FULLTIMEWANABE

Visible maybe??? Unlimited Verizon owned. Do share what you decide on and which provider as good to share 👍

We cut cable/satellite (used to use Starchoice dish in Florida circa 2008 till it no longer worked), several years ago, as couldn't justify all the repeats of old series etc and having to subscribe to umpteen packages just to source one of each item on them. Anyway's that aside, we've been viewing from the internet for almost a decade now. We use a VPN and watch many channels from overseas of shows we've followed since the early 60's as well live TV. I recall we also were able to access when in the USA over a decade ago some of the channels from our Starchoice that became shaw on line also. Is that an option for you? Aren't you able to watch your shows you subscribe to with Shaw on line? Just a thought if you can access shaw channels on line, then you should be able to watch that way.

Again thank you 👍

So many of you now have given such good information on your personal using and experiences, regarding my heating concerns, so THANK YOU for your time and sharing. It is very much appreciated. RayIN, it really is not a question of "Trying to survive on as little as possible". We have enough to keep us well and truly above the poverty line till we hit well into our 100's. If we wanted to we could quite comfortably stay at Oasis Las Vegas for 4 or 5 months, or similar type RV parks. However, that is not what we enjoy. We are into anything near water, lakes, mountains, serenity, space around us, small towns and so on. We just don't enjoy the hassle of booking in and out of CG's, some with crazy rules, disappointment when we have done so on the places sometimes, and worry about arriving late or leaving early disturbing folks. It's purely a personal thing on enjoyment factor nothing more or less. However with the above said and done, you can take the gal out of ??????, but you can't take ??????? out of the gal. I grew up with very little money in our family but always a warm bed, food in our stomachs and clothes on our back. By nature we are very frugal in our usage of general every day things. Yet I'm the type that will blow $10K on a memory such as our trip to Turks and Caicos many years ago as well as other memory making trips/cruises etc with our children when younger. We've only been able to get into the position we are today with very careful spending over the years, holding down 3 jobs and working very very very long hours, and I have no intention of squandering it unnecessarily if there are alternatives for the same comfort levels. BruceT, our expectations aren't high by any means, I was just curious especially after reading about the Icy mess in Texas last year I believe what others used, and for sure if something like that happened we'd try to head somewhere before it hit better weather wise and book into FHU's. We are happy to layer for coolish times, but when it's a little frosty of course need heat hence the generic question at the beginning. I'm sure our Mr Buddy Heater we already have and our furnace + generator if needed will suffice for our first winter out there. If not I'm sure there's a Walmart, HD or Lowes close by to purchase something 😀. Anyways, again thank you all for your input some great ideas and absolutely we will try to be South of I10 in the winter months 👍. Happy & Safe Travels to you all. I'm sure this thread might be of interest to others new to FT, on options you've all used.

👍 Thanks 😀

Again thanks every one for your shared experience/knowledge. Kirk you are absolutely right I haven't a clue about electricity or consumption so you are right! Like I said we have our furnace and a Mr Buddy heater that has done us well to take the chill off when on extended trips from April to October typically, but going FT and out over the deepest winter months, albeit we intend to be south as possible, thought I'd ask in case there was something easy to plug in or not. Thanks again.

Thanks everyone for your input. We have a Mr Buddy Heater with the small gas canisters for taking the chills off for short periods of time when needed during the day or late evening. Cracked windows, but the canisters are expensive and don't last long. Like 2Gypsies we like a cold bedroom at night, and have used furnace for short period in morning to warm up and dive back in bed whilst waiting for few minutes. Never have needed to run furnace a long time without hook ups, and it's really not that effective we've found generally. Just thinking if there might be odd long cold days stuck inside where we need several hours intermittently throughout of heat maybe. Of course we can always top off our batteries with the generator running to maintain the batteries, but like to use that as little as possible. Was just wondering if there was a simple low energy consumption simple plug in heater that might be more effective than running the furnace. I found Hulk Heater and Alpha??? tiny ones, supposed to warm up to 300+ sq feet, but not sure how good they really are in reality. I bought something similar small for air cooling that really helped when directly close pointed to face (not effective for any space area), and didn't drain the batteries. However for heat we need something to keep us warm at the dinette at least when playing cards/reading etc. We don't really want to get into hooking up propane lines ideally but appreciate that option. Again thanks everyone for sharing makes and models if possible of what you used or a similar model today that's available.

