Guest Post by Mike Henry

Photo by Rudy Herman on flickr

As I write this, the movie Eat, Pray, Love is hitting the cinemas in the United States. I am sure most people are already familiar with the story.

The book’s author, Elizabeth Gilbert, is frustrated with her life in the United States and decides to take a year off traveling, spending time in Italy to eat, India to pray and Bali to find love.

I have been living in Bali for the past year and it is not surprising to come across many people (mostly women) who have come to Bali after reading the book. I haven’t had a chance to see the movie yet, but I am sure even more people will be drawn to Bali either for a short or extended stay.

Bali often has that effect on many people. People come only expecting to stay for a short holiday and then they find that they don’t want to leave!

I myself was looking for somewhere to live abroad and after spending some time traveling to Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia and some other parts of Indonesia, I finally decided I wanted to stay in Bali.

What’s So Special About Bali?

So what wanted me to live in Bali? Bali is a small island and you can travel from the south to the north in 2-3 hours. Bali lies just 8 degrees south of the equator ensuring warm weather throughout the year and is a mecca for surfers and fans of marine sports.

Bali has many picture postcard perfect scenes, from the beautiful sunsets to the magnificent rice field terraces carved out of the mountains.

Even though I have been here a year, I never get tired of the beautiful scenery.

Another thing which leaves a strong impression on people visiting Bali is the people. Balinese are mostly Hindu and preparing for and attending the many ceremonies is an important part of their lives. Religion, community and family are all important to Balinese and the strong community aspect of Balinese life, makes it an interesting and rewarding place to live.

In most western countries we have lost the community aspect to our lives and often people don’t even know who their neighbors are. This is one aspect of living in Bali that was unexpected for me, but it is one that I really enjoy. People seem to have more time for each other, even if it is just sitting outside chatting.

Different Timing

The whole concept of time is also completely different. Not only do Balinese use a different calendar, there never seems to be a rush to do things. This of course can be frustrating for many expats and it does take some time to get used to, especially if you are trying to run a business or build a house.

I think in western countries from a young age, we are taught to always make the best use of our time, whether it is going to school or at work or even in our social lives. It leads to people forever rushing around going from one appointment to the next. ‘Doing nothing’ is usually seen as wasting time and after moving to Bali it can take some time to adjust to a life where you don’t always have to be doing ‘something’.

Working in Bali

Other than a few English schools that employ a few language teachers and some five star hotels that have foreign executives, there are few jobs for foreigners in Bali. This means to live in Bali on a permanent basis you either need an outside income source like a pension or investments, or you need to run your own business.

Some foreigners have successful businesses exporting furniture and Balinese handicrafts. Many foreigners also have businesses catering to Bali’s tourism trade, which is the islands main source of foreign income. I run a few websites making money from Google Adsense and affiliate programs.

Since it’s not easy to find work in Bali, I wrote a free guide to how people might be able to earn a living. It is aimed for expats wanting to live in Bali, but much of the information could also be applied to any other country. It can be downloaded here: http://www.baliexpat.com/guides-and-ebooks/getting-started

Fortunately the cost of living is fairly low in Bali, if you move outside of the main tourist areas. Indonesia is a developing country, so internet is not that fast and it’s relatively expensive, but it is adequate for most people’s needs.

Some people move to Bali thinking it will be one long holiday and it will be just like living in ‘paradise’ and they are usually the expats who don’t end up staying long. I think Bali is a fantastic place to live, but like anywhere in the world, it’s not always a bed of roses.

As long as people realize that there will be problems along the way, you don’t constantly compare everything to back home and you have to adjust to a new culture and way of doing things, you can have a great life in Bali.

Mike Henry has lived in Bali for the past year, and loves it. He’s expecting a lot more interest in expatriating to his island now that Eat, Pray, Love has been released. Mike gives advice about living in Bali here.

Last week I mentioned that my youngest daughter would be heading off to college soon, leaving us with an empty nest.

She and I have embarked on a journey from our home in the Orlando, FL area to her college in the Northeast. Along the way, we’re stopping to do research for some articles I’m writing.

This is a good way for me to try the virtual-making-money life I’ve talked about before on this website. My son calls it “working in the cloud,” but either way, there are lots of tools available to help you be productive wherever you are. All you need is a computer and an internet connection.

And, as I’m discovering on this trip, the computer is optional if you have a smart phone.

