woodartist
Well-known member
Take pictures of anything important before tossing it. Also, you could give things to charity, get a receipt, and might have a tax deduction...depending on filing status and such...
Retirement Thread
- Thread starter ChinMusic
- Start date
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ChinMusic
Well-known member
woodartist said:
Good point!!! I should have added that I have a second pile for charity.
I must have thrown out 200+ pounds of books/notes from college. Why I had kept them this long is beyond me. It was kinda interesting looked through some of the old tests and homework. I can't believe all that chemistry, calculus, etc was actually in MY handwriting.
woodartist
Well-known member
Books and papers sure weight a lot and I miss them fulltiming. We do get library books from local libraries and sometimes at a Salvation Army or other thrift stores. I do miss the books though. Kind of like having an old friend
I always knew where to find answers. I did bring a few math books and like solving equations more than crosswords. Relaxing. Most of my college papers were destroyed by a leaking roof years ago. The rest I threw away when we went FT. As you said, it is amazing looking at the old papers and they are impressive Some of the advanced ones, I couldn't believe they were mine..............
I always knew where to find answers. I did bring a few math books and like solving equations more than crosswords. Relaxing. Most of my college papers were destroyed by a leaking roof years ago. The rest I threw away when we went FT. As you said, it is amazing looking at the old papers and they are impressive Some of the advanced ones, I couldn't believe they were mine..............
Ray D
Well-known member
Paper is the hardest part. Before I get started, my apologies to ChinMusic for hijacking his thread, over to JUNK, or ESTATE, whatever.
My previous wife, now deceased, was an accountant. Worse, she was an auditor. Accountants keep a record of everything they do, in the event it is needed in court or in conflict with the IRS. So, a year or so after her death, I went to work on those papers.
That burned up one of my shredders. I had to review every page, to make sure it wasn?t something one of her former clients might need. Then, shred, to protect them from accidental exposure in the event that I were to die, also. I built a platform and shredded into a 40 gal. can! There was a lot of paper, boxes of it, and it took a while! Got it done. Nothing remains.
Then to the memorabilia. Heaven help us! Old college papers? Yep, had those! Some of the math, I must not have learned, because I don?t understand it, today. Yes, that?s my handwriting. Means nothing to me! After half a century, I remembered little of it, and didn?t care, all that much!
Oh, did I mention birth notices. Those old notices are cute. I sent them to each, appropriate baby, now in his late 40s! The postage began to mount. It has been significant. OK, it wasn?t just baby notices, but grade cards, kindergarten drawings that once hung on the fridge, etc.
I had boxes of stuff I had gotten from aunts and uncles. I remembered receiving them! It was long ago. I had gone through some of them, gotten overwhelmed, and moved them to the garage. So, I had stuff that belonged to nieces and nephews. I sent whole boxes, at a premium price, to the appropriate whomever.
Then, I found that some of them had mixed stuff. Cousins called. ?What the H*** is this?? That means there were several offspring of brothers and sisters, cousins, in the same box. I told them it was ?Heritage.? (Make note of that word!)
But! I discovered something! You can ship a forty pound box of paper, for around $20.00, to someone else, and it?s his problem, now! Saves 2 or 3 days of work for $20.00! Did everybody get that? Niece or nephew will take care of it, in another 20 years or so. Problem solved.. Someday, that stuff will be important!
My fly-tying manuals? I hope to need them! My astronomy books, tables, etc. No way! My Asimov, my complete set of first edition Tom Clancy! Gotta be a place for those in the motorhome! Books get really tough! Stay tuned. I?ll figure it out! No, little or none of that is going in the motorhome.
Do full timers have storage? Don?t know. Maybe they?ll tell us. I don?t have a house, anymore. I sold them, and I rent. Say what you want, I am happier by far! Maintenance is the landlord?s problem. I?m a good tenant. I used to be a landlord, and was never so glad to get out of a business! I have no tenants! I pay no real estate taxes. I pay no income taxes. I barely notice April 15th, and only with a big grin, even then. April 15th, party time! Life, sometimes, is good. Still pay sales taxes.
