No Vacancy

[jamtracy]

We are not full time yet as we have decided to keep our home in Northern California and work camp this spring and summer in Montana.

But before that we are embarking on a 27 day 17 park trip from Norcal to Texas to New Orleans to San Diego and back to Norcal. We made reservations at every campground we are going to stay at as to not have to worry about it. I'm sure in a few years when we don't have to work we will slow down and enjoy the life. Or if we sell our home. The only drawback is we are stuck to this schedule but we are OK with the hustle and bustle at the moment. And we know although still high diesel is more than a dollar a gallon cheaper beyond California.

[rickeieio]

10 hours ago, trailertraveler said:

Is it the Seniors on fixed incomes

I have to wonder about that term, "fixed income."  Most folks get a weekly paycheck, and they know about what it will be month to month.  So, working folks are on a fixed income too.

Some of us never had the security of a steady paycheck (self employed) and having the security of retirement and rental income is comforting.  I'm lucky, I guess, that my spending habits don't consume all my in-flow.  But then, I'm a tightwad.

[Dutch_12078]

1 minute ago, rickeieio said:

I have to wonder about that term, "fixed income."  Most folks get a weekly paycheck, and they know about what it will be month to month.  So, working folks are on a fixed income too.

Some of us never had the security of a steady paycheck (self employed) and having the security of retirement and rental income is comforting.  I'm lucky, I guess, that my spending habits don't consume all my in-flow.  But then, I'm a tightwad.

In my working years I always had opportunities to improve my situation and earn more money through raises, promotions, job changes, etc. Social Security recipients get a fixed monthly amount that only changes annually based on the CPI-W. In several past years, that amount has been zero, although this year we got the largest increase since 1983 at 5.9%.

[Kirk W]

59 minutes ago, rickeieio said:

I have to wonder about that term, "fixed income."  Most folks get a weekly paycheck, and they know about what it will be month to month.  So, working folks are on a fixed income too.

But you also get pay increases. I have now been retired for 20+ years and my fixed pension from my previous employer is exactly the same today was it was the first check that I received. Social Security does get cost of living increases and in most cases there is a also an increase in the cost of Medicare at the same time. While military and government retirement gets increases, very few private pensions do so. The savior for us has been the fact that we got into IRA's as soon as they were available and then the 401k when it became available. Had we not done so, we would be struggling financially today.

Fixed income means you no longer have access to things like pay or hourly wage increases, merit increases, promotional increases, or even changing positions or employers.

Edited February 26, 2022 by Kirk W
repair a typo

[trailertraveler]

12 hours ago, rickeieio said:

I have to wonder about that term, "fixed income."

Others have given you good answers. Like Kirk, a part of my employer pension has not increased since I retired in 2004. A second part of my pension does get cost of living increases. However, because the calculation is based on a formula that does not include highly volatile commodities like food and fuel it often does not keep pace with the real rate of inflation. My share of my employer provided health care usually goes up every year. Some years more than the cost of living increase. I am not eligible for Social Security and because of federal law cannot receive spousal or survivor benefits. I have to pay for Medicare (which usually goes up every year) out of pocket. It is pretty well documented that the value of the dollar has declined over the years. The buying power of my retirement income is not really "fixed", it is declining.

Edited February 26, 2022 by trailertraveler

[rickeieio]

I guess I just have a hard time imaging having pensions and employer sponsored retirement plans.  I was self employed, and nobody but me, ever put away a dime for my future.  Those who are self employed also have to pay their own "benefits", such as medical/dental care, besides paying the other half of social security that an employer picks up.  

So being on a "fixed income" sounds pretty good to me.

[Kirk W]

13 minutes ago, rickeieio said:

  I was self employed, and nobody but me, ever put away a dime for my future.  Those who are self employed also have to pay their own "benefits", such as medical/dental care, besides paying the other half of social security that an employer picks up.  

You have social security just the same as the rest of us? You were included or should have been. In addition, you owned the business and could sell it at any time and change to a job that had benefits, had you chosen to do so. If you wanted the benefits that I have, then all you would need to have done is sell your business, pocket or invest the resulting money and the put in 32 years with the company that I worked for and you would have had the same benefits that I have. Easy, peasy!

Another option that you could have taken was to enlist into the military and put in 20 or more years there and you could have the benefits that the retired military has.  There are so many options that you turned your back on. Since you owned the business, why did you not fund more benefits for yourself? It is all called planning ahead. If you failed to plan, is that somehow the fault of others who did plan? I worked for a major company that was well known for being a leader in benefits while being pretty average in pay. I could have done something else that paid more and lived for the moment but I put a high value on my employer's early retirement package that allowed me to retire at the age of 57 with my fixed pension and health insurance coverage. Enjoy the fruits of owning your own business, and I'll continue to enjoy the benefits of my career! But none of this changes the meaning of the term "fixed income" for seniors or has anything to do with it. 

