Hello, Please excuse the screen name but my Landlord just raised my rent to $3,500.00 month. I would like to stop renting and do this to save up money to buy a house outright. I have an SUV with a V8 Engine and want to by a Travel Trailer. Is there a website that lets me search by options? I need: 1) Satellite Internet2) AC3) Separate Shower4) Kitchenetc. etc. etc. I don't know what I'm doing. The plan is to live in this thing and drive around the country for a year. But I need a map of places I can park it, empty it, fill it etc. I will be office working on the road I need electricity and internet. Most important is a place to park it around the country. I don't know anything about any of this. Does anyone have any resource links they could share for maps etc?

can rent a cheap apartment somewhere else and come out way ahead. 1000 a month is easy in a lot of places (potentially less) trailers depreciate insanely fast especially when being used full time. They need constant maintenance and towing them burns a lot of fuel. Full time RVing can be great but its not the best way to save money. That said if you want to go this way look out for your limits. What V8 SUV are you towing with? whats its payload? Sticker inside drivers door will tell us. I KNOW I wouldn't be able to live in my camper with all my stuff long term and have weight numbers anywhere near what any of my V8 suvs could have handled. Heck don't know I could do it with my half ton pickup. Whatever you do, good luck.

If you want to save money on rent, get out of California area. You can go thousands of places in the midwest for $1,000.00± a month rent. You are not going to buy a Travel Trailer, pay lot rent, and get anywhere near decent internet service for that kind of money.

Are you tied to LA? There are wheels under those units for a reason. If your idea in buying one is to stay in LA full time consider what the parking will cost you in both time and money. If your dream is to stealth camp, you will be hounded by police home owners, and business owners daily. If your location of choice is the local WalMart apartment complex, go to one, and check out your neighbors. Is that how you want to live? If you are looking at leaving LA and truly going mobile, then you will find many options, that even a modest tow vehicle can handle, for example the 192rb Freedom Express models from Coachmen are towable by SUV type vehicles.If you are going to travel, some resources would be RV ParkyUltimate campgroundsUS CampgroundsOne of the members here has a youtube channel that does videos of some areas and has one on finding campsites you may find helpful. Finding campsites videoGood luck

An SUV and a V-8 won't cut it. Most SUV's have a very low tow rating because they are unibody construction. They don't have a frame. For a full timer you will need at least a 1/2 ton PU and ideally a 3/4 ton.

If you are in Los Angeles go look at some RVs. Dealerships, shows, and the like. Get an idea what is out there. Then get a real tow vehicle and buy used. Don't go too big.

New - Buying a Tralier - No Clue What I'm Doing

CFerguson
Explorer II
Jun 19, 2019
troubledwaters wrote:
CFerguson wrote:
Jebby14 wrote:

big difference between pulling your camper to the campground and towing AND carrying ALL of your stuff. I don't know about you but I leave a ton of stuff at home when I go camping given its only temporary. If I was living out of my rig I would need way more than I bring and that's without all the extras to make being on the road long term possible. Tools alone would use a few hundred lbs as would the battery setup.

I see no way this is cheaper than a reasonable apartment in a reasonable part of the country

Apparently you travel a LOT heavier than I do. Realize too that the OP seems to be willing to stay in one place.

Wish he would come back and kick around all the ideas expressed, but I still think Workamping may be a good option for him. Spend a few hours a day doing chores leaving him time for his regular internet work- cuts out the biggest recurring expenses (site, utilities, gasoline).
If he has to work two jobs to pay the rent (workcamping) then he is still a "RentSlave".

Sometimes folks have to work more than 1 job (albeit even a part time one) to get what they want. Life can be unfair. I personally had to work 80 hours a week during crunch times and have lived my life emotionally scarred from the experience. (not)

I wish OP would come back and discuss some of our ideas so we could better tailor our responses.
troubledwaters
Explorer III
Jun 18, 2019
CFerguson wrote:
Jebby14 wrote:

big difference between pulling your camper to the campground and towing AND carrying ALL of your stuff. I don't know about you but I leave a ton of stuff at home when I go camping given its only temporary. If I was living out of my rig I would need way more than I bring and that's without all the extras to make being on the road long term possible. Tools alone would use a few hundred lbs as would the battery setup.

