Has anyone considered downsizing in these tough times?

[Silver Threads]

As I said we are praying for you and your husband, hang in there and trust God! We will keep our eyes open for an Airstream, let you know if we find one that would be suitable for you.

John

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by thecatsandi

Actually I am going the other way. It will be almost three years full time and I will be buying a house in the next 4-5 months.

DON'T DO IT!

The repair/honey do lists will go on FOREVER

I can't seem to work on my Airstream for having to work on freakin' everything else around this zoo!

FWIW I have long subscribed to the principle of living within my means. We practice the 80/10/10 rule...live on 80% of take home income, save 10% and give 10% away. In reality in our case it is more like 60/20/20. I did this even back when I was working for minimum wage. I realize it isn't alway possible when you are at the bottom of the wage scale...but if you try it is amazing what can be done.

whyled...prayers for you and your husband, and I hope it all works out for you!

Unfortunately this country and most of it's companies are run by lawyers...

Aaron

[rceptex]

In 1996 I decided it made no sense for me, a divorced man with no children at home to continue to live in a large house when there was a perfectly good 34' paid for Airstream sitting in the drive being used occassionally. I got rid of furniture, dishes, clothes that had accumulated over the last 20 years and other dust collectors and moved into the coach full time. 12 years later I don't regret one minute of this decision. I have saved lots of money that would have gone to house payments, insurance, upkeep, taxes, etc over the years and it has allowed me to live a very comfortable life without having to worry about paying the bills no matter what the politico's do to us and the economy. I highly recommend downsizing if possible and simplifying your life. It is amazing how much stress disappears when you no longer worry about keeping up with the Jone's or even keeping up appreance's because other people think you should. It's an idea worth looking at.

[Silver Threads]

Hey rceptex,
Looks like we have the same tow vehicle! Do you still have your Suburban?

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

DON'T DO IT!

The repair/honey do lists will go on FOREVER

I can't seem to work on my Airstream for having to work on freakin' everything else around this zoo!

Aaron

Why not? I enjoy working on houses. I miss my TIG welder, plasma cutter and my power tools. I would also like a place where I can work on my vehicles with having to pay and arm and leg each time they need service.

[mrchinup1]

Originally Posted by eubank

Downsize because of the economy? Not really. We've always wanted a shorter rig, but when we start using the AS for lengthier periods in the coming years, I suspect a shorter rig wouldn't fit the needs. Maybe it's time to upsize and become a two-Airstream household.

Truth be told, we seem to have lived through the last economic downturn in the early 90s and didn't pay much attention to it, and so far, apart from gas prices and the nasty fingerpointing tenor of political ads, we haven't seen much effect of the current economic mess.


Lynn

This down turn will blow away what happened in the 70's never mind the 90's, i don't remember much of a down period at all in the 90's. IMO, we will hit at least 9% unemployment and a good chance of over 10%. The housing market will keep on crashing sorry to say. I wouldn't doubt Dow 5000 within a year or so. This is going to be very very bad.

I think we will down size in a couple of years, after living in the airstream for 6 months this year going cross country, i could live in the airstream no problem. Total time this year in the AS will probably be over 8 months. We absolutely love traveling, we had never done a trip like this before. After traveling like we did, owning RE is much less desireable to us now. We would love to full time some day soon. Getting rid of all our stuff is another story, lol.

[smhx4]

Two years ago we lived in a 2600 sq ft 206 year old farm house on 3 acres of mowable grass. All about 30 miles from my husbands job. About a hour or more commute each way since it was in a suburb of Washington DC. In the 3 years we lived there our electricity and property taxes doubled. We heard about a job in IL and decided to go for it. Today we live in a brand new single family 1700 sq ft air force base housing. This is within 4 miles of my husbands job. Do I miss the farm house? Absolutely. Do I want to go back, sometimes. But ultimately I wouldnt. Living in a smaller home so much closer to work is so worth it, we have much more time for everything and much less stress with our big old house out of the picture. We have cut our belongings down by half and constantly simplify and keep clutter away. Our future plans have changed also. We now hope to full time when the children are out of school, our youngest is 11. We are not sure if we will own a home again anytime soon. We have "been there done that" with home ownership. With 3 house renovations in the past 8 years we really know what it costs to own a home. I love RE more than my husband, he would be happy just camping forever. For me, I need to experience fulltiming for awhile to see if I can really do without a "stick built" home. This is our 15th home in 18 years, some moves were by choice, others were not. Fulltiming in our AS might be the most stability we have ever had, and my husband was a military brat. He is used to constant change, at least we dont have to pack up our stuff as we travel.

[Chip Arnold]

Tish & I will be moving into our AS by spring. Where to put it is still a question. One daughter has several acres and asked us to set up there. $ for septic, water and electric is the problem. But we have the AS nearly ready and the biggest hurdle is just getting rid of many years accumulation of STUFF!

We are really looking forward to moving in. Making our life smaller and more easily managable is very attractive to us. We don't need space and we sure don't need fancy :-)

[Silver Threads]

Interesting article.......

Trend forecaster, renowned for being accurate in the past, says that America will cease to be a developed nation within 4 years, crisis will be “worse than the great depression”

The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions - all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.

Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events, which will send a chill down your spine considering what he told Fox News this week.

Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts
“We’re going to see the end of the retail Christmas….we’re going to see a fundamental shift take place….putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree,” said Celente, adding that the situation would be “worse than the great depression”.

“America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.

Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as “The Panic of 2008,” adding that “giants (would) tumble to their deaths,” which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent.

The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.

The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, “The world’s middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest,” and that, “The middle classes could become a revolutionary class.”

In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America.

“There will be a revolution in this country,” he said. “It’s not going to come yet, but it’s going to come down the line and we’re going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen.”

