Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Hey C40, which websites, books, videos, etc. did you find most useful for learning how to do your van's electrical system? did you make any salient discoveries in your exploration? were there specific manufacturers or retailers that you found best? thanks, learning

Congrats on the achievements, altogether very impressive. Sorry to hear about the personal life setbacks. Those are always better when they end respectfully and amicably, though most of the time they still suck. Good luck in the days ahead.

learning wrote:Hey C40, which websites, books, videos, etc. did you find most useful for learning how to do your van's electrical system? did you make any salient discoveries in your exploration? were there specific manufacturers or retailers that you found best? thanks, learning

For just starting out, this book was the most helpful:


If you're definitely going to be building a system soon, I could send you this book. Let me know soon or I may sell it (it's kind of expensive)

I didn't really make any salient discoveries. I had a long learning process and figured things out bit by bit. It is really important that you use a wiring diagram for system planning. It takes a while to do but this is the way to capture your learnings, see what you're missing, etc. I guess some people (try to) figure things out without making one. Non-planners.

Good manufacturers:
- Charge controller: Morningstar
- Battery monitor: TriMetric
- Switches, fuse holders, etc: BlueSea (they are expensive though, but the parts are very well-built)
- AFAIK, modern solar panels are basically all the same so as long as you don't buy a piece of crap, it doesn't matter much where it comes from.

+1 on the other's comments and encouragement.

I can't tell you how real you journal is. It's very inspirational. Thanks for continuing to update it.

Thank you Dragline and everyone else for the recent comments and compliments

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APRIL 2016
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TOTAL SPENDING: $2,170

• * Normal Spending: $1,751
  * House Sale Prep: $385
  * Van Build: $34

I got another flight voucher, and selling that generated $462 extra income. Again, I decided I’d use that on Hobby gear and this time I actually did. I bought a really nice pen, a GoPro Storage case, and an SSD hard drive.

Those two vouchers I sold have funded 100% of my Hobby/Entertainment spending YTD. I’m keeping my ears open while at the airport for any more voucher opportunities. It’s incredibly easy money.



HOUSE SELLING
The house sale is going wonderfully. It was listed for sale in late April. There were 5-6 viewings on the first day. I got offers from TWO of them. One of the offers was for $5k more than list price. Houses are selling pretty quickly in St Louis and prices are rising, but I wasn’t even hoping for an offer over list. I accepter the higher offer and closing is planned in for ~5 weeks from now. [updated for clarity] The buyer did most of his inspections a few days ago. So for now I’m just waiting and hoping that things move along ok.

It appears the work I did to prepare for the house for sale is paying off well. Here’s what I did:

• * Painted all the interior walls, plus the basement walls and floor
  * Painted the kitchen cabinets and trim white (this made it look WAY better)
  * Repaired and recoated the driveway
  * Cleaned a LOT
  * Basic staging, and had nearly zero “stuff” in the house

I bought the house for $109k in late 2013. We listed it for $125k and the offer was for $130k. So at the very best, I stand to profit $13k. If I take out the money I spent getting it ready to sell and then subtract the remainder from my monthly house expenses over the length of ownership, it would reduce my average monthly housing cost from ~$730 to $330. YAY! If the house sells at or close to the offer price, it will bump my net worth up very close to my magic $500k number.

We’ll see…. There’s still a lot that could go wrong.

…. Buy low and sell high…. Somethin’ somethin’ somethin’…..

(bought in Sep. 2013, selling now where the white area turns to grey)

So: all of my Launch Plan actions are done.

Come on house: sell! Sell Now!


INVESTING
I made my yearly IRA contribution and used that along with the last year’s worth of dividends to buy more OHI and HCP. That’s $6,800 invested for a current dividend increase of $460/year.

Dividend growth in all my other stocks over the last few years finally made up for the huge KMI dividend drop I suffered. (That’s what the tiny little sliver of bright green at the bottom of the time scale for April points out)


I also took a look at the sector allocation of my dividend stocks:

This doesn’t include the recent IRA REIT purchase. I have some Utility companies on my research list and am hoping to find some I like.


