Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.


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Post Info TOPIC: Timeline or Checklist to full timing- Any Suggestions


RV-Dreams Community Member

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Timeline or Checklist to full timing- Any Suggestions


We are thinking of going on the road. We have done nothing except a lot of research. I have researched for years and am really getting the desire to hit the road. But we have not purged, sold the house or bought the right rig yet. Is there any good resources on what to do first as in a checklist of sorts for the transition from Sticks and stucco (in our case) to a rig?  The timing seems important to me as we are currently in CO and would "move" to TX or SD to save on the sales tax and personal property tax-very high in our area of Colorado. Another question would be has anyone heard of any good health insurance for non Medicare folks?

Thanks for you help



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Eddie Simpson Future Full timer


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Have done any RVing? If not, rent a rig (Class Cs readily available) for a week and learn the basics of operation and how you do on a small space

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Barb & Dave O'Keeffe

2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID

Blog:  http://www.barbanddave.net

SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834



RV-Dreams Family Member

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Everyone's timeline is different and the steps we go through can vary greatly. Some people take years, some of us decide and then have no time to act on it but still somehow find ourselves on the road in less than 6 months, now don't ask me how many sleepless nights we had in that 6 month period, it was truly intense.

If you've never RV'd before, definitely take Barb's advice and rent. I would also suggest you read through some of the info Howard has posted on getting ready to RV and consider attending one of the educational rallies.

www.rv-dreams.com/preparation.html



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FT - July 2013

 

2010 38TKSB3 DRV Mobile Suites

2012 Ford F450

 

Dale and Ruth Travelling with Tazzy Kat!

 

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RV-Dreams Community Member

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Yes we have done some trailer camping.  And we went to one of the rallies several years ago in New Mexico-Great event.  Thanks for the suggestions.



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Eddie Simpson Future Full timer


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I am in a similar situation, and here are some of my checklist items and strategic thinking.

1. I met with a realtor, figured out what my home might be worth, and figured out a best case/middle/worst case financial scenario for how much I get out of a house sale. Going on the market in two weeks, a very scary but positive step.

2. I am aggressively downsizing personal possessions. They know me on sight at the local animal shelter and good will and Craigslist and EBay are my friends. You really have to be ruthless about this. I love my multiple pairs of boots and coats but one and a backup is it. If you have moved twice and not yet used something, it gets pitched.
I will have some amount of items, mostly family heirlooms and pictures, that will need to be stored somewhere. Considering a storage unit, or an enclosed utility trailer, to be located next to family in the event of my death. Alternatively, purchasing a very, very inexpensive home somewhere will give me a mortgage deduction, permanent residence status, a fallback place to live, mail drop, and a storage space. Still working on this one.

3. I have my RV narrowed down to two particular manufacturer models, a Class A and a 5th wheel. The 5th is edging ahead with lower total cost of ownership. Gathering info on the tech side of towing and tow vehicles.  Besides sales tax, also looking at registration and licensing fees.  Some states have a user fee to tack on their own sales tax.  Tennessee appears to be very friendly to RV owners.

4. Have to pay attention to taxes. If I finance a tow vehicle, no deduction. If I finance the trailer, then a deduction.

5. Attending the fall seminar in Sevierville, TN. Thankfully I live 60 miles away.

6. You mentioned health care. Good or bad, I have developed a relationship with my local doctor, dentist and eye doctor that I would like to maintain, and company-sponsored medical insurance good in any state. My initial thoughts are to get a full checkup from each once a year, and hit the road. All have websites I can communicate symptoms and photos if necessary.

7.  Figuring out what to do with the cat and the dog.  Neither have been crated, but are good travelers.

That's where I am so far...



-- Edited by Acheron2010 on Sunday 9th of July 2017 08:07:02 AM

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2019 Airstream Flying Cloud 26RBQ

2015 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 extended cab (gas)



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Acheron2010 wrote:

...

4. Have to pay attention to taxes. If I finance a tow vehicle, no deduction. If I finance the trailer, then a deduction.

...


 Just a point of finance... since both the truck and the trailer will depreciate and I expect the RV will suffer the most of it... finance the truck, pay cash for the RV if you have to finance anything. An argument can be made to not finance but instead keep your money invested... pulling only what you need to cover the finance costs, but you will need a decent return on it in order to break even on it in that circumstance. Food for thought.

Avoid debt like the plague, unless you have sufficient guaranteed income to cover it and all of your normal living expenses, including saving for emergencies. The rationale here is... heaven forbid you find yourself in a financial situation with insufficient income... the debt still has to be paid regardless of the residual value of the "asset" you bought with the borrowed money.

JMHO, Brian



-- Edited by BiggarView on Monday 10th of July 2017 09:55:59 AM

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Brian, Cindi & Josie (our fur baby)
2017 RAM 3500 Laramie 4x4 CCLB, CTD, Aisin, B&W hitch, dually
2020 Keystone Montana Legacy 3813MS w/FBP ,
MORryde 8k IS, Kodiak disc brakes, no solar  YET!



