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Anyone full timing on 25000 a year?


Max Death

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Small world. I was born and raised in Cheyenne. Family has been there over a century. Sister lives in Cody and one lives west of Laramie near Woods Landing. We bought our truck in Powell a bit over a year ago.

 

I lived in Chugwater for a short while in 1979 while working on the power plant in Wheatland.

 

Good luck with your new rig. It will be interesting to hear how it goes during the winters up there. We will be at Grant Village in Yellowstone this summer. Come say hello if you get over that way.

 

Happy Trails!!

 

-- Kevin

The richest are not those who have the most, but those who need the least.

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Guest David & Lorna Schinske

....Thought we had started downsizing but now found out we were not even started. Can't believe we had three potato peelers. I mean really?...

And do you really need a potato peeler in the first place? I use a knife to scrape potatoes and carrots. Other than that I either forgo peeling (healthier) or use a knife and just slow down a little.

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Ya. My sig line is meant as truth, not humor. I survived an MI 2 weeks after my 38th birthday. The cardiac rehab folks explained to us that as well as hormonal changes an MI always causes temporary starvation of oxygen to the brain. This leads to all kinds of changes from short term memory loss to moodiness and inexplicable anger. One fellow survivor told of the hunk of old steel plate he kept in his garage to beat on with a hammer when the anger hit. These things will pass. Every day is truly a gift. Take care of yourself.

 

Lew

 

B) I had the short term Memory loss; read the symptoms of the stain and that was one; the second was severe muscle pain and leg/ foot cramps. Called my Cadilo Doc and told I could stop them and try CO Q 10, an enzyme booster for the liver which the statins deplete. After 2 months; much better,

I try to keep up my physical exercise by riding a bike and 10-15 minute walks 3X a day when the weather is nice. Keep my mind healthy by doing surveys and quizzes on the internet. Posting comments and reading keeps my cognition intact; I hope!! :lol::blink:

:) Living Life One Day At A Time!

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How do you do it on less Ranger? Did you purchase your truck and trailer out right?

 

Part of the difference in budgets is also the number of residents in that RV. Ranger travels alone and I travel in tandem so I would expect a significant difference in expenses. On a per person basis, his is probably higher than our budget, although some expenses, like fuel, do not change that much moving from one to two people. But there are things which will rise pretty dramatically so you need to compare apples to apples.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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:D Nice one Kirk. Only you forgot one thing. Da' pooch. Jin's a service dog and his costs are more than you think so there really are 2 of us. Add to that his needs can be more costly than mine. I'll skip a doctors visit or wont' go to the dentist because of extra the expense. Can't do that with Jin because I rely on his too much for medical support. A vet visit shortly after we got to North Ranch In Jan was very expensive but necessary.

 

@Stewburner I bought the entire rig for cash. However there were other circumstances involved in buying this rig that enter into it. If you want some details pm me. Some people here yell at me when I say "disabled".:P I shall say I did not get what I wanted thanks to all of the outside interference of while making my purchase.

 

I also say this from personal experience. Motly because regardless of how much life experience we have this is a good place to get screwed. I don't do this often but I think this time calls for it. Don't buy from LaMesa RV, They left a very bad taste in my mouth and if they want kind words from me they are going to have to over the top to earn it. If you're going to buy a new rig be very wary and careful from the dealers. yThey are not to be trusted. If possible buy it private party or direct from the manufacture. Find someone who reallys lknos RVs to inspect it. I have a pick up list of over 25 warranty items and it's getting longer on a brand new rig. According to what I hear I'm looking at being without my rig for over a month as they do the warranty work on it. Where do I stay? Because I can't afford it.

 

Take your time buying your rig. In my situation had 30 days, that was it. I also had a lot working against me at the time so was really unable to do this properly. I would have preferred to taken several months to make this purchase. Again, Do not trust the hi volume dealers, especially La Mesa. The ones I ran into were all liars and goniffs only interested in their commissions. I even told them my situation and still nothing from them. If your going to buy from a dealer make sure it is a quality one. If you buy a new rig and have problems hold the manufacturer responsible, not the dealer. It is the manufacturer that made this piece of Heartland shit. I can't even complete my permanent installs because I'm may try to get Heartland to exchange it for one that is put together properly and not falling apart as I walk through it.

