Ridgekid

We are doing well! We are keeping our expenses under $20K a year. 1. We purchased a home base in PA which costs $240/month. That's the cost whether we are here or not. That includes utilities, Taxes and POA dues. We live here 7 months a year. 2. We spend $2000/year on campgrounds going back and forth to Arizona and for Road trips. 3. We budgeted $4800/year for food. That includes dining in which we all are doing very little of. 4. It costs us $3200 a year for Truck/RV Registration/Insurance/Warranties 5. Communication costs $1400/year (Cellphone) Medical? Well we have had three different policies since going FT. The last one cost us $4800/year and it was just for a wellness program. You know, Doctor visit and blood work. Actual filed cost for this service was only $800. Insurance did not cover 100%. We ended paying $341 of that. This year we paid out of pocket $458 for the same service and saved $3500!! Are we happy?? Wouldn't change a thing. We worked our arses off trying to get the golden ring. We are actually happier with less. And having a lot of fun doing it!

Thank you for the follow-up. We are really looking forward to it!

Just a quick note to state we are registered for the 2020 Event. Look forward to meeting others that are going to the event. We will be arriving two days early and staying for the full 10 days. 1. How far is it from the south parking lot to the launch field??

Well- We gate Guarded Feb and March but doubt we will go back to it. Enjoyed our camp hosting during the summer in PA at our State Park.. Purchased a campsite for our off time. Currently in Texas Volunteering for the Corps of Engineers. After Christmas we will be off to Quartzsite. Loving the new lifestyle! Follow us on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuY8dRZxqW370NSyhUEiEvQ?view_as=public or Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/groups/1906252482815263/?ref=bookmarks

Happy New Year!! Unfortunately we did not make the Escapers New Years Party. Yes, we are still in Quartzsite. We were busy transferring our belongs to our new TT. We purchased a GD Reflection 315RLTS. Actually spent New Years eve in the dealers parking lot! We got our Pennsylvania Camp hosting Schedule for 2019 and are looking for other positions to cover our idle time. Before heading back to PA we are looking to make a little extra money Gate Guarding.

Hello Class!! Wow -what a fantastic time we have had since my last posting. After our Campground hosting gig we left Pennsylvania and headed to California. We stopped in Box Elder, SD and officially became residents on Sept 11th. Registration, Driver Licenses, voter registration and yeah Dog Licenses! All in All we took SIX weeks to get to Manteca, California where I celebrated our 40th High School reunion with my classmates. Then we high tailed it back to Pa in SIX DAYS! Won't do that again, it was tiring but we needed to attend an event with our kids and grandkids at the same campground we host in. Four Days after getting back to PA we headed out again. First down to the gulf coast and then west to Arizona. In fact I'm typing this from Benson, AZ where we are 24 hours from hitting Quartzsite for the winter! (We will be there one day earlier than planned) About our Club- We stopped in Livingston for 5 days and loved it. We learned a lot. We socialized with the locals at the 4 pm meeting in the Activity Center. We had the truck weighed so we could get our distribution bars adjusted correctly. Met JOE the Movie Guy (You should see his library!) He's also in charge of movie night at he club house. Meet the girls at Headquarters who were helpful answering all our stupid questions. We shopped at the second had store and even had Breakfast one morning at the CARE center. For those club members that are going to be in Arizona, we will be at the Escapers New Years Party in Quartzsite and the Escapade in Tucson in March. We hope to meet you there! Want to see our travel vblogs?? Opa and Oma's Camping Adventures

Not much changed since last post. We are currently doing our gig as campground hosts. Aug 24th we leave for California. Stop in South Dakota to change the registrations and DL's . Oct 6 we head back to PA for FOUR DAYS! Then south. We will be in Quartzsite Nov 16th. Hope to stop in Livingston for a few days on the way. We are really enjoying our new life style.

