It’s not easy, but you will get through it.  We hit the road last October as full timers.  We were working on downsizing the house for two years (we were in the house for 27 years).  In the end, we didn’t get through everything we wanted to, so we stored our belongings.  Luckily, our daughter and her family are renting our house from us, so we were able to store our remaining belongings in our basement.  If we didn’t have basement storage, then we would have rented a storage unit.  

By the time we were ready to hit the road, we were exhausted and were running on fumes.  About two weeks later we started to regain our energy and the realization came that we didn’t have to do anything we didn’t want to do.  If we wanted to sit in a lawn chair sipping coffee all morning, we could do it.  We were in control.

We love the full time lifestyle and traveled throughout the Southeastern part of the country over the fall and winter months.  We went back “home” in the Spring and worked on purging more of our stuff (but not all of our stuff - will do more next year).  We are now work-camping in Minnesota for the summer and are thoroughly enjoying it - especially the new friendships that have formed.

Hang in there - the end is in sight!

Barb

 

Our philosophy was, "It's just stuff."  After family got what they wanted and the garage sales were done, most everything else got donated.  Don't miss any of it.

Terry

I think this is a very individual situation. It is so dependent on how sentimental you are and how attached you are to your "stuff". Our story follows Barb & Frank's very closely. We also went full time in October, prepared for the switch for two years, and sold the house we were in for 29 years. Throughout the two years prep, we thought very much like Terry & Jo - "it's just stuff". We were already minimalists in the house, so we didn't have a million nick-knacks and room after room packed with furniture to deal with. It still was a lot though. The toughest items for us were the family heirlooms. Since they would go to the next generation once we were gone, why not pass them along now? That's exactly what we did and everyone who got items were appreciative. With everything else, we took digital photos and scanned printed photos/documents. No bulky albums, just neatly arranged subdirectories on our laptops (and backed up on several other devices in several locations). For us, it's liberating not having a bunch of stuff.

If you just can't get rid of certain things, get a storage unit. So many full timers do. It'll cost you $$ every month, but you won't have regrets. After a couple years of them just sitting there, you might feel differently about those items and want to get rid of them at that time. Maybe not. It's your choice based on your personal feelings. Who knows, maybe you'll feel differently about full timing and want to go back to a house. In that case you'll have your stored stuff. Our solution may not be right for your situation or it may be perfect. Bottom line, as with "how to full time", it's what's right for YOU!!!

As most folks here know by now I'm not a full timer - yet. I did however have to move my mom and my step-dad from a home they had for over 10 years to a 700 sq. ft apartment. Needless to say not everything could go to the apartment. Since your children have already taken what they want you might ask other relatives if there is anything they particularly want. You've already had the garage sale but maybe a big blowout in the house garage sale might be the answer. My wife and I are starting the garage sales right now although we are 2 years down the road from going full time. We've been working on the mental aspect of this for a couple of years and I know it's not easy. However I have stuff in the attic of this house I haven't seen since we moved in here over 10 years ago. Am I really going to miss it? I don't know how I can because I don't even know I have it any more. Just my thoughts.

Terry & Jo, that's a great idea - to bless your home-buyer with some of the tools they'll certainly need. That's especially a blessing for first-time buyers.

Like Arcaguy, I'm also not full-time yet, but I recently had an auction of furniture and household items, I knew I wouldn't need. But I kept some things, like blankets, towels, and sentimental things. Then it turns out the MH I bought is equipped with linens, dishes, etc. I know I'll have to have a garage sale to further lighten the load.

It's funny, though. I had a career and moved around, and then married and moved a couple times, then divorced and moved a few times. Each time I'd get rid of things and think I had really gotten to the minimum. But I'm still not there yet! I wonder if it will ever really end.

Our community has an annual community wide yard sale on July 4th. It’s always been nuisance to us because you literally can’t get out of the neighborhood until late in the day because of all the cars. Some years it’s been, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em kind of thing. So we’d throw out a few things and make a few bucks.
Our settlement date is the 6th. Kinda close for comfort until last night when we went to the house there was a door hanger from Goodwill. They will pick up literally anything not sold after 4 on the 4th if it is simply left out! So we figure we will just have people walk through the house and make us offers on whatever they want. That will work for us! We will just have to make sure all trash is taken to the dump on the 3rd and we should be good! Fortunately Rex had taken the week off as a vacation week before we even knew the house would settle that week.
In the meantime, over the next several days we will bring anything we can’t part with to the campsite and if it doesn’t fit we have until July 31 to dump, or take it to storage.

And Ron, we won’t be making the K-Z Rally this year. We are hosting at another local campground when we leave the one we’re in. We will definitely be bumping in to you some time though!

