Just moved back about a month ago. We were out of the house for about 3 1/2 months. 2 adults, 2 small children. We rented a 2 bedroom apt and moved everything out of our house. We packed our garage, put some stuff in storage with the moving company and the rest to the apt. Completely emptying the house let our contractor work faster saving us money. Using the moving company storage was *the* most affordable way to store actually, much easier and cheaper than the U-Store-It kind of place. Just make sure you pick a good reputable moving/storage company. Any other option I considered, store myself, corporate housing ($$$), trying to live in part of the house, move stuff around the house as required, just meant more work total time for little savings. Our total relocation cost was less than 4% of the total remodel cost so there was no point in trying to optimize it.

Here'a a dash of "reality check" for you. If renting either an RV or an apartment is too expensive, then re-think your entire remodel. Typically remodels will cost a lot more than you expect AND take more time as well. Nasty fact of life. If you're stretched to the limit fot the remodel, then come up with some contingency plans. Ours was to fire the contactor and do all the finish work (flooring, plainting, kitchen) ourselves, which took several months, working evenings and weekends.

We remodeled the living areas of our house, completely gutted it. But the three bedrooms and two baths upstairs were untouched. We managed to cram all the furniture and boxes into the two spare bedrooms and the garage, even tho one still was DH's officem so we left just room for him to get to a desk and a chair! We have a 350 sq ft workshop behind the garage, and we already had some cabinets and a sink, and countertops, so we created a kitchen down there with microwave, toaster oven, electric fry pan, and that's where we had the TV. We even managed a couple of funky 'dinner parties' with that arrangement. ALl told, we were in this arrangement for almost 9 months, until we started to put our new kitchen together and we slowly moved back into the house. Which took about a year all together. But we never had to leave the house.

Just the two of us plus 4 Golden Retrievers, and two cats. Do they count, too? ;-)

I know what you mean about not wanting to spend money on other housing. Even if things go perfectly well and in budget (I've heard that it CAN happen), that's money you'd rather spend elsewhere.

And I think that the PODS are a great answer. I would have done that in a heartbeat if it had been available here at that time.

Best to explore all your options. And you'll still have things come up that'll be a complete surprise. Did you check the Kitchens Forum, too? Usually there are great answers for temporary kitchens. If I were to do it all again, the best money we spent was the $1500 we spent in cheap cabinets and countertops and sink in the workshop; I'd now probably add a $400 electric range, as well. We lived a surprisingly civilized existance, and never had to wash dishes in the bathtub. Which alone is priceless!

We moved in with MIL for 9 mos while gutting the bathroom and doing the floors. It was two of us plus 2 dogs. It wasn't too horribly bad but next time we'll use our travel trailer and park it at campground near my mother's house or if there is room, at my house. Another option besides renting an RV is to get a used one--check the craigslist postings or the local consignment shop. People are constantly trading up and you can get a good used one for pennies on the dollar and then just turn around and sell it to recoup some money.

De

Sue;
I remember going through this decision just over a year ago. Every contractor we talked to, said get out of the house so our job is easier. However, I ended up GCing my own job, so I wanted to be near the house as much as possible. We had living space that was untouched although our kitchen no longer existed. To stay you will need to think through the following:
-Can you keep hot water flowing during the remodel
-Do you use gas for your appliances, if so will it still be available from the meter
-Do you need temporary power during construction
-Is there a place to set up a temporary kitchen
-Will there be heat in the house
-Can you and your DH get along while living in a constant mess (this was the tough one for us)

All in all, I'm very glad we stayed because it allowed us the flexiblity to take our time with the project, save money and do it right. There are no time pressures on us due to rent or other extraneous committements.

Give this some consideration, it your interested in staying in the house there are ways to keep you happy with minimum needs.

Best of luck which ever way you choose to go.

Bill

Fairegold - I've been posting up a storm in the kitchens forum and browsing through all the finished kitchens photos - what an amazing resource! Sounds like you had a good time in your temporary space. Two people and six animals...wow. I don't know where you live, but my DH lived quite comfortable in his 350 sf studio apartment in Manhattan for quite some time.

De - buying a used travel trailer/RV from Craig's List? Now THAT is what I'm talking about when I say creative! What a great idea.

Bill - Thank you so much for that list. I'm actually not completely sure about everything on it, so it definitely gives me a good starting point.

I was thinking last night that if we did move in with my parents, we'd save enough money to hire a full-time housekeeper. Having to clean up after the five of us to my mother's standards would be the scariest thing for me, but if I had some regular help, maybe it wouldn't be so bad....or not.

Forget about the renovation - these forums are killing my relationship! I've been sitting in front of the computer all night reading. Last night I discovered the "wiring" forum. A whole forum devoted to wiring!! What a place!

-Sue

If you stay in your house, but find yourselves going nuts and getting ready to do serious damage to ea. other, use that computer on priceline and find yourselves a hotel room for a night. If you go with most of the 3-4 star places, you'll usually end up with a pool. We did that when the mess had us at the end of our ropes and when the floors were being redone. Per night, it was the best $49 we spent!