FIRST TIME RV-ER QUESTIONS

427435 wrote:
Remember that the purchase price of an old MH is just a down payment on future expenses. If you are not already very mechanically inclined, that education will also be expensive.

This is very true. Just to give you my experience I bought an older MH in 2004 and paid $30k for it to see if I liked the life style and to learn about MH's. I liked the lifestyle and learned a lot fixing all kinds of problems. I spent another $5000 to fix and repair things like exhaust manifold leaks, front end repairs, chassis repairs etc and another $5000 in maintenance, eng,trans,rear end,fluid changes etc over 10 years. If you have free electric while at your friends place, it will probably take you a year to fix and repair an older MH to your liking. Electric heaters will kept the MH warm enough to work on it. I would buy one now stay in your apt while you are working on it through the cold winter mo's. Plan on moving into it in March live in it for a while to get all the house stuff working. Then embark on your trip. By then your biggest expense will be gas. Being disabled you can get 50% off of Govt CG's which will be about $5-$10/ night. Travel north in the summer and south during the winter and stay out of expensive FHU CG's except once a week to recharge your batteries,dump and fill, and do laundry. I would encourage you to pursue your dream but just understand the costs and what to expect before you start. Other posters already answered your detail questions the only thing I would repeat is to try to get a campsite host job at a Govt or state CG where the give you a camp site and a small stipend for your word. Even if the costs turned out the same this would be better than living in an apt and watching TV all day. It cost me between $70-100 per day to travel in the MH and I move a lot. If your stay a week in one spot it will be less per day. Good Luck to you.