On April 8, 2014 I decided to take vacation days up to my corporate exit interview two weeks later, so I guess my retirement really started then because every morning after I would wake up with my own schedule. It's been a little over two months since I have retired. Some things in my lifestyle such as my diet have changed considerably while other changes have been subtle if they have changed at all.
For those that are retired maybe we can compare our changes in lifestyle since retired while those that are considering retirement may see something they can consider in making their decision.
In my case I didn't feel there would be a lot of change because I've always lived a pretty simple lifestyle being single. There isn't a lot of drama in my life. My health is good, I'm active and have a few interests such as cycling, my hounds and reading. There have been some notable changes though even in the two months being home.
One thing I have noticed is the number of people I am around. I never socialized a lot in my non-work hours when I had a job because most of the people I worked with lived in other towns in opposite directions than where I live. Another reason is most of them have families and they are busy with all of their kid's activities with sports and school. So less people is not a surprise for me. I actually like the solitude that comes with being single.
Another, is my diet changed drastically and with that change I have lost 16 pounds since I walked out of the office on April 7, 2014. These changes were basic. I was no longer around Pepsi machines at work, no longer around the daily pastry that would be brought into work by different co-workers and no junk food available that I ate a lot of. Now, I think a lot of the junk food intake and my addiction of Pepsi Cola were job stress related. My diet now consists of a lot of fresh veggies and fruits...a lot. I occasionally have fish with rice and a vegetable or black bean burritos. I supplement beans into my salads for a little extra protein.
I am riding my bikes more than before but not as much as I want. I want to ride more and with the heavy humidity and high temps, my riding is going to take place early in the mornings until fall. It will be just like the old days when I was doing a little racing and all of our training rides were very early in the morning with a possible afternoon ride. Once I start a regular regiment of riding 5x/week, even more pounds will disappear. My 45 minutes of mowing my yard with a push mower is good exercise because of the heat but also my front yard is on an 80' incline. So I get some good leg and cardio workout while mowing.
Years ago I started an Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to track all of my income (different sources) and expenditures to get control of my money and my spending. I categorized each expenditure and then formulated a monthly average. As years passed I link those previous year's monthly averages so I can see where I might be spending more in different categories or where some prices are increasing since last year because I am buying the same amounts.
This spreadsheet was a key factor in deciding if I could retire or not and if I could survive financially.
Besides that spreadsheet on income and expenditures, when I thought of retiring I made a different spreadsheet just for retiring options. I listed all income and expenses buy the current monthly averages.
I will make a separate blog post just on this spreadsheet, because it showed me all the different options whether to retire or not and options if I were to retire and what the financial bottom line would be. It was quite shocking what some of those options showed once it was seen laid out on paper.
I do not plan on giving "expert" financial advice on this blog but maybe some basic things that all people can use. One would be the spreadsheet to track income and expenditures and two, a spreadsheet showing before and after retirement options with the incomes different due to your change in income sources once you retire.
I will say that since retired I am spending less and not making an intentional effort to do so. Sure, I made some adjustments. I sold my old Chevy Pickup that was never driven more than 300 miles per year and put that money in the savings. I sold my Kia Sorento that was never driven and decreased a car payment and insurance reduction. I sold a Class C RV that I was not going to use, that also eliminated a payment and insurance reduction. I got my 'herd' of vehicles down to two. A Mini Cooper for great gas mileage and local driving and my Toyota FJ 4x4 for winter driving, camping trips, dog trips to the vet and any other trips where I would have to haul something from a store.
I started downsizing my possessions two years ago more than I would with the annual spring cleaning because I was planning on changing my lifestyle to RV living and possibly full-time. So I downsized a lot of things. Sold a little of it, gave a lot away to goodwill and the local library. When I had the thought of selling my house and hitting the RV road, I continued this downsizing to the point of getting down to possessions that I did not want to get rid of. I knew then it was time to stop as I was in my "downsizing comfort zone".
I am not living in a skeleton house of things but I will say my house is not stuffed with anything that is not used, read or worn. For instance my table place setting was reduced to 4. Thats only 4 forks, knives, small spoons and large spoons, 4 plates, 4 bowls. I could probably even reduce that to only 2 and may do that. My suit and ties and dress shoes were all given away last year when I saw I no longer had to wear them at work and I had not worn them in years.
For those that are considering downsizing, I will tell you that there is nothing that I have missed not having. That includes the trucks and cars I have sold, even the RV. I still have things I want to sell, some things I will give away but I am pretty close to be downsized to just the things I need. Even the hounds were involved as I got rid of all their extra bones, kong balls etc that they no longer chewed on...threw some away and gave the kong balls to other friends with dogs.
So ... after two months of retirement I can say I am thrilled with my decision and that I had the guts to go through with it. I knew I would miss the income I was making but I would not miss the drama at work and constant changes for the worse. They had made it almost impossible to do your job by the time I left. My schedule if there is one, is wide open and I love that freedom.
One last thing, that constant heartburn I lived with thinking it was diet related and some of it was, is gone.
Good luck if you decide to retire and good luck to those that have.
Showing posts with label Downsizing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Downsizing. Show all posts
June 18, 2014
June 02, 2014
Downsizing is Never Ending
I'm not really taking a break this morning because I haven't even got started on today. It's 9:15am local time. I've had a couple of cups of Starbucks Columbian coffee, read blogs not only about RV traveling but those on my Feedly list that covers Mac O/S, Bedlam Farm, Sports, etc. Still after all of that reading, only 2-3 hours of my morning has slipped away. I'm not really a morning person but the hounds wake up daily about the same time (6:30am) and want to go outside for their morning trip. I am usually more productive in the hours after 12 noon.....so I have convinced myself today I can still get a lot accomplished even with a slow start.
