You tube Fulltimers getting squeezed

propchef wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

JaxDad wrote:
I think you need to do a little research on how much money social media mavens and ‘influencers’ can (and do) make, in cold, hard CASH before you make yourself look a little silly in front of folks younger than us.

A friends son is one of those ‘almost tweakers’ who has a YouTube channel with well north of a million subscribers.

He clears US$10k ++ per month.

There are a small number who do quite well but what you describe is like saying acting is a great career choice because Harrison Ford makes millions for every movie he's ever in.

Well. at least he isn't calling them "tweakers"

Hard work gets you there. The ones who put in the effort, understand marketing, and have reasonable editing skills will make a go of it.

Don't like it, don't watch. There are other choices.

Not sure what "tweaker" is about...

Certainly doing the hard work is a prerequisite but just like in acting, having good skills is only a starting point. (in fact, just like acting, being visually attractive often counts for more vs skills & effort)

But just like there are many actors who put in the effort never to have any commercial success...even having a good skill set and putting in the effort doesn't guarantee youtube success. The vast majority will wash out long before they turn a profit.

Sounds like some people are bit jelly of young punks success. :B

Its a whole new world out there and imagination can make one rich on YT
See PewDiePie or MrBeast for example.
100 milion subs aint chopped liver Lol


Then there are people with real talent,

https://youtu.be/LwpbK4kwo9E

valhalla360 wrote:

JaxDad wrote:
I think you need to do a little research on how much money social media mavens and ‘influencers’ can (and do) make, in cold, hard CASH before you make yourself look a little silly in front of folks younger than us.

A friends son is one of those ‘almost tweakers’ who has a YouTube channel with well north of a million subscribers.

He clears US$10k ++ per month.

There are a small number who do quite well but what you describe is like saying acting is a great career choice because Harrison Ford makes millions for every movie he's ever in.

Well. at least he isn't calling them "tweakers"

Hard work gets you there. The ones who put in the effort, understand marketing, and have reasonable editing skills will make a go of it.

Don't like it, don't watch. There are other choices.

BackOfThePack,

Well, maybe south of I-20 works, but we're located around I-90! LOL

As an update: Apparently my wife's niece has broken up with her boyfriend with whom she was supposed to build the bus. Apparently she got the bus in the parting of the ways. She still has the bus and is currently "homeless" as they gave up their apartment. The bus is in my niece's driveway at the other end of the state from where she used to live and work. Their driveway is not that big and neither is their property in the city. I'm not sure how this story will end for her and the bus, but I'm guessing the idea of the project will be scrapped and the bus will eventually be towed away as salvage.

Again, thanks to those who commented with their experience. I will pass this along to her next time I see her...just in case she still wants to work on the project. :S

On a separate note, but within the topic of the thread, said niece's daughter at one time tried creating a YouTube content channel in hope of making the "big bucks". I'll say it nicely with a simple "it didn't work out so well". :R

~Rick

JaxDad wrote:
I think you need to do a little research on how much money social media mavens and ‘influencers’ can (and do) make, in cold, hard CASH before you make yourself look a little silly in front of folks younger than us.

A friends son is one of those ‘almost tweakers’ who has a YouTube channel with well north of a million subscribers.

He clears US$10k ++ per month.

There are a small number who do quite well but what you describe is like saying acting is a great career choice because Harrison Ford makes millions for every movie he's ever in.

Grit dog wrote:
In short, too many bleeding hearts whos heart strings get tugged at while watching tweakers or almost tweakers live the van life that actually support them and then give them a little hope that their money for nothing scheme actually will work indefinitely.
But they are a fad not a productive part of society.

I think you need to do a little research on how much money social media mavens and ‘influencers’ can (and do) make, in cold, hard CASH before you make yourself look a little silly in front of folks younger than us.

A friends son is one of those ‘almost tweakers’ who has a YouTube channel with well north of a million subscribers.

He clears US$10k ++ per month.

Lantley put it best. Most of these folks are just one step up from the motorhomeless around here since their junk mail und long enough to get out of town and they’re not beached down in SoDo or other homeless encampments and hangouts.
Nothing has changed, except technology. Always has been and always will be those who live their entire lives on handouts and refuse to actually work for a living.
Covid and technology just gave a bunch of them a “great” idea on how to still be completely irresponsible and possibly make money by publicizing their sad lives. (Actually reality shows started it before the Rona wave)
Some, of course, are actually real real cool ski bum types who are doing it wholly because they want to. Although they’ve learned to be cyber mooches as well. They used to just do it in person. Partying with ski bums in CO was great fun back in the day but generally they weren’t just hanging out with some random kids from Chicago because they thought they were cool. Theft and mooching was present back then too.

In short, too many bleeding hearts whos heart strings get tugged at while watching tweakers or almost tweakers live the van life that actually support them and then give them a little hope that their money for nothing scheme actually will work indefinitely.
But they are a fad not a productive part of society.