Well just to let you all know, we did it! The community yard sale was crazy successful and Goodwill picked up early the next morning, most of what was left. We called College Hunks Hauling Junk to remove almost all of the rest, took a couple loads to the dump, all the neighbors blessed us by bringing over their yard gloves, and vacuums and mops and helped pull it together in the final 18 hours before escrow settlement!
We brought a couple truck bed loads to sort through and prioritize over the next few weeks while we are Campground Hosting and the proceeds from the house are in the bank! We are so exhausted but so happy! No more mortgage, utility bills, weed pulling or mowing! No more winterizing and paying storage on the rig! Oh, and no storage for “stuff”!
We have a bottle of champagne to celebrate with but state park has no alcohol rule so we will hold on to it for another location!
We have a rough sketch of where we think we want to be over the next year but the only thing set in stone is we won’t be where it’s freezing in winter!
And we will check in to attending the KZ next year Ron!

-- Edited by Lets get moving on Saturday 7th of July 2018 03:21:52 PM

I'm in the middle of "the purge" myself, so your posts give me encouragement.

I just sold my Aliner! Yay! Though looking back it's like I just burned my old ship so I can now travel in my new vessel.

I've done the cheap handling fix on Serenity (our name for our MH, after the Firefly series space vessel) and replaced the rear sway bar bushings (which had completely melted out of the sockets). I'm also doing more minor maintenance and repairs. I'll be replacing the fridge vent on the roof and the bubble skylight over the tub as soon as the parts come in.

I got the fantastic fan, generator, slide, step, etc. all maintained and working properly. I removed the bugs and cobwebs from the rear camera and roof vents and plan on pulling the sofa bed out Monday to be replaced with a couple recliners. I think I'll list it on letgo for $100 and see what happens. Next I will be installing my 55" TV by the entrance door on a sliding mount, sound bar, etc. I just bought a big roll of Reflectix today for a windshield cover and to make some tire covers out of.

Woow, more work than I thought, but glad I bought it early and started on it when I did, to have any hope of finishing up everything by the first of the year. I guess I'll put most of my tools up for sale too. That will be a heartbreaker, selling them for pennies on the dollar. Maybe I'll just give them away to my neighbors and get some good Karma in the process. Even more of a heartbreak will be selling the 18th century violin my dad played on the radio when he was young. It has far more sentimental than monetary value, but everything has to go, period. Even harder will be to part with my dad's memorial flag (he was a WW-II vet). I'm a vet too, so it has special meaning. 

My next project will be fixing up my little mini-bikes (2 Chinese 125cc, CT70 clones.) I got what I was asking for my Aliner, but I'll surely take a beating on these barely used motorbikes (under 100 miles on one and less than 50 on the other) as they have been sitting under my back porch and have rusted badly due to the wet Louisiana climate. Oh well, it's my fault, as I knew it was happening, just didn't have the time or the inclination to sell them till now. I guess I have to be more willing to let go of the past for the life I want in the future. I think that's a good lesson for us all. It's an expensive (valuable?) one for me to learn now.

"We all must get rid of the life we have to have the life we want."

Chip

Rex & Bonnie, congrats on accomplishing all of that. I'll bet you feel about 1,000 pounds lighter!

Chip (Sushidog), I love the name you gave your motorhome. Besides being a Firefly fan, calling your MH "Serenity" represents the state you aspire to when you make your big move. About your Dad's violin and memorial flag - are there other relatives that would hold on to them for you?

Danny and Cheryl wrote:

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I wouldn't get rid of everything, I have some friends who did that and have been full timing for a little over a Year. two weeks ago they bought a new house after fining out that the RV Life wasn't what they thought it would be.

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 Must not have been RV-Dreamers.  I find that many who do not want to get an education beforehand are the most surprised by what fulltiming is really like.  

We sold a lot of stuff, gave a lot to our kids and places like the Salvation Army.
We did not follow the advice of many about getting rid of everything and put quite a bit in storage (10 by 30 storage unit).

After 11 years of full timing we bought a house in western CO and had all of our stuff moved here from NH. We had sold all of the big appliances and most of the soft furniture but still had a lot of stuff.

I am sure glad we did not follow the conventional advice and get rid of all of it.
We have spent about $15,000 buying what we need for the house - stuff that we sold for maybe 10 percent of what it cost back then.

If we had to replace what we had stored - like guns, complete woodworking shop, my wifes equipment for building miniatures, her genealogy research records and small appliances, desks and office equipment, and my electronic gear, it would have cost a lot more than what we spent for storage.
Some things like heirlooms that came from as far back as our great grand parents could not be replaced at any cost.

As an aside, while full timing we so loved the freedom from yard work that we have zeriscaped our grounds to eliminate yard work as much as possible. It has certainly minimized it to a point where it can be handled even if we become limited by health issues.
That is common in western CO so it isn't out of place. The house has vinyl siding so it is a very low maintenance item.
We have also put in two RV sites with hookups for RV friends that visit.