Thinking about becoming a fulltimer...

[honda03842]

The Escapees probably have the largest group of fulltimers in North AMerica. These are links to their forum on full timing. You should find their fulltimers forum paqrticularly interesting. Before we started I read their forum and books.

Hope these links help

http://www.escapees.com/Wannabes/Knowledge.asp

Escapees Discussion Forum

[John Fazio]

For all,

There are a couple of sites that I have found myself returning to. Could RV Living Be Your Dream? Let's Find Out!! and Every_Miles_A_Memory

The first has a wealth of information including expenditures by month, quarter and year. It's by far the best financial break-out and reference I have found. Read their story and be sure to go through the frequently asked questions.
Could RV Living Be Your Dream? Let's Find Out!!

The second is a site about a couple that full timed in a TT, not as easy to find as you would think. They have stopped to replenish their cash but plan to be back on the road soon, possibly this year. Another great story and information.
Every_Miles_A_Memory

An alternative to FG living is a van. Here's a site about a couple that, as of my last reading, were living in a RoadTrek. This site has many links to other van dweller blogs through Google Friends.
Vantramps

Blogs can also be located on the RV-Dreams forum.

-John

[SherryNPaul]

Originally Posted by Bruce H

Hi Andrew and welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place.

......find a career, first that you enjoy and second that pays well. If you enjoy going to work then every day is a holiday. You want to know when it is all over that you contributed more to society than you consumed......

Bruce

Love your words here. You are a brilliant guy, Bruce. Your words are great advice for any young person, full-timer or otherwise. Life is all about choices, and responsibility.
And, a plan.
Sherry

[CallDon]

Those are some. Interesting links. I have been living full time in an RV for over 14 years but not on the road. One can always learn!

[Gina D.]

I am on year 4 in an RV. I am not as young as you, but am still considered young by "workamping" standards. At 53, I am still a pup in most of those guyz eyez.

Our circumstances are nearly identical. Single, mortgage, caught up in all the "stuff" and struggling to get by and keep it all. AND, sort of being pushed into the RV lifestyle by circumstance.

I don't update my blog very often, but here is a page I did that is short and to the point From Tumbleweeds To Tree Tops: Why?

As others have said, I wish I had done it sooner. Decades of my life were spent in someone elses idea of "acceptable" and it just was not working for me. I say..go for oit. It can be done.

My moto now is.. "Its not what you make, it's what you don't spend"

From Tumbleweeds To Tree Tops: All that wander are not homeless

As far as the rig, I live with a zoo and have to consider thier needs as well as mine. I started in a 17 foot Burro. Great for me, sucked for them (Not enough floorspace) Then I went to a 31 foot motorhome. Great for them, sucked for me ($$$, Floorplan, ability to live off grid, limitations in campspots). I then went back down to a 15 foot stickie I really enjoyed, (Great for them, Great for me!) but the infrastructure needed some improvements for fulltiming and I needed just a little more room and environmental control. Now I am in a 17ft Leocraft Fiberglass trailer with my dream floorplan, it has plenty of room for the herd, it is already set up for boondocking and despite the ton of work I need to do renovating it, I am very comfortable.

What you live in has no bearing on what you do for a living, only on how you live your personal life. Stay clean about yourself, all else will follow.

[John Fazio]

Originally Posted by Gina D.

I am on year 4 in an RV. I am not as young as you, but am still considered young by "workamping" standards. At 53, I am still a pup in most of those guyz eyez.

Our circumstances are nearly identical. Single, mortgage, caught up in all the "stuff" and struggling to get by and keep it all. AND, sort of being pushed into the RV lifestyle by circumstance.

I don't update my blog very often, but here is a page I did that is short and to the point From Tumbleweeds To Tree Tops: Why?

As others have said, I wish I had done it sooner. Decades of my life were spent in someone elses idea of "acceptable" and it just was not working for me. I say..go for oit. It can be done.

My moto now is.. "Its not what you make, it's what you don't spend"

From Tumbleweeds To Tree Tops: All that wander are not homeless

As far as the rig, I live with a zoo and have to consider thier needs as well as mine. I started in a 17 foot Burro. Great for me, sucked for them (Not enough floorspace) Then I went to a 31 foot motorhome. Great for them, sucked for me ($$$, Floorplan, ability to live off grid, limitations in campspots). I then went back down to a 15 foot stickie I really enjoyed, (Great for them, Great for me!) but the infrastructure needed some improvements for fulltiming and I needed just a little more room and environmental control. Now I am in a 17ft Leocraft Fiberglass trailer with my dream floorplan, it has plenty of room for the herd, it is already set up for boondocking and despite the ton of work I need to do renovating it, I am very comfortable.

What you live in has no bearing on what you do for a living, only on how you live your personal life. Stay clean about yourself, all else will follow.

Great blog posts, you should blog more often.

It took a great deal of reflection to get us where we are. We both never really agreed with the normal life plan but we went along not knowing or expecting anything different. We also don't have a need to leave a legacy which was the most freeing realization. Requiring less things leads to needing to work a paying job less which then frees up time for what you want or need to do. For some it is watching more TV, for others it is volunteer work like disaster relief or wildlife conservation and for others it is spending more time with family. None of those are wrong, just different choices. The traditional dream has conditioned us into believing we have to spend a lifetime in order to earn personal freedom during our golden years. That is no law, rule or requirement... It's societal and only has merit if you want it to.