After almost 2 months of retirement, I am finding out something my dad told me years ago after he retired ... "know what you are going to do for that day when you get up" ... maybe not a list of things to do but a good idea of what you want to accomplish. Otherwise it's like a few days I have had getting nothing done with a whole lot of hours spent on the computer either reading, commenting on forums, looking at spreadsheets or like yesterday .... moving all of my .jpg files from my "Documents" folder into a "Pictures" folder. I also downloaded them in bulk into iPhoto which was pretty fast, going through over 4,000 photos by "select all", import into the iPhoto library and clicking the box "not to import duplicates". This caught any photos I had not previously imported into iPhoto after my switch from Windows to Apple in October 2010.
Sad to think it was beautiful yesterday and I sat inside doing self-imposed computer work. I was still able to sit outside and watch the soft summer rain in the late afternoon. While smelling the rain, I pictured doing the same thing in places out west in my future travels.
Now to the title ... "Downsizing". I did some major downsizing last summer and fall, taking 3 Hummer truck loads (cargo area) to Goodwill. That was mostly clothes, dishes, and silverware. Then this past winter I didn't buy anything that I did not need....zip, nothing! Yet as I walked around last night sorting stuff that was either going to be sold online or taken to Goodwill, I could not believe how much I had to get rid of, even after getting down to the basics last summer and fall. The clothes I used to wear for work can now be sold or donated.
Where does "stuff" come from?
What would you think if you went to see a house for sale and that house was fairly empty? Should it be all or nothing? Such as selling everything from books to desks and some furniture or should I leave the interior of the house looking full, as if someone really did live here?
I am past the point of giving things away....possessions that are left have more value than "free", plus any money earned from online sales is gas money down the road....that is the way I look at it. So it might be more time consuming taking photos and writing for sale ads for Craig's List and eBay but there is some potential dollars sitting around here for things I no longer need.
By the time potential buyers view the house, it might be pretty bare. Will that be a problem in getting the house sold? I'd hate to have to wait until after the house is sold, and then rush to sell things during the time period the house deal is closing. If for some reason the house has not sold by the time I leave to pick up the Escape trailer, I've always planned on leaving it empty for the realtor to show.
Usually my rule on clothing is if it has not been used in the past year or two, it is gone. I am having a hard time applying that same rule to my vintage 33LP vinyl record "unintentional" collection, or the 80's cassette tape collection and a lot of the CD collection. I can't remember the last time I even listened to a record album but find it hard to let them go. I have an interested Craig's List buyer for all the music I have. I think getting rid of all the cassette tapes and record albums is a good idea, while keeping just favorites of CDs and DVDs. I need to download the CDs into my iTunes or iPhone and play them that way.
DVD's are another story. Like all media changes, I never intended having as many as I do. Yes, I do watch some movies more than once or more than a few times over the years. Due to available hard drive space I will not be downloading them into any iMac or iPad to watch later.
Other than that, I don't have much left. Some of the furniture, the vacuum, the Rug Doctor carpet cleaner are spoken for when I leave. That only leave things I think I will store somewhere out west in a very small storage room, for when I want to set up a new base camp. Then I think forget that storage and sell everything. Whatever is left, I could have a weekend yard sale and I'm pretty sure most if not all would be gone.
As I write this post about downsizing and telling you what is left, I realized I really don't have that much more to get rid of.
Well, I'm going back to work loading stuff into the FJ for my recycling trip today, a possible future Goodwill trip and taking photos for my eBay and Craigs List ads.
After almost 2 months of retirement, I am finding out something my dad told me years ago after he retired ... "know what you are going to do for that day when you get up" ... maybe not a list of things to do but a good idea of what you want to accomplish. Otherwise it's like a few days I have had getting nothing done with a whole lot of hours spent on the computer either reading, commenting on forums, looking at spreadsheets or like yesterday .... moving all of my .jpg files from my "Documents" folder into a "Pictures" folder. I also downloaded them in bulk into iPhoto which was pretty fast, going through over 4,000 photos by "select all", import into the iPhoto library and clicking the box "not to import duplicates". This caught any photos I had not previously imported into iPhoto after my switch from Windows to Apple in October 2010.
Sad to think it was beautiful yesterday and I sat inside doing self-imposed computer work. I was still able to sit outside and watch the soft summer rain in the late afternoon. While smelling the rain, I pictured doing the same thing in places out west in my future travels.
Now to the title ... "Downsizing". I did some major downsizing last summer and fall, taking 3 Hummer truck loads (cargo area) to Goodwill. That was mostly clothes, dishes, and silverware. Then this past winter I didn't buy anything that I did not need....zip, nothing! Yet as I walked around last night sorting stuff that was either going to be sold online or taken to Goodwill, I could not believe how much I had to get rid of, even after getting down to the basics last summer and fall. The clothes I used to wear for work can now be sold or donated.
Where does "stuff" come from?
What would you think if you went to see a house for sale and that house was fairly empty? Should it be all or nothing? Such as selling everything from books to desks and some furniture or should I leave the interior of the house looking full, as if someone really did live here?
I am past the point of giving things away....possessions that are left have more value than "free", plus any money earned from online sales is gas money down the road....that is the way I look at it. So it might be more time consuming taking photos and writing for sale ads for Craig's List and eBay but there is some potential dollars sitting around here for things I no longer need.
