We have been retired for almost 2 years now. I was a private preschool teacher, and my honey was a steelworker for 42 years. We decided to sell the house as it was too large for just the 2 of us and upkeep and taxes would cost too much and it would set empty most of the year....We are full time, and love it. We did away with so much of our "stuff" when the house sold, and don't miss it. We do have savings, but live on our monthly retirement incomes. We did camp host jobs the first 2 summers to save $$ and then went south. You can do it, if you want to bad enough....our "home base" is 80 east of Portland. Good luck!