Now that we've set a date to leave, Jan 1, 2017, things seem more real. Our goal is to be out of this house by Oct 2016, so we can redo the floors and put it on the market. We'll spend the last three months living in the RV. Not only will this help to sell the house, but it will give our other fur babies, Quincey and Chaco, a chance to get used to living in an RV and not a house before we take off. I'll have three stationary months to train them to a new lifestyle.
We're excited and scared at the same time. Right now, though my primary feeling is overwhelmed. Looking at 29 years of stuff that we have to get rid of can make anyone prone to a panic attack.
One thing I've done is to set up a monthly calendar and set goals of what I want to get done. Our first priority is to start on the basement and the dozens of tubs we have down there with lord knows what in them.
I've also agreed to sell our bedroom and dining room set to my mom. My sister will get our printers and record player. Next up, all books, cd;s and dvd's will go to McKay's to be sold. This includes the hundreds of travel books that I've accumulated over my years of travel.
I've also scanned in all important documents, such as personal, military and other records that we need to have. We'll still take our fire box with these papers in them, but I wanted a digital copy of them, as well. I've also been working on getting all our bills online instead of on paper.
We have our first winter home. We'll be spending January through March at Avalon Landing in Milton, FL. We decided on Fl because it was closer to home in case we needed to come back for anything not completed. We're also moving our domicile to FL. No state income taxes, tags and license easy to get. We'll also use the Escapees mail forwarding system for any snail mail. This fall, we're going to go down for a couple of weeks and check out our winter home and the escapees process.
In looking at how to downsize, I knew last year that one of my challenges would be my love of reading. I can't make it through a day without reading. But as fast as I read, buying books in bulk like I used to is not an option. So, this past Christmas, DH bought me a new Kindle Voyage along with the Kindle unlimited plan for $9.99 a month. It is truly one of the best investments we ever made. I am never without my kindle now. With the unlimited plan, I have over 700,000 titles to read for free, and believe me the selection is great. I can also read books for sale on my kindle. It's cheaper than a book and I'm not stuck trying to get rid of the weight. I never thought I would adjust to not having a actual book in my hands, but I have and I wouldn't go back for anything. My kindle is a treasure that makes it easy to continue reading on the road.
So far, my biggest challenge is getting DH to understand that he can't take his "Stuff" on the road with him. Downsizing to him is cause for panic, while for me, it's a great thing. I see many battles ahead as reality hits him about what he'll have to give up.
We're excited and scared at the same time. Right now, though my primary feeling is overwhelmed. Looking at 29 years of stuff that we have to get rid of can make anyone prone to a panic attack.
One thing I've done is to set up a monthly calendar and set goals of what I want to get done. Our first priority is to start on the basement and the dozens of tubs we have down there with lord knows what in them.
I've also agreed to sell our bedroom and dining room set to my mom. My sister will get our printers and record player. Next up, all books, cd;s and dvd's will go to McKay's to be sold. This includes the hundreds of travel books that I've accumulated over my years of travel.
I've also scanned in all important documents, such as personal, military and other records that we need to have. We'll still take our fire box with these papers in them, but I wanted a digital copy of them, as well. I've also been working on getting all our bills online instead of on paper.
We have our first winter home. We'll be spending January through March at Avalon Landing in Milton, FL. We decided on Fl because it was closer to home in case we needed to come back for anything not completed. We're also moving our domicile to FL. No state income taxes, tags and license easy to get. We'll also use the Escapees mail forwarding system for any snail mail. This fall, we're going to go down for a couple of weeks and check out our winter home and the escapees process.
In looking at how to downsize, I knew last year that one of my challenges would be my love of reading. I can't make it through a day without reading. But as fast as I read, buying books in bulk like I used to is not an option. So, this past Christmas, DH bought me a new Kindle Voyage along with the Kindle unlimited plan for $9.99 a month. It is truly one of the best investments we ever made. I am never without my kindle now. With the unlimited plan, I have over 700,000 titles to read for free, and believe me the selection is great. I can also read books for sale on my kindle. It's cheaper than a book and I'm not stuck trying to get rid of the weight. I never thought I would adjust to not having a actual book in my hands, but I have and I wouldn't go back for anything. My kindle is a treasure that makes it easy to continue reading on the road.
So far, my biggest challenge is getting DH to understand that he can't take his "Stuff" on the road with him. Downsizing to him is cause for panic, while for me, it's a great thing. I see many battles ahead as reality hits him about what he'll have to give up.