Ray D
My previous wife, now deceased, was an accountant. Worse, she was an auditor. Accountants keep a record of everything they do, in the event it is needed in court or in conflict with the IRS. So, a year or so after her death, I went to work on those papers.
That burned up one of my shredders. I had to review every page, to make sure it wasn?t something one of her former clients might need. Then, shred, to protect them from accidental exposure in the event that I were to die, also. I built a platform and shredded into a 40 gal. can! There was a lot of paper, boxes of it, and it took a while! Got it done. Nothing remains.
Then to the memorabilia. Heaven help us! Old college papers? Yep, had those! Some of the math, I must not have learned, because I don?t understand it, today. Yes, that?s my handwriting. Means nothing to me! After half a century, I remembered little of it, and didn?t care, all that much!
Oh, did I mention birth notices. Those old notices are cute. I sent them to each, appropriate baby, now in his late 40s! The postage began to mount. It has been significant. OK, it wasn?t just baby notices, but grade cards, kindergarten drawings that once hung on the fridge, etc.
I had boxes of stuff I had gotten from aunts and uncles. I remembered receiving them! It was long ago. I had gone through some of them, gotten overwhelmed, and moved them to the garage. So, I had stuff that belonged to nieces and nephews. I sent whole boxes, at a premium price, to the appropriate whomever.
Then, I found that some of them had mixed stuff. Cousins called. ?What the H*** is this?? That means there were several offspring of brothers and sisters, cousins, in the same box. I told them it was ?Heritage.? (Make note of that word!)
But! I discovered something! You can ship a forty pound box of paper, for around $20.00, to someone else, and it?s his problem, now! Saves 2 or 3 days of work for $20.00! Did everybody get that? Niece or nephew will take care of it, in another 20 years or so. Problem solved.. Someday, that stuff will be important!
My fly-tying manuals? I hope to need them! My astronomy books, tables, etc. No way! My Asimov, my complete set of first edition Tom Clancy! Gotta be a place for those in the motorhome! Books get really tough! Stay tuned. I?ll figure it out! No, little or none of that is going in the motorhome.
Do full timers have storage? Don?t know. Maybe they?ll tell us. I don?t have a house, anymore. I sold them, and I rent. Say what you want, I am happier by far! Maintenance is the landlord?s problem. I?m a good tenant. I used to be a landlord, and was never so glad to get out of a business! I have no tenants! I pay no real estate taxes. I pay no income taxes. I barely notice April 15th, and only with a big grin, even then. April 15th, party time! Life, sometimes, is good. Still pay sales taxes.
Ray D
OP
OP
ChinMusic
Well-known member
Ray D said:
Getting rid of junk is an important part of the equation. No need to apologize.
Ditched another 200 pounds since the last post. I'm on a roll. Don't stop me now..... ;D
woodartist
Well-known member
WOW, Ray I thought I had a paper problem. Good solution and if you send paper or books you get a reduced mail rate...win/win
I reduced a lot of books because I could research everything online. That won't work for Novels though. I did give the kids some books that I liked and when we visit I can re-read them if I want. Same with videos ( remember those?) and DVD's. When we first went full time we got a storage unit. Paid on that money pit for a few years and cleaned it out. We downsized by reducing grocery items, books, paper, etc. If we can buy something at the "Evil" Wal Mart then we don't carry it with us. Books come from the library. I run a business so I need to keep some paper items/tools/ and supplies.
Books are a problem to move around in an RV...in my opinion. Except a few math books
I reduced a lot of books because I could research everything online. That won't work for Novels though. I did give the kids some books that I liked and when we visit I can re-read them if I want. Same with videos ( remember those?) and DVD's. When we first went full time we got a storage unit. Paid on that money pit for a few years and cleaned it out. We downsized by reducing grocery items, books, paper, etc. If we can buy something at the "Evil" Wal Mart then we don't carry it with us. Books come from the library. I run a business so I need to keep some paper items/tools/ and supplies.