 

At the time I bought this rig had reached my limit looking for a good used one. Medical issues and the 30 day time limit added to that. Not even 6 months old and it's falling apart around my ears. After I wrote them a long letter I had more stuff break. Right now I have a lot of anger toward Heartland and their suppliers because they make such a cheap pieve of crap that if mission critical system fails, and they have, and something goes seriously wrong could cost a life.

 

'Nuff said.

 

 

uncorrected for spelling and grammar

Together we, Ranger and Jin
#111554

www.desertbandanna.com - The

Heartland North Country RETS31
2000 Ford F-350 Super Duty, Ext Cab, Dually 4x4, 7.3l diesel.

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Anyone full timing on 25000 a year?

 

 

If you read post #40 you will see where I posted I lived on as little as $7700.00 and as high as $25,000 which averaged about $16K. I am single and own my old rig. And as Paul Harvey would say; Now for the rest of the story.........I'm not telling !! :P

:) Living Life One Day At A Time!

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Guest alaska315

I have been following a post by "RV Sue and her canine crew", and you can type in that name in your browser there and read her interesting posts and she is doing it on about 12K a year and she has her monthly money figures right there for all to see.

 

Now she boondocks and has a smaller camper so saving some there,but also has two dogs.Check it out,interesting reading.

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Thanks Ranger. There will be 3 of us when we hit the road. I have an adult (sssshhhhhh) disabled Daughter that will be traveling with us. Fortunately I'm retired military to so that helps.

Most likely we will take the plunge on a new rig unless I can talk the wife into used. So your TT is new and your punch list is getting long? Which La Mesa RV did you buy it from? They were big when I lived in San Diego. We had one here in Dublin, CA not to long ago but they already relocated.

2024 GMC 3500HD DRW Denali Diesel

2019 Keystone Avalanche 396BH

USN Retired

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I agree with Ranger and Jin about LaMesa RV. While attending the Good Sam Rally at Daytona we went by LaMesa with some friends who own a 09 Phaeton to see about the test drives. As we walked up and asked about the test drives the salesman said that only 'Serious Buyers' were given the option of the test drive. He didn't even ask us anything about our what we were looking for or even when we were going to purchase.

For us the largest expenses will be fuel and Health insurance, since we are FTing before 65. We live fairly frugal now while in our S&B, so we don;t see an issue after we start FTing. We purchased most of our clothing at Bealls outlet and only on Mondays, extra discount. When we eat out we actually share our meals, has ben doing this for years now. As most others have mentioned it all depends on what you feel you need to live comfortable. We don't necessarily enjoy large crowds, disney, busch gardens, etc. So our expenses will be much less due to no really large crowds. The largest monthly expense, if you travel alot, will be fuel which continues to go up every day. Gas has jumped in the Tampa area about $.60 a gallon over the last few months. That has added about $600-$700 for just fuel for our trip to Upstate New York with the grandkids this summer.We just hope it stops increasing soon.

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I'm fortunate in that respect because the state picks up my health insurance premium. I also get foodstamps to make it a bit easier and a service for allowance for Jin as well I don't move around a lot either and I'm koind of stuck to campground since I don't have a genset. Unfortunaltely I have to put my rig in for warranty work. See my rant elsewhere and at the moment I don't have an answer on what to do. I may just wait until the snow melts and go to Elkhart and have at the mfg directly.

Together we, Ranger and Jin
#111554

www.desertbandanna.com - The

Heartland North Country RETS31
2000 Ford F-350 Super Duty, Ext Cab, Dually 4x4, 7.3l diesel.