By the time potential buyers view the house, it might be pretty bare. Will that be a problem in getting the house sold? I'd hate to have to wait until after the house is sold, and then rush to sell things during the time period the house deal is closing. If for some reason the house has not sold by the time I leave to pick up the Escape trailer, I've always planned on leaving it empty for the realtor to show.
Usually my rule on clothing is if it has not been used in the past year or two, it is gone. I am having a hard time applying that same rule to my vintage 33LP vinyl record "unintentional" collection, or the 80's cassette tape collection and a lot of the CD collection. I can't remember the last time I even listened to a record album but find it hard to let them go. I have an interested Craig's List buyer for all the music I have. I think getting rid of all the cassette tapes and record albums is a good idea, while keeping just favorites of CDs and DVDs. I need to download the CDs into my iTunes or iPhone and play them that way.
DVD's are another story. Like all media changes, I never intended having as many as I do. Yes, I do watch some movies more than once or more than a few times over the years. Due to available hard drive space I will not be downloading them into any iMac or iPad to watch later.
Other than that, I don't have much left. Some of the furniture, the vacuum, the Rug Doctor carpet cleaner are spoken for when I leave. That only leave things I think I will store somewhere out west in a very small storage room, for when I want to set up a new base camp. Then I think forget that storage and sell everything. Whatever is left, I could have a weekend yard sale and I'm pretty sure most if not all would be gone.
As I write this post about downsizing and telling you what is left, I realized I really don't have that much more to get rid of.
Well, I'm going back to work loading stuff into the FJ for my recycling trip today, a possible future Goodwill trip and taking photos for my eBay and Craigs List ads.
January 24, 2014
Action Has Started
This week I was finally able to mentally let go of thinking over and over what I had decided to do or not to do. That seemed to help me a lot mentally of not second guessing my plans and have a clearer idea of what was taking place. By doing that and listening to what my mind was telling me, things have been falling into place and some things at a fast pace. I actually marked my calendar for the first time today, showing the date that I will send in my resignation at work. It will be a shock to many. I will then have my last day at the job two weeks later, then a week at home wrapping up loose ends and plans to be on the road by the end of that week.
It's been a really good few days. I have been in the action mode the past couple of days. I have re-listed my Mini Cooper and Chevy Truck on Craig's List. I will sit them down by the highway with For Sale signs after the snow stops flying but thought I might find a buyer sooner via Craig's List. I have also taken pictures of things I will be selling on eBay. I usually take pictures first of all of the things that I am selling, download them, edit them and then write the ads for each item to list it. I've always had good luck with eBay and was a full-time seller, Power Seller a few years ago before closing my online business in 2010. So, it might take me a little longer to get the ads written but by Sunday night I plan to have the majority of my items up for sale either as fixed price or auction items.
Taking a tour through the house, there is not that much work to clear it out. I have downsized a lot last summer and this past fall, so now that has paid off. With what possessions I have left, I know exactly what is going and what is staying. The inside of my house is not barren but just the minimum things I needed to live in a house.
Remember when I have said that yard work and general house maintenance had gone from enjoyable a few years ago to a dreaded waste of time recently? I cannot wait to get away from that. It's a never ending battle where there always seems there was something to do to the yard, house or one of the 3 vehicles, taking up most of my free time on weekends. I will trade all of that for just some of that maintenance being transferred to my rig as needed.
I will probably not talk names of states in my plans until I actually hit the road, but the "road trip" is all laid out and in the final stages of preparation.
The "momentum train" has left the station and is moving forward at a nice pace.
It's been a really good few days. I have been in the action mode the past couple of days. I have re-listed my Mini Cooper and Chevy Truck on Craig's List. I will sit them down by the highway with For Sale signs after the snow stops flying but thought I might find a buyer sooner via Craig's List. I have also taken pictures of things I will be selling on eBay. I usually take pictures first of all of the things that I am selling, download them, edit them and then write the ads for each item to list it. I've always had good luck with eBay and was a full-time seller, Power Seller a few years ago before closing my online business in 2010. So, it might take me a little longer to get the ads written but by Sunday night I plan to have the majority of my items up for sale either as fixed price or auction items.
Taking a tour through the house, there is not that much work to clear it out. I have downsized a lot last summer and this past fall, so now that has paid off. With what possessions I have left, I know exactly what is going and what is staying. The inside of my house is not barren but just the minimum things I needed to live in a house.
Remember when I have said that yard work and general house maintenance had gone from enjoyable a few years ago to a dreaded waste of time recently? I cannot wait to get away from that. It's a never ending battle where there always seems there was something to do to the yard, house or one of the 3 vehicles, taking up most of my free time on weekends. I will trade all of that for just some of that maintenance being transferred to my rig as needed.
I will probably not talk names of states in my plans until I actually hit the road, but the "road trip" is all laid out and in the final stages of preparation.
The "momentum train" has left the station and is moving forward at a nice pace.
January 21, 2014
Snow Again and No Change in Plans
I was back at work today after a nice 3 day weekend. Something out of the ordinary, my internet line went out Friday and was not fixed by AT&T until Monday night ... so I had some time to think about plans and read books over the weekend. These past 3 days gave me a "feel" of what retirement will feel like and from those thoughts I know that I am making the right decision this May. That is one decision I have NO hesitation on, nor 2nd thoughts.
