Talking myself out of this...

Alice · March 7, 2019

@NDBirdman It was my absolute pleasure to impart a bit of my useless knowledge.

Love that Joe Cocker song too. But I thought he suffered from some debilitating nerve disease the first time I saw him perform. He does have odd body language.

Darryl&Rita · March 7, 2019

3 hours ago, Alice said:

Bobby McFerrin wrote that song in 1988. Marley was, sadly, dead by then.

Thought of that as soon as I hit "Submit".

Jaydrvr · March 7, 2019

5 hours ago, Alice said:

Thanks again for that link. Dry weight is well within the max trailer weight even with the 20% margin. This TT has a cargo capacity almost equal to its dry weight, be we are never going to put 3,300 lbs of stuff in it...this is a weekender. Maybe a week at most. We've got 1,400 lbs before we hit the max with the 20% margin. We're talking a few pots and pans and paper plates, food, bedding, a change of clothes and fishing poles. I think we're good.

Of course, we'd get a weight distributing hitch. Not from the dealer though. The only one they sell is $800. I'm sure it's awesome...but geeze!

Anyone care to chime in with a recommendation for a good hitch for a small trailer - it won't be exceeding 5,000 lbs I'm 100% sure, and about 23 feet long? I want a good one, but not necessarily one that costs that much!

Etrailer has pretty much any hitch you'll need and is a wealth of towing information and how to videos.

https://www.etrailer.com/

Alice · March 8, 2019

Well folks, I thank you all so much for your patience and your counsel.

I didn't talk myself out of it. My husband and I talked ourselves out of it.

We tend to be spenders, and impulsive, and kind of...I don't want to say irresponsible with our money and time... but we need to concentrate on a whole lot of other things so we're ready when the time comes to retire. We could spend the money and buy the trailer now (or more accurately borrow the money now) but if we did one of two things would happen: we'd either not use it enough to justify the expense, or we'd use it too much and not accomplish other goals that are more of a priority - which would be great fun, but foolish. That's just how we are.

So we're going to wait, get some stuff done, and save money for now. Maybe in a year or two we'll find one we can afford to pay cash for.

Still looking forward to excapee-ing some day in the not too distant future. 😁 I am so very ready to retire!

Edited March 8, 2019 by Alice

Matthew · May 14, 2019

On 3/6/2019 at 3:19 PM, Alice said:

Actually, we won't have any payments. ... plenty of money to pay for a new(ish) truck and 5th wheel, pay off any still unpaid credit cards/loans, and finish a few projects we need done to our cabin......and still have a bit in the bank. .. Our house note will be taken care of by selling it. My only large worry is a student loan we may be still stuck with until we die.

..., we have a Chevy Colorado that we're upside down on. ...

IMHO. Don't make the purchase.

You have a house mortgage (implied), under water on vehicle loan, have credit card debt, need repair items to your cabin and a unpaid student loan. And you want to add to that debt by purchasing another truck and 5th!?!? With the hopes of using money you are promised 5 years down the road to pay off most of the debts leaving very little "emergency" money in the bank? I'd have cold feet too.

Kirk W · May 15, 2019

Matthew, welcome to the Escapee forums!

whj469 · May 15, 2019

Before I bought an RV I attended the Escapees Boot Camp. I went to Livingston, TX, about 40 miles from my small ranch in SE Texas, but they do them in other locations as well. They stated that they wanted to help you but your third RV first. Good Luck

TherapyBound · May 15, 2019

Alice, I probably shouldn't chime in, as we haven't purchased our motorhome yet, but I think your decision is a smart one. I've been wanting to do this for more than a decade, but the time was never really right. Now, the time is more right, and even at that we're taking 2 years to organize everything so we can hit the road with as few worries as possible--and no regrets.

Your time will come, if you want it to. And when it does, it will feel right.

Alice · May 15, 2019

19 hours ago, Matthew said:

IMHO. Don't make the purchase.

You have a house mortgage (implied), under water on vehicle loan, have credit card debt, need repair items to your cabin and a unpaid student loan. And you want to add to that debt by purchasing another truck and 5th!?!? With the hopes of using money you are promised 5 years down the road to pay off most of the debts leaving very little "emergency" money in the bank? I'd have cold feet too.

Thanks Matthew, but it isn't as bleak as you made it sound! We have more than enough income to pay for the trailer we were looking at - a small TT, the 5th wheel isn't until we retire and sell our house - we have quite a bit of equity. It isn't "hopes of promised money" - the State of Missouri damn well better come through with our retirement benefits we've been working for 30 years! LOL!

It's all academic now as we decided to wait. We paid off the credit cards with a low-interest signature loan, are paying more on everything else to get it all paid off before we retire. We'll likely still get a small trailer in a couple years...just not yet.

38 minutes ago, whj469 said:

Before I bought an RV I attended the Escapees Boot Camp. I went to Livingston, TX, about 40 miles from my small ranch in SE Texas, but they do them in other locations as well. They stated that they wanted to help you but your third RV first. Good Luck

We've been talking about that! We'll have quite a trip to make since they seem to never be around here, but I think we'll do that. It'll likely be next year though. And Thanks!

richfaa · May 15, 2019

We have been casual RV'ers for many years but looking ahead to retirement and the kind of travel we wanted to do we concentrated on paying down or paying off debt and saving for our Rv equipment. We had a truck and TT that was paid off. We had a 10 year plan knowing we would both be retired by 2006. When 2006 came around we had payed off major debt and credit card debt. We had saved enough and good luck in investments to purchase a new truck and 5th wheel and about 3 years of travel money. This is 2019 and we are slowing down but still on the road. and on our 2nd truck and 5th wheel RV.

Kirk W · May 15, 2019

5 hours ago, Alice said:

We've been talking about that! We'll have quite a trip to make since they seem to never be around here,

Actually, there was one at Escapade in Sedalia in 2018. There is always one held at the Escapade location just before the Escapade takes place. If there were enough interest in one being held in MO again, I am sure that the staff would do so.

Earl Balentine · May 17, 2019

Alice, trying to decide on buying can RV is a hard choice. One thing for sure doing the RV thing is not cheap. Buying an RV has worse deprecation than cars. It is not an investment like buying stick built house. There will always be something that breaks that needs to be repaired. Then there is all kinds of upgrades, better batteries, better steps, better tv antenna, better tires, better brakes and the list goes on. I store my RV (5th wheel) at a very nice secure RV storage facility I use to pay $40 per month for a back-in and now pay $60 per month for a pull thru. Insurance coverage for RV's are all over the place. Some insurance company's may cover your cars & home but not an RV. Some RV coverage could be as little as $150 a year or could be triple that depending on where you go. As far as RV parks most are around $40 per night but some could be $100 a night in California. The bright side of RVing is you can go where ever you want stay as long or short as you want. You get to meet a lot of nice people out there on the trail. Good Luck

Lou Schneider · May 17, 2019

On 3/7/2019 at 9:32 AM, Alice said:

Dude! That is SO not Bob Marley! That's Bobby McFerrin! I know my reggae! My son says the only people he knows who listens to it are stoners and his mom. LOL!

The first time I heard "Don't Worry, Be Happy" I thought it was Billy Crystal doing his "You Look Marvelous" personna.