The thing with the campers (have watched those RV TV shows!) - even the less expensive ones…I always think…“I could pay for 3 years of AirBnBs for the price of that camper/RV!”
When I run the numbers I just don’t immediately see them as cost effective. But those little ones are super cute! My counsin has one and it’s adorable.
@Jolynne_Smyth - I agree with you about the cost of the camper/RV. H and I both still love to camp and have very comfortable camp mattresses for our tent, but as we get closer to retirement we are thinking of getting a camper van. H just wants one that we can build a platform in and put a mattress on top and have storage underneath. We don’t need anything with plumbing as we would only camp at places with no restrooms or showers for a couple of days. We are happy cooking on a camp stove. H is very handy and follows several camper van Instagrams so we would buy a van and he would do the inside. Both of our girls live local and love to camp so if we do get a van it would not just sit and would get used.
Agree that it is not cost effective, just a way of life.
Discussion boards I’ve read people don’t emphasize cost effectiveness of camper vans/RVs they emphasize “sleeping in my own bed” every night vs who knows when the hotel/air bnb sheets last were really washed, etc.
As I mentioned above, we did the opposite of downsizing because the of the lot that contains the house we bought. However, we will be able to host Thanksgivings and Passovers with family and friends with no space constraints. Our kids and their SOs at the time came to stay and each of them had a room to work in. The house is a grandkid magnet. Beautiful land and picturesque area, river for kayaking runs through our backyard, salt water pool for swimming, great cycling. We expect kids will come here with grandkids for their vacations if they live far away or will come regularly if they live nearby. It is just too nice. Although we will travel some, both ShawWife and I say to ourselves, “And, why do we need to go there. It is just as nice where we are.” Unless our kids really want it, we may try to sell our country house (also very nice and of sentimental value but we don’t really need it anymore). We ended up with much more house than we wanted but it would be very hard to find many other properties this nice in the entire metropolitan area and even harder to find one we could afford. So, we’ll keep the extra bedrooms open and share with anyone who wants to visit for a few days in paradise.
I’m ready to visit!
Me, too!
Retirees becoming homeless at higher rate than other age groups amidst inflation | Watch (msn.com)
I am seeing this locally, though I know many who did manage to get into senior housing. I came close myself recently, while looking at apartments with 243 contacts and 50 applications in one day, and a rent $500 more than last year. Some people are downsizing involuntarily.
Ok, we are free all of September, please send driving directions.
On a more serious note, we are about to embark on a trial downsize. My MIL has moved to assisted living, and while we all hope she will be able to move back into her condo, that looks to be months in the future. She wanted to sell the condo to make everything easier (Because in her worried mind she’s going to die on Thursday). We have convinced her to wait and are going to pay the condo fees while we try living in 1200 sf.
We probably can’t afford this neighborhood,but it’s worth examining.
Construction probably still going on. Then you are invited.
Jolynne, We keep coming back to keeping our 2400SF home. We’ve been looking for years to downsize to something that “makes us smile” (and to relocate closer to the children). But, at every step, we kept comparing what we would lose. Primarily due to location differences, downsizing would actually cost significantly more than the sale of our home would generate. Moving closer to the children is also no longer an option due to skyrocketing increases.
I guess what “makes us smile” is what we already have - which is a good place to be. It is larger than necessary, and will someday be too hard to maintain on our own, but we stay – for now.
I have a sticker that says, “Want what you have and you will always have what you want.” There is a lot of truth in that.
Same here. We really like our neighborhood, the lake at the end of our road, our house, except the size.
Another update on our move to Santa Fe. I continue to recuperate, but it’s obvious that I can pack boxes but not move them. The house in Santa Fe that my husband went to check on is now under contract and our next hurdle is its inspection on Friday. We’re pretty excited because it’s the only house we’ve seen in several months that has been a real possibility for us. The weird thing is that I won’t be seeing it until a couple of days before closing. I agreed solely on the basis of videos and my husband’s valuable opinion. Sometimes you just have to jump!
Congrats! Super exciting. In this market, @newpreironic, it seems like you have to jump quickly, when it’s good!
Very exciting. You deserve some good luck after what you’ve been through. I hope you love it.
Another ‘factors in downsizing’ question…? 
Has anyone factored in possibilities re: climate change re: where they would downsize? My son works in a field related to climate and is warning me to think carefully about buying any future house in southern FL or other hurricane-frequent locations. Then there are the more severe and frequent fires in other locales.
I am actually thinking I might not live long enough (even though not 60 yet) to suffer too much from climate change where I move - but was also thinking that maybe it would be good for family to have some property in Canada or other northern locale.
This might be off-the-wall but just curious if otherse have thought about it…
Yes, climate is a factor in our decision not to move/downsize from our Chicago area home. We also like having Lake Michigan water in our home.
