Article - Save $4,476 a Year by Living on the Road Full-time - RV-Dreams Community Forum

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Article - Save $4,476 a Year by Living on the Road Full-time

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

What I saw was comparing apples to oranges and if you prefer oranges, you could eat apples but... I saw two issues with the insurance deal she was speaking of: 1. It isn't full-timers for one the way it is described, it is for occasional use and will not include the personal liability coverage and taking a chance with basically lying, just not my thing. 2. When she talks about the vehicle insurance, the ones we have purchased have asked about use to include mileage and where the vehicle will be parked. Also, we have seen electricity as an "extra" in lower monthly rates. With buying food, if you are used to buying in bulk or shopping and loading up with the specials, it will cost considerably more for groceries. I could easily do some research and write an article saying that S/B living is cheaper.

It is interesting sometimes to see how people compute costs and the more experienced you are in living and paying the bills, the more realistic you can be unless, of course, you aren't interested in being realistic. I was in FB for awhile in a group and the things they came up with, well, I can remember dreaming without limits but...............

-- Edited by SnowGypsy on Sunday 12th of October 2014 03:15:05 PM

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." Or, rationalization.

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

bjoyce wrote:
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." Or, rationalization.

Cute! I was often too blown away or they were so far from the mark that I didn't bother posting a comment. It is often hard to decide whether to tell someone they are getting ready to walk off a cliff when they are convinced they can fly.

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

I really marvel at some of the postings on the Facebook RV groups. I wonder how some of the people survive everyday life, they are so out to lunch. Really - I would think "natural selection" would be a factor for many of them. I rarely post on those groups....they are so far from reality that I would spend my life just getting them to the "naive" category.

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

The part that cracked me up was the end of the article. The article starts off listing all the areas you could save money vs S&B and while some of it makes sense and some is somewhat suspect as Bill suggests... so far it's okay, but then the author suggest ways of spending the savings. If I turn around and spend all my "savings"... then I haven't saved it. The article should have been titled "How to increase your Leisure and Entertainment Budget $4,476 a year by Living on the Road Full Time". Lucky Mike said on another thread many months back (and I am paraphrasing from memory) ..."it's not what you do with what you have, it's what you do when it's all you have"... In that context, the author's saving money thought process is more valid until the suggestion of ways to spend the savings comes into play. If I need to live more frugally, FTing is certainly one way that it can be accomplished, as with anything however, there will be compromises from whatever the current paradigm is.

Bill, some people can't get through life without a juicy "rationalization" every day. biggrin biggrin

Brian

-- Edited by biggaRView on Tuesday 14th of October 2014 08:00:35 AM

53 Merc · RV-Dreams Family Member

biggaRView wrote:
The part that cracked me up was the end of the article. The article starts off listing all the areas you could save money vs S&B and while some of it makes sense and some is somewhat suspect as Bill suggests... so far it's okay, but then the author suggest ways of spending the savings. If I turn around a spend all my "savings"... then I haven't saved it. .
Brian

-- Edited by biggaRView on Monday 13th of October 2014 06:37:04 AM

Do you remember Geroge and Gracie Allen show? Gracie went to shop and returned with a 50.00 dress and demanded 20.00 from George. Why do I need to give you twenty dollars? Because I saved twenty dollars since this dress was on sale. Now hand it over. A penny saved is a penny kept, not used on something else.

Other posters saw through this article just like i did.

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

Not to be a contrarian, as your comments are all valid, but living FT in an RV could be much cheaper than living in a S&B. Putting a hard number on it is funny though, and applies to his individual situation only. Some will spend more - moving every few days in a new, million dollar+ Prevost, staying only at resort type RV parks, while others living in the back of a van or an old TT and boondocking for months on end at Quartzsite or The Slabs will spend much less. It varies so much that addressing cost savings, while certainly possible, maybe even probable with a conservative lifestyle is certainly not guaranteed, let alone quantifiable.

On the other hand, I will save that much in property tax and homeowners insurance alone (as homeowners insurance in post hurricane Katrina South Louisiana was costing me about $3,500/yr by itself - not to mention that they raised my property taxes 1,000% after the storm, making my S&B here unaffordable. Others looking at several hundred dollars a year in property taxes vs several hundred dollars a month as I was might well conclude that living in a S&B is the most economical choice. It just was not for us, and maybe wouldn't be for you when they arbitrarily add a zero to your property tax bill, turning a budgeted $400/yr tax bill into an unaffordable $4,000/yr. BTW, where I live the sales tax alone in some Parishes is over 10% (some as high as 11%) - and that's for food too! Louisiana also has the highest auto insurance tax rates in the nation. In some states you'll pay less than 1/2 of what you will for an identical policy here. Medical insurance costs are about 10% higher than the US average here too. Full-timing and declaring domicile and moving to a low tax/cost of living state is a great way of saving a ton of money that was not even addressed in the article, and should have been.