Here are some of the free tools I used to plan the trip, to keep myself organized during the trip, and to be productive on the road. This is sort of a test run to see what works for me that I’ll be able to use from outside the country.

• Evernote. Evernote is a versatile tool that lets you save web pages, emails and other documents. By organizing them in a way that’s meaningful to you, you can save different kinds of documents in a single folder, and see them all at a glance. Evernote is free, and you can install it on your computer and synchronize it with its web-based counterpart.

  I used Evernote to keep track of my notes about possible stopping places, locations to research, schedules, emails, reservation confirmation and all sorts of other trip-related documents.

• GMail. I resisted GMail for a long time, but finally broke down and started a GMail account. I can forward all my regular email (from several different accounts!) to it to get all my email in one place while I’m on the road.

• Google Calendar. In addition to Evernote, I created a special Google Calendar for this trip, which I shared with my daughter. It lists our itinerary, travel times and the places we’re staying with the relevant contact information.

• Google Maps. The articles I’m writing are about small college towns. I used Google Maps initially to map the location of all the towns I was considering writing about. Then I narrowed the list by mapping our most direct route to my daughter’s college, and selecting towns that were convenient to that route. Once I had it all mapped out (pun intended!), I shared the map with my daughter.

  I also could have printed out the maps and turn-by-turn directions for the entire trip. I opted instead to use AAA’s Triptik service for that.

• Skype. Using my laptop’s built-in webcam and microphone, I can talk, with video, to anyone with a Skype account.

• Android apps. My daughter recently upgraded to an android smart phone. Along the way, we’ve used the GPS more than once when we wanted to goo off our printed routes. We’ve also used the restaurant finder, and the gas prices app. She’s also been able to keep family and friends updated as to our whereabouts through Facebook for mobile.

There are lots more cloud productivity tools available, but these have been very helpful to me before and during our trip.

Do you have a favorite virtual tool that helps you be productive when you’re away from home? I’d love to know about it! You can leave a comment below if you’re reading this on the website.

Photo by Catherine Perkins

I was intrigued today to see a long list of responses to a question that International Living asked on their Facebook page. “What’s the first thing you would like to do when you arrive in the new country you plan to live in?” they asked.

Some responses were totally practical. “Go to the rest room” tickled me the most. Other practical answers talked about resting after jet lag, eating, having a beer or other beverage, or eating. One person said he’d exchange his currency. The most pragmatic of all said, “get off the airplane.”



Quite a few people mentioned walking around, exploring, looking around the neighborhood. One person — and I wonder where she’s been living — talked about “driving around to explore.”

Two people mentioned finding a church — more specifically the “right” church. Makes me wonder how realistic they are about their new country if they expect to find the same assortment of churches they’re used to in their home country. I don’t think the rest of the world has America’s tolerance for evangelism. . .

There were a number of votes for hitting the beach, with side references to nude beaches and skinny dipping.

One reader said she’d pinch herself to make sure she’s not dreaming. Another said she’d adopt a dog because it’s a great conversation starter with new neighbors.

Several creative folks weighed in — writing and painting were mentioned.

High on the list were items like “find a farmers’ market,” go grocery shopping, and find where the locals hang out.

In short, an interesting question with lots of interesting answers.

I think I’m with the “find an outdoor cafe and watch the people” group — after I visit the rest room, that is.

So — what will you do first? Click the Comment link or enter a reply below if you’re reading this on the website.

In a few days, my youngest child is going off to college in another state.

photo by Robert S. Donovan on flickr

Theoretically it won’t matter to them whether the plane takes off from Orlando or from Panama City, Panama, Quito, Ecuador or Cancun, Mexico.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple — when is it ever?

We do have one big hurdle to jump before we go anywhere. You see, we’re driving her up to her college, and stopping on the way to spend a couple of days with my husband’s parents. They’re the family members who seem to be having the hardest time with our plans to leave the country.

Either our plans will be the 800 pound gorilla in the room, or we’ll (hopefully) be able to talk honestly with them and leave them feeling more comfortable with what we’re doing.



I’m certainly hoping for the latter.

Frankly, their attitude has surprised me so far. Perhaps it’s because I’m hearing what they say through a filter, since it’s my husband who’s been speaking with them about it. I definitely want to hear from them directly.

