We used the majority of previous recommendations to downsize and "dejunk". I think the hardest part has been our discussions here on what to bring, i.e. wife wants to bring a piano she hasn't touched in 5 years. (Hope she doesn't read this or I'm in trouble.) Since we don't have any really good stuff, I say get rid of it all. I don't want to bring anything I haven't touched in years, just to have it take up space in our TV home. Plus, we are talking about getting a "turn-key" place as well, provided we can find one that we can "live" with the furnishing to start. Then upgrade a piece at the time. That way we won't have another large outlay of cash for furniture, etc. We have to factor into our budget things like the sharp increase in property tax (ours in AL are really low), plus the CDD annual maintenance and the monthly amenities fee. We don't want to get there and find ourselves house and furniture poor and not be able to do the things we plan to do after moving to TV. Things like going to the Keys, frequent trips to Disneyworld, Tampa, getting two golf carts. Another thing is adding in the cost of golf (which I plan to do a lot); I work at a golf course here and play for free, so planning our budget is a bigger factor for me than paying to move stuff that may end up as clutter we'll have to get rid of down there. More work!
Pardon the long reply, but sometimes we can get too wrapped up in moving "stuff" and not balancing it out with budget planning once we move. Remember, we are buying into a lifestyle, not just a house. That will cost a little more, so keeping everything in prospective will help avoid those annoying "uh-ohs"!! They can ruin your day for sure. Having just turned 69, I want to get down and start "living" as quickly as possible!!