RV-Dreams Family Member

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A couple of things to think about regarding financing versus paying cash. IF you have a lot of money in tax deferred accounts, pulling that out will cause you to incur high tax rate because of large withdrawals. Better to finance and pull amount to cover payments over a few years as those withdrawals will likely be at a lower rate, especially if your return is > than your loan cost (as ours was). That also means that other income is in place to live on.

Do not assume that you will have enough deductions to itemize your return each year. We had enough the first year only, after that, standard deduction has been the way to go. Once you no longer have a large mortgage and property taxes, it is hard to come up with enough to justify itemizing.

Barb


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Barb & Dave O'Keeffe

2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID

Blog:  http://www.barbanddave.net

SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834



RV-Dreams Family Member

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Barbaraok wrote:

Do not assume that you will have enough deductions to itemize your return each year. We had enough the first year only, after that, standard deduction has been the way to go. Once you no longer have a large mortgage and property taxes, it is hard to come up with enough to justify itemizing.

Barb


 X2 - For us, even adding in health insurance costs, most years the standard deduction wins over itemizing.   



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Bill Joyce,
40' 2004 Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid
Journal at http://www.sacnoth.com
Full-timing since July 2003



RV-Dreams Family Member

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Great points Barb, one should never lock oneself into one mindset without considering all options.



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Brian, Cindi & Josie (our fur baby)
2017 RAM 3500 Laramie 4x4 CCLB, CTD, Aisin, B&W hitch, dually
2020 Keystone Montana Legacy 3813MS w/FBP ,
MORryde 8k IS, Kodiak disc brakes, no solar  YET!



RV-Dreams Family Member

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I made a personal 3 year plan of actions to go from sticks and bricks to full-time RV living.  It will be quite different based on your personal situation, but may offer some tips.  I have it in a PDF format and would share it here if I could figure out how to do it.  Message me and I can email it to you.



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USAF Retired 2010. Began full timing June 2015, ended Dec 2018. 2007 Allegro Bus 40QSP with 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland TOAD. Our blog: keepingupwiththejonesrv.blogspot.com. 



RV-Dreams Family Member

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Keep in mind if you have no wages for income and no debt it will affect your credit. It could be very hard to get a loan in the future for a house if you come off the road or want to borrow to replace your rig or even a car in the future.
Mew had the cash to pay everything off ( that was our plan to begin with) but after looking at everything we decided to finance about 40% of our trailer at a very low Rate 2.99 %.( we have enough cash to pay it off if we want to.
By doing this we maintained our high credit rating and have a good size stash of cash if needed, this keeps us very flexible. Just a different point of view.

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Bob C

The fulltime Dream begins, class of 2016

2016 Dodge Ram 5500 HD Classy Chassis hauler bed/air ride

2016 New Horizon Majestic M43RL3S

home base Sandwich,Ma.

 



RV-Dreams Family Member

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Bobc: We did that with our tow car, took a loan at low interest. But it is now paid off. We also maintain multiple credit card accounts and switch between them as they give out points for promotions (often 5%). We pay off the credit cards each month and use the points the credit cards give us for gift cards to places like Wal-Mart and restaurants. Our credit scores are in the mid 800's, so I guess it is working. Credit card balances are treated as debt, even if paid off each month. We have been doing this for decades and none of our credit cards charges an annual fee.

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Bill Joyce,
40' 2004 Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid
Journal at http://www.sacnoth.com
Full-timing since July 2003



RV-Dreams Family Member

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Good Input Bill, we also do the same thing with Credit cards, we try to pay everything with credit cards . As this for us makes it easier to track all expenses. We alway pay the cards off at the end of each month so we never carry a balance.
People who are not working just need to make sure they maintain there credit scores some how.
You just never know what the future holds for you, so you need to make sure you stay as flexible as possible. 3-5 years from now if we want to come off the road it may make more since to get a loan for a house instead of paying higher taxes to pull money out of our investment

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Bob C

The fulltime Dream begins, class of 2016

2016 Dodge Ram 5500 HD Classy Chassis hauler bed/air ride

2016 New Horizon Majestic M43RL3S

home base Sandwich,Ma.

 



RV-Dreams Family Member

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We do the same as Bill and Diane - and two of our cards allow the reward points to be used for shopping on Amazon. After a summer of traveling and diesel purchases, points go along way to taking care of Christmas gifts. 



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Barb & Dave O'Keeffe

2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID

Blog:  http://www.barbanddave.net

SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834



RV-Dreams Community Member

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Hello, I just noticed you have a 3 year plan in PDF form. i would like it if you can figure it out to mail it to Me. We are about 2 years out yet, only holding back cause of a 92 yo father.



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