Family of Six Sells House - Moves into RV - Goes Debt Free

Where do you start a story like this?  Do you start it from when the house sells?

That's not truly where the journey began though.  Starting it there would be cutting the journey and the story short.

Sometimes the most interesting tidbits of anything worth telling happen before anything begins.

It begins as a seed.  Like all seeds, it is small.

You can ignore it...

for a time.

Soon it begins to grow.  It spreads its roots in your heart; your spirit.  You find more of your thoughts consumed by it.  

You go to work and throw yourself into the thing that once brought you fulfillment.

It no longer does.

Before you know it your YouTube home page is full of recommendations that just a few weeks earlier you wouldn't have even known anyone did videos on those subjects.

So where did we start?

Perhaps a better question would be "When?"

3 years ago.

In order to live in an RV you have to consider how you will get said RV from place to place.  I knew the first step in making our seed that had grown into a dream, a reality, was to get a truck that was up to the task.

The second was the RV itself.

Which one is the best?  Is this brand better?  What model makes sense for us?  Floorplans?  How about weight?  

A lot of information to consider for sure.  In future posts I will address and go into depth all of these questions and more.  Be sure to subscribe to our newsfeed and/or subscribe to my YouTube channel so you won't miss anything.

What was next?

We needed to sell our house.  I still needed to fix up a few things that had been hanging out on the "To Do" list.  

1.  Replace kitchen countertops.  I did a YouTube video showing my replacement of ours.  I had always liked the look of wooden countertops.  So I took this opportunity to put in some butcher block ones that I had my eye on for some time.

2.  Reface kitchen cabinets.  Our cabinets were made of MDF and covered with melamine.  They were probably built by the lowest bidder when the house was built.  I kept the carcasses as they were structurally sound but the doors had to go.  I decided to rebuild those myself.  You can check out my video on that project here.

3.  Put up a screen enclosure for the back lanai.  I decided not to take the time to record this project as I just needed to get it done.  I used aluminum extrusions instead of wood for the framing.  It cost more for the materials but I figured the look would be more traditional for the area the house was in.  It took two days and cost around $1000. 

Their were other small projects and repairs as well.  Home ownership is a constant barrage of things that need to be done.

As much as I tried to stay up with it, working a full time job and raising four young children is time consuming enough.  I was always a few tasks behind the proverbial eight ball.

So I took a few weeks off work.  That's right I said a few weeks.

The fact I had so much saved up was a testament to how fast life passes.  Before we realized it, years had passed since our last vacation.

I was still grappling with weather to buy the RV before or after listing the house.  If I went a step further and waited till after selling I could pay cash for the RV.  However, that left my wife and children in limbo until we could find one and take delivery.

In order to buy one before we sold I would have to do a loan and that felt contrary to what we were trying to do in the first place.

Be debt free.

I was beginning to get overwhelmed.

Once we listed the house for sale the game was on.  Their were showings.  After showings came the questions from real estate agents and those they represented.  Everybody wanted the most house for the least amount of money.  

All we wanted was whoever was willing to pay the most money and be the least hassle while doing it.

 

 

 

 

In upcoming posts I will go in depth each step along our journey.  From finding the right tow vehicle to finding an RV that made sense and worked for our family to figuring out where to stay and getting the best rates at RV parks.

If this is your first time here be sure to subscribe to our website newsletter.  We'll send you an email whenever a new post is added.  Also head over to YouTube channel and subscribe there as well.  Be sure to hit the bell notification so you don't miss the journey to our new homestead.

Until then be well and stay safe.