A wild idea......

[CindyBR777]

I have posted here some for the past few years and always come here to find answers, because I'm not privy to the fact that alot of people know more than I do. So I really value the opinions here and am always sure that someone has excellent advice. Ok here is my idea...and I say MY not my sweet hubby. He is the ponderer and the thinker and the one that usually has the ultimate say so. And this may be lenghthy so please forgive me, but I feel I need to give some background first. Im an explainer.....

We work for the same appraisel firm. It is pretty high stress at times. No very stressful!! Our company is very good to us. Insurance is paid, we get paid well and for the most part we can pretty much work our schedules like we want as long as our 8 hrs are paid to the company everyday. If we want to take off early, we can. Work the extra to take off, etc. But like everyone else that works a high stress situation, we are tired. We are in our early 50's and are working to build our 401k up to retire so we can full-time. We are looking at about 7 yrs max before we retire. We have the big house on the lake all the perks that go with it and we pay for it. We have no kids at home and they all live close to us so no need in having this big 2 story house and all the responsibilities that go with it. My husband works all weekend just to take care of the outside and make sure it looks good.
We try to take at least 2 weekends a month to go RVing and on those weekends we are different people. We sleep better, we feel better, we exercise, we are totally different people. Here is my thought....

We have alot of nice RV parks around us in east texas. They are all easy driving distance to work. Why can't we sell out, live in our RV, travel around our work place, still work, save the extra money and get ready for retirement...possibly even sooner?? Has anyone ever done this? We are much much happier in our little space with our pups. It would be a little adventure until we could get to the BIG one!! So tell me what you think. Would you do it??

[kakampers]

CindyBR777 wrote:
I understand what you are saying (rockhillmanor). We do not have a motorhome we have a fifth-wheel and we don't have any intentions on just sitting. There are alot of parks in a 45 mi radius of our work. Nice parks. Why not try them all out? We could park at one for 2 months or if we didn't want to stay that long move to another and so forth and so on. Instead of going across country we are are going across several counties! haha! Like I said..a small adventure before we hit the big one! I know that it isn't a perfect idea but it's not a bad one either.

So, what are you waiting for?? I'd be living in the RV while getting the house ready for sale...oh, wait...already did that! Go for it and don't look back...we've been fulltime for eight years! Life is too short.

[CindyBR777]

And another thing....I have no intentions of sitting in my office until I'm 70 or wait until my husband has another heart attack to be able to eliminate a little stress in our everyday life. He needs it more than I do. There is more to the story as we all have one...but for us..I feel like it's a grand idea.

[CindyBR777]

I understand what you are saying (rockhillmanor). We do not have a motorhome we have a fifth-wheel and we don't have any intentions on just sitting. There are alot of parks in a 45 mi radius of our work. Nice parks. Why not try them all out? We could park at one for 2 months or if we didn't want to stay that long move to another and so forth and so on. Instead of going across country we are are going across several counties! haha! Like I said..a small adventure before we hit the big one! I know that it isn't a perfect idea but it's not a bad one either.

[rockhillmanor]

We are in our early 50's and are working to build our 401k up to retire so we can full-time. We are looking at about 7 yrs max before we retire. We have the big house on the lake all the perks that go with it and we pay for it.

If you buy a MH and park it and let it sit and sink at a CG for 7 years you may as well call the junk yard and have it towed away when it comes time to hit the road. And you will be back at square one financially regarding the investment on the RV/MH.

Regarding your stick built home. Yes the market is on it's way up ever so slowly but it still is depressed and still plenty of foreclosures still out there keeping the market flooded with real cheap homes for the buyer.

Now is certainly not the time to sell a house. If you waited those 7 years to sell your home my guess is you will net 2 to 3 times more for it.

So I guess it's really a matter of crunching the $number$ first before the fun feeling of full timing! :W

[loulou57]

Now you need only "one good reason" why you shouldn't!

Enjoy!

[Dog_Folks]

CindyBR777 wrote:
Oh I am not ignorant to the fact that there will be adjustments to be made. As with everything in life you have to make adjustments to certain things. The thing is, there have been times that we have camped close to work and gone to work and gone back to the park. So we know what has to be done in that aspect. I assure you, I know that it will not all be wonderful. But I dont think it will be far from it!

You are right. The lifestyle is not perfect, but I gotta say it is as close to heaven we are going to get without dying!!!