Going Full Time, we're clearly going to hit weather where we will need to have some hear. Hubby and I like to boondock/dry camp extensively by choice, so our questions are based on that we have 980ah of newish golf cart batteries, 1000w solar system. What is the best/cheapest options for providing ourselves with heat when not connected to hook ups, just generator and ideally just using our battery banks/solar system. How long would our battery array allow us to safely run these options. Are we better to just use furnace (which will burn propane also at a cost) and how long will our batteries last running that Suburban (2003)? Are we better off running electric space type heaters? If so which one gives you the best combo of efficiency providing heat coupled with low energy pull? Also how long would our batteries last not depleting them below 50% and preferably not that low. Any and all advice for the most efficient and cheapest option for heating based on boondocking for the most part would be appreciated. As always thanks for your kindness and your experience sharing everyone. Happy & Safe Travels. FTW. PS: FYI: All garage sales done = never again!!! Acreage being measured and photos and aerial shots being done on Monday which we are well prepped for so should be on market real soon. Guy in now upstairs stretching the carpet for nicer showing as I type. Wish us a speedy and rewarding sale moving forwards.

Sadly the loss of the greatest monarch ever. The Royal family will never be the same going forwards. My mother was the spitting image of her, and as a young child in my dressing gown (housecoat) with a white rabbit on the pocket if I was very rarely back downstairs at 10.30pm when the black and white TV ended for the night in those days (big long beep at end), they'd play the national anthem and my mum had me stand there with hand on heart until it was finished. Just a sign of the times back in the 50's and 60's. Just can't see the remaining royals ever commanding the respect she did for all those decades.

Good for you Kirk, that's my kind of garage sale LOL. Seriously though he probably saw a lot of stuff he had an outlet for that he could easily 10 fold that money but hey, saved you the hassle. Ray, I agree with you, we only got $400 for a beautiful leather sofa, love seat, end tables matching coffee tables and full set of spare bedroom furniture combined. It was heart breaking. It was 2017 when we sold our Florida home and I managed to sell the other 3 bedrooms for $2000, $1600 and MB $4500 on my own prior. We were just up against it time wise on being in the USA . Quality was the same but we got 10cents on the dollar or worse, that if we'd had more time to sell ourselves. Today was a real slow day as I suspected. We only took a little under $300 but a ton of jigsaws and cookery books went so that's a lot of table space alleviated for packing up at the end of tomorrow to move everything into the city for the last two garage sales at the end of the month. One of the biggest lessons this has taught me is that, on account when we hang up the keys and move into a SnB again will we every accumulate stuff we don't need just to fill spaces as we've done the past 30 years and more importantly we will be looking for second hand in excellent condition furniture (but always a new mattress, soft furnishings we can't launder though!). It's heartbreaking to see what you pay for things new versus what you can get on the second hand market, and even worse if you go the auctioneers/estate sale route. Safe travels everyone, will update this thread after our last and final "we're done and done" garage sale towards end Sept time.

Just thought I'd post a quickie update in case any of youse might smile or appreciate my appreciation. So we did our first huge garage sale today (9 Tables, underneath them and lots outside hanging and on the floors on plastic = have tomorrow and Monday holiday to go so might slow down. Once the signs went out nobody seemed to read the days or time frames of 10am to 4pm Sat, Sun & Mon. We had folks on their way home from work coming up our driveway on Friday night right up until we closed the gates and put a sign on at 9.30pm after the last ones!! This morning they were lined up outside from 9.20am waiting for our opening of 10am to 4pm today and I finally had the last folks out by 5.05pm. Had about 65 to 70 cars (daughter tried to keep tally how many came to the acreage). Put out tons of signage off slip roads from main intersections and all the way back leading into our place strategically placed to hit coming home from work traffic was the idea. So far, between posting on line at FB Marketplace, Kijiji (a little like your craigslist) and posting out the Garage sale info to 3 locally known websites and having a ton of patience reposting over the past few weeks on some individual items, we've made overC$5,000 on stuff we'll not miss at this stage at all. Not a lot when you consider the time expended but it'll sure go a long way to some extra gas out on the road eventually LOL. Must admit I was quite nervous being out in the country somewhat whether anyone would come and we've all worked so hard to prep for it, so more than happy. There's a lot of seasonal stuff we'll repost coming up for winter time and again in the Spring for Graduations/weddings etc that really nobody is considering purchasing at this time of year. Anyway's just wanted to share our update. We are planning on doing at least one weekend and maybe two in Calgary (huge population by comparison) for the 3rd and 4th weekend of September so hoping maybe a lot of what's left might go there. PS: Also had someone locally come through saying their sister tried to view property that sold next door to us early last spring, so gave us a chance to show her the house although nowhere near ready for showing but ...... You just never know is our theory and she can share with her sister we'll be considering selling early next year in a similar ballpark figure. Happy & Safe Travels everyone.