LONG OVERDUE UPDATE: Before May 20th, when we started our retirement vacation, the house was empty with a few items left in the garage. We signed a contract with a realtor and literally left town. The house was officially listed May 29th. Before the signs were up a young man drove up our driveway (1/4 mile long) Per our son who lives next door, he asked what he wanted and was told the house was just put on the market. To make a long story short, the house was under contract WITHIN THE WEEK, while we were in Wyoming! Closing is set for July 27th. We are home now (After a Great three week trip to Yellowstone) and are finalizing a few items the buyer wanted (minor stuff-under $200 to complete) and getting ready to head to Myrtle Beach on the 27th. Two weeks after we get back from SC, we will be Campground Hosts for three weeks in a PA State Park. That takes us to Aug 13th. Ten days later we are going to start a trip to California. That's where I was born and raised. Its time for my 40th HS reunion! It will take us Six weeks to get there. Reunion is Oct 5th. Then we have to RUSH back to Pa for a event for our grandkids. By Oct 15th we will start our trek south, then west to Arizona. BTW- We stopped in South Dakota and got a new mailing address on the way home. On our way to California we will stop in Box Elder and get our DL's and Registrations swapped over. Bad news-We won't be staying at our ATV club as planned. GOOD NEWS- Our son is setting up a site on his property for our visits! Now you know why I haven't posted for a few weeks...……...

Kirk- Yes we are working on the inside with personal touches. Just some things you cant part with, like our silver anniversary Mantle Clock from our kids. A family celebrations board with Birthdays and anniversary reminders. Realtor came and was putting a package together. Not impressed. She was here a week ago. We are working on some of her recommendations. Mostly touchup painting. Nothing major. Still sitting in driveway. Its cold and snowing today. Buying propane every 7-10 days. Tired of the cold. Our ATV club is still working on getting the electric hooked up to our campsite. One more month we make our trip to Yellowstone!

We are at the last few boxes of stuff...finally. I would not want to do this again. However thanks to all our research and comments about starting with a storage unit and downsizing from that did not fall on deaf ears. We got rid of it now. Realtor comes tomorrow. Got back from Va Beach. It was a nice break. Been living in the rv since March 24. Replaced the stabilizers and mattress. Starting to feel like home.

First- It doesn't look like we are getting the Outback 334RL at this time. There were some unavoidable delays on our part that caused the dealer to put the Outback back on the market. If its still available later we will look at it again. We pulled the Cougar out of the barn Saturday March 24th. Its our official start date for full timing, even though we are sitting in our driveway. It was nice to sleep in a bed again! There were only two main issues found on the cougar after her long winters nap. The gas regulator for the LP bottles was leaking and the toilet bowl seal for the flapper pulled out of the groove. It was 17 degrees that night and with two small electric heaters it was COLD! Although raining, happy to see (feel) 50 degree weather. Four nights in the Cougar and its amazing how our current TT seems to be the right fit after all. We got what we needed in it and still have room for more. I think it helped that we got a cap for the truck. I don't have that much under the cap. Holiday decorations, Dog Food and Snacks, extra food pantry (Once empty it will be used for something else) Paper and Plastics tote and a winter tote. (Just in case I make a wrong turn in Albuquerque-lol) Tires are pumped up and Greased the bearings. Time for a road trip. VA Beach here we come! Have a nice Easter everyone!

Just an quick update...the house is 80% empty. The hardest part so far was those paystubs and receipts from the last 15 years. They took a day to burn. (Wasn't throwing personal info in the trash) We will be another 10% closer to full time by this weekend and the entertainment center and Master Bedroom get moved out. That will leave only the garage (Single car) to clean out after April 10th. The house is not on the market yet and a 3rd party has jumped in with interest. (The first two already declined) We are about ready to pull out the camper from storage and migrate into it until the end of the month. That's when we head to Virginia to get our new TT and spend a week in VA Beach. Mother nature is keeping us in the house a little longer....... One major change...since we are passing through South Dakota in June we decided to change our domicile then. Wife was due for another DL anyway.

Congrats! We are jealous! We got 4 inches of snow today........

If you can believe it, we are trading in the 2017 cougar 28RLS for a 2017 Outback 334RL. We love the cougar but feel the outback makes a better TT for full timers. As we have been cleaning out the house we decided we needed a little more than the bare essentials. We are now even more excited about going full time. We have a extra burst of energy to get r done. The only real furniture we have left is our master bedroom. This is really going faster than expected. We hope the snow will melt soon (So we can get our current camper out of storage) or we might be sleeping on the floor!

Now the fun of outfitting it!!

Good advice!! We are installing two group 31 batteries (210 AH) , a 1500w invertor and already purchased a 200w SOLAR kit (suitcase) from renogy. We already have a Honda 2000eu for a backup.

