Ships Blog Single Posts
Previous Post <<<------>>> Next Post
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2022 12:51:00 GMT
Mail and Taxes
Today we spent getting a little organized. We went to the post office to
check on several things we ordered and prepared our change of address. We
are keeping our residence in TN but since the house sold we had to put in
forwarding addresses to the Post office to some friends of ours where we
rent a room. Then we heard about Brenden's Isle mail forwarding service
in Florida. We will use them as a mailing address. There are
difficulties about being cruisers because everyone want's you to have a
home somewhere and when you live on the road or the sea then people think
you're some kind of vagabond. Well perhaps we are! But we're having
adventures! Anyway, there are ways to do things on the road and Brenden's
Isle is one of them. Check it out! One of Hannah's packages was sent
back when we sent it to the post office because we failed to put on the
unit number. Watch out for that. When you use the post office (we have a
po box) as a delivery location UPS and FEDEX need a physical address and
dont' like PO boxes. So you have to use the street address of the Post
office it's self. Then you must include the po box as a "unit#" like an
apartment. We didn't do that. The post office will return mail with
insufficient address if you don't include the po box.
There are many local services you can use if you're "homeless" lol... (Our
house costs as much as anybody's it's just floating.) One of them is
public libraries. They have computers available and internet for a small
fee or sometimes completely free. Stores have bathrooms if you need them
and resturants have free wifi ususally. One major problem is trash.
Please don't give us all a bad name by cramming tons of trash behind
stores and the like. Those are their trash can's not yours. Use places
that take public trash and keep it in small quantities. Gas stations, and
public parks and marinia's typically have trash locations for the public.
Don't abuse the systems! But if you're doing it right there shouldn't
really be that much trash. Don't let it build up Get rid of small
amounts daily. Most of our trash is bio degradable. We wash towels and
use hankies instead of paper towels. We don't eat a lot of packaged foods
and we wash and re-use most things. If you plan it right you typically
repackage everything into re-usable containers before heading out.
One other problem is repairs on your boat that require haul out. Finding
a short term rental can be expensive in water front areas. Plan these
things well ahead of time. And just incorporate into your repair costs
the cost of lodging. Check the local community and ask around. The best
deals are not in the news paper or on the web. Only haul out for those
things that are absolutely necessary.
We are maintaining a storage unit near the coast so we can drop by and
re-supply when we need to. There is not always enough room on a boat for
everything you need. However be aware that the cost of storage adds up
and it's easy to argue that it's cheaper and easier to buy new than to store old. Do
the math and don't let emotion guide you. If you can buy it cheaply then
use it, give it to a friend or a thrift store and move along. Buy it
again if you need to. how many hundred dollars will you waste storing
stuff you can buy cheaper than you can store for 3 months?
Remember crusing life is is simpler as a minimalist.