My budget plan for full time RVing

[G-JLD9]

Originally Posted by montana4two

Well, your budget is almost twice what ours is! Our health care in Canada is a lot different as it is free once you turn 65, but we live quite nicely by parking at our daughters in the summer and taking trips out and boondocking in Southern Arizona in the winter.mi guess it all depends on the lifestyle you wants. Good luck to you both, but please don't put your dreams off too long

Some time I start running some number and try to figure out how to do it now, just in case I have a bad day at work and roll now. But the best scenario is to wait till summer 2019 so I'm going to try and hold on till then. What ever we decide I'm not work one more day passed when Gary gets his army retirement checks, and we will live the lifestyle that our budget allows and be happy!

[RanCarr]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

TRUE!!
Get out there while you can!

......They keep looking for cancer but haven't found any yet although her last colonoscopy had three polyps removed, two were OK but the third is a type that can go into cancer.

OK, enough of this but my "conclusion" is ti GO FOR IT while you can!!....

I hope your wife does well.

This is exactly why we chose early retirement at age 62. Yes, our cheques are smaller. But there is more to life than money. We were afraid if we waited any longer we may not be in any condition to travel or snow-bird or go fulltime. We have health issues but none so far to keep us at home.

[airbrushguy]

Two great friends of ours introduced us to this lifestyle and when they retired they went on the road to travel the country. After less than two years he dropped dead of a heart attack and three days later she did the same at his funeral.
The moral to the story is, don't wait, you are not guaranteed tomorrow, let alone ten years. With no rig payment you have more than adequate resources to do this now. We typically make a game of seeing how cheap we can live and can make it through a typical month on less than half of what you describe as your guaranteed income.

[Roadmagic]

The person who started this thread expressed concerns about living on $3000 a month for 2 people. MY daughter, who has $3000 a month income, is wanting to buy a motorhome and live in it, but I'm concerned. Is it too risky financially if 1) she doesn't have mechanical skills to fix stuff, 2) she DOES have health insurance?

[okcnewbie]

If your daughter is planning on buying a new MH than I would say the risk goes up. If buying used and she gets a good deal than she could always sell after some time if it doesn't work out.
There is likely a DIY person in the area that could help with many of the repairs if she asks around.

Of course you didn't say what climate, etc. Many factors come into play.

[RLTimblin]

My wife and I are both on SS and live off about $3300 per month. We were both professionals and also owned (but lost) a ranch in Texas. We have been doing this for 4 years now. I would recommend you look into buying a used membership in Thousand Trails. We have the Elite Connection, which I would recommend. We live almost free and have been doing so for 4 years. We pay $522 per year for maintenance and must move every three weeks to one of our 90+ campgrounds. We do not pay for water, electric or sewage. Since we only travel twice in a month and most of the campgrounds are 300 miles or less away from each other, we can easily live off of what we make with a little going into savings for our next rig. Our largest expenses are food and medical. We were on the Affordable Care, paying nearly $900 per month but now on Medicare it has been cut in half with better coverage. Our groceries are about $600 per month and our gasoline is about the same. So between the three of those, we spend only half of what we make minus about $120 per month on insurance and of course incidentals. We try to save about $300 per month or better. Hope this helps.

[G-JLD9]

Originally Posted by Roadmagic

The person who started this thread expressed concerns about living on $3000 a month for 2 people. MY daughter, who has $3000 a month income, is wanting to buy a motorhome and live in it, but I'm concerned. Is it too risky financially if 1) she doesn't have mechanical skills to fix stuff, 2) she DOES have health insurance?

When I first started this thread, we just started researching the cost of full time RVing and if our retirement checks were going to be enough. After 18 months of reading and talking to people, we are 100% sure we can make it on 3k a month. I bet we could even do it with half of that, but that may not be as fun. But we have some things that are going to make it easier for us:

We have Federal BCBS and our portion is about 200 a month, and when Gary gets his Army Reserve retirement we will have Tricare. Don't know if we will suspend BCBS to save money and just go with Tricare, still researching that. So lots of money saved on heath insurance premium cost. I was kind of shocked to see what some have to pay for a monthly premium.

