Hello all. I have been lurking on this forum for a while and finally decided to join. There is a lot of good information here and stuff I never thought of.
We (wife Chris, two sons 5 and 10, and I) will be getting on the road this summer after school is out. Finally. We have been talking about it for a couple of years. We sold our house last year and moved into a rental. So the house is already gone. We bought a bunkhouse travel trailer this summer and paid off both our trucks. We have figured out the school program we want to try and also the internet provider (Millenicom). We have just started the downsizing. It's not as easy as I would have thought.
Both my wife and I are retired Air Force, so we have an income coming in. I am currently flying test for the Navy, so we are saving any extra money that comes in. I just wish it would warm up a little so we didn't have so much money going to the utility people. Even with that, we are both still nervous about money. I keep reading posts about how much people are living on while full timing and it helps us relax for a little while. It seems there are some good ways to cut down on expenses (state parks, military campgrounds, less moving, etc.). I'm sure there are more that we will figure out while we are traveling.
As of now, we are planning on becoming Arizona residents since my father in law lives there. We can use his address. He also has some land, so he is letting us store our extra truck and a trailer full of the stuff we want to keep there. We were thinking about selling my wife's truck, but since we can store it for free, it might be nice to have a backup in case my truck breaks down. Both of them can pull the trailer.
I think we are on the right track to finally make this happen. As of now, we are just planning to stay on the road for a year or two. We want to show the boys as much of this country as we can while we are still healthy enough to do it. After the first year is up we will see how it is going and if we are all still having fun. If we are, then we will stay out. If not, we will figure out where we want to live and settle down. It should be interesting either way.
I'm sure as it gets closer I'll be picking some brains on here. I hope I don't annoy too many of you by asking too many questions. There is no substitute for the experience on this forum and I know I will learn a lot from it.
Dave
Lucky Mike said
06:52 AM Jan 14, 2014
Welcome Dave & Chris!!!!
Ask away.......................half the fun is the learning curve!!
Clay L said
12:09 PM Jan 14, 2014
You can take advantage of your FILs offer to let you store stuff and still have a legal domicile somewhere that is better for full timers. AZ has very high RV registration compared to many other states along with a state income tax.
You might want to check into SD or TX as your home state. No income tax, easy to become a resident, no permanent address needed other than your mail forwarding service address and no jury duty problems.
We use Alternative Resources in Sioux Falls SD. See them HERE. There is a lot of good info on their site becoming a SD resident.
The Escapees in Livingston TX is also a good organization and mail forwarding service if you want to use TX.
SnowGypsy said
05:42 PM Jan 14, 2014
Welcome! Sounds like fun to me. We moved around a lot by choice when the kids were younger and they got to see so many things and it is SO enriching to every part of their life. You might consider, if you don't already, living on a budget before you start your adventure.
Alie and Jims Carrilite said
06:34 PM Jan 14, 2014
South Dakota is iffy for younger fulltimers right now. If there are any health insurance concerns SD is not the state to consider.
For everything else though it is great.
daperry91903 said
07:54 PM Jan 14, 2014
Thanks for the welcome, Lucky Mike.
Clay L. - We are actually leaning towards Texas because of their home school laws and no tax on retirement pay. The reason we were looking at Arizona is because of no vehicle inspections to go back for every year and to save the membership fee's for Escapee's. However, we are still working the numbers to figure out which works best for us. I never thought about jury duty. Thanks.
SnowGypsy - We are really excited to show the kids around the country and watching the fascination when they see new things. We are going to start living on what we are expecting to be living on when full timing starting in Feb. We are paying off the Christmas credit cards this month and then will have no more bills except for living expenses. We will still have to pay our rent and the bills that go with a house, but we can subtract them and see what is left.
Alie and Jim - Fortunately we have Tricare health insurance since we are retired military. I can't imagine what it is like trying to get health insurance now.
I really appreciate all the comments. Every time I come to this forum I learn something new.
Dave
WestWardHo said
10:14 PM Jan 14, 2014
Dave,
Welcome! Retired AF and Tricare, you have the best of both worlds, an income and great health insurance (we are so grateful to have Tricare, my Navy retired husband calls it "back overtime"!) Do check further I vehicle registrations in AZ and state income tax. You may well find SD, TX, and Florida better options!