Another thing not mentioned was saving on your water bill, sewer bill, trash pick-up bill, yard maintenance fees (currently $200/month for simple grass cutting for me), and saving on your your hard wired phone bill which will offset some of your increase in mobile phone usage which was addressed. Also not mentioned was the fact that home repairs are much more expensive than RV repairs. Ever price replacing your home ac vs your RV ceiling AC? Sure your RV roof may need replacing every 10-15 yrs vs 30-40 on your S&B, but the cost will be 8-10 times more on your S&B vs your RV, as are plumbing repairs, painting, etc. so your typical cost/yr for home maint. and repairs will be higher in a S&B too, with rare exception.

Plus there are many esoteric advantages to FT RV living which are hard to put a price on, such as the beautiful, varied scenery and community of your choosing, the ability to move to temperate climes and enjoy the outdoors more without the oppressive heat and humidity of the gulf coast in the summer or the sub-zero cold in the dead of winter at higher elevations and latitudes, the full free use of a swimming pool, hot tub, recreational facilities, etc. that are available at many RV parks that I, for one, did not have access to as a S&B homeowner. Not to mention the ability to move when lousy neighbors move in next door or the local economy tanks without losing your shirt by selling at a loss when property values are also depressed. Or simply the peace of mind that comes from the ability to move one's home and possessions when a destructive hurricane comes, and not have to worry if you will have anything left after it passes, as I did when Katrina came through, or the people in NY and NJ did when Sandy came a calling. Again, how does one put a price tag on such things?

Chip

wandrly · RV-Dreams Community Member

Hi Everyone!

Just stumbled across this thread and thought I'd signup to address some of the questions here.

I'm the guy who wrote the article. I began full-timing in 2008, in a Class C Dutchman, "upgraded" to a 1978 Volkswagen Bus in 2009, and then in 2013 we moved into our 1976 Airstream. The rental numbers there reflect some of the rent from before I was a full-timer and some when we stopped for 9 months or so at a time to have some babies here and there. It's me, my girlfriend, our three kids and her mother at this point, but everything in there is from my own personal experience of now ~6 years living in various types of "mobile homes".

Insurance

It isn't full-timers for one the way it is described, it is for occasional use and will not include the personal liability coverage and taking a chance with basically lying, just not my thing.

There is no "lying" involved whatsoever. Full-time RV insurance is drastically cheaper than car insurance, if you're paying more than you would for a vehicle you're definitely being ripped off. I've used Geico (2008-2009), Progressive (2009 - 2013) and currently use National General Insurance via Good Sam. My Geico insurance was, as the article states, $400. My current RV insurance through Good Sam runs $690 / year which includes lots of extra cash to live in hotels, cover expenses, etc. which I added on as I've already gone through the horrifying process of losing the Airstream for a month's worth of repairs and need the money to put up 6 people in a hotel while mechanics don't answer the phone. :)

Still cheaper than home owners insurance, though.

As to my statement "You pay almost nothing for RV insurance because insurance companies assume it will be driven infrequently.", with each policy I had "full-timers" coverage, so I will admit that the way I stated it does sound a bit fishy but it is also absolute fact: you pay less because they still don't think you'll drive it as much as you would a car, or at least the patterns aren't as dangerous (ie, freeways are safer than commutes through the city).

I also agree that you could save money if you buy bulk food. We don't. We live on fresh food. I would argue that what you can buy at Costco doesn't necessarily exist in the traditional sense of the word "food". If it doesn't spoil, it's not real.

Certainly though, with all of this, your lifestyle is a factor. I was just showing how it factually was cheaper for me and my family and how it can be done. Just as SnowGypsy claims that she could write an article on how much cheaper it could be to live in a sticks & bricks house, so could one write an article like mine showing how to save money either way, how to lessen my numbers, or those of someone living in a traditional house.

The larger point is "Full-time RVing is not some ridiculously expensive thing, you can do it if you want to, and here's how you could even save money vs. living in a house." People think it's as expensive as their one week vacation x 52.

In general, I find many of the comments here hypocritical. Essentially, it was stated that I have no life experience when quite the opposite is true. I don't need to get into it but as someone with quite a bit of "online etiquette" experience, I might remind everyone that the internet is not published by computers, real people exist and if you put yourself onto a public forum you invite their reply. Which is all I'm doing. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion but as SnowGypsy stated, their are open comments on that article and any input is not only appreciated, but nearly always replied to, whether directly in the comments or through email.

But I assure you, no matter how easily blown away one might be, I am not "too far from the mark", these are my actual numbers.

It's not science, it's a blog post. It's not journalism, it's inspiration.