Bless ya Dutch thanks for sharing that. I'm hoping I don't need to have Verizon service to be able to change the APN through the website. I'll be sure to try it anyway when we get our Vis SIM next time down in the USA Thanks again.

Forgive my total lack of understanding in this techy world, but we would like to get a Visible Sim when we start full time travelling for when in the USA. We don't need it for work, and appreciate some areas may be redundant but for some entertainment it seems our best option overall when south. I have two redundant Verizon prepaid Mifis (ones a Jetpack), from 2017/18 last used. Is it just a question of activating the SIM card in a phone, and then taking out the card and putting it into one of these and it will work in the Mifi for wifi connection of other devices such as iPads, Laptops = assuming its the same size SIM? Can I activate the SIM on an unlocked iPhone 8 (again a redundant phone I have here kicking around). I currently use for my Canadian every day phone an iPhone 10. All I do is check my email, iMessages a very rare web search for a flight due in and a handful of apps, like weather. Nothing else done on the phone, as I prefer being a speed typist with fat fingers using my laptop better LOL

Thank you to everyone that so kindly shared. We are good on the storage ideas - I've always been put it back where it lives in SnB living and compact with storing everything so I've no concerns there. Thanks for the checklists link TwoGypsies, but we are all good in that regards. It purely was my mind thinking well how much of each type of clothing do Full Timers versus us as entended timers thus far have in their arsenal. All's good. I'll be posting other topics soon looking for all you guys sharing sage advice and personal experience of what has and hasn't worked as always. Have awesome weekend everyone. We are getting organised right now to head to Little Bow Provincial Park AB Sunday (stopping O/N tomorrow Sat in Vulcan which is within half hour of it) for a spot of family gathering (3 rigs), kayaking, fishing and just general awesome walking area around Lake McGregor until next Wednesday.

Thank you Linda and Derek for sharing your experiences on the mattress front as well as clothing. Always appreciated and soaking and researching like a sponge 👍

Awesome detail Vladimir appreciate your sharing. Based on what most have written, I'm thinking along the lines of 14 close skin 5 second layer items, 5 types outer of most items for upper torso wear, 5+5 two season bottom wear, 2 thin and 2 thick lounge/PJ type wear and max 5 x footwear each, as we tend to boondock almost extensively. Maximum of 3 hats, set of warm gloves each. I'm not adverse to hand washing an odd T-shirt/underwear etc if necessary. I'm sure things will get eliminated as time proceeds on the road but for starting off we are finding everyone's sharing a great guide. For everything else the RV's been well equipped for years to enable us to cook/serve everything from a slice of toast to a full but smaller roast dinner. 👍 Next research replacing the old mattress and topper we've tolerated for too many years but now due for a little more comfort

Awesome, that's along the lines we are thinking. Two weeks undergarments as change daily and sometimes twice daily if extreme temps. No formal but slacks, top and cardigan/jacket that can be made to look semi formal in a squeeze. I'm not really into dresses/skirts so maybe one or two but can see them being donated within a short time through non wearing. Think it'll be a case of taking much more than we thought we'd need and eliminating over due course as even at home, we tend to have our favourites we wear time after time and other stuff hanging in the closet and drawers that doesn't see the light of day from one year to the next or worse. This is thoughtful for many newbies to be. Thanks as always for sharing. FTW.

