Need Advice

[gypsylady]

I have just started the full time RV lifestyle and having trouble with setting up an address. I live in New York State and have a perm park model at campground here. After making that my address with a po box at post office I recieved a paper from them that I cannot have my mail forwarded from that address because it is a business, and that I need to use a different address. At this time I plan on leaving NYS as my home as I will spend summers here close to my grandkids.Is this just a NYS issue. Any suggestions out there?

[retiredhappy]

Not being able to use a "PO BOX" is an issue in many states. I have a "personal Mail Box" at a UPS store. That gives me a "real" address "000 Quinlan St, #***. Looks like an apartment and when I'm not in town I leave some money and they forward my mail to wherever I am.

[Bethers]

Please look at all the ramifications before choosing a state. I picked SD because it saves me several thousand dollars a year in taxes of various kinds as well as makes it very easy for me. You do have to go there (once every 5 years) to make it your legal residence - and you have to overnight there once. I use a service in Rapid City called Americas Mailbox (www.americasmailbox.com) and if you like or decide to use them, please let me know and give them my name and reference #. They like to know who refers people.

SD is a very good state (and one of the more popular states) for rvers to use. The other 2 most popular full-time states are FL and TX. I chose SD because it worked out best for me.

[Birdie]

My brother and SIL live in TX and agreed to let me use their address as my permanent address. So my voting records, autos etc are based on their address. They forward my mail in a 'if it fits it ships' box when I call ask them to do that. Usually once a month. For Supplemental Insurance for Medicare this helps me because they live in a 'young neighborhood'. I looked at using Escapees in Livingston, TX, but the demographics weren't as kind to me.

Good luck on your decision.

[rvgrammy1953]

We use a PO Box in PA as our permanent address...we also live in the campground there in the summer...Right now while in a camp hosting job for the winter we have all our mail forwarded to the Post Office here. Last year we used General Delivery to the local post office.....this year we just got a temp. po box here for forwarding.....Now when we are on the road all fall, winter, and spring....we have our son or Ernie's Aunt collect our mail from the post office then when we are in a place for a couple of weeks, they will put it in one of those "if it fits" boxes and they send it General Delivery to the post office where we are....both work for us.....

Ernie's found alot of info on the rules with the US postal service online....you might find some answers there....we found that if you do forwarding requests, temp. po boxs, etc....it's alot easier to do it online than going to the post office...from what we've learned, alot of the issues on this are "Homeland Security" related....

[snowball]

we also are full timers..and choose SD as our home state...for all the reasons that Beth mentioned...and are totally impressed with our service..we go through a service in Madison SD think it's called Dakota my Way ...so easy to deal with. she e-mails me when mail comes in and every couple of weeks have it sent to general delivery...although in Quartzsite we did get a box so we wouldn't have to wait in lines a block long for general delivery....
sheila