As to biggaRView's comment about the rationality of me offering ways for people to go out and see things they wouldn't be able to afford otherwise (again, based on my personal numbers), what is wrong with quickly stating "Hey, and though it can be more expensive to eat out and go museums and stuff, now you'll have some extra cash to do it."

Or you could have them bury it with you, whatever floats your coffin. You don't have to do what I say, and the numbers, as SushiDog points out, are not fact. They're simply their for you to begin your own research.

And, also as SushiDog stated, the benefits of travel are incalculable. I suppose if I wanted to be factual, I should rename it "How to Save an Infinite Amount of Money by Living My Specific Dream"...

I guess in closing, I'll just state that I signed up for an account here just to clarify things, before I'd read the entire thread.

In all of my years of traveling, I've never experienced anything but warmth from our full-timing "community", until now. I can't picture any RVer, weekend warrior or otherwise, who I've met who would talk like this around a campfire, but perhaps I just attract a nicer crowd.

Best of luck to you all and as much as my words here may be blunt, know that I do mean that and am happy to debate any particular topics here which might raise the type of dire concern reflected above.

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome to the board Wandrly. Please stick around and post some more. Glad to have you here.

We're an opinionated bunch, but there are a lot of good, kind, helpful folk here too. We're always happy to hear from other RVers with a wealth of experience and some strong opinions too.

Chip

wandrly · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks for the welcome Chip, and the thoughtful previous response.

Reading mine again, I may have worded some things differently, but was a bit taken aback after reading some opinions on my apparent dissent into delusion! :)

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

I am always happy to hear success stories.

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

wandrly wrote:
....
As to biggaRView's comment about the rationality of me offering ways for people to go out and see things they wouldn't be able to afford otherwise (again, based on my personal numbers), what is wrong with quickly stating "Hey, and though it can be more expensive to eat out and go museums and stuff, now you'll have some extra cash to do it."
Or you could have them bury it with you, whatever floats your coffin. You don't have to do what I say, and the numbers, as SushiDog points out, are not fact....

Firstly, welcome to the forum. As Chip said, You will find many "opinions" here. And a wealth of experience, now, including yours.

For the record, I liked your article/blog post (that was linked by a fellow forum member) for the most part. It was just the ending comments and the seeming contradiction of the touted saving, then spending it, that cost you some measure of credibility in my book. If you decide to "word some things differently" as you put it, I will amend my comments accordingly based on what I read. Your web page www.wandrlymagazine.com has interesting reading and your unique perspective, making it a potentially useful resource. I intend/hope to write my own blog down the road, and I could do worse by disregarding your thoughts as fuel for my own perspectives.

Yes, saving money means you will have it for other things should you need or want them. But then your headline would not have read as it did. Some people are trying to figure out how to save money because they have to, and your headline will certainly draw them to read. Some people are not in that situation and your point about having money to direct into museums and such would be more relavent. Some people have more than enough to spend it any way they want and that is their prerogative also. Perhaps you should have just let the reader decide, without you suggesting, what they might do with any freed up funds in the process of deciding whether living on the road will save them money, if that is or will be the goal. After all, it's "whatever floats your coffin" as you put it.

Brian

-- Edited by biggaRView on Thursday 8th of January 2015 08:47:01 AM

RonaldNC · RV-Dreams Family Member

I just read this thread and the related article. While my personal financial situation, budget and numbers are different, the article expresses what we've always been assuming. For essential living costs, we live cheaper in an RV than we do in a house. That's why we sold our house and "hit the road"... but like the author, we have decided to take those saved costs and spend them on "entertainment" as we tour the country. Therefore, there is no impact on our retirement savings and fixed income... but we get to have more fun. I always feel like I exchanged the ownership of an expensive (to own and maintain) asset for less-expensive asset (to own and maintain) plus some extra enjoyment.

And really, isn't that the message that we all talk about with each other... and even get from Howard and Linda's financial advice?

Just one man's opinion...

Ron

Dave and Denise · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome Wandrly.
I am glad you came across the forum and posted your thoughts. Before I retired I always felt like I could do anything I wanted with "numbers" and could justify most anything my way. In an odd way it kind of amused me that people took this "justification" as a way to make a business decision. In the end each of us need to make our own decisions based on our circumstances and knowledge. Writings such as yours helps us to do just that.

Russ Ranger · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'm glad to see this thread resurface. Nathans reply once again emphasizes how we each RV differently. No right or wrong, just hundreds or thousands of different and wonderful life styles. Great to hear another story.

Our life includes Mexico, which almost everyone questions. We think it is amazing and great, not everyone agrees. We will continue to suffer in our 80 degree sun filled paradise. We're all right, if we are happy in our life style.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Someone here wrote about seeing the summer help living together in small trailers and tents in Alaska and the Yukon. We talked to a couple of these younger people and they were making the choice of living cheap and uncomfortable to maximize the money they took home the rest of the year. Life is choices, your own choices.