“The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That’s going to be the big one because people can’t afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You’re going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop.”

“It’s going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we’re going to see many more.”

“We’re going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It’s going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It’s going to come as a shock and with it, there’s going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people’s minds weren’t wrecked on all these modern drugs – over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody’s comprehension.”

[chaimemet]

Hey I am really sorry I opened up the Forum, I hadnt checked out in a while. Its late and after that last post I dont even think Coast To Coast will put me to sleep. Wheres that single malt?

[toddster]

Is Gerald Celente a modern day Nostradamus??
Let me guess, this will all be shortly followed by Armageddon, unless Demi Moore or Arnold Schwartzenegger can save the world (see Seventh Sign & End Of Days).

As a victim of this credit crisis and currently in search of my next employment opportunity (hence the reason I sold my '64 Safari), I refuse to give in and subscribe to such a doom and gloom outlook.

[thatscool]

My first wife decided we would "downsize" by calling her lawyer. so we sold our farm. Second wife decided that her drug addicted son would live with us. (god rest his soul) so I decided to downsize by calling my attorney.
So with decisions made for me, I decided to buy an airstream, parked at my parents house. This isnt what I had dreamed of, but it does give me a refuge at times through the winter. During the summer I pull it to a campground wich I pay 700.00 for a years rent, plus utilities. This is equal to a months rent for an apartment.
I would rather spend the money on what I own rather than on rent for somthing I will never own or feel "at home" in.
With the housing market as it is, and with what lessons learned. I will continue this until I can pay cash for a house. I refuse to be held hostage by a credit report, anuual percentage rates. or the threat of losing everything again by a decision made by a spouse or creditor.

[dukester]

I am perusing this thread as my wife and I are thinking about selling everything and moving into an 30' for awhile to travel as well as find a new place to live. We are currently in the SF Bay Area with Austin in our sights to eventually spend some time. If anyone has suggestions on good long term RV parks in Austin, it would be much appreciated. Getting back to this thread, I spent two years roughing it while moving from NYC to the Bay Area. I bought a Bronco and lived in a big Cabella tent. I thought I was going to take six months but fate had a different idea. I learned to love the simplicity of the tent and the flexibility to move on when I was ready. I do think people get attached to all their possessions and can't dream of leaving them behind. It's pretty liberating and it doesn't take long to realize that you don't need them to be happy. For any of you on the edge of such a decision, I would encourage you to make the leap. It's an eye opener!

[imeynstein]

I, too, have thought about downsizing from time to time---but then I would really have a problem!! I would still want to keep my 31' Sovereign, plus I could not afford to have another AS...I lived in my AS while travel nursing and LOVED IT!!! It was so nice to 'come home' knowing that it takes a total of 15 minutes to clean it from top to bottom if need be---plus it is so cheap to change curtains, decor, ect....Being back at my permanent address, I find that no matter how hard I try to keep my house clean---there is just too much STUFF....Living in my AS taught me that I needed little to 'live on' and also that I actually had the time to enjoy my life because I spent more time going and doing!!! Man---I miss those days!!!!

[dukester]

Whoops, just noticed Silver Threads comment above. Since this thread is taking a turn, I will add my 2 cents. I worked on Wall St. for more than a decade. Part of the time I was an OTC derivatives trader. I'm an optimistic person but the doom & gloom is somewhat justified. The derivatives market has exploded to an estimated 1.5 quadrillion. These are securities with a lifetime of typically five years or less. As they expire, firms have to account for them which is why many insurance & financial firms keep posting losses in the billions. The subprime meltdown triggered this molotov cocktail which is now spreading to other sectors. Think about it. If only 10 percent of the outstanding 1.5 quadrillion is toxic then that means the world will have to bail 150 trillion of bad debt. That's incredibly scary and frankly impossible. To put it in perspective, our country's entire debt is now guesstimated at 15 trillion (give or take a few). A new world economic paradigm may be coming and the transition will not be pretty.

[ROBERT CROSS]

NOPE....this is about as down as our size is go'n 'ta get.

[Mainstream]

Sounds like now is a good time to look to the one and only Provider of all things. He owns the cattle on a Thousand hills and all the hills they graze on.
When our leaders started losing sight of that concept it was the beginning of our present problems.
We may soon be forced to look upward for our substance rather than to Washington DC.
If so then in the LONG run a collapse of our house of cards may be the best thing for us.
I only hope and pray that our leaders will realize the error of their ways sooner rather than later. I am certain that all of mankind will eventually come to that truth one way or another.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Mainstream

He owns the cattle on a Thousand hills and all the hills they graze on.

I wanted to be a Cowboy once too.

"He" put you here, but it's your responsibilty from then on.

"do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

[danalee]

We down sized financially by moving from a very expensive area, making a good profit, to a small town. We actually have a much larger house for a significantly less price. Plus we are closer to our family.I thought I had a significant nest egg-well you know how that has gone. So we have changed a few plans. Our house is old but large and right now I am thinking I am grateful because we may have to house some family in the future. We just purchased a 65 Ambassador, thinking short trips-maybe up to 6 hours drive will be in our future. It will take us all winter to get it road worthy becasue we can only afford so much a month. I am in the process of selling a small house that I had purchased for a child while she was in school thinking that I would sell it at a profit to offset college expense-I am having to take $$$$to closing just to get rid of it. But reading this thread I realize how much I have to be grateful for.

[strmstr69]

Downsizing?? Well, now I am totally disabled and my wife makes 10 bucks an hour. We have been just barely keeping afloat, but now I don't know. We are debating what to do with the Argosy. Do we sell it, trade it or live in it? We'll see in the next coming few months and go from there.