The only thing I have been going back and forth on is how much downsizing I need/want to do. Sell the house or keep it, how much more stuff to get rid of ... things that I have thought about since October 2011. I am down to what I would call the basics as far as house possessions. There is really not that much to get rid of. I am thinking when the weather changes in the spring I'll have a yard sale for a couple of weekends and get rid of a lot of it. By that time I plan to have the RV loaded with what I want and will live in the RV until my departure date.
I know, I know I had talked about living in the RV since last fall but this winter has been worse than normal and would be beyond any type of weather I will be staying in the future. For example it was 17 when I drove home today telling me with the wind chill it felt like Minus 8. Even with a heater, we are not staying in the RV until probably April. It is still plugged into house power to keep the battery charged and gives me lights when I go out to check out the interior after the storms that have taken place.
So, the majority of time when thinking of my options on the house, possessions, etc ... I still see getting rid of everything that does not fit in the RV, and leaving the house empty with a realtor showing and selling the house while I am gone. I know that is repeated info for most of my followers and something that has been discussed a lot ... but that is the most consistent thought when asking that question.
Basically it boils down to two things. 1) I want to change location. 2) I just don't enjoy the time it takes to maintain a yard and needed house maintenance.
Sure, there will be times of needed maintenance on the RV, similar type of work, but not nearly the amount of time it takes me to keep the house/yard maintained.
So I spent most of the day at work today going over my options spreadsheet, reading different blogs I follow, looking for any more info on some of the RV forums and dreaming of getting out of here.
Is this weather related?
Recently it shows I have posted on days where there is bad weather or some on the way.
I don't believe this is weather related. It is just a point in time where plans are becoming solid after two years of research. Questions I've had in the past are now being answered (finally) and everything feels good.
I still plan to travel light. I still plan to take 3 hounds with me. I still plan to be in SW Arizona this time next year.
The only thing I have been going back and forth on is how much downsizing I need/want to do. Sell the house or keep it, how much more stuff to get rid of ... things that I have thought about since October 2011. I am down to what I would call the basics as far as house possessions. There is really not that much to get rid of. I am thinking when the weather changes in the spring I'll have a yard sale for a couple of weekends and get rid of a lot of it. By that time I plan to have the RV loaded with what I want and will live in the RV until my departure date.
I know, I know I had talked about living in the RV since last fall but this winter has been worse than normal and would be beyond any type of weather I will be staying in the future. For example it was 17 when I drove home today telling me with the wind chill it felt like Minus 8. Even with a heater, we are not staying in the RV until probably April. It is still plugged into house power to keep the battery charged and gives me lights when I go out to check out the interior after the storms that have taken place.
So, the majority of time when thinking of my options on the house, possessions, etc ... I still see getting rid of everything that does not fit in the RV, and leaving the house empty with a realtor showing and selling the house while I am gone. I know that is repeated info for most of my followers and something that has been discussed a lot ... but that is the most consistent thought when asking that question.
Basically it boils down to two things. 1) I want to change location. 2) I just don't enjoy the time it takes to maintain a yard and needed house maintenance.
Sure, there will be times of needed maintenance on the RV, similar type of work, but not nearly the amount of time it takes me to keep the house/yard maintained.
So I spent most of the day at work today going over my options spreadsheet, reading different blogs I follow, looking for any more info on some of the RV forums and dreaming of getting out of here.
Is this weather related?
Recently it shows I have posted on days where there is bad weather or some on the way.
I don't believe this is weather related. It is just a point in time where plans are becoming solid after two years of research. Questions I've had in the past are now being answered (finally) and everything feels good.
I still plan to travel light. I still plan to take 3 hounds with me. I still plan to be in SW Arizona this time next year.
September 28, 2013
More Downsizing & A Surprise
After waking at my normal time around 7:30 am, a cup of coffee while the hounds are outside checking for any overnight visitors in their yard, I went through a long list of stuff to do this weekend. The list is long and I need to get started early just after this cup of coffee. There are two demons that may jump out at me that may make it hard to accomplish anything. These are a couple of photos I took at 7:30 as the sun was trying to get over the trees. It looks like my neighbor's corn is a few weeks away from being picked. Cool temps this morning.
A few people are telling my by email that I am crazy for thinking of selling my house with the property that surrounds it. That is why it's always been a hard decision for me in deciding whether to sell the house or not and what vehicles to sell.
The 1st demon I warned you about jumped out as I was drinking coffee. The INTERNET ... reading email, blogs, sports blogs, sport forums, rv forums, ....you get the picture. Before I knew it 11am was almost here. I hate when that happens. I know when I have things to do on a weekend, I have to go straight to the list and don't even look at the computer. There's always tomorrow.
So a late start. I wanted to check on the manufacture date of the tires. I knew I was looking for a 4 digit number that would be the week and year. The tread on these tires were new, hardly used, no cracking or dry rot on the side walls. Seller said they were a couple of years old. I even used a small led flashlight that night I looked at the rv tires. I later found that 4 digit number not on the back side of the tire but the front side of the tire, so that information from the rv forum was incorrect I guess.
The date of manufacture did not matter to me because just for my own peace of mind I was planning to installing brand new tires on any RV that I would buy. Since you have read this far you need to know the date....July 2006 .... which makes them at that 7 year mark and needing replacement. I am glad I was planning to install new tires anyway. Still the date surprised me a little.
Here is the SURPRISE ...
As I was crawling under the rv, I wanted to see where all the tubes and tanks were connected and I wanted to do a little more in depth inspection just out of curiosity.
