[PUP] Preparing to cast off, well kind of

[Keith]

Great post! Having gone through this before, I can say it's pretty accurate. 
A couple of things I would add:

I would not use your primary e-mail address for bills and statements. I have 
a separate "throw away" e-mail address for those. I use Yahoo mail with my 
own domain name for all my regular stuff, but have a free Yahoo account for 
the important stuff. That way, if I have to go to an Internet cafe or other 
remote access, I log in and have maybe 3 e-mails with billing stuff, as 
opposed to the hundred or so at the regular e-mail address. Very convenient, 
and free.

A warning to the custodian of your mailing/street/billing address. Here 
comes the junk mail! Every time you order something using a credit card, 
they want your billing address of course, You then instantly go into their 
marketing database, and your name/address will be sold multiple times to 
other marketers. About the only way to avoid this is to never buy anything 
over the Internet with a credit card... not much of an option these days. 
I've changed my address several times over the years to avoid junk mail, but 
it's damm near impossible.

You've done a good job of reviewing what it costs to store stuff vs. getting 
rid of it and buying new stuff later. One thing to think about is that if 
you get rid of it all (keeping heirlooms, etc. of course) when you come 
back, you can buy used stuff to replace it at maybe 1/5 the cost of new 
stuff. I went the route of having friends keep stuff for me, but it's a 
hassle for them. I had my antique roll top desk, chair and a couple of other 
things at a friend's house when she decided to move. I had to rent another 
storage space and move it again. I would err on the side of getting rid of 
most everything. All the "stuff" I own now that's not on the boat fits into 
a 10' x 10' storage space. If/when I move back to land, I have a bed, desk 
and sewing machine (don't ask... heirloom) and other misc. stuff. The rest 
is going to come from garage / estate sales. This storage space costs me 
about $100 a month.

When you get to the last of the "stuff" to get rid of, donate the leftovers 
that you couldn't get rid of to some charity. They'll come pick it up and 
you get a tax deduction. Quite frankly, I came out ahead by deducting the 
value of some of these things vs. selling them for next to nothing. It's 
hard to see that last of it go, but you won't miss it on the boat.


Keith
_____
Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <scottebulger@comcast.net>



> Few things provide a sense of adventure approaching like emptying a 
> walk-in closet of 20+ years of belongings.  There is something very 
> freeing, yet unnerving about having piles of cloths that are limited by 
> the size of lockers on your boat.  This morning I said to Marian, you 
> know, between the two of us we need to share less than 40 inches of 
> hanging closet space.  I offered to only hang one formal dinner jacket and 
> move everything else into drawers or cabinets.  She smiled and said, who 
> needs hanging locker space when your living in shorts and t-shirts!  What 
> a gal!
>
<snip>