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2PawsRiver's avatar
2PawsRiver
Explorer
Jul 15, 2018

About to become a reality

Been a thought for about 12 years, a plan for the last 8, a member here for the last few years and in just less then 45 days becomes a reality. A couple signed on our house yesterday, financing should be done in 30-45 days, and 30 days to be out......and it begins. We have thought it through, paid attention to most of the information here, and this morning am having the holy whaa, did we just screw up or what moment.

So......the first bit of advice we considered was size.......I really wanted to go less then 40', my wife wanted bigger then 40'.....been a debate for a while, thought I had her convinced, then we settled on a 2018 Fuzion 424 at just over 43 feet and close to 16,000 pounds. My argument was, able to put it in places and able to tow it with our Dodge 2500 HD......her argument was feeling cramped......we both liked the side deck......traded the 2500 in for a 3500 dually. Now it's just shopping time.....was hoping to find a used one, but having no luck

Second bit of advice, Exit Plan, we are not rich by any means, pretty much your standard middle class, mostly working to survive with a few thousand in savings.......selling the house puts us in the Fuzion and the Dodge with everything paid off.........we'll have no bills other then the stuff your stuck with, tags, insurance, living costs, etc. We will start of with a pretty good chunk of savings and my intention is to work for another few months to a year, depending on how I feel and stacking whatever extra we can on top of savings. Our exit plan is that if we have to bail, either permanent park the TH, or sell everything and have the ability to buy a moderate home. We also both have life insurance, if one has to bail because of a death.

Third bit of advice...........fulltiming is not free..........we are fortunate with a retirement that pays for medical coverage and leaves around 3,500 monthlyfor surviving. I have been researching work camping and plan to work at a part time (very part time) job when possible and we are both pretty frugal. We have been researching the various ways to stay a night cheap while on our way to a destination, Walmart and such, and both are fine with boondocking, when possible.

The only downside is while I expect we will be fully loaded in September, can't start a journey till most likely mid January, and will most likely be stationary till spring......we are in SW Michigan.....but will use that time to practice, work out the bugs and get ready.

Things I still have to figure out.........my wife likes TV, so I am thinking we have Verizon we can use as a hotspot (I think) and mirror to the TV or use the inserts on the TV that gives access to HULU, Net Flicks and whatever...........or I just go with something like Direct t TV and use the dish............still thinking.

Prescriptions.......just change to Walmart, they are everywhere.....carry our medical stuff digitally....still figuring.

Solar..........I know I can go attached panels, but it sure seems simple to spend a couple hundred dollars on a decent portable solar briefcase and charge things that way.

Info while traveling.......I have found the websites that list Walmarts, Truckstops, Wineries, reserve America....I think we will be limited on some places because of size.............still need website stuff.

Employment.....I know there is working camping that can cuts living costs, and I have other interests and opportunities....going to cut bait on a fishing charter in Oregon, help with horseback trips in Wyoming and such, but I would like to figure out something I can do a few hours a day from my couch........wishful thinking.......but going to check anyway.

Residency.......I have family in Northern Texas, so once we are mobile we plan to transfer everything to Texas, leave a stack of prepaid envelopes and occasionally have them forward mail.

So there you have it...........our plan......if I am missing something, got something wrong or you have any input, please chime in as many of you are partially responsible.

18 Replies

  • 2PawsRiver wrote:
    kerrlakeRoo wrote:
    Michigan in January is not a spot I would want to be in.
    If possible you may want to move south earlier, and if you must return in January do so with just the truck, or fly in for a while.
    On the money side, I sure hope you are overthinking/worrying this. I am in a similar position, we have two prospects currently working at arranging financing on our house. We will hit the road with an all new rig smaller than yours, but only about $2600 a month in retirement income, but with a larger nestegg. Were hoping to travel extensively the first couple years, then settle into a more modest set of moves.


    My retirement will keep me here till pretty much January.....just curious did you go with a fifth wheel or other. Are you doing anything about having cable internet, etc.