[Owen Lindsay]

It's obvious to me that you need to convert your long term commitment (read: House) to an asset instead of a liability. Think of ways that it can generate the money to cover your commitment to the mortgage company. You don't need to live in it unless you wish to. Real estate will appreciate in value in years to come. The economy has tanked and from here on will grow slowly and become the investment nest egg that will help finance your retirement. To sell now may turn your down payment investment upside down (read:lose your money). Frederick L. Simpson sings the same song I do, I hope you can analyze the information and come to a plan to build your equity and still allow you the freedom you want.

[SedonaDad]

Wish I had done this for a while back in my 20's when I had no real responsibility. Hope to do it in about 5 years. The posts on this have given me a lot of insight.
Thanks

[theresa p]

rob---i echo your sentiments 100000%.

[Bob Miller]

As Fred suggested, renting out a few empty bedrooms is always a good idea and right now more singles are owngrading from apartments to rooms. My s.o. and I both rent out extra bedrooms for retirement income and it works great.When we travel we give a small rent reduction to one of the tennants to watch the house and fix small problems. It has worked perfect for over 6 years, and we don't leave an empty house behind.

Depending on your current job, you may be able to get a self pay extension of your current medical, but it's not cheap.... If you can arrange to get layed off, COBRA is automatic, but still not cheap.

And, BTW, you have lucked out on interest rates. Back in the Daze of the "Great Communicator" mtg rates got up to 18%.

[John Fazio]

It's a good idea to rent rooms or the house entirely but taking a loss is not always a bad idea. Houses, especially when mortgaged over thirty years, aren't a good investment and should not be considered as such. When all costs are factored, including taxes, interest, repairs, insurance etc... It is usually a losing proposition. People take loses on houses all the time to move for that higher paying job. In a case of just wanting to change ones life, if breaking even on what is owed is acceptable then do it. Money spent is already gone, I for one don't focus on recouping every dime since I prefer to look forward and not stare in the past. If I am really bent from losing a certain amount then I'll do what it takes to earn it again and to hold on to it this time.

Since we're in the same situation I see the loss we take as the price to pay to get to go full time in our thirties. That's irrational and conceivably stupid but if someone approached me today and said I'll buy your house but you'd end up selling at fifteen grand less than you paid they'd have a set of keys in hand. If we wait until we can break even or worse, re-coup our investment, we'd be in our fifties at best. Ten or more years of our lives is far more valuable than feeling we did a good job with selling our house... each moment of each day is priceless in comparison.


-John

[RogerDat]

I would strongly suggest as have others that you plan your budget & stay as long as you can in your RV at your friends home. Two reasons money and experience.

It takes time to refine your RV set up and practices so that you will be really comfortable. What you need or don't need, where to keep it. Making morning coffee in our kitchen with the dog underfoot is a whole lot different than it is in our camper. Most of us have experienced the "why am I hauling this around" and "if I only brought my ____ this would be easy". Or my favorite "honey where am I supposed to put the laundry hamper you just bought for the camper". Give yourself some time to work out your own needs and system. Can I run 100% without electric hook up? And for how long? How fast do I go through water? You get the idea. What will you do on a hot day with your dog while you are at work? When I was on the road working I used to put a plastic bucket of ice down where the dog could sleep near it, and get a cold drink. Ice however is not free which brings me to my other reason, money.

Money equals freedom. Freedom from hunger, or cold, freedom to fix problems, and the freedom to go where you desire or need to go. The more money you can sock away the more options you will have. I might suggest a budget program called YNAB, it is well designed for intermittent income while still tracking expected expenses (budget) against actual expenses. Have a reserve fund that gives you enough to return to where you have family or friends as a support network plus a month worth of living expenses.

Last piece of financial advice I would offer is learn to be very frugal with your food menu. It's the one expense you can not escape. Speaking from experience I would rather have a bag of beans & rice than memories of a grilled steak when I'm hungry. And I sure don't want to have to choose between my eating enough or the dog eating enough.

Wife says get a Kindle, if you like to read. Many free books online or from the library. If the affordable care act for health insurance makes it through Supreme Court and Congress does not repeal it your basic health insurance would become fairly portable between jobs even in different states.

As to a career, I have had several and they all started with taking a job and learning that job to the point where I could advance in that trade or field. Some were planned in that I took classes, some just came about because I needed a paycheck. All have added something to my life and education about life. Since I was your age I have had at least four and liked something about all of them.

I might add building trades with unions maintain lists of jobs all over the country, I know an electrician who full times, finding and moving to a project when finances require it. Spends a lot of time boondocking on solar in Ariz. in the winter.
I also knew an auto plant worker who lived in his RV in the parking lot of the plant, kept his expenses low, worked as much overtime as he could and saved money for a few years. Bought his house for cash and last I knew was restoring motorcycles and cars in his garage as his dream job to cover expenses.

I would not expect Wal-Mart to let you live in the parking lot, and a lot of employers may not be thrilled with a "non-address application". Many that won't care are not going to be nice places to work.

As far as I know most National Forests are free to camping, some allow you to dump holding tanks IF you dig a hole deep enough to cover to a certain depth. YMMV.