Hi again, (hope I have put this in the right place). It is now only 11 months until we leave for our 'big trip". We have to sell the house and everything in it. I am starting to stress out because I really don't know where or when to start preparing. We have decided to sell up and just leave our personal things with our daughter. Has anyone been in this situation? if so, can you give me some tips? Any ideas would be really appreciated. Thanks.
I can only speak from the folks we have meet on the road and they pay for storage or leave what they want to keep with family if that's possible start having your garage sale now to make the move easy Im sure more folks will have more of an input I still have my home. I will always need a base to come back to lots of folks we have meet on the road some are quite happy with no worries about a house others who have sold every thing wish they had not, but iin the end its your choice
Same as cannylass, start sorting stuff now. Have your first garage sale as soon as possible. I say 'first' because you pprobable need to have more than one. I went through this when I moved interstate. Get rid of everything that you can do without for the next 11 months. This will reduce the amount of stuff left to sort through. For the things you will need to be using until just before take-off, a final garage sale will get rid of. Better still, have buyers for larger items (fridge etc) lined up, who are prepared to wait to pick up items until you are ready. Another couple of garage sale, between the first and last sales as you sort more stuff, should see most of it gone, and provide you with cash to head off. Good luck and happy travelling.
Darling dont keep too much is Jacko's advice. Darling Jacko has a property with a shed keeps the few meager possessions Jacko has left. Darling since packed up never touched or missed any of the goodies in the boxes. Darling not only has Jacko not wanted anything in the boxes Jacko has forgotten what is in the boxes. Darling Jacko did keep 4 pieces of Huno Pine furniture which are priceless antiques and have them stored in vacuum sealed heat shrink wrap plastic in the shed. Jacko made sure the shed is 100% mouse proof and sealed with solar powered dehumidifier. Darling Jacko one day will buy or build another house but until then while Jacko loves doing a bit of work Jacko loves been mobile in the motorhome. Darling Jacko doesnt particularly like living in a house and Jacko much prefers her lovely gorgeous motorhome with her boyfriends Mr. Webasto Diesel Heater and Mr. Skimo Air Conditioner. Darling 12V cooling and heating darling is amazing.
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dont leave till next year what you can do this year next year may never come
We have just been through this so I know how stressful it is as well as how quickly the time goes. My suggestion is to look at what needs to be done around the house pre sale. Get the garden in shape and if you need to declutter have a garage sale now then another one once the house is sold if you have excess goods. If in doubt, keep it.
We purchased a container to store the stuff we wanted to keep and that was sent east as thats where we will end up after 4-5 ??? years on the road.
Start sorting and packing the van. We have far too many clothes and bedding and will leave some in Lakes Entrance when we get there at Christmas.Remember if you van is to be home you need adequate cooking stuff - BBQ's are great but get a bit monotonous, so to cook your favourites may need some thought as to what pots you need.
our motto is that everything should have 2 uses or its out. I bought a great (expensive) bessemer pot woth vented dome lid that is used for roasting, frying and baking - well worth the money
Goodluck with this next stage of your lives - its about the journey not just the destination
-- Edited by villatranquilla on Tuesday 18th of October 2011 05:03:12 PM
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Jenny and Barry
2009 Roma Elegance / 2013 Colorado. Permanent travellers 2011-2015 now just travel for 4-6 mths
Darling dont keep too much is Jacko's advice. Darling Jacko has a property with a shed keeps the few meager possessions Jacko has left. Darling since packed up never touched or missed any of the goodies in the boxes. Darling not only has Jacko not wanted anything in the boxes Jacko has forgotten what is in the boxes. Darling Jacko did keep 4 pieces of Huno Pine furniture which are priceless antiques and have them stored in vacuum sealed heat shrink wrap plastic in the shed. Jacko made sure the shed is 100% mouse proof and sealed with solar powered dehumidifier. Darling Jacko one day will buy or build another house but until then while Jacko loves doing a bit of work Jacko loves been mobile in the motorhome. Darling Jacko doesnt particularly like living in a house and Jacko much prefers her lovely gorgeous motorhome with her boyfriends Mr. Webasto Diesel Heater and Mr. Skimo Air Conditioner. Darling 12V cooling and heating darling is amazing.