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Some one said that if you think you can do it on 25K a year then you will as you will find a way to make it happen. We are retired .We have our health insurance which can be a huge expense provided by our employeer. We planned ahead and paid down as much debt as we could by retirement. We could do it on 25K a year.We choose not to as one of our retirement and travel goals was not to reduce our quality of life. Had we sold our S&B etc and went full time 25K a year would be Ok. We would not live our present lifestyle but we would be alright.

Helen and I are long timers ..08 F-350 Ford,LB,CC,6.4L,4X4, Dually,4:10 diff dragging around a 2013 Montana 3402 Big Sky

SKP 100137. North Ridgeville, Ohio in the summer, sort of and where ever it is warm in the winter.

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We have been full timers for 13 years now and have done it, and are doing it, on a lot less than that. We are very unique in some ways tho'. First we are vegans and since there are very few vegan restaurants in most places we seldom eat out and prepare most of our meals from scratch. Second, we remain active and that, combined with being vegan, means we have fewer health problems than most.

 

Additionally we enjoy living a simple lifestyle. Not sparse, but simple. We don't need or want satellite tv because we don't enjoy the shows. We would rather spend time outdoors than on the couch. We enjoy working on our own unit so we don't pay others to do what we can do and want to do.

 

Kirk gave the best response. Can YOU make it? That is the question.

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  • 1 month later...

But I keep being told that we are NOT fulltimers. I have been directly, in no uncertain terms, told by someone I have blocked, that we are not fulltimers because we treat our "home" as a portable apartment and we stay in one location too much. We are the dreaded "workers/permanent residents" you see folks on RVparkereviews.com complaining about. And I think it is just so funny. I can't believe how many folks complain about working people when I'm pretty sure that the complainers used to (or still do) work themselves. Talk about having a set of brass ones! biggrin.gif

 

RE: workers & permanent residents -- if a place is really bad, who do you think would know? The folks who stop in overnight or the folks who stay there by the month? When the park we are in right now lowered the heat in the bathhouse to 60F (and claimed it was 72F) and there were several days when the water had to be shut off, who do you think knew this? The workers & monthly residents (many of whom left) or the folks who stopped for one or two nights before moving on? We would have left too if we hadn't been paid thru the month it took to get the water fixed and the bathhouse temps back to warm. Not that we use the bathhouse anymore. We finished installing the shower. Now we can rent a site in one of the local mobile home parks if we ever need to change parks (we've looked at the other close in RV parks). We've parked an RV long term in a mobile home park before. We can do it again.

 

 

I am also a full-timer who has been living 24/7/365 in an RV Resort. And you are sooo right. If there is anything going on, right or wrong/good or bad, in the resort (or campground, or park) it not the two-day reviewer who knows about it...it is the resident.

 

I am retired, living just fine on my Retirement/SS. And would love to travel, but am single and very unsure about pulling my fifth wheel, let alone a little car behind. The biggest thing I've ever driven was a VW Chassis 18' Winnebago class C. It was almost as small as the old VW bus! So my experience is limited, at best. I suppose I could hire someone to drive it for me, but that may not be a good option either as it is very expensive, and a little scary!

 

So for now I am just driving my Honda when I travel to see friends and family...but it woud be nice to feel comfortable enough to travel where I want with the 5th Wheel Wildcat!!

justsue

Texas

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it would be nice to feel comfortable enough to travel where I want with the 5th Wheel Wildcat!!

You need to contact the RV Driving School and see who is giving lessons near you. The confidence you gain will amaze you. http://www.rvschool.com/rvschool/Home.html

 

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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Does anyone know how the RV School compares to if someone had their CDL? I didnt know they offered it but it sounds like it would be benificial regardless.

I'm pretty sure all their instructors have been OTR drivers who at least had CDLs at one time. They sure know all the answers. And lots of tricks to help you do what needs doing. And they are kind, patient people. I've taken lessons from them twice (in two very different rigs and locations) and have met other instructors. I can't say enough good things about the RV Driving School and they don't even pay me to say them. :)

 

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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