Take That Exit

We have been working very hard the past couple months preparing our house for sale. We listed it late last Friday night (May 1) and we had three offers by Monday (May 4). We are flabbergasted, grateful, anxious and excited. 

Selling our house is the last BIG piece of the exhausting journey to living and traveling full-time in our shiny, tiny home. I believe the insane amount of effort we put into getting the house ready for sale made the difference in selling it so quickly. Painting, cleaning, a new roof, a new furnace, staging, downsizing – countless hours of sweat and effort went into getting this home ready for the next family. I can easily say that it’s nicer than when we purchased!

Now we just hope and pray that we get through the appraisal, inspection and buyer financing that is needed to seal the deal the first week of June. That’s right – we could be out of here in just over a month!

The last day of school is June 12 and we would love to be on the road the weekend after that. Only time (and a lot more hard work) will tell if that’s possible! We have more downsizing to do to fit into 200 square feet, a storage unit to rent, and a lot of minor things like address changes and doctor/dentist check-ups to fit in before then.

Stay tune as we round this important corner toward what feels like the last sprint toward our dream of full-time travel!

Of all the things we’ve done to prepare for life on the road – I’d rank downsizing as one of the most exhausting tasks. 

When you live in a big house you tend to fill it up. It’s human nature. It’s consumer nature.

All the kitchen gadgets you thought would rock your world. All the Target red-tag-clearance-treasures you just had to have. The clothes that you thought you’d fit into some day. It all adds up.

And I have to say – it feels a whole lot harder selling it then it was buying it. 🙂

I considered donating and giving it all away. That seemed noble and it sure seemed easier.

BUT – I knew we could use the funds. Prepping for a life on the road was expensive, getting our house ready to sell was expensive, my husband giving notice at work was scary.

I was determined to try and sell my items for as much a fair price as I could get. So I started February 1 and I’m so glad I did – because it has taken me weeks of constant effort to sell my items.

1.) Find a local Facebook Buy, Sell, Trade group to sell your items

2.) Sell used books on Amazon {see my tutorial on selling used books on Amazon here}

3.) Have an epic garage sale (or two?) 

4.) Donate items to Goodwill or local thrift shop

5.) Give items away to friends and family

6.) Rent a storage unit for meaningful items

If you’re planning to downsize for full-time travel, I recommend starting immediately – give yourself as much time as you can. You’ll earn more if you take your time and sell items online or in Facebook groups than you will if you just have a big garage sale.

If you want very detailed updates on our 2015 Downsizing progress, I’ve been blogging about it over on my Queen Bee Coupons site – 

Week 1 update here – earned $548.16
Week 2 update here – earned $1,283.47
Week 3 update here – earned $432.40
Week 4 update here – earned $300
Week 5 update here – earned $395
Week 6 update here – earned $160
Week 7 update here – earned zilch, nada, nothing!
Week 8 update here – earned $645!!
Week 9 and 10 update – earned $715
Week 11 update – earned $3,280.88 {garage sale}
Year-to-date – $7759.91

I can’t wait to hit the road without the burden of STUFF pulling me down.