Books are a problem to move around in an RV...in my opinion. Except a few math books
Smoky
Well-known member
Ray:
I agree. Paper is the hardest part. And it weighs a ton.
On the financial side, we rely heavily on the Internet. We have gone to paperless billing on everything.
On books, that is so difficult. I have tried very hard to use the Internet, even for fishing. The Internet can do a great job of showing you how to tie knots for fishing. But I have yet to find a good Internet spot for fly tying. We do get rid of books more quickly after we buy them. Kind of wasteful. I save some golf and fishing and ham radio books for reference, but I no longer save any magazines. We do not save novels either, but give them away when we are finished. Or trade them in for other used ones at our winter park in Arizona.
We keep telling ourselves the rewards of fulltiming are much greater than the sacrifices of material things. tomorrow I will believe this as we tour Glacier Park for the second time in as many years. ;D
As for storage, we have 3 key spots where we do store things. Our shed on our RV lot in Arizona, at our son's house in Maryland in a Wells Fargo trailer, and in my sister-in-law's garage here in Montana. The trick is getting the right stuff to the right location.
I agree. Paper is the hardest part. And it weighs a ton.
On the financial side, we rely heavily on the Internet. We have gone to paperless billing on everything.
On books, that is so difficult. I have tried very hard to use the Internet, even for fishing. The Internet can do a great job of showing you how to tie knots for fishing. But I have yet to find a good Internet spot for fly tying. We do get rid of books more quickly after we buy them. Kind of wasteful. I save some golf and fishing and ham radio books for reference, but I no longer save any magazines. We do not save novels either, but give them away when we are finished. Or trade them in for other used ones at our winter park in Arizona.
We keep telling ourselves the rewards of fulltiming are much greater than the sacrifices of material things. tomorrow I will believe this as we tour Glacier Park for the second time in as many years. ;D
As for storage, we have 3 key spots where we do store things. Our shed on our RV lot in Arizona, at our son's house in Maryland in a Wells Fargo trailer, and in my sister-in-law's garage here in Montana. The trick is getting the right stuff to the right location.
Smoky
Well-known member
Ack!
Aye Jeff the storage system is not perfect.
Yesterday Jeff and I went to Home Depot in Kalispell to pick up a contractor hose to attach to the end of my macerator hose. I was 15 feet short of the sceptic cap. On the way back to the register I checked the tool section as I wanted a second battery for my Ryobi tools. I cut firewood into half size length to feed into my Campfire in a Can and was getting tired of waiting to charge the battery. I had left my second Ryobi battery in storage in Arizona, thinking I could get by with one while on the road.
Well there were plenty of batteries for sale, but the new HD marketing scheme is to only sell them in packages of 2. This meant if I bought the package I would end up with 4 of them when we got back to Arizona.
Hmmm. I finally decided not to fall for this scam, and so we will continue onward, willing to wait sometimes for a battery recharge as we do our chores!
Soooo... I guess having storage caches around the U.S. is not a perfect system, but it helps! Heheh.
Aye Jeff the storage system is not perfect.
Yesterday Jeff and I went to Home Depot in Kalispell to pick up a contractor hose to attach to the end of my macerator hose. I was 15 feet short of the sceptic cap. On the way back to the register I checked the tool section as I wanted a second battery for my Ryobi tools. I cut firewood into half size length to feed into my Campfire in a Can and was getting tired of waiting to charge the battery. I had left my second Ryobi battery in storage in Arizona, thinking I could get by with one while on the road.
Well there were plenty of batteries for sale, but the new HD marketing scheme is to only sell them in packages of 2. This meant if I bought the package I would end up with 4 of them when we got back to Arizona.
Hmmm. I finally decided not to fall for this scam, and so we will continue onward, willing to wait sometimes for a battery recharge as we do our chores!
Soooo... I guess having storage caches around the U.S. is not a perfect system, but it helps! Heheh.