    Still waffeling. M'lady prefers the 5th wheels, she likes the Montana's in a 35 foot range.
    Because of her leg problems, I would rather go Class A so she can reduce the up and down steps some. So, we will no doubt end up in a new truck and 5er. :)
    Internet we have switched to straight talk for a phone line. $55 a month with unl talk and text and 60 gigs of data. We have satellite internet at home, but that has been running us $70 a month for 12 gigs at high speed and throtteled after that. So were trying the straight talk now.
    Did have 2 lines total wireless which was $60 a month with only 15 gigs of data and that seemed to work well so am assuming this will as well.
    Oh for tv we download a lot of netflix or Amazon prime videos when we stop at a restaurant or library for watching later.
  • There is a website that we use "freecampsites.net" some are free one night or $5-10 might only be half dozen spaces some are county fairgrounds others small towns. Usally on the roads less traveled not the Interstates. Many are only for smaller rigs but we find enough for our 38ft 5er.

    If you or the DW are 62 make sure you get your senior pass good for 1/2 price camping at NPs, USACE, USFS, BLM, USFWS.

    Volunteering is also a way to cut exspenses. We volunteer 6-7 months a year. We only take volunteer positions that require 24hrs per person though we sometimes work more if it's a real enjoyable job. It still gives us 4 days a week to explore the area.

    Another benefit of volunteering besides the provided campsite is that your biggest exspense of fuel is reduced.

    If you don't mind walking "Amazon Camperforce" can put a good chunck of change in your pocket for 8-10 weeks of work pre Christmas. Besides the $'s they provide the campsite.

    Dish for RVs may work better than Direct if you go with Sat TV. You pay by the month if you don't pay they shut it off. Want to start it up just pay for that month. Hot spot usage is paid for by the gigabite unless you have and unlimited acc and even then they usally throttle back your speed after so many gigs, so not necessarily the best bet for TV.

    Verizon internet is your best bet or has been for national coverage. As we're happy with it the last eight years we have not checked the latest plans. I have a seperate Consumer Cellular phone for those rare spots without Verizon.

    Good luck, see ya on the road.
  • With no debt, your monthly budget should be more than adequate unless you move daily and pay daily rates everywhere. For websites and finding campgrounds, we use rvparkreviews.com a lot, also freecampsites.com and allstays.com and campendium.com. The last 3 sites will give you boondocking locations and small city/county parks, corp of engineer and forestry parks etc. They are quite helpful. We pull a utility trailer behind so overall length is 48' and then I drive our Jeep. We have never left a campground because we couldn't fit into any site. We also fill with gas a regular gas stations all the time. Use google satelite view/streetview to check access after using gas buddy to locate best prices along our route. Walmart - we have done that a few times. We prefer small cities and never stay at a Walmart in a large city. Usually quieter and not right next to an interstate. Feels safer too.
  • kerrlakeRoo wrote:
    Michigan in January is not a spot I would want to be in.
    If possible you may want to move south earlier, and if you must return in January do so with just the truck, or fly in for a while.
    On the money side, I sure hope you are overthinking/worrying this. I am in a similar position, we have two prospects currently working at arranging financing on our house. We will hit the road with an all new rig smaller than yours, but only about $2600 a month in retirement income, but with a larger nestegg. Were hoping to travel extensively the first couple years, then settle into a more modest set of moves.


    My retirement will keep me here till pretty much January.....just curious did you go with a fifth wheel or other. Are you doing anything about having cable internet, etc.
  • “Solar..........I know I can go attached panels, but it sure seems simple to spend a couple hundred dollars on a decent portable solar briefcase and charge things that way.”

    Put out panels in the morning. Bring panels in to go out to lunch. Put panels back out upon return. Bring panels back in at dusk. Put them out in a light rain? Nope even though you’ll get some charging. Charging while driving? Nope. No portables for me.
  • JC2 wrote:
    Did u state that u were planning on pulling a 43ft 5th wheel with a 3/4T truck? If so, there will be some serious load/safety issues with that small of truck pulling that much. :?


    Traded the Ram 2500HD single axel for the Ram 3500HD long box dually......think I could of got away with the 2500, just more entertaining.
  • Michigan in January is not a spot I would want to be in.
    If possible you may want to move south earlier, and if you must return in January do so with just the truck, or fly in for a while.
    On the money side, I sure hope you are overthinking/worrying this. I am in a similar position, we have two prospects currently working at arranging financing on our house. We will hit the road with an all new rig smaller than yours, but only about $2600 a month in retirement income, but with a larger nestegg. Were hoping to travel extensively the first couple years, then settle into a more modest set of moves.
  • Did u state that u were planning on pulling a 43ft 5th wheel with a 3/4T truck? If so, there will be some serious load/safety issues with that small of truck pulling that much. :?