LMHS wrote:
The big deal is getting the lousy thing titled as a motorhome and getting insured. There is basically only one outfit that will insure a skoolie. A few others will but they often get the policies cancelled at some point (usually at the worst time).

…….

As for long term winter parking, try mobile home parks. And a lot of private campgrounds/rv/mh parks do not want a skoolie in their parks for long term stays.

I suspect both of those issues are because of the same issue, you touched on it in your post, unless these units are built to, and certified as complying with required standards, it’s usually illegal to insure them or allow them in a park.

OkieGene wrote:
it's lonely,

Boondocking for a weekend is one thing. Occasionally it's nice to get away from people. But the subset of full time boondockers is pretty small because most people aren't happy constantly being alone.

I think a lot of the youtubers do it because they don't have the funds to pay for a campground, so they wind up almost constantly in remote areas, stealth boondocking in urban areas or wallydocking...none of which make for good social atmospheres. Most people want to be social at least some of the time.

It also makes it more difficult to handle water, sewage, communications and power far beyond a typical RV in a campground.

So they wind up alone, constantly struggling to manage what should be simple day to day existence with no money...not surprising that many give up if their channel doesn't quickly spit out a lot of cash.

Rick Jay wrote:
My niece's daughter just got into the whole "Skoolie" thing. She and her boyfriend think they're going to save money over paying rent. They bought a good sized school bus and now they're fixing it up. Problem is, they're in Massachusetts. (Well...that's a problem for A LOT of reasons, but I'll stick to the weather related ones for now! LOL) Yup, winter is coming. There are very few campgrounds that are open during the winter, there are some cities & towns which don't even allow you to keep an RV on your property and many more that won't allow you to live in such a vehicle. I've winter camped in our RV several times. And our rig has dual pane windows and OK insulation. Their bus has neither. I can tell you it took A LOT of propane and electricity to keep the interior livable and water flowing, especially as the temps dipped into the single. Sadly, I suspect they are destined to be another couple who pumped gobs of money into such a project with grandiose dreams only to lose it all in the end. I hope not, for their sake. I guess time will tell.

I believe another reason it's so easy to sway today's youngster into ideas of this type is that the vast majority of students who graduate from high school in the U.S. have never taken a home economics course of any type. They don't have a clue of how to budget properly, how to prepare for the proverbial "rainy day", or even how to save so they're not living paycheck to paycheck. None of that is taught.

It makes them very vulnerable to the sales tactics of "It only costs you $xx dollars per month. You can afford another $xx dollars/month, can't you?" That's the way everything is sold now, with the final cost barely mentioned.

I'm not making excuses for them, but it is easy to see why it's not too hard to sway these youngsters into shaky deals.

As an aside, I went to this website: Finished Skoolies for Sale and can't believe the asking prices for most of the units for sale. In my opinion, they're not very attractive and even the cheapest of commercial RVs look better. I think many of them look like excursion buses you'd see in some South African nature show. LOL Regardless of how nice you make it look on the inside, from the outside, it looks like a school bus! Obviously, there's more to it than just looks. But still...if you buy one of these conversions, you have NO IDEA how anything was wired, plumbed, constructed and if it was done with any regards at all to safety. Let alone the engine and drivetrain components. It's just a wild shot in the dark.

Well, hopefully this will be a short-lived fad as folks realize that this is NOT a cheaper way to live for the vast majority of us.

~Rick

Works from Interstate 20 and south. Not so much getting north from there in regards some amount of year-round comfort. $500 ground rent and no utility cost. But RVs wear down faster and the rate of expenses is higher, with or without much travel.

It’s DIY or Bust as RV Techs almost don’t exist (a curious phenomenon), but then one must be auto mechanic, plumber, electrician, and carpenter to some extent.

Travel is funds-available. Too few make a study of what constitutes “efficiency” (storage capacities against fuel burn) and suffer for it. Nor is “self-containment” understood as it should be (nights aboard without forced re-supply of any sort).

It’s no great shakes to live in one while stationary, it’s another thing to successfully travel AND stay ahead of needed repairs (replace before failure; foreign-made appliances are all over the place on lifespan), THEN what constitutes “drivetrain” and vehicular road standards.

The marine industry has better components, but $600 water pumps and $1800 stove/ovens aren’t what RVers consider acceptable. A new set of best quality trailer tires every (3) years at $1,000, etc.

The current situation is a shake-out like those previous. $1/gal gasoline . . . who can afford THAT? (1979).

It’ll be a good time to trade UP in quality. A used Airstream or Oliver or Bigfoot. Something made decently. The AS also fits the bill on efficiency past having an indefinite lifespan. That last part pays for the rest. A lighter, more capable TV fits better than any pickup, as well.

“Paid for “ TT & TV covers most upcoming problems.

That’s the part which doesn’t work: Still paying for the RV rig and/or second car.

The rest can be dealt with as time & funds allow when the RV rig is bought outright. Temp or seasonal jobs can take the pressures off in order to travel several months of the year (and park for the more difficult or busy seasons).

.