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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RV-Dreams.com Home -> RV-Dreams Community Forum -> Introduce Yourself! -> Full Timing Wannabe
Post Info TOPIC: Full Timing Wannabe
MTPucker


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Full Timing Wannabe
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My name is Mary Pucker.  My husband, Tom, and I had the pleasure of being married at Butterfly Hollow before David and Sharon Rasmussen became full-timers.  We have since been following them on their journey and recently had the opportunity to catch up with them during their travels to Upper Michigan.  We also had the pleasure of meeting Greg Young.  I have to admit full-timing has intrigued me and has made me start thinking about how we can achieve the lifestyle ourselves.  We are just in the researching & planning stage, with many questions and fears, along with seeing the benefits of living on the road.  We are planning on attending the RV show in Milwaukee in January 2017 and plan on attending the RV-Dreams seminars which Greg told us about.  

I am 52, and still working full-time as a legal assistant.  My husband, Tom, is retired.  We have a sticks and bricks home which we purchased as a fixer and still need to finish a few things before we are comfortable listing it as we want to get the best possible sales price.  Therefore, we are looking at a two to three year plan for me to exit my full-time job.  The biggest obstacle for me will be health insurance, as it is for many others.  We are working on our budget and believe that we will be able to financially afford the lifestyle.  Our plan is to come in debt free or very close, as we hope to sell the house with enough profit to pay for a truck and 5'er or MH.  Depending on the real estate market, we may have a small debt load.  I have a trust fund and we have a guaranteed income from Tom with social security but we are still concerned about costs, although Greg and Sharon have told us about workamping.  Ideally, I wouldn't mind finding a work from "home" job to help supplement our income.

Mary Pucker



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Gpndavid


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Welcome Mary. We used a two year plan to get from a traditional bricks and sticks lifestyle to on the road. You can read about it and see our plan on our blog at keepingupwiththejonesrv.blogspot.com. It may give you some things to consider. We have been full timers for 15 months and love it. So much left to see and do, we suspect we will go past our 3 year forecast for how long we planned to do this. A couple things we found helpful. Buy a solid RV with robust systems. We prefer a older higher end RV to a new one with systems that may not be up to everyday use. If finances allow, buying the RV 6 months prior to launch will allow a few test runs and fitting your stuff in it before hitting the road.
Keep reading and enjoy the journey!

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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. 
MTPucker


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Thank you for your input.  I will definitely check out your blog.  By the way, thank you for your service.

 

Mary



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dream reachers


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I liked Gpndavid's reply. I also think you are wise to start out debt free, we could not have made it if we carried debts on our budget.. We researched 2 years prior to purchasing a rv which included seminars where we met Howard and Linda in '07 at their first seminar with LOW. We sold our house in '07 after purchasing a rv which we moved into but finished our paying jobs until '08 when we hit the road. The time we spent there before hitting the road helped us prepare for the new lifestyle and prepare our grown children for our departure. We have since been in 49 states and 5 provinces and over 40 volunteer projects and we still love the life style. We are on our 2nd RV which we hope will be our last, with both we bought a higher end used unit, which cut the cost in half of a new one and much better than a new cheaper unit. Beware of the glitz of new units with the latest electronic gadgets and look hard at the structure, storage, carry capacity, suspension and the care it has had. Best wishes on your future plans.

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Allan, Jeanne and Katie the cat
Full-timers from Alabama
"07 -40' Phaeton & '08 Jeep Liberty
mds1


RV-Dreams Family Member

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Posts: 144
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Good to meet you Mary. Our biggest concern is also healthcare. I'll be 56 and my wife will be a year from Medicare coverage when we hit the road. So we will be providing my insurance for many years and hers for one year.

I came up with our anticipated yearly budget for full timing based on what others are reporting over a number or years who travel similar to how we expect to travel. I added (guessed) the cost of inflation to the budget so the numbers would be adjusted in 2019 dollars. We plan to workamp at times and stay put in places for up to months at a time.

It is totally out of character for me (the over-planner) but I finally came to a decision about healthcare costs. Barring a serious health issue before we leave on the road, I'm simply not going to let the healthcare expense concerns stop us. We will find a way just like others have proven they can do. Heck, Howard and Linda for example make a complete living on the road as do many others.

Come up with a budget, add inflation and don't forget to also take into account taxes on earned income. The numbers will work if you are honest and conservative in what you expect the lifestyle to cost.

Looking forward to reading more about what you guys are doing while planning and posting here on the forums.

Mark

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Mark from Missouri

www.ourfutureinanrv.wordpress.com 

2019 Ram 3500 Laramie Dually LB 6.7L HO Diesel Aisin Transmission 4x4 3.73 Gears 

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