[Barbaraok]

I echo Kirk’s comments on choices.   We could have made way more in the private sector than in working at state universities.   But we enjoyed teaching and decided that the pay was reasonable with extremely good retirement benefits.   After my cancer battle and Dave’s recovery from his stroke, we realized that we wanted to be in good enough health to enjoy our retirement.    We all make choices and learn how to adapt to what we have.  

[bruce t]

If you have never been self employed and don't understand what it takes to be self employed then I suggest that comments about choices be very tempered. Finding the next dollar to stay in business is usually a priority. Not retirement benefits. Selling up and making money on the sale is often fantasy. Who will buy a business that is just making ends meet.

Millions of self employed folks employ millions of other folks. Those self employed folks pay the benefits of their employees before their own. 

We were always self employed. We have saved every penny we now have to live on in our retirement. No employee contributions. That money gets smaller every year. No adjustment for inflation.

Live in someone else's shoes before you make rash statements.

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, bruce t said:

Live in someone else's shoes before you make rash statements.

Nothing rash about my statements. My dad was a farmer until he went to a job with benefits in order to be able to retire. Pam's father left a good job in the aircraft industry to buy a business in his home town in 1950. He made the same struggles until his health became a serious problem and so he sold the business in 1965, taking a job in government that did have benefits and retirement. Pam's and my observations of our parents played a major role in the choices that we made. Because of what we observed in our teen years we placed a very high value on benefits. I stayed for a career with 3M who is well known in the corporate world for using employee benefits as one of their main ways to compete in the labor market. At the time that I began my career there I also had offers from 2 other Fortune 500 companies that both offered more pay but less in benefits. Yet another choice that has proved to be a good one for me and my family. I could have done differently and perhaps one day have been like Michael Dell, Bill Gates, or perhaps Mark Cuban? But I might also have been in the camp with rickeieio or bruceT. I made my choices and each of them did the same. 

Life comes with choices and in the USA each one of us must enjoy or suffer the results of those decisions. I can't speak for your background in Australia, but in the USA you do have the option to sell the business and get a job.

25 minutes ago, dixonge said:

I think Kirk may be conflating 'self-employed' with 'business owner' - I

If you want, do an internet search to define those two terms. It just depends on who is defining each term and their reason for defining it. 

Quote

The IRS says that someone is self-employed if they meet one of these conditions: Someone who carries on a trade or business as a sole proprietor or independent contractor, A member of a partnership that carries on a trade or business, or. Someone who is otherwise in business for themselves, including part-time business ...Jun 11, 2021

 

Edited February 27, 2022 by Kirk W

[Star Dreamer]

It seems that this has gotten off topic which was discussing camping vacancies. 

[jamtracy]

1 hour ago, Star Dreamer said:

It seems that this has gotten off topic which was discussing camping vacancies. 

Yup. always turns into flexing.

[Danfreda1]

It always gets off topic and sometimes get closed for further discussion. 

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, Star Dreamer said:

It seems that this has gotten off topic which was discussing camping vacancies. 

You are correct & conversations do seem to do that. So, what is your campground vacancy experience? And even more important, what do you see in the future? I do miss the RV we used to have that was well prepared to dry camp if need be and the ability to travel extensively with only occasional reservations. Will we see that ability returning? We are beginning to plan our travels for summer 2022. I have not yet made any reservations, but should we? 

[Danfreda1]

We have been traveling throughout this PANDEMIC and rarely make reservations still. We traveled from Mississippi in Dec to quartzite Arizona and made no reservations. We stayed in city parks,blm and a few places in Texas only calling ahead to check for availability. Stayed in Arizona 2 months and on the way back east stayed at 2 harvest hosts,a county park and now at a COE on Waco lake but we only made a reservation a couple days in advance. When we were here in December we just showed up on a Sunday and got a spot. The rest of the year we only have 2 reservations and that’s for 2 rallies. The people that have to have the best accommodations at the fanciest places will have more problems getting in a park than the people that don’t need as much fancy, touristy parks from what we have seen. 

[sandsys]

4 hours ago, Danfreda1 said:

The people that have to have the best accommodations at the fanciest places will have more problems getting in a park than the people that don’t need as much fancy, touristy parks from what we have seen. 

Also, the people in large rigs pulled by an HDT will have more problems than people in conversion vans. And those with lots of solar will have fewer problems than those that have to be plugged in. And...

