a work in progress

I've been assessing what I've spent and what's left to spend in order to get my trailer full time ready. The list below has been broken up into what I need and then a choice of going for either solar or gas power. I will get both eventually but I can only afford to do one or the other if I was to lose my job today. 

A little over a year ago that I had no money or job in sight when I started planning this. I almost can't believe that I'm here now. I do need this job for a little while longer to pay down/off a few bills. I'll discuss future employment/financial issues in the coming weeks, but not in any detail at this point. I digress.

Here's a list of stuff I purchased so far which came out to around $200.

Basic Required Trailer Items

$10. Brass water pressure regulator

$13. Jack pads

$9. Wheel chocks

$25. Rhino flex sewer slinky

$22. Sewer slinky support stand

$12. 25ft drinking water hose

$18. Drinking water filter

$28. Tri-links leveling pads

$9. 30 to 15 amp dogbone

$30. Titanium camping cooking pots + tea kettle

$9. Skoy cloth

$9. Sterilite 4 drawer organizer for kitchen ware

And the stuff I still need to get totals out around 3500K or 2200K for the single power option. 

Assorted Boondocking Items

$140. Fantastic Vent 4000R
$50. Vortex Vent Fan Replacement Kit
$180. 10x LED Light Bulbs
$210. 2x Trojan T-105 6v Batteries
$20. Dual Propane Tank Holder
$210. 2x Litecylinder Propane Tanks

Solar Power

$850. 2x AM RV100 Solar Panels

$340. Blue Sky Solar Boost 3024iL Charge Control System

$250. Blue Sky IPNPRO-S Battery Monitoring System

Gas Power
$1300. Honda EU2000i Portable Generator

Took this the day I bought it. July 2010

I'm not sure where I was going with this or what I wanted to say in this post any more. The purge-fest of personal stuff and Xmas prep have taken up all my time lately. 

I'm just going to say I hope something in this post helps and that you have a Merry Christmas!

Steve

little boxes, little boxes

In preparing for a full timing life, I spent the better part of the last two weeks cleaning out my closets. I had in total 16 moving boxes that were never unpacked after moving to San Antonio. My apartment was a disaster zone during this project. I sorted everything into donate, keep, or trash piles. In the end I managed to reduce all that into 3 boxes of stuff to keep (which go to the parents home for storage). The beagle was extremely happy to get her playground back as the only safe harbor was the couch.

I'm not finished either, but thankfully the kitchen is the last place that I have to go through. A few random appliances, pyrex, assorted glasses and mugs and I'm done. Whatever is left will be sold, go to my family, or into storage.

I've read about how liberating it is to finally get rid of stuff. I felt that, and it feels great. I also feel like a moron for not having gotten rid of it before I moved. Twice! I did lighten the load before each move but nothing like this. This really is cathartic to rid yourself of so much stuff. I never realized how little I need it all until I was homeless for a bit. I wonder if this is what it's kind of like to be an Indian Sadhu? They give up everything and live life on the streets.

Ok probably not since I've got the beagle, a trailer, and this isn't India.

history and the beagle

I've moved about four times in the last three years to two different states. Each move was meant to improve my quality of life and financial circumstances. The improvement was always short lived given how quickly the economy was deteriorating. I had this plan to buy a house in the burbs and some land out in the middle of nowhere. When the time came to retire (an early one) I would sell the house and use that money to build me a modest ranch house. Unfortunately the economy decimated those plans with the worst part taking place over the last year. This was devastating for me in every way, but I managed to still land on my feet. Sort of. I was homeless for almost a year.

I didn't want to wind up in a tent city so I started researching before I hit the streets. It was this research that led me to the world of Boondocking/Full Timing. To be honest I thought it was a novel idea but completely impractical. Yet, something about it kept pulling me back in. The more I learned the less impractical it was. Some of you reading this have blogs which has helped me in ways I don't think I could ever repay you for.

Things finally turned around when I landed a contract position last March. It's given me the time to prepare and financially afford the travel trailer.

The beagle has been by my side through all of this. I seriously would've lost my mind without her.