Frugal move tips needed

[Molly]

My husband and I are downsizing and plan to move to a condo that is half the size of our house. But along the way we came up with an idea I call The Grand Adventure.

We are talking about planning a gap year and temporarily moving from the Midwest to Arizona and renting a house for a year or two. We don't really want to live there for the rest of our lives as we have friends and family here. But we want to explore the many national and state parks out west, enjoy western culture and experience a few snow-free winters.

I'm trying to figure out how to do this as frugally as possible. I think we need to get rid of as much stuff as possible to reduce moving costs. But do we store some of our stuff for when we move back? Don't really want to pay storage costs but don't want to have to re-buy stuff we already had. Do we drive both cars out or sell one car, drive one car there, then buy a second car when we get there? Or just exist with one car?

Has anyone experienced a big move? Especially when it wasn't a permanent one?

All tips are welcome!

[Yppej]

Can you rent out the place you have now furnished?

When I was younger I moved 11 times in one 5 year period, and I did it myself with family helping with the heavy items. The farthest distances were 1500 miles.

My tips are:

Make sure if you don't know how to drive stick shift that the truck you are renting has automatic transmission.

If you are trashing a lot of stuff rent a dumpster. It is cheaper than those companies that haul away junk.

If you are towing your car behind a moving truck check your route. When I hit the state line I found out New Jersey does not allow this on Route 95.

If your truck is not completely full secure large items with rope.

Borrow a dolly or do without. If you break the seal on the one in the rental truck you will be charged extra.

You can make do with one car. A motorized scooter is one alternative for a second vehicle since you will be in a warm climate.

Do you have pets?

Good luck.

[Teacher Terry]

If you want to return to your previous house I would rent it out. If not then sell it. I would probably put the stuff I wanted to keep in storage. Maybe you can rent a furnished apartment in your new location.

[razz]

I would do a vacation rental to AZ to see if I really had enough reasons to make the move there, even temporarily.

You may find it easier to downsize first to a condo of choice in the midwest, thereby right-size your house contents, rent it with friends and family to monitor the situation, sell one car and then travel to AZ for whatever time you wish. You will have a handle on your finances, peace of mind about your home and then freedom to roam as budget and desire indicate.
Too many horror stories about homes that were rented, wrecked, needed huge repairs before being sold.

I could live with a minimum of home contents that could be purchased locally and donated when I went back home.

[Molly]

Yes, we plan to sell the house first. Part of the proceeds will go towards travel and rent, the rest will be saved to purchase a condo when we return. I've researched renting a furnished home vs empty and furnished is much more expensive. Thus trying to weigh moving our own stuff vs renting furnished.

We will have to hire a moving company if we move our own stuff. We're in our 60s and past the age where we can move things.

[lmerullo]

I really like razz's thoughts. This way you have a security net if it all goes south out west.

I, also, could walk away from everything in this home and live from second-hand purchases that then go back into the resale world once done.

At your current home, I'd plan out my personal "keeps", then offer it all to friends and family at super deep discounts or free. What remained would be either donated or sold to an estate reseller.

How far out are you? If six months to a year I would do as much of this now, to allow a second cull as things are used or not. If time is closer, then just visualize your downsized life and be ruthless!

Your plan sounds exciting....you'll have to share with us where you go and what you do!

[razz]

Molly, a thought came to mind when out walking my dog. I remembered that when I sold my farm, I thought that I would feel free to explore for a while as I could live there on my farm and in the same house rent-free for a year. To my total surprise, I felt lost as though I had lost my home base. I needed to replace my home to feel settled again. Once I had a home that was mine again, that lost feeling disappeared. YMMV
To the original question, I looked at all the stuff that I moved. One needs very little. You can buy a bed frame and mattress, some simple furnishings, an 'instant pot' and dishes for 4 people and live well with a fridge, stove which are easy to dispose of but pricey to move and crazy to store.

[iris lilies]

If you have furniture you love, rent a storage unit only for things you truly love that will be placed in your condo. If you dont have anythng you love, chuck out all of it but the bare essentials of kitchen items, clothing, personal stuff.

But for the Arizona gig, pick up used furniture once you get there, and donate it back when you leave. Sofa, table, 2 - 3 chairs, dresser. those are easy to find at thrift Stores. A bed or futon is more problematic, to many people used bedding items have an ick factor.

I am assuming you have a regular size car or SUV and not a truck. You can do more with a truck, I suppose.

[pinkytoe]

All I can say (having just done this) is that it was all much more complicated than we thought it would be. We used two small storage units while we got resettled but ended up moving three times in the past year so there was a lot of shuffling of that stuff. If you are moving to a place where demand is high and supply low, then it will take a while to find a place. If your house sells quickly as ours did and you have not yet secured a place on the other end, things will get interesting, so it is also about timing all these steps. Get rid of stuff now. We made quite a bit of money selling our old stuff. For the out of state move, we used two small pods and did the packing and unpacking ourselves. It cost $1700 but much less expensive than paying movers and same as U-Haul. Once we got to another state, we bought second hand furniture rather than haul much of our our old stuff 800 miles. We are in our 60s too and never thought we could do all this physical stuff but we did and the goal was accomplished. Paid for house in Colorado with a view of the mountains. Now we are DIY remodeling the house we bought from top to bottom. The fun never stops especially when you have to economize every step. We get by with one small SUV. I wish we had a truck instead.

[Molly]

We've already been clearing out and I'm trying to get to the point where we have the bare minimum - just what we need and nothing more. We toyed around with the idea of buying an RV and travelling for awhile that way, but for many reasons, we decided not to.

I'm sure it's going to be way more complicated than we think, and probably more expensive than we think. But it's our chance now to do something completely different. I don't want to be sitting in a nursing home someday regretting not doing it.

It's exciting and frightening at the same time.