We fix everything our self. Since I turn a wrench for a living, I will do all my own maintenance and repairs. But knowing that I will not have a shop to pull a blown motor, we will keep a chunk of change saved for stuff I just cant fix on the road. You state your daughter has no mechanical skill, that's not a show stopper, but you do have to have the money to pay someone else to do it. She could learn the basic checks of oil levels, tire pressure and do visual inspections for leaks and broken stuff. Then know when to see professional help, but paying others to fix stuff can add up fast.

We will be debt free. Paying cash for a used diesel pusher, and selling the house when the time comes. We are very good about living with in our means. So if we cant afford to do it, we wont. But we are happy as a clam just setting at a beach and enjoying the view. We have no desire to stay at high end RV resorts or eat out every day, but we will probably splurge every now and then.

So I think if your daughter has 3k a month and health insurance, has money to pay others to fix things, and most of all has the determination to make her dreams come true, she can do it. There is lots of information out there and with help form forums like this one, she can learn the things she may not know much about.

Now finding and making sure what ever motorhome she pick is mechanical sound can be a challenge. But if she hires a RV inspector to point out the bad and good, she will be doing her self a huge favor. I have walking in so many rigs that look great inside and out, but I crawl underneath it, open the engine compartments and see much neglected maintenance and repairs needed.

We got 36 months (or one really bad day at work) to get stuff ready to roll. We pass the time researching, looking at Dutch Stars (our favorite so far) , and getting projects done around the house for when it comes time to sell. I got my map of the US and a dart ready for our madden voyage, just going to trough it and go where it lands. Always wanted to do that

Jen

[Akwoofer]

Look into workcamping will save you a lot of money and you will get to see a lot of different places and people. Some friends actually make money a few times a year like amazon work/ camping each fall. Also snowbird south to like the Yuma/Quartzsite area is a great place as you can camp all over the desert for free but only in the winter, way to hot after March. You can also rent full lots for cheap in the north foothills of Yuma that has washer/dryer/showers in some as a home base. Make sure you buy an RV with minimium 2 slides, as you will feel more at home for sure. You can also buy very cheap in march april in south Arizona as they have to haul everything north for the spring and prices drop almost in half. I bought at clear choice motors from owner Shaun for 40% off asking. Tell him Rob from Alaska sent you if you do. Good luck, doing it ids the right choice, tomorrow is not guaranteed and you can always scale back. instead of selling our home, we rented it, extra income each month. 8% for property manager is worth it , they screen everyone and take care of the place

[SunnyAZgirl]

We are looking at the possibility of FT RV living in two years when I am eligible for full retirement. We would be living mostly on Social Security due to a failed business a few years ago when we lost most of our retirement savings. Our house is mostly paid off at this point. Our big decision would be whether to keep or rent out the S&B or sell it and pay cash for a good used DP.

For the first two-three years I plan to spend six months a year doing a traveling nurse contract and the other half traveling the country and my husband plans to do handyman or workcamp jobs. We also want to spend some time doing Christian Volunteering. That should help offset our living expenses. At the end of that time we would evaluate to see if this is a lifestyle we want to continue or to return to our S&B or a condo for retirement. My DH can do minor repairs & maintenance on the coach.

Part of our motivation to pursue this lifestyle is that we have a daughter in Arizona, and another in Illinois. Also, an elderly mother and other relatives in Arizona where we currently live. Our daughter in Illinois is handicapped (there are several complicated reasons why she cannot come to AZ) and I want to spend more time near her. However, we cannot afford to maintain two S&B homes year round. I would plan to do a 13 week travel assignment in Arizona each winter and another 13 week assignment in Illinois each summer. Also, my husband has an older sister in Texas who needs us there occasionally as she is alone. So, the RV lifestyle seems as if it would be our best solution. Hopefully, we will be able to see clearly if this is for us in the next year.

[RVlifehub]

We bought our fifth wheel with cash and are proud to say we owe nothing. There's a huge weight lifted off of our shoulders. We did buy a 99 but we fully renovated and it's gorgeous, If I do say so myself. LOL! You can totally do it!!

