Making Major Changes To Get You Closer To Your Dream

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Scarlet,

Great name, by the way! When my wife and I sold our house near Raleigh, NC to get to the coast, we had lived there 13 years, and raised two boys in that house to college age. We literally found boxes in the attic that we had moved four times and had not opened in 27 years. How, you might ask, did I know for sure it was 27 years? Because we found boxes of wedding presents, at least one of which had never been opened; you see, two days after we were married my bride and I went to Germany (I was in the Army), and we just never got around to looking at them, because the boxes went to storage while we went to Deutschland.

So we cleared out the attic of our then house near Raleigh, and we also had a barn (a great collector of junk), so I cleared that out, selling a few things and donating or trashing the rest. I literally filled two very small dump trucks with stuff from the barn and attic to take to the dump. Amazing how I don't miss that stuff. And like you, we are not hoarders or pack rats. Stuff just accumulates somehow.

Best of luck with moving to Leavenworth. My suggestion, for what it's worth, is to rent at Leavenworth, not buy, at least if you still want to transition to the cruising life. Once you find your dream boat, you will likely want to spend many months or a year getting it the way you want it. It is much easier to do that if you have a house at the coast, even if just a very small house. Also, we'll probably have a recession in the next two years, and it will be easier for you if you are not trying to sell a house at Leavenworth during a recession.

All the best in your next adventure!

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by AJ_n_Audrey

Scarlet,

My suggestion, for what it's worth, is to rent at Leavenworth, not buy, at least if you still want to transition to the cruising life.

Already done.. We are only anticipating 2 years there, and we just wouldn't get our money out of owning a house. Found a great rental...

[chris mac]

Just wanted to say a quick thank you scarlet. Because of this thread we have decided to start clearing stuff out.
We are aiming for the big move fall of 2019.
I have just started listing some of the bigger items online and already getting sales. This spring will see the holiday trailer and sports items going too.
Damn, it feels good to purge. Also feels like a step forward and closer to the boat.
If we end up running into each other, the beer is on me:-)

[Davy J]

Difficult parts of the transition are selling the property and then ridding yourself of years of acquiring personal possessions.

This was in my response on the first page of this thread. It is by far the worst part of the whole process.

We spent the last month cruising around the FL Keys. Didn't miss any of our belongings that were not on the boat.............

Opened our storage unit yesterday, still had difficulty disposing of stuff........
There are only a few options, no matter the actual value of the item.

1) Throw it in the trash
2) Give it to friends or relatives
3) Donate it to a charity
4) Hold on to it one more day in hopes of selling it for pennies on the dollar
5) Pay to store it for who knows what reason

Of course some items are easy to sell on CL or eBay, but many nice things you own won't be valuable to anyone but you.

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by chris mac

Just wanted to say a quick thank you scarlet. Because of this thread we have decided to start clearing stuff out.
We are aiming for the big move fall of 2019.
I have just started listing some of the bigger items online and already getting sales. This spring will see the holiday trailer and sports items going too.
Damn, it feels good to purge. Also feels like a step forward and closer to the boat.
If we end up running into each other, the beer is on me:-)

Good for you!!!! I'll take you up on that beer. Our set sail date will be just a few months after you. Early part of 2020... And, I'll certainly have all this crap gone by then...

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by Davy J

This was in my response on the first page of this thread. It is by far the worst part of the whole process.

We spent the last month cruising around the FL Keys. Didn't miss any of our belongings that were not on the boat.............

Opened our storage unit yesterday, still had difficulty disposing of stuff........
There are only a few options, no matter the actual value of the item.

1) Throw it in the trash
2) Give it to friends or relatives
3) Donate it to a charity
4) Hold on to it one more day in hopes of selling it for pennies on the dollar
5) Pay to store it for who knows what reason

Of course some items are easy to sell on CL or eBay, but many nice things you own won't be valuable to anyone but you.

And I think this is the main reason we hang on to stuff. It's hard to see yourself throw, give, donate, sell off for pennies on the dollar, for things that you paid so much money for.