Do like I do and don't bother reading them, it's way toooooo much hard work making sense of them. Can do without the frustration. She's been asked many times to cut down on the "darlings". Gets a bit much after a while. All due respects and such but enough already.
I find that Jacko usually makes a lot of sense, once you get past her tic.
I certainly would prefer to read her posts than posts with no punctuation or capitilisation, I usually just ignore those, or posts where the inability to type, or maybe spell, or maybe just rushing and leaving out vital words, means that I have no idea what the poster is actually trying to say. Yet I've never written a snarky comment against any of those posts.
What happened to the much touted 'friendly welcoming forum'? How come it seems to apply to everybody except Jacko?
Jacko seems to have everything sussed out. His/her posts make a lot of sense once you get past the darlings. Please Jacko loose them. I like to hear you views.
I guess at times I tell it as I see it and a little too blunt for some people but I don't think anyone said that her information wasn't top notch, it is.
Just hard reading it with all the "darlings" in there.
As for spelling and punctuation, we have dislexic members and some others who have trouble getting the written word down, so ................
Jacko seems to have everything sussed out. His/her posts make a lot of sense once you get past the darlings. Please Jacko loose them. I like to hear you views.
Hear hear..... Please Jacko drop the "darlings" they are "off-putting" which is a pity as the underlying information in your posts is always very good.
hi we are in same boat selling house leaving our belongings with daughter etc. my advice (even tho i have same experience as you guys) just GO WITH IT!!!
I started this "life" back in '96 when I handed all my personal belongings over to my kids when I went to the Kimberleys for 3 months. I returned "home" when I became a Granny, and took the opportunity to remove any remaining belongings from storage in a friend's barn, because I wasn't going back to Pt. Lincoln. When I moved into Broome in '98 I bought a van on-site after I saw the rents. I was starting again buying saucepans, beds, sheets, a fridge etc. The van was fairly bare. Nine years later I updated the van and had to review my personal belongings to fit into a smaller van with less storage, to be towed on the road. I had a garage sale of the unwanted flotsum and jetsum, and the only things I add now are the things I have to replace. Compact and basic is good for me. The back of my Landcruiser wagon is "the shed" where I keep tools and shed stuff, and the Waeco, camping stuff and my camp bed for work. Once you rationalise your life you can do without the bits and pieces such as ornaments and unecessary furniture. Cutting the emotional tie is the hardest part, especially if you're one of those hoarders who place a sentimental value on everything. Good luck.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
I think Jacko post some good stuff, I thought her take on the question was spot on. I agree with most of the other post that also suggest organise, de clutter and have heaps of garage sales, and if you store do what Jacko did, or your stuff may be stuffed after a few years.
I can handle the darlings and no stops for a breath.
I have a close girlfriend and she has always done the Darling thing...not my cup of tea and I would not call anyone Darling ..lol...but for 40 years she has and does and has done for ever...It is a bit different..but hey, I have been called worse than darling.
I don't like guys calling me darling to my face at all, sounds way too personal, girls or gay guys say it and it sounds endearing.
And I think Pauline may be correct and Jacko is having some fun with us.
Try to find some fun organising your new journey in life Eilsnalby... you are approaching it in the right way...it is not easy sorting through a life time of goodies.
Thank you to everyone for your quick and sensible answers, including you Jacko, I don't mind all the "darlings", your answer was well worth it. Fortunately we don't have any emotions tied to the house and belongings, the belongings are only stuff! With all the horrible news on tv lately about bad tenants, and trashing rental properties, we couldn't go away with peace of mind. So to us, the house would only be a noose around our necks, and we couldn't enjoy ourselves worrying if the house was ok. Not sure how long we will travel for, a long time we hope. We will always have our daughter ( god bless her) to come home to. Thank you for giving us a starting point.
nothing wrong with a few darlings here and there - much better than being called a censored-old-censored-rollicking-censored wit. Everyone has individual ways of communicating which is all good.
