GR "Scott" Cundiff

As I explain in the expense sheet - I don't line item anything aside from RV related expenses. I then do a lump sum "just living" line. I explain that what I pay for health insurance and many other items won't help anyone researching fulltime expenses so I try to maintain a bit of privacy by not line iteming them. In our case, unless a person worked for the same employers we did and retired at the same age and year we did our health insurance costs would be meaningless to them. --- I'm reminded of the TV commercial for Home Advisor - the neighbor asks his friend if he knows of a good landscaping company. The neighbor says he does and before he can give his questioning friend the address, the fellow directs him to call them, describe the project and collect bids. It's one thing to share figures that a person can use in the mix in collecting expense information, another to try to tell them what they will spend on groceries and vehicle registration.

A bit different though if the customer came in to order a hamburger and was told that the cook had to place an order for meat with a market hundreds of miles away because hamburger meat wasn't available locally.

I think I figured out what Bilstein shocks will fit my 2005 Safari Cheetah 38PDQ. Apparently, the 24-186599 and 24-186582 will work with our Raised Rail RR4R chassis.If I purchase them online I can save a lot of money - will a truck repair shop install them if I buy them direct or will they baulk if I don't let them order the parts?

Our expenditures aren't an effort to spend as little as possible - just to live within our means. Keep researching, you'll find information on living a more minimalist lifestyle - a lot of people are doing it.

I was chastised by one of the IR2 moderators for having a link to my blog because the side bar of my blog has a link to my devotional books - which sell for all of 99 cents (the least Amazon will allow). Basically the books are given away and I make maybe $2 a year in royalties. The moderator wasn't impressed and told me I had to remove the link. It struck me as interesting that their campground review site encourages people to write reviews and post them so they can advertise on the site - but they are worried I might make a dollar or two a year selling books.

Yep - you did the upgrade for me right at the campsite in Wilmington, Ohio - greatly appreciated.

I've used a tripod and dish for Dish Network for a few years now. I like it better than the little carryout domes because it gives me a more "home like" TV watching experience. Here's an article I wrote about my experience setting up a tripod and dish.

Did the driving test today - Class B Exempt (the motorhome one). Did it in Conroe. I got there about an hour ahead of time, was called to the front of the line because I had an appointment. They checked me in and told me I was welcome to wait in the RV. A nice lady officiated, no problems at all. We actually started about a half hour early. Not a word about air brakes. She checked my turn signals and brake lights and had me toot the air horn (that got the attention of the people standing in line outside). Looked at my license, registration, and insurance. Drove around Conroe about 20 minutes. A few left turns, mostly right turns. No backing or parking of any kind. She was interested in how well I stayed in my lane and how I handled turns. Like any other driving test, I drove slower than usual, made sure to turn on my signals, made obvious use of my mirrors, stopped behind the line at stop signs, etc. Automatic fails if you break the law, drive dangerously, or are involved in an accident. She told me that she has never had anyone fail this test. Conroe isn't doing CDLs anymore - just RVs, Fire Trucks, and the like. Aside from it being in the motorhome, the actual test was easier than what you would do in a car.

We got our original Thousand Trails membership from someone who couldn’t use it any more. After using it for 4 years we decided to upgrade to the Elite membership so we could pick up several parks that weren't in our original membership. We think TT is a good deal if you are going to actually use the membership. Having said that, for those who aren’t familiar with TT, the Zone Pass is probably a better way to go. With no commitment you get access to all the preserves in an area for a year. That gives you opportunity to decide if you want to jump in all the way and get a membership. If you use the ZP for just 30 nights you’ll have spent less than $20 a night – that’s a great camping rate. The TT campgrounds are a mixed bag. Some are terrific. A few are subpar. Most are somewhere in between. You’ll almost always have water and at least 30 amp electric. Often you’ll have full hookups. Generally, there will be a surcharge of $3-5 for 50 amp service. There will be a pool, possibly some kind of spa, an Activity Center, and maybe a few other sports venues – generally these amenities will be somewhat tired but progress is being made in bringing them back to life. The same can be said of the roads. I've done many reviews of Thousand Trails campgrounds: http://pastorscott.com/travel/tag/thousand-trails/ If you go with a “used” Thousand Trails membership you’ll want to carefully check out the contract because older memberships are all over the place in privileges. Some memberships don’t include all the preserves – that may or may not be a big deal to you depending on your travel plans. The biggies in our opinion are that you want “park to park” privileges so you won’t have a mandatory week out between stays, a minimum of 2 or 3 week stays, and a national membership that works coast to coast. You also want to know how many “free” nights you get by paying your annual dues (our original membership got 50) and then what it costs per night after that (we paid $5). Other things to check out are being sure dues increases are stopped (or halved) at 62 or 65 and, of course, the actual dues amount. If you are going to use the preserves at least a month or two a year and if you are okay with the quality of the preserves, it’s a good deal. If not, well, anything you purchase but don’t use is a waste of money. We are happy with our membership and would do it again without hesitation.

Thanks Ray - I may have been mistaken about needing to hold the dump air button down to keep it dumping air. I'll check it out the next time we travel. However, the manual says specifically that you are to "hold the Air Dump switch to lower the suspension." Our leveling system is powered but manual. The manual for the rig says I need to manually dump air to lower the suspension before using the leveling system. I understand the purpose of the low air warning buzzer, I was a bit frustrated because I wanted to hear what the engine sounded like as it was just starting and I couldn't hear it for the buzzer. No biggie - I just wondered if there was a way to acknowledge the low air. As far as I'm concerned we can drop that part of the conversation as I understand the importance of the rig's air pressure coming up before proceeding.

