down over the generations. I know it will eventually be necessary to part with most of it as it will not fit into a 10' x 10' room in the Sunnyside Nursing Home that is somewhere down the road in our future, but at least the storage option will give us some wiggle room for a while.

Good luck!

Parrothead · 08-01-2005, 07:41 PM

Jim and Diane
Since you have no children to pass on the antiques, would you consider adopting me? LOL Don't - I have enough to worry about as I'm now an only child of an only child. But my thought was, if you are going to eventually depart with the family heirlooms anyway why not do it now and enjoy the fruits while you travel. At least you are not going to have the "feuding" that happens in a lot of families. I have 4 daughters so I have a lot of places for the family heirlooms to go but I love old things and the history and stories behind them. Like the clock my great grandmother bought the day my Dad was born - she was at an auction and wasn't there with my grandmother for the birthing!!
Happy trails.....................

adelmoll · 08-02-2005, 04:50 AM

We also had an "Estate Sale" but our company only charged 25%. We had the kids and grandkids take everything they wanted and some things they didn't want but we insisted on, then filled the Montana with what was needed. We put all of our pictures on CD's and got rid of the big albums and tossed whatever the kids didn't want. Bill and I were each allowed a shoe box of things that were not necessary. (Mine just happened to be a boot box LOL) So far we have found out they were just things we got rid of. We will always have the memories.

Helen

sreigle · 08-02-2005, 06:07 AM

Besides the 'live estate' sale, we gave some things to charities, some to the kids (whatever they wanted), sold some to neighbors (snowblower, etc.), and the things we could not bear to part with went in the kids' basements (turnabout...). Before they offered we planned to put those irreplaceable things in climate-controlled storage in a secure indoor facility. I think that kind of facility is a very viable option. At least we felt that way.

stiles watson · 08-02-2005, 08:52 PM

I have just a couple of unnecessary things I want to keep. One is my dad's spurs. When he was a younger man, he was a cowboy and ranch foreman out in West Texas. I built a shadow box to hold them. When I find out which one of my children want grandpa's spurs, I will give it to be passed along, maybe to the one who bears his name,. then on to the namesake great grandson.

Montana_2005 · 08-03-2005, 09:17 AM

We had an auction last week... and then hauled a pick up and trailer full to the Goodwill.... Probably will still be off loading stuff for a while.. would you believe KEVIN is the one who kept more clothes??? course, I am hoping that he will pare it down even further when he no longer needs all those white T's under his ballistic vest at the end of the month.
We stored the antiques and heirlooms that we couldn't bear to part with in a storage facility... We will probably move them sooner or later to one near his sister in Ohio. None of our kids are at a place yet where they want or can appreciate the things that have been in our family for years. It was a little wierd selling off all the things that we had accumulated, but the overwhelming thought was "How on earth did we get so much crap in this house in only 5 years??!!" sure it was 4 floors and a garage and potting shed, but sheesh!!!
If we ever own a stick house again, (and I have no current plans for one) it will be SMALL, all on one level, and it will not be FULL.

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