Back to the original question, I have had many relocations and have packed up many houses and sold virtually everything several times over and been relentless in getting rid of stuff but now still have a few bits of stuff that I've kept for 30 yrs or more that would be hard to get rid of in addition to some art work so will find the best means of storing it. It's amazing how much you accumulate and how quickly.
I think having to pay for storage will be a big wakeup call.
You've probably made a good call in selling and in the current property market, if you invest the proceeds in a good mangement fund it will keep pace with property prices should you want to buy again. And you won't have the encumbrance of a rental property.
If garage sales etc seem too daunting, it might be worth getting a 2nd hand dealer in to give you a price on taking everything in one go. That might save you a lot of hassle even though you won't get as much. You could advertise the big items first and get individual buyers to take them and then bring in the 2nd hand dealers.
Another idea if you have a lot of stuff would be to make a donation to someone like the local scout group and get them to run a garage sale for you.
.. Before hitting the road just over (2) years ago, I too sold the house .. As a now solo parent with grown up lads, I didn't need to consider the wants and needs of a partner, and simply followed my instinct and all went well.
I had no garage sales at all .. the total contents went to both my lads who were in relationships, one already in situ in a home and the other looking to buy a house ..
Two years on and I'm sitting here not far from Liverpool in Sydney at a sons place and parked on his front lawn .. As usual, I have the option to move inside but this is my home and my bed which is my comfort zone now, but its nice to be able to spend the time inside in company with family.. and sit in a lovely lounge with surroundings that were once so familiar to me ..
Follow your dreams .. listen to your instincts .. and approach all decisions in a positive attitude knowing full well your dreams lie ahead of you .. not forgetting, that having achieved everything to get there, complacency and lethargy can bring it all down around you quite easily as your new lifestyle requirements can be quite different to what you have been used to in the past.
Having said that .. make your choices and follow them through .. it wont be long before you realise that one can make changes on the run when they are needed and without too much consternation and stress over those decision making processes ..
Lots depend on your vision ahead .. and if your goal /dream plans change, then follow your instincts .. we are all so different in our lifestyles .. sometimes the grass looks greener to you when it may look a dark brown to me ..
Your dream is your dream .. so follow it .. you will enjoy the trip !
I really think Jonathan has given the most sound advice, what we did was cull the rubbish first, stuff that had been lying around since adam was a cowboy. Family treasures antiques we kept. Some stuff we gave away. Other bigger ticket items sold on gumtree, trading post etc. You have an advantage that you have 11 months to do this.
with the money we got from selling stuff, we reinvested it in gear suitable for the new lifestyle, someone suggested bessmar cooking gear, (good idea). Perhaps go to a few camping shows etc. Observe listen, remember we are all different so take the good advice and run with it, the other crap leave alone.
We sold our property in cairns, and bought 30 acres on the darling downs , have a shipping container with gear in it. We paid for extra storage for the first year, then knocked that one on the head, and downsized again.
Another tip is to become and non-consumer, this is a hard one, make do and mend,
Cut right back, say do I need this or do I want this. Obviously you have to have the basics, groceries, medicals etc, but I stopped buying new clothes, and wore everything out , and threw out as I went. Same goes for linen etc, I have a tendency to have too many sheets etc. As far as towels go, they can take up a lot of room, I have solved that problem we use baby muslims to dry ourselves, light, and dont take up much weight, you can have a few towels, but not great huge thumping ones, that take ages to dry.
These things work for us. They might not work for you, so this is only a suggestion.
Now I would like to express my opinion on this forum about some of you having a go at the lady who uses the word darling.
Geez DONT BE SO INTOLERANT, LEAVE HER/him alone. Just dismiss it, some of you can be an unkind lot. Pauline had a good point. (Pauline always gives positive feedback), perhaps some of you could take a leaf out of her book.
I currently have my Shippshape rooftop tent on Gumtree, and the ad state's 'cash sale only' I also have 3 other items on Gumtree, I received a text message a while ago saying, was the item I had on Gumtree still for sale, well I followed this through and answered the text saying 'what item', next text I got was asking me to email him, I did this and he then wanted my banking details so that he could put the money into my account, I did not supply any banking details, it turns out he wanted the ShipShape and wanted to pay me $200 more than I had asked for so that I could ship it overseas, well I was not falling for that con job, told him where to go and have not heard of him since.