Yes, a switch you hold down to "dump air." And thanks for the help via the phone! Take care.

Thanks. I don't "want to" I just want to know if this is normal behavior or if it is something I need to be concerned about. Apparently, it is normal.

To speed up the dumping of air.

Is pressing the brakes while holding down the dump air a good idea or not?

Thanks folks - yes I was asking about dumping air. I hold the dump air switch down and the air slowly drops to around 40 pounds and settles there. Okay on living with the low air alarm. I was hoping there was some way to acknowledge and silence it. I have the Texas DPS Commercial Manual - and am just starting to work through the chapter on air brakes. I also have a pretty robust section on air brakes in my MH owner's manual. I imagine I'll need help from someone before attempting to drain the system. I have a neighbor who does a lot of his own maintenance who happens to own a rig similar to mine. Thanks again for putting up with the questions of a novice.

Excuse the basic questions, but running a rig with air brakes/suspension is new to me. 1. When I shut the rig down and press the dump air switch, the air is pretty slow to go down - and the gauge never really goes below 40 pounds or so. Is this normal behavior? 2. After first starting up the low air alarm sounds until, I think 80 pounds. I know that's expected. Is there any way to acknowledge that alarm and silence it? That minute or two seems kind of long with that beep, beep, beep. Thanks in advance for any helpful and patient responses.

I've been struggling with getting all the length requirements in my head as I prepare to take the B test. This brochure helps.

It's a hard call. Very few tax specialists understand tax laws concerning (1) pastors, (2) retired pastors, and (3) fulltime RVing. Earlier in my life I went to a pro to do my taxes and I ended up sitting there telling them the ins and outs of clergy taxes. I decided fairly early on that if I had to tel them what to do I might as well do my own taxes. Our denomination's pension's board puts out a tax guide for clergy and it pretty helpful - covering not only housing issues, but also stuff like unreimbursed mileage, office expenses, etc.

Since pastors have traditionally lived in church owned housing the tax structure is kind of strange. For housing purposes, for instance, a pastor pays social security taxes on the value of the housing. However, the pastor doesn't pay income tax on housing. If a pastor receives money to provide his or her own housing, that money must be accounted for and, if the amount is more than the "fair rental value" it is taxed. Once retired, funds provided by the denomination's retirement program is considered the same as a provided "parsonage." However, all the information I've read and what I've tried to follow is that the IRS still limits that amount to "Fair rental value." Anything above that is taxed. I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions, but a denominational pension for the average pastor is often well below that threshold. I remember that before our retirement was restructured into a 401k type (actually called a 403b) our pastors got a retirement of about $4 a month for every year's service. In other words: 40 years would get you $160 a month.

Larry, I researched the value of renting a similarly equipped RV on a lot in a RV park. In other words, if I were to go to a reasonably nice RV park that offers rentals what would they charge me a month, including utilities. (Seeking "fair rental value") I haven't been challenged on it so I can't tell you whether it passes muster with the IRS or not.

I just posted our 2018 Fulltime RVing Expense sheet. Frankly, it was an expensive year with major repairs on both 5th wheel and F350. Some years are like that for everyone: both RVers and folks living in Stix and Brix. This year it was our turn to feel some financial pain. Here's a link to the 2018 expense sheet.

This thread came to mind today as I ran some figures on delaying Social Security another 16 months or starting it shortly. Obviously, everyone's situation is unique to them (health and other income sources being the main drivers). In my case, I've already delayed Social Security a while and I'm working on when to pull the trigger. My math shows that the loss of income from delaying 16 more months to get a bigger monthly benefit will even out when I am 82, after that, of course, it will be a gain. Honestly, I was a bit surprised to see that it would catch up that soon. Right now, though, I'm inclined to go to Social Security now and not wait much longer. Again, this is no one size fits all - and my thinking is not intended to address the concerns of those who are financially hand-to-mouth right now. Still, I found the speed of "catching up" on deferred Social Security income to be as quick as it is for me to be a bit of a surprise.

Thanks Cherie! Good to know. Ron, I think I'm okay with Verizon at this time. I'm running the phone without a sim, making and receiving calls via WiFi. I just put the Jetpack in my pocket. It is just for the time being, to be sure the Jetpack setup works okay. I may get a cheapo cell plan for the phone.

Cherie I'm relying on information from your website that putting my grandfathered unlimited plan sim in a Jetpack isn't going to get me into trouble with Verizon. Do you still think that is acceptable with Verizon? Thanks.

At this time I'm going to stay with my old grandfathered unlimited plan. I see three concerns: 1. The new plan can be changed at any time - there is no contract - and Verizon has a history of floating new stuff and then quickly adjusting based on customer response. If I give up my old plan I can never get it back. 2. There is some differences in roaming coverage between a contract plan and a prepaid one. Not much, mind you, but traveling as we do there are many times when we end up off the beaten track - exactly the kind of places where roaming kicks in. 3. My old plan isn't subject to being relegated to a lower priority on busy cell towers, the prepaid plans are. It may never be an issue, but we've been in some places where our data slowed down on busy weekends - likely a result of several users loading down the local tower. So, while I'm going to keep an eye on developments, I don't think I will be an early adapter here.