With mind working overtime right now, I got to thinking (dangerous past time for me LOL), a little ahead but was curious how much of each type of clothing you carried with you when Full Time RVing with the RV being your only home. I understand that it's all dependant on various aspects such as weight/space capacity, and whether you were dedicated boondockers or spent most of your time on FHU's, had onboard washer or visited laundromats etc. So out of curiosity maybe you can cut and paste this below and kindly share the way you rolled and with what personal items: Onboard washer/FHU most of the time or went to laundromat and if so how often? Male Versus Female (both sexes sharing appreciated) Hiking Shoes/Trainers? Soft Casual Shoes? Formal Shoes? Flip Flops/Sandals? Mud Boots? Regular Boots? Others? Socks? Underwear? Bras? Vests/wife beaters/Tank Tops? Tee-Shirts? Casual Shirts/Blouses? Other hotter weather type tops? Cardigans, Sweaters? Sweatshirts? Other Type of outer tops for cooler temps? Casual Jackets? Formal Jackets? Winter Warm Coats? Spring/Fall Lighter Jackets? Pants: Leggings? Tracksuit Bottoms? Formal Dress Pants? Capris? Shorts? Skorts? Other? Night Clothes: Night Dresses? PJ's? Summer sets versus winter sets? Housecoats? Hats? Gloves? Anything else you can share that I might have missed? Hoping this might be a valuable topic for many considering the FT lifestyle also ☺️ FTW.

We had COVD 3 times thus far (2 x Delta era & 1 x Omnicron era) in our family and every time it was connected to someone flying in and collecting them at the airport. Ironically each and every time hubby and I went down sick starting on the 5th day after these events. I was masking and sanitising before it was mandated and nervous of my space being compromised by inconsiderate others. Nowadays I am frowned/eye brows raised or a jib comment sometimes for wearing my mask, whenever I enter a public premises or maybe in close proximity of others. Likewise I sanitize (not sure in the long term it's a good thing but ......) after every encounter of touching anything not within our home. Even when pumping our own gas and before opening my car door. Yep I know many think that's overkill but 12 weeks really really sick, 8 weeks really sick (Delta's) and then May past sick like a bad flu, I don't care what people think. I always say to everyone regarding anything, here's my take but as always "YOU must do YOU". Eating out we wear a mask until we are seated and put our mask back on when server approaches even in-between eating our meals = initially out of courtesy to them, but it's just habitual now and we hope helps protect us somewhat further??? Who really knows. And yes, I know we all have to learn to live with it but as always you do you, and I'll do me, is our thoughts no matter what others think. I still go out of my way to thank others for wearing their mask when I see odd ones that do nowadays.

As always, a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for sharing your experiences/input. I've treasured escapees folks for many years long before joining as a member. Well FB Marketplace has really been the most productive for more modern type items. Ikea 9 Cube shelving x 3 gone for $150 (asked $60 each or $150 all). Stereo System gone for $100. several other bits and pieces from $5 each upwards. What blew our minds was we have two outside water fountains and asked $45 with over 100 enquiries on one that went with a birdbath catch basin. Lady told us they are like gold dust and we are selling way too cheap, so we increased price on the bear statue one with catch basin and a river like effect = new they are anywhere from $300 to $500+ similar on line. Alas now at $185 lots of views but zero enquiries since on that one so might have to reduce down which we are fine to do so and no rush. No bites on some fitness equipment yet but that's OK, every little helps. Don't mind offering stuff out at a deal but equally don't want to leave monies on the table we shouldn't be. Hence why this thread I started. As we live in the countryside, we are planning on doing a garage/yard sale in Calgary Erinwoods district at our daughter's boyfriends house second Sat & Sun in September, with lots of items like books, baskets, teddies, and various other bits and pieces. Right now we have time on our side, as not going on the market until New Year, although I'm sure it will fly by quickly and then panic will ensue. On a comical note or more like frustrating note: Why is it when you actually put in the ad "For Sale Until Sold will then delete ad or marked SOLD at the time", you get tons of folks that just say "is it still available". Arrrrrgh. I couldn't be any clearer if I tried in the ad. When we sold our Florida house in 2017 it was pure torture dealing with Craigslist enquiries and doing back to back garage sales for a month. With Kijiji and Marketplace here in Canada it's almost as bad LOL. For when we come off the road, whenever that may be. We are only intending to keep maybe 4 or 5 tote boxes at the place our daughter will be staying "under 7 years tax records that can be burnt eventually", "teeny momentos of my childhood", few irreplaceable ornaments. Of course she is going to keep some of the furniture for when they build their acreage in about 3 years they are saying! Something is making me think that somewhere down the road over the next year or several, we will invest in a piece of land or help them out somewhat when we know how our retirement finances are fairing and of course that is where we will hang our final hat eventually. It makes sense so we have somewhere to stay in the summers as well when coming back locally. No rush could be within a year or 10 who knows.