We used SD and the mail forwarding services are great as we get almost everything digitally. Not much mail to forward except prescriptions.
Traveling with young children, bless you! What exposure they will have.
You're doing a great job with pre- planning so ask away. You'll find lots of friendly, helpful folks on here.
Hello all. I have been lurking on this forum for a while and finally decided to join. There is a lot of good information here and stuff I never thought of.
We (wife Chris, two sons 5 and 10, and I) will be getting on the road this summer after school is out. Finally. We have been talking about it for a couple of years. We sold our house last year and moved into a rental. So the house is already gone. We bought a bunkhouse travel trailer this summer and paid off both our trucks. We have figured out the school program we want to try and also the internet provider (Millenicom). We have just started the downsizing. It's not as easy as I would have thought.
Both my wife and I are retired Air Force, so we have an income coming in. I am currently flying test for the Navy, so we are saving any extra money that comes in. I just wish it would warm up a little so we didn't have so much money going to the utility people. Even with that, we are both still nervous about money. I keep reading posts about how much people are living on while full timing and it helps us relax for a little while. It seems there are some good ways to cut down on expenses (state parks, military campgrounds, less moving, etc.). I'm sure there are more that we will figure out while we are traveling.
As of now, we are planning on becoming Arizona residents since my father in law lives there. We can use his address. He also has some land, so he is letting us store our extra truck and a trailer full of the stuff we want to keep there. We were thinking about selling my wife's truck, but since we can store it for free, it might be nice to have a backup in case my truck breaks down. Both of them can pull the trailer.
I think we are on the right track to finally make this happen. As of now, we are just planning to stay on the road for a year or two. We want to show the boys as much of this country as we can while we are still healthy enough to do it. After the first year is up we will see how it is going and if we are all still having fun. If we are, then we will stay out. If not, we will figure out where we want to live and settle down. It should be interesting either way.
I'm sure as it gets closer I'll be picking some brains on here. I hope I don't annoy too many of you by asking too many questions. There is no substitute for the experience on this forum and I know I will learn a lot from it.
Dave
Ask away.......................half the fun is the learning curve!!
You can take advantage of your FILs offer to let you store stuff and still have a legal domicile somewhere that is better for full timers. AZ has very high RV registration compared to many other states along with a state income tax.
You might want to check into SD or TX as your home state. No income tax, easy to become a resident, no permanent address needed other than your mail forwarding service address and no jury duty problems.
We use Alternative Resources in Sioux Falls SD. See them HERE. There is a lot of good info on their site becoming a SD resident.
The Escapees in Livingston TX is also a good organization and mail forwarding service if you want to use TX.
For everything else though it is great.
Clay L. - We are actually leaning towards Texas because of their home school laws and no tax on retirement pay. The reason we were looking at Arizona is because of no vehicle inspections to go back for every year and to save the membership fee's for Escapee's. However, we are still working the numbers to figure out which works best for us. I never thought about jury duty. Thanks.
SnowGypsy - We are really excited to show the kids around the country and watching the fascination when they see new things. We are going to start living on what we are expecting to be living on when full timing starting in Feb. We are paying off the Christmas credit cards this month and then will have no more bills except for living expenses. We will still have to pay our rent and the bills that go with a house, but we can subtract them and see what is left.
Alie and Jim - Fortunately we have Tricare health insurance since we are retired military. I can't imagine what it is like trying to get health insurance now.
I really appreciate all the comments. Every time I come to this forum I learn something new.
Dave
Welcome! Retired AF and Tricare, you have the best of both worlds, an income and great health insurance (we are so grateful to have Tricare, my Navy retired husband calls it "back overtime"!) Do check further I vehicle registrations in AZ and state income tax. You may well find SD, TX, and Florida better options!
We used SD and the mail forwarding services are great as we get almost everything digitally. Not much mail to forward except prescriptions.
Traveling with young children, bless you! What exposure they will have.
You're doing a great job with pre- planning so ask away. You'll find lots of friendly, helpful folks on here.
Sherry