[CindyBR777]

Oh I am not ignorant to the fact that there will be adjustments to be made. As with everything in life you have to make adjustments to certain things. The thing is, there have been times that we have camped close to work and gone to work and gone back to the park. So we know what has to be done in that aspect. I assure you, I know that it will not all be wonderful. But I dont think it will be far from it!

[accsys]

Let me play devil's advocate a little. How close are you now to contributing the max to your 401K - that's 23,000 each if you are both over 50? If you are close, you will not be able to add much by reducing your living expenses, though you will be able to invest in other non-tax advantaged opportunities which can be useful since it will allow you to reduce how much you take out of your taxable 401Ks after retirement, reducing you post-retirement tax load. I will assume your home is worth less now than it was 8 years ago so hanging on to it a while longer may be useful. Financially you may or may not be better off without the house.

It sounds like both of you are professionals. Working, and getting ready for work, from an RV will be more stressful than a home with large bedrooms and double sinks in the bathroom or even separate bathrooms. I am not familiar with your RV but I would imagine its bathroom will fit in the shower area of you bathroom at home. Try it in the RV for a month to see if you can survive getting ready in the morning. You may find that is more stressful than what you are experiencing now. :B As professional, you also require many more clothes than what most RVs will handle and their maintenance has to be considered as well.

Now if you sell the house and your current RV and purchase a 45 foot DP with two baths, etc., you may find it more doable but I cannot imagine the two of us getting ready for work in the morning in our 1½ bath 40 footer. Enjoying an RV while relaxing and working from it are two entirely different things.

Just a couple of items to think about.

[D_E_Bishop]

"We try to take at least 2 weekends a month to go RVing and on those weekends we are different people. We sleep better, we feel better, we exercise, we are totally different people".

I agree with how you feel, We spent ten weeks together in our rig a couple of years ago and as a couple we were so much more attentive and caring to one another. It even happens when we're camped for a few days, it seems to me life gets in the way of togetherness. We've been catching up on over thirty years of deferred maintenance on our home and it keeps us very busy and tired. We don't "take the time" to be together like we do when the biggest chore we have is buying gas for the Bounder. I even like preping the rig for travel after storage for a month or so, the DW comes with me and she relaxes while I putter, it's great.

So there are more of us than you realize that think like you do.

[Lantley]

Sounds like a great idea. My only con is that currently your RV is your refuge and your escape from the rat race.
If you decide to live in the RV full time will into continue to be that refuge?

[Jayco-noslide]

No reason you couldn't. However, 1 thing to consider is that your home should continue to increase in value while your RV will continue to depreciate and will have to be replaced eventually and won't have a lot of value in 8 or 10 years. Maybe not an issue if your financial outlook is good. But my point is that full time RVing may not be as economical in the long run as some think.

[CindyBR777]

First of all, I do not want to keep our house. It's two big for two people and we never even go upstairs...EVER!! So it's rediculous to keep something that we are paying and enormous mortgage on when it's not being used! Secondly, yes we know how much we will save, and yes it will be extremely worth it. That's the whole idea..to beef up savings and our 401k and pay off what little debt we have and save save save. Thirdly, even though we work in the same office building we rarely see each other. My husband and I have been together for 34 yrs. We are best of friends. We get along extremely well. So that is a mute issue. Fourthly, we have camped more than just weekends. We have gone on exteneded trips alot and we know we like each other and living in our camper. Someone said to me one time. If you dread going home, then you know you are a full-timer. I dread going home. I want to live in my camper. As well as my husband. So I really don't think any of the concerns listed above pertain to us. But how are we to know if we don't try? If it doesn't work out, we'll buy a townhome or a condo somewhere and then decide what to do after retirement.

[Dog_Folks]

CindyBR777 wrote:
#1-He doesn't enjoy yard work. We have to keep everything beautiful because we live in a gated community and the HOA requires you to keep it looking a certain way.
#2-He wants to do it as much as I do.
#3-We do not entertain nor like to entertain.
#4-We love our RV and it will have to do until we decide in a few years on our full-time rig. We take great care of it and are not in extreme weather so it will just have to work.

That should answer some questions. Haha!

IMHO I would say GO for It!!

[Roy_Lynne]

You both work together, would close quarter living together be an issue. I mean really close, where privacy is just not there.
Have you crunched the numbers. Do you really think you will be saving any money by doing this. There will be extra expenses involved like keeping a tin can air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. How much will you really save.

[rockportrocket]

LOL with the moolah you will save, you can buy 3 new Fivers .