A budget of 50K a year

Berreez,

We are from MO as well and started this life of Full Timing last year (during transition from military). Our budget is about $40K/yr, but so far we've been able to put money away in savings (using less than the $40K). We too are very frugal and are doing the military FamCamp stays.

For the individual who stayed at Patrick AFB…don't know when you were there, but the park is MisManaged! No washers and dryers and NO WiFi (as promised). Also, the moving is "sketchy"…seems as though very unfair (some move, some don't)!

If you plan to stay at FamCamps, plan on $500/month…but as others have mentioned, fuel costs are your biggest contributor to the budget. If you are "rolling" you are paying! Staying for 1 month at a park usually gets you a reduced cost allowing you to save a little more for the moves.

We are planning a long road trip in the spring/summer with few nights at any one park. With the mileage of 7.5MPG in our gasser MH, we'll be paying a lot for moving. Therefore, we are looking for more Boondocking sites along our travels. Plan is to spend 3 nights boon docking and 2 nights in FamCamps! This should save us a lot.

Best wishes on the travels!

BTW: I'd love to have a DP vs gasser, but we found this rig at the right price for our first MH. Since we aren't "pulling" anything very heavy, the gasser works fine.

John&Joey wrote:

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Now dental is another matter. We are stuck with a plan which limits each person to approx $1,200 of work per year with high co-pays and a limited service schedule. At $57.78 per month.

We came to the conclusion that for what the insurance was paying out we were just as well off being self insured. To this date it has been a good decision on our part. Our dental habits have improved significantly knowing that we are now self insured :W

We did the same thing and we are ahead. Found a great dentist in Mesa that gives discount for paying by check, gives a range of options of what we could do, but know that we aren't interested in cosmetic. He also visits our RV park once a month to give people survey exams and answer questions.

Barb

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Now dental is another matter. We are stuck with a plan which limits each person to approx $1,200 of work per year with high co-pays and a limited service schedule. At $57.78 per month.

We came to the conclusion that for what the insurance was paying out we were just as well off being self insured. To this date it has been a good decision on our part. Our dental habits have improved significantly knowing that we are now self insured :W

Boxer Lovers wrote:
I hate to be the contrarian, but if you're limited to $50k and you blow a $30k diesel engine, you're in trouble by my calculations.

You're assuming that there is no savings that could be tapped or they don't have an extended warranty. We set up a maintenance/repair fund with 10% of the purchase price of our rig and have added to it each and every month. When something needs to be fixed, we fix it, when maintenance needs to be done with do it, when it is time to replace tires/batteries/whatever, we replace them. Fund keeps on growing.

Barb

One other point about Tricare.

My wife is a bit older than me - she has been on Tricare For Life, but I was on Tricare Prime until 1 Oct when my permanent address was dropped from Prime. Went to Standard for the next couple years.

The move to Tricare For Life is based on the covered person's age, not the sponsor's age.

Executive wrote:
2. Cost of health insurance...we have Medicare Plan A,B, and D. DW has dental. Mine is covered by my previous employer.

One of the OP benefits that actually work a bit is health coverage under Tricare. At age 65 we must use Medicare Part A & B, but Tricare For Life works as a great supplement. Prescription coverage is also excellent (Ours dropped from $2,800 per year copays with a major company plan to $250 per year under Tricare when I left that Fortune 100 company).

Military retirees don't need Medicare Advantage or Part D.

Now dental is another matter. We are stuck with a plan which limits each person to approx $1,200 of work per year with high co-pays and a limited service schedule. At $57.78 per month.

berreez wrote:

John&Joey wrote:
Sounds like you don't have to worry about this, but health care costs are a big part of the budget. Are all members covered?

Yes, we are covered through Tricare Prime. Once I hit 65 it then changes over to Tricare for Life. Both of us are in good health and working towards improving it as we speak.

If you're going to be on the road 9 months out of the year, you may want to consider dropping the Prime and going with standard. It will save a lot of phone calls back to your PCM and put a few more bucks back in your pocket. I've been fulltiming since '06 and haven't had any problems with Standard/Extra.

Boxer Lovers wrote:
I hate to be the contrarian, but if you're limited to $50k and you blow a $30k diesel engine, you're in trouble by my calculations.

I agree with this statement. I would plan to have a reserve of $ 10,000 for a gasser and $ 30,000 for a diesel in case you do have a catastrophic failure. It does happen, not often but be prepared. Invest the reserve and hopefully the gains will outpace the repairs!

This is also my budget, around 50,000 and planing on a MH. I have a house and a small cottage. I might sell the cottage since I go there less and less.

I should be able to survive, and traveling is one of my main activity. I am looking at around $60000 for a used MH and I should be able to pay it in 3 years after selling a few things. My morgage would be around 800 a month for those three years, then after it should be gravy!!!

$50,000/year is a high budget. Many full-timers get by with a much smaller budget, including us with a diesel. :)

It all depends on your current spending habits as to how you can save while full-timing. There are many ways of saving. Things that really add up: restaurants, attraction entrance fees, expensive RV parks, telephones/internet plans, etc. You can also save a lot by volunteering and it makes you feel good to boot. Good luck!!

Some of the larger costs of fulltiming:

1. Cost of fuel...depending on how you want to see the country.
2. Cost of health insurance...we have Medicare Plan A,B, and D. DW has dental. Mine is covered by my previous employer.
3. Cost of insurance coverage...fulltimers insurance is higher than regular insurance as it includes liability similar to home insurance. Cost is reduced by having another vehicle covered (toad) with diminishing deductibles. FMCA saves you 5% from National Insurance...others probably similar.

IMHO, these costs are offset by no yard work, no pool cleaning service, no garage clean outs and no snow shoveling...:B:B.....Dennis