What I saw next was not what I expected. Oil residue all over my oil pan, the new oil filter that was changed less than a 1,000 miles ago and a couple of hoses that looked fairly new...
The hounds are always doing their morning search of new smells around the perimeter of the yard...except Heidi who is the sleep monster of the crew and is not even out of bed at the time this picture was taken. She seems to always know when its a weekend and she can sleep late. That is why only 2 hounds are pictured.
A few people are telling my by email that I am crazy for thinking of selling my house with the property that surrounds it. That is why it's always been a hard decision for me in deciding whether to sell the house or not and what vehicles to sell.
The 1st demon I warned you about jumped out as I was drinking coffee. The INTERNET ... reading email, blogs, sports blogs, sport forums, rv forums, ....you get the picture. Before I knew it 11am was almost here. I hate when that happens. I know when I have things to do on a weekend, I have to go straight to the list and don't even look at the computer. There's always tomorrow.
So a late start. I wanted to check on the manufacture date of the tires. I knew I was looking for a 4 digit number that would be the week and year. The tread on these tires were new, hardly used, no cracking or dry rot on the side walls. Seller said they were a couple of years old. I even used a small led flashlight that night I looked at the rv tires. I later found that 4 digit number not on the back side of the tire but the front side of the tire, so that information from the rv forum was incorrect I guess.
The date of manufacture did not matter to me because just for my own peace of mind I was planning to installing brand new tires on any RV that I would buy. Since you have read this far you need to know the date....July 2006 .... which makes them at that 7 year mark and needing replacement. I am glad I was planning to install new tires anyway. Still the date surprised me a little.
Here is the SURPRISE ...
As I was crawling under the rv, I wanted to see where all the tubes and tanks were connected and I wanted to do a little more in depth inspection just out of curiosity.
What I saw next was not what I expected. Oil residue all over my oil pan, the new oil filter that was changed less than a 1,000 miles ago and a couple of hoses that looked fairly new...
I kept moving forward to where I thought I was at the front of the engine, when I found the source.
I am NOT a mechanic but it seems there would have to be quite a bit of oil leaking to have that much blowing residue on the oil pan, filter and hoses. I am guessing its a seal that needs to be replaced. Hopefully one that can be replaced without pulling the engine.
I have sent these pictures out to a couple of friends of mine that are 'gearheads' and see what they say. I will definitely call the local truck mechanic and have him take a look on Monday.
I don't think its anything major but what concerns me are the "little" discrepancies" I am finding after buying the rv compared to what the seller told me....such as:
1. "I have had this rv for a little over a year, bought it a year ago spring".... title says he bought it just 7 months ago in February 2013. Makes me wonder if he sold it because of the bed size and location like he said or this leak.
2. "Tires were put on just before I bought it, they were new so probably a couple of years old at the most".... good tread, no cracking or dry rot on the sidewalls, but a manufacture date says the 28th week of 2006...mid July 7 years ago. Time to be replaced.
3. "I'm old school when it comes to maintenance, I like doing all my repairs and change the oil every 3, 000 miles".....if I were doing all my repairs I think I would have noticed this leak.
Could it had just happened....coincidence with purchasing? Yes it could. When I said in my post last week that I had looked underneath it, I did no crawling....just looked underneath for anything out of the ordinary, saw the new Blistein Shocks, no damage on the skid plates, no leaks around the tank connections....I just didn't crawl far enough to find this....if it was there last Wednesday.
So I will move this leak as my top priority and get it fixed before anything else. After that I'll have new tires installed.
I will close with saying, the 2nd demon showed up around 3pm...college football on tv. By that time I had found the oil leak, had cleaned the house and looked around at more stuff to sort, sell or give away.....finding out "stuff' multiplies while you sleep during downsizing. I have not bought anything new ....but the more I look the more I find....it's like I ever started downsizing this past year.
After all that I found by 3pm, I decided I deserved to kidnapped by the college football demons and call it a day.
September 27, 2013
Loading the Rig and Downsizing Thoughts
I had to take time out today when I arrived home from work for something I wasn't excited about anymore. The yard needed mowed. The shrubs will get their annual trim tomorrow. This is an activity I use to really enjoy. I have a push mower and it takes about 45 minutes to finish, nothing major. Anymore it's a task I dread. Either its too hot and humid that you can barely breath or its cool and dry where there is more dust in the air, so it's hard to breath. I guess the real culprit could be me, being out of shape! Anyway, I haven't enjoyed mowing much the past few years.
I decided earlier in the week that I would start moving things to the rig as if I were getting ready (I actually might be) to head west. I did this for various reasons. I wanted to see how it felt moving stuff out to the rig from the house and see if at any part of this moving I would feel hesitation or doubt. I also wanted to see just how much of my traveling list that I could fit in the rig. Before I get started it looks like I will have plenty of room for storage. The last thing I wanted to see, was how much stuff would be left in the house that would have to be sold, given away or taken to the goodwill.
Since 2011 I have downsized in different periods of effort (motivation) or as my mind changed. I would say I am really down to just one room where I am sitting now. It has my computers, indoor bicycle stand with bike mounted, a closet full of my sports jersey collection, winter clothing and jackets and more stuff to throw away. I have downsized A LOT over the past year....still looks like a lot to go.
A lot of the furniture is spoken for when I leave, lamps, tables sold, other stuff sold and will be picked up when I leave. Tonight I see a lot of stuff that can be sold on eBay. I see some things that may be stored in a box somewhere.
In the meantime I have hauled a lot of stuff to the rig. I have a plan in mind that I will follow. I'll keep you updated on how this progresses. There should be more answers as I get into the process.
