Events are evolving quickly in the RVF household. In January we put our house on the market and it sold in just two days, read about it here. We are now in full blown sell everything mode as we have to be out of the house in just a couple of weeks. It’s looking like we will need every minute of that time to clear out.

Of course when you sell your home and move into a RV you need a place to go. Since we need to stay in the area for a few more weeks we were able to make reservations at a not so local RV park. It’s going to cost more than we planned on spending but options were limited for a monthly space in our area. As my dad would always say “any port in a storm”. We plan to spend the next month tying up loose ends like filing our taxes, winding down our business and getting organized and adjusted to full time RV living.

During this time we will also need to begin planning the next steps to become South Dakota residents. The timing of this process is important for insurance and registration purposes and more importantly to permanently cut ties with high tax California. I have done some research and we pretty much know what needs to be done. But we still have to figure out the logistics of getting to South Dakota, where anything can happen weather wise in March and April, and finding a place to stay for an extended period of time. Once we get everything squared away the real fun begins.

Financially we expect the next couple of months to be turbulent. We will get a nice payout from our house but we also have some financial obligations to take care of. I am considering holding off on publishing our finances during this time as they will be heavily impacted both to the upside and to the downside as we work through these transactions. I like to be transparent and I’m hesitant to present numbers that will reflect large movements with no context. My thought is to pick up with our finance updates after we are finished transitioning which would start with the net balances after this process is over.

Then again this blog is about our finances and transitioning to RV life. These transactions are a part of the process for us and based on decisions we have made for our family. So maybe I can add some sort of context or note as we move forward to explain the changes. I’ll give it some thought and make a final decision before publishing our February 2021 update.

Here is where we ended the month of January 2021:

Portfolio = $1,230,354

Portfolio Goal = $1,500,000

Amount needed to reach goal = $269,646

Our portfolio decreased by $1,302 or 0.11% from the end of December

Year-to-date our portfolio is down 0.11%

Net Worth = $1,438,634

This is a decrease of $3,476 or 0.24% from the end of December

Year-to-date our Net Worth is down 0.24%

I expected January to be volatile but for most of the month it was smooth and heading up. Then in the last week of the month the events involving Reddit traders and stocks with high short positions took the market down and we ended the month flat. Not exactly the volatility I expected but pretty much the same result in the end.

Going forward I expect continued volatility as the new administration rolls out their agenda and talks about stimulus continue to go on in Congress. Additionally, the Covid-19 vaccines are continuing to be distributed while at the same time it appears new cases have dropped significantly. If this trend continues more states will open up businesses and hopefully economy will revive as well. While I am cautiously optimistic about the economy in the second half of the year it’s important to never underestimate a politicians ability to screw things up.

This is an exciting time for us and we look forward to sharing this new chapter of our lives with everyone. Please follow us on Instagram and Twitter for more updates as we get started on our adventures.

Thank you as always for taking time to read our blog.

Until next time…………………

Joe