Ex-Girlfriend
I’ve spent some more time with her and we both enjoyed it a lot. We’re sort of doing some of what was always going well (basically while we spend time together) and not what wasn’t (communicating with texts while we aren’t together)


Launch Plan Update
If the house sells on or near the current closing date, I’ll be heading westward immediately. I don’t want to share all my plan details, but I’m hoping to be around Denver from mid June to mid July, and then to get out to OR/WA by early August to meet with family and friends.


St. Louis ERE/MMM Meetup?
I’m thinking about trying to organize a Meetup before I leave St Louis. I may start a thread about this to check for interest.


Recent Travel
I went camping in Mark Twain National Forest (near St Louis) for a couple days. I should’ve done more research before I went, to find some cool parts of the forest to check out. The area where I camped and hiked was very plain.


I went out to Arizona for work, so I flew in early and gave myself time to go for a hike near Sedona:






This is between Sedona and Flagstaff, shot from a little area to stop and rest and for local Natives to sell the same exact factory-made trinkets from 12 different tables



I also drove down Highway 88 from Roosevelt Lake back towards Phoenix. This stretch of road is known as the Apache Trail. It’s a really cool area that I believe has some interesting history. It’s the kind of history I want to learn about while spend time in places like this. There are Indian cave/cliff dwellings near what is now Lake Roosevelt, the Dam was built a long time ago, and there is a legend about a bag of gold left somewhere in the hills around this area.

The sun was already setting by the time I got to Roosevelt lake, where the Hwy 88 drive begins. A nice enjoyable drive of this road would take a couple hours. I rushed through and snapped a few quick pictures with the waning light.

Arizona is a fantastic state.

This is an exciting update, especially about the house. I think selling a house would be a source of stress for me as well. So it sounds like you accepted an offer then? Are you selling by owner or no?

Yep, I accepted the higher offer. I am using an agent. I'm glad I did so far. I don't know whether any marketing helped or was necessary (other than putting it on the MLS). He's probably already paid for himself because if I was selling it FSBO I may have listed it at $5-10k less.

Ok, bad news and good news:

[] The buyer did a sewer line inspection and they found that the pipe is broken under my yard. I was worried this might cost a ton of money to repair but got a quote for less than $3k. Today the buyer agreed to my counter of things to fix and if the sewer repair goes ok, it will all cost $4k or a bit under. That wouldn't be too bad at all. When I was talking to my mom about it yesterday, she used a Harry Browne line "that's the price you have pay to get out of your box"
[] I noticed that I have $8.5k in my HSA account instead of my estimate of $4-5k.
[] Assuming stock prices stay about flat in May, once I sell the house my net worth will be VERY VERY close to $500k (my retirement target).


So now I will have to decide when to actually quit. I'd prefer to quit about as soon as is possible and reasonable after my house sells. My closing date is 5/31. Here are some things I'm weighing:
[] Going to the Dentist and getting whatever work done while I have dental insurance. (I need to check how much the insurance would actually cover though)
[] Going to a doctor for extensive physical
[] Figuring out how health insurance will work this year after quitting. (How much will it cost? What income is it based on? Should I set it up before quitting?)
[] Do I want to try to keep doing my same job part time? What method of quitting would leave that as a possibility? (quitting abruptly could be more on the burning bridges side. But it might also trigger them to offer a part time arrangement since they won't have time to get someone new in place)

I feel like not even bothering with the Dentist or Physical. I don't have any known issues, and I just don't like bothering with the administrative/organizational parts of those. I know I probably should though.

A few thoughts about healthcare.
I transitioned out of employer health insurance in 2015.

When filing my taxes, you have a 2 month window before the ACA penalty goes into effect. In my case, that penalty is $55/month for all months without healthcare. So 2 months, no biggie if you don't get hurt. 3 months missing = $165 penalty.

Looking into cobra as continuation of your employer's policy is one option for potentially the best coverage. This was the most expensive for me at $350 a month.

