Forum Discussion

WilkesFamRvLivi's avatar
WilkesFamRvLivi
Explorer
Oct 21, 2016

Looking to start class A family living

Hello My name is Josh Wilkes. My family and I are wanting to make the transition from apartment living to RV living. Currently I'm a waiter at Chili's Bar and Grill, and my wife is a 7 months pregnant stay-at-home mother to our 3 1/2 year old daughter. We do are best to make a smallish 2 bedroom apartment home for our daughter, but we would love to get something that we are not putting money towards to have nothing to show for it. Unfortunately it is everything we can do to just pay the bill, and now we will have another child to feed, cloth, and shelter here in just a little bit. We have truly been blessed over the years and now that we have our family we've always wanted we are looking to try something new, exciting, and a little bit terrifying. RV living lol. We've started to do research on how to run and maintain an RV and what size we would be looking for, but the main hurdle is actually paying for one. We will of course have taxes coming in soon, but it won't be enough to cover the costs of getting a good RV and other things that come with full time RV living. We would try for an actual house, with a yard and everything,but our credit isn't good enough to get a loan and we would still have a mortgage to pay. If we have an RV then we would own it out right and be able to spend a lot more money towards our RV maintenance, improvements, and our children. We love spending time together and we truly believe that this kind of lifestyle will suit us best. I ask that anybody reading this give advise please, I would love to be able to do this for my family, sooner than later. Thank you for reading this and have a great day/night.
Class A
  • sdianel_-acct_c's avatar
    sdianel_-acct_c
    Explorer
    Oct 21, 2016
    RV living is not cheaper. It is much more expensive than apartment living. RV's have no resale value. Sorry but this is NOt a good plan. Too many things can go wrong.
  • kknowlton's avatar
    kknowlton
    Explorer II
    Oct 21, 2016
    Another thing that you may not understand, Josh, is that owning an RV is like owning a car, in the sense that it doesn't give you "something to show for it" - it depreciates. You'd be throwing money away, and whether your own or money you have begged from other people, it's not a good scenario. Stick with the apartment, try to find another job - a better one or a second part-time one, apply for food stamps, and try to save a little bit each month from that second job to help yourselves, in time, move to a more comfortable place. Nothing wrong with renting.
  • stew47's avatar
    stew47
    Explorer
    Oct 21, 2016
    You're a father now. Do the right thing and get some schooling and get a good job. Provide for your family.
  • Trackrig's avatar
    Trackrig
    Explorer II
    Oct 21, 2016
    If you don't have good enough credit to buy real estate, you're not going to have good enough credit for an RV loan, especially a Class A in any sort of decent shape. It doesn't sound like you have a lot of cash left over each month to do repairs.

    If you want to go ahead with moving to an RV, you'll do a lot better in a Class C or a Travel Trailer if you have the truck to tow it.

    Have you checked what it will cost you to park your RV in an RV park all winter. They will probably charge you separately for the electricity because you'll be running the hot water heater, furnace and electric heaters. And check the price of propane in addition to the cost of getting a larger propane tank delivered and plumbed in. What are the winter temps going to be all winter where you're at - how are you going to keep everything from freezing.

    Unless you're in warm climates, it's going to be a lot more expensive to live in than you think.

    Good luck,

    Bill
  • toedtoes's avatar
    toedtoes
    Explorer III
    Oct 21, 2016
    Owning an rv is not going to give you "something to show for it" - you will put a lot of money in keeping it running/getting it going and you are NOT going to get all that back. In addition, if your credit is bad, you aren't going to be able to get an RV that doesn't need a lot of work.

    Are you going to continue working at Chili's?

    Or do you expect your go fund me campaign to pay the bills on an ongoing basis?

    Where are you going to park this RV if you do continue to work?

    You won't be able to afford to travel on itinerant jobs if you're barely making it now with a steady job. It's not cheaper to live in an RV - unless you find ways to live off the generosity of others (living for free on someone's property, plugging into someone's electrical for free, begging folks to fund the cost of your RV, and so on).

    I suggest you spend your efforts finding a job that will support your family and save the RV living for when you can actually afford it...

    Sorry I sound harsh, but I think it's pretty tacky to post asking other folks to pay for your RV.
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Oct 21, 2016
    YOU are fooling yourself if you think RV Living FULL TIME is cheaper then APT. renting.

    RV loan, registration, HOME OWNERS insurance, CG Site fees, electric (most long term have metered electric), propane etc.
    RVs Depreciate in value.


    Then there is the SIZE
    2 bedroom apt.......vs roughly 240Sq FT TOTAL

    Then CG (RV Park) living long term.......not ideal for raising kids

    Sorry ...Harsh but having Full Timed (and loved it which still was) it is NOT like living in a apt or small house especially with new born & toddler.

About Motorhome Group

38,706 PostsLatest Activity: Feb 01, 2025