[G-JLD9]

Originally Posted by RVlifehub

We bought our fifth wheel with cash and are proud to say we owe nothing. There's a huge weight lifted off of our shoulders. We did buy a 99 but we fully renovated and it's gorgeous, If I do say so myself. LOL! You can totally do it!!

Yes, having no debt is our ultimate goal and paying cash for a DP will make everything do able for us. Right now all we have is a mortgage payment and when we sell the house that will take care of that. We have also decided not to what till summer 2019 and are doing it this spring. We will just chill by my work in our rig till 2019 and take long vacation's to where we want to go. This will save us even more money and we get to live the full time RV life style now.

I agree with you about buying older and remodeling the inside to your liking. Yours looks great. Lots of rigs we walk in the floor plan is right but flower power décor, gold accents and worn carpet turn up off. But that's easy to change if the everything else checks out good. Hope we find ours soon so we can start enjoying too.

Jen

[cnocmmz]

Originally Posted by G-JLD9

My husband is worried that we won't have enough funds coming in every month from just his retirement checks and wants to wait till we get my retirement check also. But we are 10 years apart on that. I want to be full time RVing by 2019(when his checks start) not 2029(when I can draw mine too).

So here is my plan:
Right now we have 125k saved for a rig. We don't want a rig payment so buying a used class A or 5th wheel and truck paid with cash is our goal.

In spring of 2019 Gary will get his 2 retirement checks est at 3000 a month. And then in 2021 he will be able to draw early S.S. check est at 1200 a month. I won't get my checks till 2029 but est that at 2500 a month.

I think we wont always be driving. I like the idea if staying some where for a month and exploring. Then drive to our next spot we chose.

We don't need high end RV sites. Just ok with hookups.

We cook at home alot and maybe eat out once a week, so we won't go crazy on food.

Gary has drove big equipment for years and I'm a diesel mechanic, so we will do a lot of our own maintenance.

I think we can make it on just his checks since we won't have a rig payment. We still have 4 more years to save and will sell our house when we hit the road.

Do you full timers that have been doing this for a while think my plan is good? The most I have ever learned while turning a wrench is from advice that others gave me. I know that advice from people who are doing it now is that way to make our dreams come true.

Hi...Seems like a pretty good plan; however, not knowing your finances I would rethink paying cash for the Rig??? With that kind of cash you have several options. I would personally finance the rig and depending on your credit go out 20 years and still keep it at 500.00 monthly or so. If you really enjoy it maybe then pay it off. If you don't, then either sell it/upgrade for later. Bottom line, cash is king and you may need it if things go bad...Just something to think about! Either way, best of luck

[cnocmmz]

WOW, that is amazing. In tow years we plan on purchasing a used 2002-2004 42 ft Country Coach DP because of the quality and livable design. We are retired military and have medical benefits and my wife will retire with a small 1,200.00 pension with my 3,300.00 monthly pension She will also have a 650.00 SS with a total of total of $5200.00 until my SS kicks in at 62. That being said, we want to take a 8-12 month trip around the country while we are still able @ 60-66 years old. We will still have the mortgage payment of $1,615.00. I will have the RV financed at about $500.00 monthly and with insurance we are talking $600.00 with the payment alone. Bottom line, I want to make it on $3,000.00 a month for this 8-12 trip around the country?
A little more background here: We will also have about 650-700K in investments that I do NOT want to tap as of yet; however, I may put 20K in a maintenance and emergency fund while on the road if we need it. :-)
I like the idea of staying in cheaper area like military bases and maybe even boondocking when I can. This means I would a rig that has 100 Gallon Water and 75-80 Gallon waste. Well I am excited lol

[computerguy]

Originally Posted by cnocmmz

Hi...Seems like a pretty good plan; however, not knowing your finances I would rethink paying cash for the Rig??? With that kind of cash you have several options. I would personally finance the rig and depending on your credit go out 20 years and still keep it at 500.00 monthly or so. If you really enjoy it maybe then pay it off. If you don't, then either sell it/upgrade for later. Bottom line, cash is king and you may need it if things go bad...Just something to think about! Either way, best of luck

I don't know if that's a good thing - having debt. If things go wrong, the LAST thing you want is a bank to be able to force you to make decisions. Just my thought.