There are several reasons I’ve been surprised at their attitude:

• My in-laws are seasoned travelers. In just the past couple of years they’ve been to several European countries, Mexico, Panama and Canada. Years ago, my father-in-law worked for a number of months in Saudi Arabia.
• They’ve also lived all over the US: upstate New York, California, Georgia, North Carolina and Washington, DC.
• My mother-in-law uses Skype more than I do, so they know how easy it is to communicate via internet.
• We already live a good 8 hour drive away from them, and flying time isn’t much less when you add the time to and from the airport.

So I’m hoping we can defuse whatever fears they may have. Wish me luck!

The following was written by Kathleen Peddicord in her Overseas Opportunity newsletter. I’m a big fan of Kathleen’s, and am happy to share with you her Top 10 lists, as well as the reasoning behind them. And, in certain cases, why you might be better off doing something completely different. Kathleen writes:

I’ve been inundated recently with e-mails from readers asking, “Why not?”

“Why not Honduras?”

“Why not Costa Rica?”

“Why not Spain?”

“Why not the Bahamas?”

Etc.

Why do I focus in these dispatches on the countries I do…and give less (or no) virtual ink to others?

I have a Top 10 list. On it are my picks for the best places in the world right now to think about spending your time and your money. This list has been created based on more than 25 years experience traveling the globe and covering this live, retire, invest overseas beat…and it has been compiled with the help of dozens of correspondents and friends who keep in touch with me in real time from all corners of this earth.

I can’t be everywhere at once or know, firsthand, the situation on the ground in every country in the world at any given time. But I can stay well-informed, with the help of smart, savvy people I trust to provide me not only with information (information alone is a glut on the market…often not worth the virtual paper it’s printed on), but, much more important, with perspective and judgment born of real-world experience.

In that context, here are my Top 10 picks right now:
#1: Panama
#2: Belize
#3: France
#4: Malaysia
#5: Ecuador
#6: Argentina
#7: Uruguay
#8: Croatia
#9: Dominican Republic
#10: Chile

The trouble with a Top 10 list is that it’s limited to 10. If I were to expand this list a bit, I’d add:

#11: Nicaragua
#12: Guatemala
#13: Mexico
#14: China
#15: Malta

Some of these countries make sense as full-time overseas retirement havens; some are more interesting for part-time living (because of the challenges and costs associated with establishing permanent legal residency).

All, though, offer particular advantages to the would-be retiree, adventurer, or investor.

That is not to say, however, they are the only places in the world that could make sense for you. You have your own agendas and circumstances, your personal experiences and priorities.

If you’ve been traveling to the Bay Islands of Honduras for years, for example, as has one reader who wrote the other day…have made friends in this part of the world…have begun shopping for a beach home on Roatan…don’t think you must adjust your plan and refocus your attention on Belize because I recommend that country over Honduras.

It’s true. Belize is generally more advantaged than Honduras. The whole of the country is English-speaking (while, in Honduras, it’s the folks out on the Bay Islands, only, who use English as their primary language of communication).

Belize is more stable politically than Honduras. Its currency is tied to the U.S. dollar (a plus for those with Greenbacks in their pockets). Its foreign residency program is one of the most user-friendly in the world right now. And Belize qualifies as one of the few remaining banking havens on the planet.

All of that is true, but it doesn’t mean that Roatan, Honduras, couldn’t make sense for you.

This is such a personal decision. I offer my Top 10 list as a guide, as some stars to steer by. Based on my long experience and with the help of real-time intelligence from friends on the ground in each place, I recommend these places as worth a close look. But, again, I understand, and you should, too, that they are not the only places to consider considering.

The other important thing to understand about any Top Picks list, including mine, is that, if it’s based on real-world experience and real-time intelligence, you can count on it to change.

Tax laws, visa requirements, real estate values, the cost of living, and the availability of quality health care…as well as the political situation, the value of the local currency, and the ease of coming and going from other parts of the world…all these things change all the time.

Just as some U.S. states are more appealing today as places to live or retire than they were a decade ago, some countries are more interesting to the would-be overseas retiree right now than they were two or three years ago. And we can expect that others will become more interesting in the future than they are today.

Any list of the World’s Top Retirement Havens, including mine, is a moving target. One thing you come to understand when you begin considering the idea of spending time and money overseas is that you must be flexible and open-minded.

Just as circumstances are changing dramatically in the United States right now, so, too, can they and do they elsewhere.

One way to hedge the potential risks that this truth implies is to diversify…not only your investments, but also your life.

Just as it’s smart to invest in different markets and to hold assets of different types in different currencies, so, too, are there advantages to spreading your life among different jurisdictions.

