Starting the Process...

We have begun the  long process of getting rid of everything, we will never go 100% full time because of our family, but I am hoping that within 2-years we are a minimum of 50% timers... for 2-3 years at least.

My first step was to order a 20-yard dumpster to begin throwing away or getting ready to yard sale, or donate everything in my shop and storage shed. So far I've filled half the dumpster with just plain old junk, debris, and broken car parts from years of tinkering.

By the end of September I will be free of all the junk I've accumulated over the last 40 years in my shop and storage shed. With every load out to the dumpster I feel closer to my goal. It is really liberating to rid one's self of a lifetime of junk.

Step two will follow this coming spring when we have our moving sale. We're selling this house and downsizing significantly. We built this house when we had a growing family, it now needs another growing family. Too much work in this house and property for me. We're going sell this place and build a much smaller house with a HUGE shop for indoor RV storage. 1,500 sq ft home, with a 5,000 sq ft shop.

It is fun to begin something with an end goal of something fun.

We did the same thing three years ago, and you are correct, it is indeed very liberating to be rid of stuff that we found we really did not need. Three yard sales, six months selling on Ebay, and giving much away. Our only hiccup was our house did not sell, however our son was happy to rent it long term. Now we must be careful we don't start gathering stuff again. Nice to be able to go where we want when we want. Next destination Moab, UT in Oct.

Becks said:

We did the same thing three years ago, and you are correct, it is indeed very liberating to be rid of stuff that we found we really did not need. Three yard sales, six months selling on Ebay, and giving much away. Our only hiccup was our house did not sell, however our son was happy to rent it long term. Now we must be careful we don't start gathering stuff again. Nice to be able to go where we want when we want. Next destination Moab, UT in Oct.

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We're hopeful on the house selling, houses don't seem to stay long on the market around here. In the last few months anyway the market has picked up a bit, and they are building in our area too. We'll see when we're ready to sell what the market holds for us.

We'll see you/meet you in Moab. I am looking forward to it, we're not going anywhere until then.

I ran an ad on Facebook for free Jeep parts (1974-1979) and after about three hours I've gotten rid of everything except an Inline 6, 4.0L engine. The property is looking good better.

I am 90% complete in getting ready to sell our residential rental property. Renters are just too unwilling to keep up the property so we decided to sell it. Hopefully we'll price it right and it'll sell quickly.

The dealership where I am looking at a diesel coach has dropped the price on the 2014 by 40k, so they are looking like they are anxious to sell. I'll be calling them today.

Our first grandson was born this week, so I it is going to be like pulling teeth to get my wife away from Las Vegas for very long periods at a time. But with our travel plans over the next year we'll be on the road for about 8-10 weeks. This will be our longest stretch ever, and a step in the right direction.

My Part Timing quest continues. A Part Timer to me is those who stay out 6 months+ per year...one day I hope to be a part timer.

We've been part-timers for 15 years, John. Works for us! We love our motorhome and we love our Florida home base too.

I hope we can be called "parttymers" too!    We will never sell the s & b, because Becky loves her students. (she gives private musical instrument lessons in our home). But we try to be out for 3 months in one trip each year, and then several mini-trips of a week or so.

Good luck Mike,

Stan

How exciting! I wish you the best of luck!

Ibbygirl said:

How exciting! I wish you the best of luck!

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Thank you, with each little baby step the day gets closer. 

We had a giant garage sale last weekend. In the process also donated lots of stuff and some stuff was just garbage that went to the dump. All closets and the garage have empty shelves. We are hosting a few events for the holidays and then the house is getting listed in January.

We have to work until the end of 2016, so we need to stay in the area.  We keep debating about moving to a smaller place to rent until ready to go on the road (apartment, townhouse, small house). Or buying the motorhome now and parking it and living in it. We like the idea of learning all about the RV and probably saving a lot of money, but not sure yet as our 2 college sons visit frequently.

Good luck with your downsizing.

We went through the process you did John in 08'. Except our place which I thought would take months to sell (right at the beginning of the recession) sold in 3 weeks, and then the buyer wanted a 3 week escrow!  So we had 3 weeks once we got the final OK from the bank to sell everything, or give it away. Moved into the MH for the last 3 months while waiting for the DW's retirement date. 

On July 7th 08' we went jacks up and never looked back! It was an awesome feeling!

SargeW said:

We went through the process you did John in 08'. Except our place which I thought would take months to sell (right at the beginning of the recession) sold in 3 weeks, and then the buyer wanted a 3 week escrow!  So we had 3 weeks once we got the final OK from the bank to sell everything, or give it away. Moved into the MH for the last 3 months while waiting for the DW's retirement date. 