What part of the ad did he not understand it stated 'cash sale only'.
This is just a warning to other members to be careful of scam's on Gumtree, I did contact Gumtree and they said they would delete his contact info email addy etc from their site.
Elle's advice to invest the house sale money in a reliable place, is excellent. It can be tempting to dip into the proceeds to fund the travelling life, but you run the risk of not having enough capital, if things don't work out - or if age/illness puts you off the road. But also be aware that having that money invested may affect your pension levels, if you are on same.
This is just a warning to other members to be careful of scam's on Gumtree, I did contact Gumtree and they said they would delete his contact info email addy etc from their site.
Happens on quite a few Car Sales Sites too Wombat. Friends of mine have a Mercedes Car, and a Swagman Motorhome they are trying to sell, and with both vehicles, and on different sites, they've been contacted by these Scam Artists.
Luckily, they're aware of the fact that it's a Scam.
Thanks, wendydv, we were just debating about the house money, and have been advised to check with centrelink. There is so much to take into consideration, the mind boggles! But we do have time (hopefully) up our sleeves, so are researching all we can. This is a great forum, and lots of friendly people, I hope when we do eventually get going that we meet up with some of you.
Thanks, wendydv, we were just debating about the house money, and have been advised to check with centrelink. There is so much to take into consideration, the mind boggles! But we do have time (hopefully) up our sleeves, so are researching all we can. This is a great forum, and lots of friendly people, I hope when we do eventually get going that we meet up with some of you.
There are particular types of funds that pay a little less interest and have very helpful deductions particularly to suit pensioner needs and I don't keep up with these but they include government bonds and mutual funds and philanthropic funds. You can invest the house money, put it in particular funds and wait 12 months and then get rental assistance for staying in caravan parks. Something which is not common knowledge is that under particular circumstances you can invest your house money in your super fund and then redraw it as needed with minimal tax. It all depends on your age and other factors.
As Elle says, you can also contact centrelink and ask for an appointment with the FIS (Financial Information Service) officer, it's free, they will tell you all what you can legally do.
If you can invest the funds from your house sale and live on less than the return, you will build the equity and perhaps never need Centrelink. Later on if you decide to buy another house, then you should have more than you started with.
Darling one of the reasons Jacko decided to buy a small acerage property and built the insulated masonary block shed. Darling the farmer across the road grazes their sheep on the property and pays the rates. Darling the shed is fenced off and 4m concrete strip on 3 sides and 8m in the front around the shed so Jacko can park outside, close the gates and keep the sheep out. Darling reason Jacko built the shed it gave Jacko somewhere to store her handed down Huon Pine antiques and few other boxes. Darling if Jacko got sick or needed somewhere to stop for a period, the shed is insulated and dehumidified, with water, shower and septic. Darling this was Jacko's insurance against rising property prices close to town and somewhere Jacko would be happy to build a small house if the time came Jacko needed or wanted to settle down. Darling Jacko hasn't been to the shed for 2 years, and keep in touch with the farmer by e-mail or the occassional phone call.
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dont leave till next year what you can do this year next year may never come
Darling one of the reasons Jacko decided to buy a small acerage property and built the insulated masonary block shed. Darling the farmer across the road grazes their sheep on the property and pays the rates. Darling the shed is fenced off and 4m concrete strip on 3 sides and 8m in the front around the shed so Jacko can park outside, close the gates and keep the sheep out. Darling reason Jacko built the shed it gave Jacko somewhere to store her handed down Huon Pine antiques and few other boxes. Darling if Jacko got sick or needed somewhere to stop for a period, the shed is insulated and dehumidified, with water, shower and septic. Darling this was Jacko's insurance against rising property prices close to town and somewhere Jacko would be happy to build a small house if the time came Jacko needed or wanted to settle down. Darling Jacko hasn't been to the shed for 2 years, and keep in touch with the farmer by e-mail or the occassional phone call.
that has to rate as the best suggestions on this topic