Do your banking in one country (where you can feel reasonably secure your deposits are safe), reside in another (where you pay no tax), run your business in a third (where entrepreneurs are respected and incentivized) and hold a passport in another. If possible, hold a second passport.

I didn’t invent this strategy, of course, It’s written of often, as the Five Flags approach. It’s about organizing both your time and your money (that is, planting your “flags”) to your greatest advantage.

Plant your flags based on your current circumstances and agendas. But don’t plant them in concrete. You might want to be able to move them around from time to time.

If you like what Kathleen has to say here, you’ll also like her Overseas Retirement Letter.

A review of the book by Paul Allen

Paul Allen is a British expat journalist living in Spain. I was fascinated by his book, The Truth About Moving Abroad and Whether It’s Right for You: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
because it’s the first I’ve read about expatriation from a non-US-centric perspective.

Allen provides information and insight to help would-be expats make a decision about whether expatriation is right for them. He asks:

“The question is, will you be among the millions of people around the world who are uprooting their lives in search of a better one elsewhere? Are you going to be one of those who make their pool-side fantasy a reality?

“It is certainly not as hard as it might seem to the many people who feel trapped by their jobs, finances, family, or whatever other reasons you care to name. What it does take, though, is a concrete decision followed by decisive action.

“Which is where most people’s dreams fade into nothing. For whereas the various survey results suggest there are millions of Americans, Brits, Kiwis, Canadians and whoever else saying they are keen to move overseas, a relatively small percent do make the jump every year.”

For all you numbers people, Allen provides lots of data. The book is chock full of statistics and country rankings in several categories such as happiness, quality of life, healthcare, environment, climate and cost of living.

For those of us whose eyes glaze over at the sight of tables and charts, he gives us stories about individual expat experiences.

He focuses on the countries which are among the top expat destinations worldwide, and discusses their pluses and minuses.

And he poses lots of questions for us to answer. Some are predictable, others less so. Almost all require some real thought.

“So consider. Does improving your quality of life mean you absolutely must move elsewhere? Or is it more about re-prioritising your lifestyle where you are now to make room for your dreams?

“Sometimes change is a great thing. Other times it can merely turn out to be a switch of scenery.”

Allen presents information about language, culture, earning a living, schooling for the kids and asks questions about all of them. Then he arrives at families.

“The most important factor preventing [survey] respondents from emigrating overseas was that their family and friends remained in the UK — a consideration cited by 43% of the survey’s participants.

“In the final analysis, though, you must ask yourself — and I really mean search your heart — how much of a wrench will it be to put distance between yourself and your existing social network?

“Do not gloss over these questions. The answers are likely to be the biggest single factor in the success of your venture.”

Allen asks us to consider one final questions: what will we think about our lives when, at the age of 90, we look back. Will we have regrets? Wonderful memories? Will we feel unfulfilled, dull, or lifeless?

Different Perspectives on Distance

As someone who has moved across the US, some of the issues he raises seem rather ho-hum. I currently live 1,200-1,400 miles away from my mother and three of my kids, and 2,500 away from a fourth. The last one will be joining the 1,200-mile club in a couple of weeks.

Since we’re already a plane ride away, it doesn’t matter a whole lot to me whether the plane takes off from Florida or Panama. For a European, though, 1,200 miles is almost the distance from Paris to Moscow (1,500 miles, actually).

And on the flip side, members of my family are more concerned about the possibility of our moving to Mexico (about 2,000 miles from where we are now) than they would be if we moved to California (2,500-plus miles).

Worth a Read

If you’ve been considering moving abroad but you’re not sure yet, Should I Stay or Should I Go? can provide lots of helpful information and help you to make the decision that’s right for you.

Have you wrestled with the question of whether you should stay or go? What did you decide? How has it worked out for you? You can comment below.

Photo by Sergey Vladimirov on flickr

When making big, life-changing moves, we all need people supporting our decisions, cheering us on, telling us we’re okay. Big, life-changing moves are scary, after all, even when based on logic.

As children, most of us had people encourage us to take another step even after we fell down, to get back on the bicycle despite the skid marks on our knees, to go ahead and jump into the deep end of the pool.

So now we’re all grown up, and planning a move to another country. It’s like contemplating a jump into really, really deep murky water of an unknown depth.



Where’s our cheering section now? Who’s there saying, “you can do this!”

If you’re like most of the expats I hear from, when you tell family and friends you’re planning to expatriate the response is more likely to be “No! Don’t jump into that water, it’s full of crocodiles!”