On July 7th 08' we went jacks up and never looked back! It was an awesome feeling!

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I am really looking forward to liberating feeling of only owning what fits in the CCC of my (next) motor home. In the last few weeks I filled a dumpster full of junk, I invited a local day laborer over with his pick up and we loaded umpteen loads of old jeep parts (sheet metal), and miscellaneous metals in his truck. He was one happy immigrant. I gave away an entire drive train to a Jeep CJ last week too. The way I figure it if I haven't touched it since I moved into this house in 1999, then I can probably give it away or Craig's List it.

we are also getting ready to go out as part timers, we are on the 2-4 year plan. this winter we will be down sizing as much as possible, today we went through the Christmas "stuff" and have it on the face book for anyone who wants it.
it is absolutely amazing all the "stuff"  we acquire over the years.
look forward to seeing you on the road!!

I think this is also good for your mental health.

I had a neighbor that died last year. They had a hard time walking through his house and finding him. He just sat in his chair and piles of "stuff" just piled up around him. In another story, a husband found his wife dead inside one of their rooms piled high with stuff that she just crawled under and then past away.

I think that a person's ability to have goals, to organize and plan, and reduce their "stuff," whether they rv or not, is actually very healthy.

I plan to keep my house at it is ideally located. If you are planning on buying a diesel pusher, it sounds like the Jayco Seneca came off your list. 

Craig's list was ideal for getting rid of stuff.  I listed a small air compressor one night for $20. It was almost new. A guy called and rushed over at about 8 PM to get it.  By the time he left an hour later, his car was overflowing with stuff! 

SMR said:

it is absolutely amazing all the "stuff"  we acquire over the years.
look forward to seeing you on the road!!

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I am amazed at all of the pure junk that I collected.

Dream Chasers said:

We had a giant garage sale last weekend. In the process also donated lots of stuff and some stuff was just garbage that went to the dump. All closets and the garage have empty shelves. We are hosting a few events for the holidays and then the house is getting listed in January.

We have to work until the end of 2016, so we need to stay in the area.  We keep debating about moving to a smaller place to rent until ready to go on the road (apartment, townhouse, small house). Or buying the motorhome now and parking it and living in it. We like the idea of learning all about the RV and probably saving a lot of money, but not sure yet as our 2 college sons visit frequently.

Good luck with your downsizing.

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SargeW said:

We went through the process you did John in 08'. Except our place which I thought would take months to sell (right at the beginning of the recession) sold in 3 weeks, and then the buyer wanted a 3 week escrow!  So we had 3 weeks once we got the final OK from the bank to sell everything, or give it away. Moved into the MH for the last 3 months while waiting for the DW's retirement date. 

On July 7th 08' we went jacks up and never looked back! It was an awesome feeling!

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That is so great!  I admire you for what you're doing. I hope some day to be able to do the same thing.  I live in a townhouse and even as small as it is I still can't believe how much stuff I have after living here for almost 18 years.  I want to downsize as much as I can and have started getting rid of stuff.  I have a looooooong way to go and it feels like such a daunting task, but I think I will be much happier after. I think keeping my house clean will be easier too.  For a few years now I have just been wanting so much to live a simpler life in the hope of trying to find some peace of mind and the more I lean towards that goal the more I want to just be completely free of everything except what is most important to me which is my family.  We don't own an rv yet, but I hope we will get one in a few years' time. I'd love to be completely free and un-tethered to anything and to be able to just go and see the country and have my family with me and my home would be wherever we are.  That sounds so liberating and I think it would be great for my soul.  For now to get ready I want to sell what I don't use. I've already downsized my wardrobe to where it would fit in an rv wardrobe closet and am about to do the same for the rest of my things.  I told my husband that my goal is to be able to fit into just the downstairs area of our home. If we can live in that space, I know we could live in an rv.  I just have SO MUCH stuff though.  I have to start learning how to sell on ebay and craigslist.   Seeing other people that have already done it and that are living the dream is so inspiring to me. I thank you all for sharing your stories on here. It motivates me to keep pushing forward even though the task is hard.  I hope I will see you all on the road someday.

RodgerS said:

I think this is also good for your mental health. 

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I think so too.  I think it's hard to have a peaceful quiet mind when the space you are living in is cluttered and chaotic.

The next piece of the puzzle was put in its place yesterday. We bought a 2 1/2 acre parcel of land in NW Las Vegas. The plan is to subdivide the parcel into 4- 1/2 acre lots. We are going to build a much smaller house than the one we have now, which will be sold in the next 24-36 months. I will also have a RV barn at the new place.