I decided to go with a "heath care share ministry". The quick summary of http://www.libertydirect.org/:
Good: $200/month regardless of income for an individual, and low $500 deductible followed by 100% coverage.
Bad: technically not insurance and is not held to the standards of the industry.
It does qualify as a ACA plan, so you are not penalized.

I put a larger summary here before I made my decision.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7068

I like it so far. I have only done a first physical with my new "Direct Physician Care" doctor, so I don't know if it will work in a real emergency. Often times these DPCs are internet connected and could be a email doctor for you on the road.

Definitely, read the fine print before signing onto a healthcare share ministry. It has some risks and should not be your only option.

I was thinking you could sign up for an ACA insurance plan with an income that you specified and get the subsidy. Then, when you filed taxes, you would have to return the subsidy if you underestimated your income. ....at the minimum, in my state, you could price the insurance plan with subsidy by entering your expected income.

Good luck and congrats!

Thanks wheatstate.

I've started looking into a list of things (ACA income impact and how to buy it, what happens with my HSA money, recheck pension value and converting to IRA). I need to check on how much income I've had so far this year and how that would impact ACA insurance costs. I may be approaching the "subsidy cliff", and that could mean quitting ASAP could be better than quitting in a couple months. I have a list of stuff to check and I'm getting started with checking through it.

I'll be keeping an eye out for places like this:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/65000 ... 5612_zpid/

mmmmmm, and check out the location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/65000 ... 21.9975805


And here are some down in Utah:

$60k small house on a weird empty lot
Location is great, near parks

$40k Ski Condo that could be rented out sometimes

$27k little cabin, great location near national parks

Didn't you just sell a house?:)

Yes, but one of my goals while living in the van is to figure out what part(s) of the country I would like to settle down in. And to get an idea of what kind of real estate is available where, and at what prices.

Time is slipping away, don't waste any more of it.

sky wrote:Time is slipping away, don't waste any more of it.

I'm hoping to give my boss a resignation letter within the hour of my house sale closing.

I think the only thing that will delay it is dentist and doctor work. My better judgment says to at least go to the doctor for a physical and to the dentist for X-rays to see if I need any work done, and then check what it would cost with my current insurance vs on ACA vs Medical Tourism (I've read there are good dentists in Mexico near the border for this purpose)

I checked the ACA stuff and it looks like the insurance costs in South Dakota are tapered and there's not really a subsidy cliff there. So I'm not worried about that anymore. My insurance premiums for the rest of this year will be way higher than next year, but whatever, it's not a ton of money.

C40 wrote: I'm hoping to give my boss a resignation letter within the hour of my house sale closing.

That is funny, but I suspect you mean it. Your posts are so inspirational. Best of luck to you. Please keep posting as your retirement plans unfold in reality. I have learned a lot from your journal and look forward to continue to do so in the future.

@RealPerson - thank you . I'm not sure I see how that was funny, but I really do mean it.

• * I'm going to the dentist on Monday to see what they say I need done
  * I'm not going to get a health physical. I looked up the stuff they normally do for my age range and it's not much. I've been getting many of those things done every year when they do health screenings
  * House closing is now 9 days away (its 5/31). Things are moving along ok.

So, if the house closes ok when planned, I'll be embarking on my first big adventure very soon!


I've been living in the van for over a month now and it's going very well. I spend about half the time near my house, and half the time in different parts of St Louis. There are a bunch of unique and interesting neighborhoods here, and I've been hanging out in different ones for a few days at a time. It's been interesting to see these areas differently than just going out on weekends. I've been learning about the city way quicker than I ever did while living in the house.

C40 wrote: I've been living in the van for over a month now and it's going very well. I spend about half the time near my house, and half the time in different parts of St Louis. There are a bunch of unique and interesting neighborhoods here, and I've been hanging out in different ones for a few days at a time. It's been interesting to see these areas differently than just going out on weekends. I've been learning about the city way quicker than I ever did while living in the house.

Nice, so you are actually living in the van while working still? But you currently still own and have access to your house too, so you can take showers and stuff easily I suppose?

How do you like living in the van so far? Are you just stealth parking it at night on side streets and stuff? Is it awkward to drive the van to work/ have co-workers asking about it and all of that?