In talking with my youngest daughter, who’ll be a freshman in college in a few weeks, I realized that my cheering section is actually my kids!

My mother has taken the news calmly. Other family and friends range from openly skeptical to downright discouraging. A few friends sort of understand.

But it’s from my children I hear comments like, “That’s really exciting.” “I think you’ll have a wonderful time.” “That makes a lot of sense.” And practical questions like, “How will you manage in a country where English isn’t the main language?” instead of, “You won’t be able to manage unless you speak Spanish fluently, and you don’t.”

My youngest “thinks it’s pretty cool.” She’s looking forward to having more interesting places to visit on vacations than most of her classmates. The only thing that upsets her is that when she comes “home” she won’t necessarily have her own familiar space any more.

My oldest son’s first thought when we discuss an international move is, “which country?” “Are you planning on learning the language?” is next. Reservations? None.

My older daughter, an extremely social young lady, has concerns about our social well being, and wonders whether we’ll be able to connect socially with people around us if there’s a language barrier. She doesn’t want us to be isolated, and as long as we’re happy, she’s happy.

From our middle son: “I think that’s great if you are making the plan together and it’s what you both want to do. I don’t want to let geography dictate opportunity for me or for you, so as long as you’re a plane ride away I’m happy.”

Our youngest son, who’s very unflappable, just absorbs and processes the information.

Who’s your cheerleader?

photo by vincepal on flickr

All the reasons, though, fall into one of two categories:

1. running away from something

2. running toward something

In general, the coaches I’ve been in touch with agree that your move will be more successful if you’re running toward something.

In an ideal world, I think I’d agree with them. This not being an ideal world, however, I’d hate to think that “running away” reasons would doom me to a terrible expat experience.

The author of the blog Regrouping recently posted her list of reasons for leaving — most of them of the running away variety. The post was extremely thoughtful and well written, and I’d recommend you read the entire post here.

Here are the author’s “running away” reasons:

1. I do not want to be an old person in America.

2. I do not want to pay insanely inflated US college tuition for my child
3. I cannot afford to pay for healthcare in the US
4. There is an unsettling level of physical and psychic violence in the US
5. The economy
6. There is a pervasive lack of genuine human connection in America

This list really resonated with me.

The Economy and Health Care

Although I’ve always wanted to experience life overseas, my timetable for leaving the country has been stepped up by economic events of the past 18 months or so. In March of last year my job melted away, and to say it’s been a scramble ever since is an enormous understatement.

The bottom line is we can’t afford to stay here any more. One of the biggest reasons is the cost of health care. Even if we were to move to a less expensive area within the US, health care costs would still destroy us.

The stress of knowing we’re one small illness away from losing everything we’ve worked our whole lives for is unbearable.

And I know I’m not alone. A majority of you responded to a poll here and here a few months back, stating that health care is either your primary or second reason for considering a move abroad.

How can the United Stated justify being the only Western, iindustrialized country that doesn’t provide affordable health care for its people? Even Rwanda has universal health care!!

So I’m definitely running away from an out-of-control economy characterized by a huge transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy, aided and abetted by the government we elected to represent us.

Education

The cost of college tuition is not a huge hot button for me either way. My youngest is starting college in the fall, but fortunately she has received a ginormous financial aid package. For those of you who want alternatives to high US college costs, I strongly recommend reading Maya Frost’s book The New Global Student: Skip the SAT, Save Thousands on Tuition, and Get a Truly International Education.

But don’t think for a moment I’m not concerned with education. Our educational system has been going to hell in a handbasket for years, and it’s getting worse. The more we emphasize testing as the end-all and be-all of education, the worse educated our graduates become.

Sadly, as our general population becomes less — not better — educated, scheming corporations and misleading politicians find it easier and easier to hoodwink the electorate, leading to further erosion and decay in our government. It’s a vicious circle, and I don’t see it ending any time soon.

Polite Society

I, too, don’t want to be an old person in the United States — especially in this economy. Not only is economic survival retreating farther and farther from grasp, but our society does not honor age and the wisdom that comes with it. ‘Nuff said.

We’ve also become a country of self-centered boors. Civility is a lost art and friendliness in many places is looked upon with horror and suspicion. A young man of my acquaintance recently expressed chagrin on Facebook:

“Is friendliness dead? I took refuge from a bit of rain in the same spot as an older lady, and she seemed genuinely surprised that I actually introduced myself and tried to make conversation.”

