fulltiming

rockyford708 wrote:
me and my wife have a nice home. but our kids are all gone. we are thinking of selling our house and buying class a . to live in. my question is I still have 11 years to retire from my job, we fiqure we could save a lot of money before I retire. if we live in motorhome. but some koa,rv parks . cost 400 a month. full hook ups. we need advice is it really worth it. oh we do take vacations every year.

I like your way of thinking. My wife and I have done something similar. All the kids are off and married and the last one is away at college. We've owned travel trailers the past 10 years and purchased a good used 5 year old 39' 5th wheel about a year ago. We got a great deal and let the original owner take the depreciation hit. It is parked at a beautiful RV park at a local reservoir that has a long term area and is very affordable (utilities and lot rent about the same as you mentioned). Over the last year, we've spent weekends there, enjoying the 40'x16' metal patio cover and have got to know many of the older full timers. Time was on our side so it gave me the chance to really make a comprehensive list of the pros and cons of full timing.

We took the plunge recently and leased our home to a young family we know (my house is 10 minutes away) with a written agreement that one bedroom is set aside exclusively for our use (bad weather, child comes home from college, etc). I do the majority of the maintenance and repairs myself. Plenty of contractor friends if one is needed.

The plan is to stay disciplined and "sock" back the monthly savings into my retirement plans and retire a bit early. So far everything is on track.

If nothing else, moving out of the house and discarding dumpsters full of clutter was great!

Try it out with an inexpensive rig. No way you want to be anywhere close to 6 figures tied up in the rig. You don't know what you really want or need, so you will likely not buy the rig you want long term. For $20-30k, you can buy a servicable unit and try it out. If you decide it's not for you, odds are you will get most of the money back. If you drop $100k or more on a rig, you probably lost $20-30k just driving off the lot.

thanks for all the suggestions. it helps me a lot. you all take care. we are still talking about it. but in the end we will probably stay in the house. our daughter and grandchild just moved in. they lost their jobs and house. but thank you all. tony muniz

It is indeed a tough question only you can answer after you weigh all of the details.

Cost, well it will usually cost a lot more than you think.


But since your situation seems more mobile...it may very well work for you.


Keep in mind...if you sell your home, go fulltime and don't like it...you will need to figure out to do if that should occur.

Good luck!

rockyford708 wrote:
my job I work for the railroad, and I work in different states. my job flys me back and forth. but wife wants to start going with me. my schedule as far as work is. work 8 days and then 6 days off. right know im in Missouri, and some times in Montana,arizona,idaho,washinton. just depends were they send us. but if she goes with me I will not fly. drive the motor home. to these locations.but the railroad also pays for my motel. so we not really stay in one location for 11 years. I need to get my 30 yrs in for retirement. I was going to lease one before I bought one. some one told me A PLUS RV. COM. thanks

Now THAT is an entirely different story. That would be workkamping, and makes much more sense. If you job now pays for motels, they would probably pay the campground fees, as they are likely to be less than a motel. In THAT scenario, what you are considering makes much more sense.

amandasgramma wrote:
You might, if after renting and deciding you like it, try buying an older RV without selling your home. It might take only a few months for you to decide. You can get MHs for a LOT less on the 2nd hand market.

I agree with buying an older MH - but for a different reason.

If you haven't been RVing for a while, your first purchase will almost certainly not be your 'perfect' rig. So buying a 5-8 year old MH or 5er, won't break the budget, and you won't lose 50% of the 'investment' a year or two later when you, or the wife, wants a different rig for many reasons.

Another concern is weather. Most folks try to avoid hard winter weather in an RV. It is difficult, more expensive, and much more work. And face it - 250-350 sq ft of living space is SMALL.

Is your job going to send you places where you really should not try to take an RV that time of year?

I remember a couple years ago when close to 100 rigs were stuck in Flagstaff for five days, along with few hundred 18 wheelers - because the winds across I-40 between there and the NM border were too dangerous to drive.

There is a thread on this forum from a fellow sent from Seattle to Salt Lake City last week - had to be on-site by 6 am Sat - right into a winter storm in the passes of eastern Oregon.

I'm guessing the company is going to say - get on a plane - if the roads are too dangerous to drive. Will the wife be willing to stay with the rig, or drive it herself when the weather clears?

(My opinion is every wife/ partner must be able to drive the rig - at least enough to get to a safe place, to hook-up and un-hook alone, etc. No mine isn't there yet - but we are working on it.)

Personally in your situation, I would get the rig - but plan to not be traveling in the hard winter months.

There are what seem like tens of thousands of oil field, construction and other similar workers who travel with their families in TT, 5ers and MH from job site to job site. They tend to stay a couple months to six months. But it keeps families together.

You and your wife can do it.

rockyford708 wrote:
my job I work for the railroad, and I work in different states. my job flys me back and forth. but wife wants to start going with me. my schedule as far as work is. work 8 days and then 6 days off. right know im in Missouri, and some times in Montana,arizona,idaho,washinton. just depends were they send us. but if she goes with me I will not fly. drive the motor home. to these locations.but the railroad also pays for my motel. so we not really stay in one location for 11 years. I need to get my 30 yrs in for retirement. I was going to lease one before I bought one. some one told me A PLUS RV. COM. thanks

Okay, that's makes a big difference. I'd say go for it. You should still get living expenses from the railroad to pay for the campground so many of the expenses that you now have from owning a home could be money saved. Your wife may be able to get a work camping job to cut expenses even more if she wants something to do.

rockyford708 wrote:
my job I work for the railroad, and I work in different states. my job flys me back and forth. but wife wants to start going with me. my schedule as far as work is. work 8 days and then 6 days off. right know im in Missouri, and some times in Montana,arizona,idaho,washinton. just depends were they send us. but if she goes with me I will not fly. drive the motor home. to these locations.but the railroad also pays for my motel. so we not really stay in one location for 11 years. I need to get my 30 yrs in for retirement. I was going to lease one before I bought one. some one told me A PLUS RV. COM. thanks

Now that's a little different than sitting in one place......if your employer will pay for your gas and RV parking spot (instead of motels and plane tickets), then I say go for it!!! You might, if after renting and deciding you like it, try buying an older RV without selling your home. It might take only a few months for you to decide. You can get MHs for a LOT less on the 2nd hand market...... :)

To me, full timing is NOT what you would be doing.

To buy a Class A, and park it in a lot for 11 years, is NOT fulltiming. It is living in a small mobile home, that is depreciating.

my job I work for the railroad, and I work in different states. my job flys me back and forth. but wife wants to start going with me. my schedule as far as work is. work 8 days and then 6 days off. right know im in Missouri, and some times in Montana,arizona,idaho,washinton. just depends were they send us. but if she goes with me I will not fly. drive the motor home. to these locations.but the railroad also pays for my motel. so we not really stay in one location for 11 years. I need to get my 30 yrs in for retirement. I was going to lease one before I bought one. some one told me A PLUS RV. COM. thanks