I will leave you with this though. I think at least the hounds are ready to travel fulltime. Why do I say that? How do I know?
Every night this week, I have left the coach entry door open as we do the daily hound walk through the hay field in back. On the return about 100' from from the yard I stop and unhook the basset and the bloodhound from their leashes...Winston, the old hound walks without a leash. So, EVERY night this week after being unhooked from their leashes, all three hounds sprint (ever see a basset run?) toward the house but all make abrupt left turns jumping into the open coach entry and all are inside the rig by the time I get to the door.
What do you think? Are they ready?
Two days ago when I pushed the domain name to my blog I started getting hundreds of anonymous comments from spammers. I have had to adjust my comment setting to not allow anonymous comments. I apologize to those that are honest people but are blocked from commenting.
I decided earlier in the week that I would start moving things to the rig as if I were getting ready (I actually might be) to head west. I did this for various reasons. I wanted to see how it felt moving stuff out to the rig from the house and see if at any part of this moving I would feel hesitation or doubt. I also wanted to see just how much of my traveling list that I could fit in the rig. Before I get started it looks like I will have plenty of room for storage. The last thing I wanted to see, was how much stuff would be left in the house that would have to be sold, given away or taken to the goodwill.
Since 2011 I have downsized in different periods of effort (motivation) or as my mind changed. I would say I am really down to just one room where I am sitting now. It has my computers, indoor bicycle stand with bike mounted, a closet full of my sports jersey collection, winter clothing and jackets and more stuff to throw away. I have downsized A LOT over the past year....still looks like a lot to go.
A lot of the furniture is spoken for when I leave, lamps, tables sold, other stuff sold and will be picked up when I leave. Tonight I see a lot of stuff that can be sold on eBay. I see some things that may be stored in a box somewhere.
In the meantime I have hauled a lot of stuff to the rig. I have a plan in mind that I will follow. I'll keep you updated on how this progresses. There should be more answers as I get into the process.
I will leave you with this though. I think at least the hounds are ready to travel fulltime. Why do I say that? How do I know?
Every night this week, I have left the coach entry door open as we do the daily hound walk through the hay field in back. On the return about 100' from from the yard I stop and unhook the basset and the bloodhound from their leashes...Winston, the old hound walks without a leash. So, EVERY night this week after being unhooked from their leashes, all three hounds sprint (ever see a basset run?) toward the house but all make abrupt left turns jumping into the open coach entry and all are inside the rig by the time I get to the door.
What do you think? Are they ready?
Two days ago when I pushed the domain name to my blog I started getting hundreds of anonymous comments from spammers. I have had to adjust my comment setting to not allow anonymous comments. I apologize to those that are honest people but are blocked from commenting.
March 06, 2013
On Schedule
It seems that I am right on schedule to plant the For Sale sign in the yard sometime Saturday afternoon. By the that time the snow will be gone, blizzard yesterday but 60's Saturday. The ground will be saturated and easy to secure the sign and my carpets will be cleaned and in the drying stage.
These past few days this week, a couple of small things knocked off my list of things to do but some really important ones. I firmed up with my old friend and college roommate in the 70's, that my custom made Romic bicycle with the "vintage" Campy parts, would go to his son who is a cycling animal. We think it will be a nice surprise for him. During the conversation I was also able to arrange my huge music collection, would go to his daughter that loves all kinds of music and does a lot of research of band members and different types of music around her job, husband and child. He said that she will be floored with excitement when the collection arrives.
Downtown in this small town, is a music consignment shop. I will be there early Saturday morning checking out their policies, what they will sell and possibly making arrangements to have them sell my old but grand Yamaha Stereo components, with a over priced Nakimichi cassette deck/recorder along with some Polk Audio tower speakers, weighing in around 70lbs a piece. This 250w per channel still plays strong and was bought in 1984 overseas.
After those items are delivered, I will be down to clothes, dishes, furniture and books.
Since I have been downsizing, I have very little furniture left, just the basics. I don't have the urge to sell my things on Craig's List or eBay. I was a fulltime eBay seller from 2005-2010 and although that was a drop shipping business, it took a lot of work. So I'll pass stuff out to friends or it goes to the goodwill and pass on the possible earnings.
I know I may be sticking the sign out a little early but on a busy highway, you never know what may happen.
I would really like to pick up a small trailer like RVsue lives in but with 3 larger dogs and one of those being a clumsy bloodhound that can clear a coffee table off with a wag of her tail, I just don't see how that would be comfortable. So I am back to looking at Class C's and some Class A's since the prices seem to have dropped a lot, and each of those can tow my H3.
Somewhere in my travels I will find the place I want to settle down when the time comes and if that time comes. All I know I am heading west. As it stands right now I will change my residency to South Dakota from Indiana the way it sounds, so depending when I leave, I will be heading to South Dakota to get the night stay in, the picture of the drivers license.
Some may ask, although I feel and my local friends feel my house will sell fairly quickly, what happens if it doesn't sell? Well I will continue to do the little fixes and when May 2014 rolls around, I will leave it empty with a Real Estate Agency to sell for me...but I really have no doubt it will sell by the time I need to hit the road. Don't know why I feel that way, I just do. Once it sells I'll give my 30 day notice at work and if I have not bought an RV by that time, it will be done within that time frame.
There is a Class A in great shape is for sale in this town, so I will make arrangements to check it out on Saturday, although I always said I would never buy an RV in Indiana.
I can't wait to hit the road!