My two adult sons are buying two of the lots to build their homes, so Susan and I will have all of the benefits of having our grand-children grow up in the Cul-de-sac, while always having someone to watch over the property when we are traveling.

The rental home is finally on the market, so far I have fielded 127 calls from real estate agents, and no potential buyers. We are hoping for a quick sale. But if by the end of the year we have not sold the place we'll engage a real estate pro.

I am really looking forward to having a RV garage. It'll be nice to get it out of the weather whenever its parked. I get the fun of designing the garage.

I don't think that living a simpler life will help someone find peace of mind.

Without having to become religious or adopt a religion, one can study the basic principles of Buddha and find a lot of practical information that "can" lead to some peace of mind based on understanding human suffering.

On the less religious psychological side, people who were suicidal often were caught in "loops," rethinking the same thoughts over and over, unable to move away from the past.

Congrats John. 

Chrystal and I went through a declutter/sell/junk mode first quarter of 2014.  Ours was to come to grips with reality that we want to be able to retire somewhat early and we can't afford to do everything that we were involved in.  We talked as a family and came to terms with the activities that we TRULY enjoy and sold everything else.

We have been very fortunate as a family and have been involved in snowmobile hillclimbing/racing, sand drag racing, asphalt racing and general ATV/dirt bike riding.  We have now sold ALL of our racing equipment, race car, spare parts, new sand drag chassis we were building for Jared, dirt bikes and snowmobiles and kept only the Harleys and the Jeep.  I was bummed at first after all the hard work that went into our toys and the money it took to acquire them in the first place.  However, I have to say it is so liberating to not be so tied down to these money pit albatrosses.  Racing was a huge money pit and there was ALWAYS something that needed to be repaired or modified.  I hated getting out of it because I LOVED racing but it just didn't fit in to Chrystal and I's long term goals any longer.

I only have a 1200 square foot shop and it is pretty much busting at the seems with tools and equipment but all of those spare parts, engines, tires/wheels were taking up way too much valuable space.

We sold off everything, invested in a new milling machine and lathe for the shop (to replace older, smaller equipment) and paid the coach down.  We will never be able to go full-time and sell our home and shop as I love them too much but we do hope to do more traveling for leisure vs. traveling for racing.

I am happy for you and Susan and hope you are able to get out on the road more and enjoy life now that you have raised your family and worked hard.

By the way, what coach are you looking at?

Mike.

zmotorsports said:

Congrats John. 

Chrystal and I went through a declutter/sell/junk mode first quarter of 2014.  Ours was to come to grips with reality that we want to be able to retire somewhat early and we can't afford to do everything that we were involved in.  We talked as a family and came to terms with the activities that we TRULY enjoy and sold everything else.

We have been very fortunate as a family and have been involved in snowmobile hillclimbing/racing, sand drag racing, asphalt racing and general ATV/dirt bike riding.  We have now sold ALL of our racing equipment, race car, spare parts, new sand drag chassis we were building for Jared, dirt bikes and snowmobiles and kept only the Harleys and the Jeep.  I was bummed at first after all the hard work that went into our toys and the money it took to acquire them in the first place.  However, I have to say it is so liberating to not be so tied down to these money pit albatrosses.  Racing was a huge money pit and there was ALWAYS something that needed to be repaired or modified.  I hated getting out of it because I LOVED racing but it just didn't fit in to Chrystal and I's long term goals any longer.

I only have a 1200 square foot shop and it is pretty much busting at the seems with tools and equipment but all of those spare parts, engines, tires/wheels were taking up way too much valuable space.

We sold off everything, invested in a new milling machine and lathe for the shop (to replace older, smaller equipment) and paid the coach down.  We will never be able to go full-time and sell our home and shop as I love them too much but we do hope to do more traveling for leisure vs. traveling for racing.

I am happy for you and Susan and hope you are able to get out on the road more and enjoy life now that you have raised your family and worked hard.

By the way, what coach are you looking at?

Mike.

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I too have had my emotional ups and downs as I sold or gave everything away so far. I still have a ways to go, but I will say this, it feels good the more stuff I get rid of. When this house sells and we move at some point in the future, nothing but my tools, and my Jeep are coming with me.

I am considering a Jayco Seneca 37TS, the floor plan works for us very well (I love the Triple Slide), and it has a 10,000# towing capacity. It also has a washer/dryer option which I like, and we can have it built with the entertainment center over the cab area instead of a bed.