Hi Classmates. We have moved forward at a faster pace cleaning out the house. Local flea markets are keeping me busy with deliveries....... most of the furniture is already sold. Buyers kind enough to let us use it till we move out. Can’t do that until April 1. Then put the house up for sale. We plan to go to Florida after the sale to change domicile. We are currently outfitting the TT with stuff we wanted for being full timers. Leaning towards boondocking in Arizona next winter. That’s all we got for now.

Already signed up and accepted in PA. That will cover three weeks for 2018.

I just want to revise my estimate (Budget) to $20K a year. I have been offered free camping (just pay electric and Dump) for as long as I want. Right now I would say April1-Nov 1. Longer if the weather is good! Tentatively thinking BLM camping (LTVA) like Quartzite, AZ for winter time. That leaves us some splurge money if we want a FU campground for a night-- once in a awhile. Still looking like a fun adventure ahead of us!

Yes-We are pretty excited and anxious too. So far its going pretty easy. We actually have TWO potential buyers for our house. One offered to buy it now and told us we can move out when we want. We are thinking June so we are holding off on the sale. We plan to officially change our domicile in July. We have a vacation trip planned to Myrtle Beach with our kids (They are campers too) and we will head to Florida after that. Then back to Pa to finish out the summer, as a visitor! Still trying to compile a plan for next winter, but I guess we have time for that yet. Keep warm, spring will be here before you know it!

Welcome Crazy Camper and Purple Tractor. We "feel" your anxiety as we too more towards becoming full timers. I think sharing our ideas and suggestions are an important part of our decision making. Should help us in making any undesirable mistakes. Well back to packing and planning...Happy Holidays~

Time for another update- Got the catastrophic health insurance. Needed something until we find something affordable. Cleaning out closets. Took our first truckload to Good Will. Advertising other stuff for sale. We are ATV'ers. Our ATV club has a campground. We were AUX members based on our volunteer time to the club. Work kept me away for almost two years. We were grandfathered back into our position and given a campsite. We now have a free* place to live from April 1-Nov 1. (*=We Pay for Electric and Pump out and Volunteer for club events) Next challenge-Looking for a place to winter Nov 1, 2018-March 31, 2019 and beyond. We hope to solve that issue by July while we are vacationing in Myrtle Beach. Looking for suggestions-

Since my last visit....... Passport America is having a Black Friday sale. 7 year membership for $184. 99% sure we are going with Catastrophic Health insurance. Thought about TT. Not really convinced that's the way we want to go. Been doing a lot of reading by wheelingit.us It's almost like he can read my mind what I want to do. Was approved to be Campground Host at a local State Campground here in Pa! (highlight of our week!) Added another vacation week to the list. Our son is a camper and requested our presence in Myrtle Beach for the 4th of July. (Lakewood) Probably put the house up for sale in Mid May. Joined Escapees but didn't get my SKP# yet. Hope it didn't go to spam....... Had a bitter sweet Thanksgiving with the kids. Our last in our home. Dropped the bomb on them of our plans and they are very supportive. Proof we have the best kids in the world......

On the most part we are doing the same. Waiting for full declutter in January. Exception-Our daughter needed two beds for her new place and it worked well to get rid of those now. More room for sorting the sell pile and the storage pile. Before my termination we had already made reservations for two vacation trips next year. Those are still a go. Va beach and Yellowstone. Then we need to put the shifter in low gear as we try to learn how to be work campers. We have enough saved to be full timers for 7 years. That’s when SS kicks in. 401k kicks in 2 years if we need it. I recieved two offers for medical today. One is catastrophic insurance for $266/month. The other is Medicaid insurance. Luckily the wife and I had a good bill of health in Oct. still not sure what direction we will go.

In anticipation of going full time in 2018, I needed some numbers to determine if we could actually go full time. In 2017 we spent 65 nights on the road and drove 11k miles. I calculated for that time frame we spent approx $6364. This calculated to a high estimate for a annual cost of $35,737. This is where I projected to be. Over $30k but under $40k. I hope to still get this number down as most of my camping expenses were job related and reimbursed. The biggest part of these expenses would be fuel ($3300) and we don’t want to travel that hard as full timers. We will be looking for campsites with lower rates to offset the rest. Is Thousand trails the only timeshare?? Anyway-Heres where my biggest problem is: I have not calculated health insurance into this. My current health plan expires Nov 30th and was employer provided . This is all new to me.