These past few days this week, a couple of small things knocked off my list of things to do but some really important ones. I firmed up with my old friend and college roommate in the 70's, that my custom made Romic bicycle with the "vintage" Campy parts, would go to his son who is a cycling animal. We think it will be a nice surprise for him. During the conversation I was also able to arrange my huge music collection, would go to his daughter that loves all kinds of music and does a lot of research of band members and different types of music around her job, husband and child. He said that she will be floored with excitement when the collection arrives.
Downtown in this small town, is a music consignment shop. I will be there early Saturday morning checking out their policies, what they will sell and possibly making arrangements to have them sell my old but grand Yamaha Stereo components, with a over priced Nakimichi cassette deck/recorder along with some Polk Audio tower speakers, weighing in around 70lbs a piece. This 250w per channel still plays strong and was bought in 1984 overseas.
After those items are delivered, I will be down to clothes, dishes, furniture and books.
Since I have been downsizing, I have very little furniture left, just the basics. I don't have the urge to sell my things on Craig's List or eBay. I was a fulltime eBay seller from 2005-2010 and although that was a drop shipping business, it took a lot of work. So I'll pass stuff out to friends or it goes to the goodwill and pass on the possible earnings.
I know I may be sticking the sign out a little early but on a busy highway, you never know what may happen.
I would really like to pick up a small trailer like RVsue lives in but with 3 larger dogs and one of those being a clumsy bloodhound that can clear a coffee table off with a wag of her tail, I just don't see how that would be comfortable. So I am back to looking at Class C's and some Class A's since the prices seem to have dropped a lot, and each of those can tow my H3.
Somewhere in my travels I will find the place I want to settle down when the time comes and if that time comes. All I know I am heading west. As it stands right now I will change my residency to South Dakota from Indiana the way it sounds, so depending when I leave, I will be heading to South Dakota to get the night stay in, the picture of the drivers license.
Some may ask, although I feel and my local friends feel my house will sell fairly quickly, what happens if it doesn't sell? Well I will continue to do the little fixes and when May 2014 rolls around, I will leave it empty with a Real Estate Agency to sell for me...but I really have no doubt it will sell by the time I need to hit the road. Don't know why I feel that way, I just do. Once it sells I'll give my 30 day notice at work and if I have not bought an RV by that time, it will be done within that time frame.
There is a Class A in great shape is for sale in this town, so I will make arrangements to check it out on Saturday, although I always said I would never buy an RV in Indiana.
I can't wait to hit the road!
March 03, 2013
A productive Weekend
Amazing sometimes how fast things can change. I was sitting here at my Saturday morning with a cup of coffee, reading blogs, sports, news, looking at trailers, rvs, and extreme vehicles. I looked at the room I was in with all my stuff ready to go to the recycling center...so I made that trip to the recycling center. Then I went through my closets another time and left only the bare minimum I would need for work plus my jeans, shorts and tshirts...everything that I had not worn in a while, went into a bag and went to goodwill after hours.
I came back from the 25 mile drive, one way, and started to clean the rest of the afternoon and felt this energy and motivation come over me like I had been missing in the past few weeks, then had the inside of the house looking more like a "presentable view" instead of the "lived in view". My ballgame tipped off at 7:30pm, so I left for that, came back and got some sleep earlier than normal.
Sunday, it was mid 30's but clear and sunny so I went outside to do some work on my bank, picked up limbs from the high winds a few weeks ago and then did a general inspection of the outside of the house for potential repairs...there were none to do. That short time of doing little yard stuff I realized I dreaded doing what would be needed to maintain the yard and landscaping. After all, there has to be more to life than doing that over and over and over every year.
All during this time of cleaning, throwing away stuff and working outside today, I kept thinking of what I was really feeling and what I was wanting to do if money was no option, jobs were no option and the only thing I had was free time.
That answer had me traveling full-time and not here doing the weekly routine things of laundry, lawn work, and looking for something to do while my friends still were working. I thought of RVsue out in Arizona, Glenn's first couple of years of traveling and all the neat stories he wrote about. Then WheelingIt driving that 38' Class A out into the desert with their solar panels and boondocking. I thought of the summer I spent traveling cross country and then up the west coast on with a bicycle, a tent and sleeping bag.
All of this was what excited me, just like it did in October of 2011.
I thought of the times I had moved from the beach in Southern California in 1984 to Whidbey Island Washington up in the San Juan's and how nice it would be to spend just the summers up on the NW instead of the high 90's here with even that high of humidity. Or the times I drove from Reno Nevada down 395 to Southern California and remembering how beautiful that drive was. Then the time I spent the winter during a a ski season in Breckenridge Colorado....I enjoyed all of those places to the max.
Here, is yard work, after I hopefully surviving tornado season, cold winters that I do not want to experience when I'm older and a general feeling of boredom after being here for 16 yrs this month.
Everyone said this weekend, after mentioning to them "I might sell my house", either knew someone that would be interested, some that said "I always liked that house" and an real estate agency wanting to list it if I did decide to sell it, saying they knew of interested people.
With all of those people saying that, plus what I had done this weekend of getting my ass in gear, I knew there was a reason that the thought of rving full-time had never gone away even after several attempts of pushing it out of my thoughts for months at a time. I knew what my gut was telling me was the right course of action and it was time to make it happen.
So when I get home from work tomorrow, I will continue to knock something else off my "to do list", plus I have a few things to work on for even a better look and then the for sale sign is going in the front yard ... but not until I get those things done.