Thanks Don and Kirk. Absolutely the children have no connection or interest to any of the items. Daughter wants to keep the Horsebox we could sell for what we paid for it many years ago LOL and the same with the tractor and accessories with less than 600 hours on total. Of course she does so that's an extra $50K we won't be netting for our retirement LOL. Of course we are fine with that. I hear you on things not being worth what we would like to think they are but I'm also cognisant of having let things go in bygone years to learn after the fact they were worth a small fortune more than we realised, so just want to make sure we are putting them out there at the right price. Easier with stuff accumulated the past 30 years or so but not so much for stuff that's 80ish years old in some instances. I'll have a look around for some antique malls take some photos and a sample piece with me and see what I'm told. Thanks I'd not thought of that. Canada's so young compared to the UK I didn't think we'd get much joy on the antique route. FTW. PS: Like you Kirk I've watched over the years many episodes of antiques road show and it never fails to amaze me what some items fetch or are estimated worth.

We are in the process of selling off many items to put our property on the market early next year. One of the issues I have is on stuff I've inherited from my mothers wedding and have no idea on pricing these items or where to promote them for sale. Alas it's a very sad task to undertake but the time has come for sure to offload more than my lifetime of memories but it is just "stuff" I keep telling myself. Every day stuff we've been putting ads on FB Market Place (Sold hot tub, horse jumps, waterers, small furniture items etc). Alas I have no idea on establishing a value "if" new or equivalent to price accordingly as second hand. I have canteens of cutlery from the 1950's with bone handles and stamped/etched on each blade/fork/spoon back the company (awesome quality), Solid Silver set of mustard boat, Salt Pepper set and spoons still in original velvet lined box. A collection of 4 plates my grandmother bought for my mother's birthday/Christmas combined gift each year in the late 1970's and a huge array of Singapore Crockery with lidded vegetable dishes, gravy boats etc that my Uncle brought back from RAF Singapore in the 50's as well. Thanks for sharing what you would do and where you would try to generate the best return on these very old but immaculate condition items. FTW.

Over the years here Bruce (was a long time lurker here in our early years before becoming a member soaking everything up like a newbie sponge) we've seen a lot of the old names sadly disappear for many reasons, and the activity levels on various subjects reduce exponentially unfortunately. It seems today it's all about Facebook, Instagram, Youtubers and the likes. We cut the cable cord several years ago when it was all about Reality TV = ie; Kardashians, Little People Big World, 19 Kids and counting,Gene Simmons Family Jewels and many many others like "The Real Housewives types" and exponential reruns of old series. Nowadays it seems that Youtube along similar lines of following a specific RV family/solo/couple etc is the flavour of today. 15 to 20 years ago we had to attend in class with a tutor to keep our current licenses active, now everything is done on our time schedules online by set deadlines with no other attendee interactions = just you and a screen of mini videos or written text then questions to answer and get right hopefully. No debate or scenarios shared any more. Personally we still are ever so grateful for those that do still post in the RV forums and answer various questions and problems others have and learn something else useful from time to time. Times they are a changin' for sure.

Awesome, thanks for sharing guys 😄. Seems general consensus is if it ain't broke don't fix it for the most part. Which has been us for the longest time. Guess as we are aging thought patterns are a changing LOL. Of course we do try to do routine maintenance to prolong usage of everything but .... Been good to read what most of your thoughts are. Thanks again.

Hubby and I just finished a several week trip around Idaho Panhandle, Washington State and Oregon. During that trip we were questioning based on age or our A class being 2003 a few of our devices we use and rely on, and then our Splendide Washer/Dryer combo drum stopped turning which we need to repair resolve. Any suggestions on that much appreciated as well. We also wondered if our 19 year old water pump might be getting near the end of life as it seemed a little less powerful on spraying the commode I felt. So to that end, do you long time RVers that use your rig often tend to replace items such as water pumps, water heaters, gate valves for grey and black and anything else before they actually need replacing/repairing OR ........ do you wait until these things actually fail and replace at that time? Thanks for the input, and if you carry spares of anything what those might be with you.