Linda

[Danfreda1]

We have an hdt, large fifth wheel,solar and have not had any problems. The problem I have seen in a blm campground is a van dweller take up an 80 ft campsite instead of a tent site   That had the same amenities,table fire pit and grill which causes people with trailer to park along the outside of the campground. Doesn’t seem to be a lot of courtesy out there when it comes to that type of things but let’s not get off topic

[Star Dreamer]

5 hours ago, Kirk W said:

You are correct & conversations do seem to do that. So, what is your campground vacancy experience? And even more important, what do you see in the future? I do miss the RV we used to have that was well prepared to dry camp if need be and the ability to travel extensively with only occasional reservations. Will we see that ability returning? We are beginning to plan our travels for summer 2022. I have not yet made any reservations, but should we? 

We posted last Thursday in this topic. We currently have most of the places booked for our 4 month summer trip covering 20 states and about 7800 miles except for the places that do not have their reservation systems out that far or are closed because it is still winter in some of those areas. We will probably also start booking Florida reservations for next Jan and Feb as we found out this year that most were already booked up by May. Unfortunately we are one of those that use an HDT and are 73' long so our spots are limited but for example State Parks in Southern Florida in Jan are already booked solid no matter what site length. 

We have using the HDT now for 10 years but I was never one to just wing it and not make reservations ahead of time. I just never had to make them 11 months in advance! 

[sandsys]

4 hours ago, Danfreda1 said:

We have an hdt, large fifth wheel,solar and have not had any problems. The problem I have seen in a blm campground is a van dweller take up an 80 ft campsite instead of a tent site   That had the same amenities,table fire pit and grill which causes people with trailer to park along the outside of the campground. Doesn’t seem to be a lot of courtesy out there when it comes to that type of things but let’s not get off topic

I tried to not take the big sites in my van but when it came down to that being what's available, I figured I paid the same price you did.

Linda Sand

[Dutch_12078]

3 hours ago, Star Dreamer said:

We posted last Thursday in this topic. We currently have most of the places booked for our 4 month summer trip covering 20 states and about 7800 miles except for the places that do not have their reservation systems out that far or are closed because it is still winter in some of those areas. We will probably also start booking Florida reservations for next Jan and Feb as we found out this year that most were already booked up by May. Unfortunately we are one of those that use an HDT and are 73' long so our spots are limited but for example State Parks in Southern Florida in Jan are already booked solid no matter what site length. 

We have using the HDT now for 10 years but I was never one to just wing it and not make reservations ahead of time. I just never had to make them 11 months in advance! 

We already have our 13 months out Georgia State Park reservations for January and March 2023. I'll make our first 2023 Florida State Park reservation on Tuesday.

[bigjim]

59 minutes ago, sandsys said:

I tried to not take the big sites in my van but when it came down to that being what's available, I figured I paid the same price you did.

Considerate people do what you do up to a point so I agree with you. Sometimes a site is just nicer and we all have the same desire to be in a site we like if  they are not assigned.

[Dutch_12078]

1 hour ago, sandsys said:

I tried to not take the big sites in my van but when it came down to that being what's available, I figured I paid the same price you did.

Linda Sand

We went the other way with our Georgia State Park site for next January. The site is listed at 30 feet max, but because we know the park and site, I had no qualms about booking it for our 34 foot motorhome and toad. The listed max length hasn't been changed from what it was before all the sites were rebuilt and upgraded. Even a 40 foot Class A with a toad would fit in that site now. It's also the only full hookup site in the park with a water view, and a pull-thru as well...

[Danfreda1]

2 hours ago, sandsys said:

I tried to not take the big sites in my van but when it came down to that being what's available, I figured I paid the same price you did.

Linda Sand

The sites were free and there were ten tent sites open that had the same amenities but less parking that the van people can fit in. All about what you think you are entitled too. Not about being considerate. 

[sandsys]

3 minutes ago, Danfreda1 said:

The sites were free and there were ten tent sites open that had the same amenities but less parking that the van people can fit in. All about what you think you are entitled too. Not about being considerate. 

So not everyone is entitled to the good sites? Sometimes we picked a site bigger than we needed for parking our own rig because we planned to host an event that required more space. We often invited friends or family to come for wiener roasts where some guests needed to park in our site because they could not walk from parking further away. If you came in after they left you would think we were being greedy. How would you know what our reasoning was? It seems to me, you think you are entitled to the big sites because you choose to live in a big rig. Why should your choice affect ours any more than our choice should affect yours. Should I demand you move into a smaller rig so we can have the room to host our gatherings without infringing on you?

Linda

[Danfreda1]

I was telling you what I saw I didn’t say you did it but I believe you would have after listening to you. All the sights there had the SAME amenities it was the parking that was different and there is no shortage of parking at blm lands or campgrounds.