If things don't work out on the road, I'll sell what I have and look for a new residence somewhere out west, small town, where the weather is nice enough all year round to ride my bicycles, hike or soak up some sun.
I feel better already with my thought process. Last week was just a bummer of a week with some of the news I had received.
Now back to finding something to buy to live in on the road.
I came back from the 25 mile drive, one way, and started to clean the rest of the afternoon and felt this energy and motivation come over me like I had been missing in the past few weeks, then had the inside of the house looking more like a "presentable view" instead of the "lived in view". My ballgame tipped off at 7:30pm, so I left for that, came back and got some sleep earlier than normal.
Sunday, it was mid 30's but clear and sunny so I went outside to do some work on my bank, picked up limbs from the high winds a few weeks ago and then did a general inspection of the outside of the house for potential repairs...there were none to do. That short time of doing little yard stuff I realized I dreaded doing what would be needed to maintain the yard and landscaping. After all, there has to be more to life than doing that over and over and over every year.
All during this time of cleaning, throwing away stuff and working outside today, I kept thinking of what I was really feeling and what I was wanting to do if money was no option, jobs were no option and the only thing I had was free time.
That answer had me traveling full-time and not here doing the weekly routine things of laundry, lawn work, and looking for something to do while my friends still were working. I thought of RVsue out in Arizona, Glenn's first couple of years of traveling and all the neat stories he wrote about. Then WheelingIt driving that 38' Class A out into the desert with their solar panels and boondocking. I thought of the summer I spent traveling cross country and then up the west coast on with a bicycle, a tent and sleeping bag.
All of this was what excited me, just like it did in October of 2011.
I thought of the times I had moved from the beach in Southern California in 1984 to Whidbey Island Washington up in the San Juan's and how nice it would be to spend just the summers up on the NW instead of the high 90's here with even that high of humidity. Or the times I drove from Reno Nevada down 395 to Southern California and remembering how beautiful that drive was. Then the time I spent the winter during a a ski season in Breckenridge Colorado....I enjoyed all of those places to the max.
Here, is yard work, after I hopefully surviving tornado season, cold winters that I do not want to experience when I'm older and a general feeling of boredom after being here for 16 yrs this month.
Everyone said this weekend, after mentioning to them "I might sell my house", either knew someone that would be interested, some that said "I always liked that house" and an real estate agency wanting to list it if I did decide to sell it, saying they knew of interested people.
With all of those people saying that, plus what I had done this weekend of getting my ass in gear, I knew there was a reason that the thought of rving full-time had never gone away even after several attempts of pushing it out of my thoughts for months at a time. I knew what my gut was telling me was the right course of action and it was time to make it happen.
So when I get home from work tomorrow, I will continue to knock something else off my "to do list", plus I have a few things to work on for even a better look and then the for sale sign is going in the front yard ... but not until I get those things done.
If things don't work out on the road, I'll sell what I have and look for a new residence somewhere out west, small town, where the weather is nice enough all year round to ride my bicycles, hike or soak up some sun.
I feel better already with my thought process. Last week was just a bummer of a week with some of the news I had received.
Now back to finding something to buy to live in on the road.
January 13, 2013
Downsizing
I have been downsizing off and on this past year and thought I was making great progress. I have taken a "ton" of stuff to goodwill, gave some things away and threw out a lot of 30gl trash bags of stuff.
Why does it feel like things are not disappearing? I've been buying nothing more than food and gas for the majority of the past year. Some clothes for work but nothing major in purchases.....still I cannot believe how much stuff I still have in this house to get rid of. Seems like a lot more than I had estimated last spring.
So with the highs today in the mid 30's and rain that started late yesterday afternoon and has not stopped ... I will begin (again) going one room at a time and sorting through stuff that will go to goodwill, trash or give away.....this week!!!
Is it too early to say that after 8 working days on a new job, that I don't like the new job?? It was the job I took when I was kind of "downsized" in December on short notice.
Like I said a few posts ago, this job situation may be my catalyst for getting me into more focused action to get on the road and quit thinking about it.
Even with the cooler temps out west and in Texas, those are still warmer than what I have been living in here in Indiana, so I'll take those 50's and 60's as highs. It was 60's here yesterday and felt great with all the windows in the house open for most of the day.
I am going to an RV Show in Indianapolis next Saturday. I am not going to buy anything new but just wanted to look at different floor plans, etc.
Still looking at Class A's and C's, lots of good prices on used RVs.
Why does it feel like things are not disappearing? I've been buying nothing more than food and gas for the majority of the past year. Some clothes for work but nothing major in purchases.....still I cannot believe how much stuff I still have in this house to get rid of. Seems like a lot more than I had estimated last spring.
So with the highs today in the mid 30's and rain that started late yesterday afternoon and has not stopped ... I will begin (again) going one room at a time and sorting through stuff that will go to goodwill, trash or give away.....this week!!!
Is it too early to say that after 8 working days on a new job, that I don't like the new job?? It was the job I took when I was kind of "downsized" in December on short notice.
Like I said a few posts ago, this job situation may be my catalyst for getting me into more focused action to get on the road and quit thinking about it.
Even with the cooler temps out west and in Texas, those are still warmer than what I have been living in here in Indiana, so I'll take those 50's and 60's as highs. It was 60's here yesterday and felt great with all the windows in the house open for most of the day.
I am going to an RV Show in Indianapolis next Saturday. I am not going to buy anything new but just wanted to look at different floor plans, etc.
Still looking at Class A's and C's, lots of good prices on used RVs.
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