I see no way this is cheaper than a reasonable apartment in a reasonable part of the country

Apparently you travel a LOT heavier than I do. Realize too that the OP seems to be willing to stay in one place.

Wish he would come back and kick around all the ideas expressed, but I still think Workamping may be a good option for him. Spend a few hours a day doing chores leaving him time for his regular internet work- cuts out the biggest recurring expenses (site, utilities, gasoline).
If he has to work two jobs to pay the rent (workcamping) then he is still a "RentSlave".
Jebby14
Explorer
Jun 18, 2019
I see NO way you could workcamp cheaper than rent an apartment. 1000 bucks a month is wasy to find. much less if you look. Heck across the river from me in Detroit houses can be BOUGHT by paying the back taxes. Good luck pricing that in an rv that you don't own while maintaining reliable internet and staying up with maintenance. rv payment alone will be near thet when you factor in how fast it will get trashed.
CFerguson
Explorer II
Jun 18, 2019
Jebby14 wrote:

big difference between pulling your camper to the campground and towing AND carrying ALL of your stuff. I don't know about you but I leave a ton of stuff at home when I go camping given its only temporary. If I was living out of my rig I would need way more than I bring and that's without all the extras to make being on the road long term possible. Tools alone would use a few hundred lbs as would the battery setup.

I see no way this is cheaper than a reasonable apartment in a reasonable part of the country

Apparently you travel a LOT heavier than I do. Realize too that the OP seems to be willing to stay in one place.

Wish he would come back and kick around all the ideas expressed, but I still think Workamping may be a good option for him. Spend a few hours a day doing chores leaving him time for his regular internet work- cuts out the biggest recurring expenses (site, utilities, gasoline).
Jebby14
Explorer
Jun 18, 2019
my mortgage is less than half that on a nice 3=1 2 bath with a pool.........
and I live in expensive Canada.
troubledwaters
Explorer III
Jun 18, 2019
rexlion wrote:
gmw photos wrote:
Dragging a travel trailer around the country is not a way so save money, it's a way to spend money.

Yeah, but $3500 per month will go a long way toward the expenses of RV travel. That said, if the OP isn't crazy about traveling he'd be better off getting a house or apartment in some other part of the country; there are so many places where he could do that for less than $1000 per month. I have a friend who took a ministry position at a church in a small town about halfway between Tulsa and OKC, and he's renting a 3BR house set on an acre in the woods for $350... an anomaly, I'll admit, but the bargains are out there.
If the only thing he has been exposed to is CA, then $3500 is his reality. You don't know what you don't know. He probably has no concept of how bad he is being screwed, and it's not just rent.
rexlion
Explorer
Jun 18, 2019
gmw photos wrote:
Dragging a travel trailer around the country is not a way so save money, it's a way to spend money.

Yeah, but $3500 per month will go a long way toward the expenses of RV travel. That said, if the OP isn't crazy about traveling he'd be better off getting a house or apartment in some other part of the country; there are so many places where he could do that for less than $1000 per month. I have a friend who took a ministry position at a church in a small town about halfway between Tulsa and OKC, and he's renting a 3BR house set on an acre in the woods for $350... an anomaly, I'll admit, but the bargains are out there.
ppine
Explorer II
Jun 18, 2019
RVs are used in all kinds of ways. They can be expensive, fuel ineffecient, and expensive to park.

Or at the end of their lives, they can be cheap and parked and lived in full time by people with little money.
gmw_photos
Explorer
Jun 18, 2019
Dragging a travel trailer around the country is not a way so save money, it's a way to spend money.
sgfrye
Explorer
Jun 18, 2019
rbpru wrote:
As a rule trailers are meant for part time leisure occupancy. Those who are full time have the gear and experience needed.

good point here. wife and i are experienced rv'ers and have traveled all over the east coast north and south. we are not experienced enough to full-time even though we have the equipment

Forum Discussion

New - Buying a Tralier - No Clue What I'm Doing

About Travel Trailer Group

Related Content

Looking for a DYI forum or site for travel traliers

Buying first RV--- doing research

What do I do??

If buying a used Class C - what not to do

What Do You do?