Long distance purchase

Gdetrailer wrote:


For my TT, I bought a very old 1980s fixer for $700, gutted and rehabbed it myself, spent $4K in materials and have owned it for 10 yrs now..
A $200K RV for 10 yrs of ownership would have cost me $20K PER YR not including interest and other normal repairs..

That nearly $200K I would have spent on a RV went directly into my retirement investments which allows me to no longer HAVE to work.. Now all of my time is totally free to do what I want instead of working for the company.. No longer a slave to the time clock = PRICELESS!

Always helps to twist the numbers to something totally unrealistic to try to prove your way out of a story though...

But maybe I just haven't seen those $200k travel trailers you're using as an example. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've seen a $100k travel trailer. But I have seen alot of $10-30k travel trailers that might be a somewhat comparable albeit much nicer, and not $k in materials and countless hours as a fixer upper AND actually be made in this century.

That said, I agree with you in general and pretty much always search for the best overall "value". IE, last 2 campers, bought used (8-12 years old), used for a few years each, just basic maint for the most part and sold for more than purchase price.
Same ending, spent basically Zero $ on camper but had to spend money to save money. Less sweat equity in these.

Your approach is a very sound and responsible one that I admire and also try to emulate. If more people thought like you, less people would be broke, living week to week. It is just a bit unbecoming to appear to belittle someone else for buying a new travel trailer. And not necessarily financially irresponsible, given you know nothing about the OP's finances, want's or needs, or priorities. Nor is it any of yours or any of our business.