Tag: Downsize

From First-Timers to Full-Timers in Two Bottles of Champagne

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A champagne celebration of an accidental purchase opened a portal to a new life

We are delighted to have been asked to write a guest post for Charlotte Brimstone’s excellent blog, Caravan Living.

While Mark and I have taken early retirement to tour in our caravan, Charlotte and her partner, Darryn are a young couple who have elected to live in their caravan in the UK.

Although there is an age difference, our objectives are fundamentally the same; caravan living allows both of us to live comfortably within our means and even save a little, while still having the lifestyle that we love!

Click here to read ‘From First-Timers to Full-timers in Two Bottles of Champagne.‘ which covers;

  1. How to budget for and fund going full-time
  2. The rules and regulations that you need to know
  3. How to de-clutter and downsize
  4. How to avoid killing your partner
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A happy family can live very successfully in 7m of space

For more information on living in a caravan, check out my Tips section.

To read more about our European travels, click here. 

How to Cram your Life into a Box on Wheels!

The things you own end up owning you… LET GO! 

…you honestly can’t think of a better way to spend these moments? This is YOUR LIFE. And it’s ending one minute at a time.

Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) in the movie Fight Club.

You know that silver cutlery service in the mahogany canteen? You have had it for 30 years. You remember it – well, vaguely… It was a wedding present. You come across it; let’s see – every time you move house! It has been taking up space in the back of a cupboard somewhere. It’s too good to use, except for those REALLY special occasions, but they never seem to come around. And anyway, it won’t go in the dishwasher. And you have to polish it before you can use it. But it cost a fortune and you’ll never get the money back on it… Well, we sold ours on eBay for exactly what it was worth – and that is <drum roll> WHAT SOMEONE WAS PREPARED TO PAY FOR IT! Continue reading “How to Cram your Life into a Box on Wheels!” →

Livin’ the Dream Week 1 – Hare Farm, Twyford

Fox Poo, Ticks and Goose Eggs; a Caravan Manoeuvering Course – and a Near Death Experience!

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Our new life on wheels. At Hare Farm, we eventually found what we’d been looking for. PEACE!

D Day (Departure Day) minus 1                                 5th June

Packing up your entire life takes longer than you think. My hot tip here is to keep the pressure off yourself by NOT diverting from the main event by needing to post all the items you sold on eBay the night before you move permanently from a house into a caravan.

Kai helped our efforts tremendously by starting to eat our environmentally friendly packing chips. So besides trying to clean the house, get all remaining worldly goods to fit in the van and frenetically packaging oddly-shaped parcels at 10pm (how do you pack up a golf club for posting?), we were also soaking half-dissolved corn chips out of Kai’s whiskers.

D Day; A Near Death Experience                               6th June

Continue reading “Livin’ the Dream Week 1 – Hare Farm, Twyford” →

My Tips on eBay Selling

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When we made the decision to tour almost full-time in our caravan, we got rid of most of our possessions. We sold many of them on eBay. I was new to eBay, so it was daunting at first, but there is lots of online help available on eBay.

Besides getting rid of clutter that we couldn’t store, we made a tidy sum to contribute to our travels!

Here, I have listed some of the hacks that worked for me. Continue reading “My Tips on eBay Selling” →

It Worked for Us – Getting Rid of STUFF!

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Do you feel like you are sinking in a sea of STUFF? We’ve been there. We can help!

I had a friend who was upset – actually depressed – by the amount of junk in her two spare rooms. She was a teacher, so I made a suggestion; “You get loads of holiday. Why don’t you use a couple of days when you’re husband’s at work to sort it out?”

“I’M not using MY holiday to sort out junk!” she spluttered. “Well if you’re not prepared to do that, you have only one option.” I said to her. “What’s that?” she asked eagerly. “Pray for a miracle!” Continue reading “It Worked for Us – Getting Rid of STUFF!” →