The Pieces Are Coming Together

It's been over a month since my last post and we are slowly progressing ahead. We are done with all the fixes to the house and are ready to put it on the market on Monday. We have a realtor coming to the house on Monday and that should put the ball in motion.

I sent off the paperwork for the QRP (qualified retirement program) yesterday, so I hope in a couple of months we will have our application accepted so we can begin the big move. We have begun storing boxes, appliances and furniture in and area about the size of a 20 foot container and right now it's about 3/4 of the way full and we still haven't packed Mischelle's shoes and purses. We're going to need a 40 footer for sure.




We also needed a new vehicle for Belize, because our 2003 Avalanche was too old to qualify for the QRP. It's a shame, because I love our Avalanche. A fully loaded dream truck. But with the duties and taxes on an eight cyl. somewhere around 80-90% of Blue Book, it didn't make sense to keep her. Oh well. Time to let go and find a new love.




I was not looking forward to the process of finding a new car, the salespeople, the time, and all the different vehicles, options and of course, prices. But the Internet helps with that and has made quite a difference shopping for a car. You can look up reviews and prices. Makes and models. When you go to the dealership, you can be well armed to stand your ground for your make, model and price.

After looking at all of options in our price range, we decided the Nissan Xterra was the best truck for us. Not at the top of all the ratings, but a good, sturdy truck that has been around for a while with a nice V6 motor that has been well tested.




We ended up getting a 4X4, figuring we will use it quite a bit in Belize. I wasn't too happy with the color (I would have preferred a lighter color), but the price was right, and the only other car in a light color was 600 miles away and a $900 flatbed towing rate to get it here. No thanks, I'll take the darker color. Just knock a few hundred off, if you want to sell it to us. With the Internet, you can find out what others are paying across the nation and just play a little hard ball with the dealers. But after all was said and done, the car buying experience was not that bad. We had a good salesman, there was a good factory rebate and the last of the 2010's had to go to make room for the 2011 models.

So now, we are a little bit closer to getting to Belize.