Frankly, I love the idea of living in a place where saying “good morning” is expected of everyone!

Violence

Workplace killings, road rage, school massacres. . . why are we so much more violent than our Canadian neighbors? When people tell me, “oh, I wouldn’t want to move to Mexico because of the violence there,” I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Washington, DC, is statistically four times more dangerous than Mexico City, and most of the world views the violence here with absolute horror.

Am I Doomed?

So, am I doomed to a terrible expat experience? I don’t think so.

First, although my timetable for moving abroad has changed, it’s still something I’ve always wanted to do. Running away from the terrible health care situation here lets me look for a new home in a place with quality, affordable health care. Leaving the failed economy of the US behind gives me a chance to live at less expense elsewhere. Hopefully, I’ll be able to improve my quality of life at the same time.

Civility is important to me, so I can choose to go to a country where the cultural expectation is that folks will be polite to one another.

I don’t expect my new life to be perfect. I understand there will be adjustments to make, and lots of them. I anticipate I’ll run across some problems I hadn’t even considered beforehand.

What I do expect is that my health-care related stress will go away, and I’ll be able to afford the basics of life.

And it’ll be an adventure.

For a change of pace today, I thought I’d share with you some YouTube videos about expats and their new homes. A quick YouTube search of “expat” turns up over 4,000 videos. As you’d expect, some are good, some are terrible and most are in between. Some are slick, commercially produced efforts, most are not. The ones I find most interesting are individuals who shares specifics about their new homes.



I’ve chosen 14 videos worth a look. We’ll come back to this from time to time, so please don’t think I’m ignoring large chunks of the world.

Latin America

1. Retire Early in Mexico

2. Live, work and retire in Mexico. This video looks specifically at Merida, on the Yucatan Peninsula.
3. Living in Mexico, Moving to Mexico and Retiring in Mexico. An American couple moves to San Miguel de Allende.
4. A Retirement in Panama: Everything Under the Sun. This is a professionally created video by International Living.
5. Ecuador – One Man’s Dream
6. To Live in Cuenca, Ecuador
7. Cuenca Day and Night
8. Costa Rica Expat interviews w/Wayne

Asia

1. The Expat Life: Dumpling 101 An adventure in Chinese cooking. This is a really cute video of a US expat in China trying to make Chinese dumplings, to his daughter’s disapproval.

2. Life in Korea. The first month’s of a young American teacher’s adventures in Korea.
3. Life as an Expat in Thailand: Getting a Job
4. How to Live and Work as a Teacher in Thailand
5. Why Malaysia? A British expat explains his reasons.
6. Expat Women in Hong Kong Society. This video gives a glimpse of the down side of expatriation — what do you know when the society you’re living in doesn’t want to mingle with you?

We recently got a whole new perspective on selling stuff in preparation for our move.

In the past, between eBay, Craigslist and other such venues, as well as the traditional garage or yard sale, you could move pretty much anything you owned in good condition.

That’s changed. With the US economy still a mess, more and more foreclosures, bankruptcies, job losses, job cutbacks and generally bad stuff happening, it’s getting tougher to move used goods.

Decorations, art, collectibles, items that are not perceived as necessities, well, good luck selling those.

Recently, though, we decided to sell a used vehicle. This was a minivan with over 150,000 miles on it. It had belonged to my husband’s parents, who used it for years to travel back and forth cross country from their summer to their winter home.

They passed it along to us, and we put more than a few more miles on it. Our son used it for a few months after he had an accident that totaled his car, then used it to move from Florida to upstate New York. My husband used it to haul lumber, brick and dirt for home improvements and landscaping.

It ran ok, but was not in perfect condition by any means.

We priced it $50 under the Blue Book value and I listed it on Craigslist. Before the virtual ink on the listing was even dry, I had three emails in my inbox inquiring about it. . . Then a dozen more over the next hour. My phone was ringing off the hook.

Three hours after I put the listing up, I took it down. The van was sold for the full asking price, no dickering, to a young man who needed transportation for his young family.

We probably could have priced it about $200 higher with the same results, because apparently there’s nothing driveable in our area for under $1,000.

Lesson learned: if it’s really a necessity, the buyers are still out there.

Of course, most of what we have to dispose of doesn’t fall into that category: books, art, decorative items.

Now. . . how to persuade someone that they really, really need my white elephant.

Have you found venues to sell non-necessities? We’d love to know about them! Click the Comment link below to share your experiences.