HhhmMMMmmm. I can tell you a class a 40' gas can be had for 10 to 15 k here in the northern areas.......decent used 5vr packages in the same ball park.
If you take into account what you spend for monthly housing cost now on average that will not change, only the way you spend it out........my worry is that your leaving out without income. if you finance your equipment new or used you will add this immediately to your monthly overhead.... Is your husband a Contractor, do either of you have immediate means to keep some type of income coming in.
I am by no means trying to talk you out of it.....I started out with a backpack and sleeping bag and never looked back, I just want to make sure your dream doesnt turn into a nitemare . We all have seen within the campgrounds Families that had poor planning became stuck with no where to go.
Just thinking about cost for a family of 4 with Debt headed out in costs. the minimum needed would be around 3k a month.......suggestion would be is to pick an area for the move.......put out some job apps........and use the coach as the move ,then take the new job as the commitment to pay off the unit and lower the debt load back down.Before heading back out.
I wish I knew a little more about you and your actual situation
you dont need alot in the bank to make this work,,but you dont need to owe the bank to much either
are you going to be traveling only within canada or or you coming state side........
this is just a few thoughts...........Remember....RV dreams are all about the beauty and wonderful things traveling has to offer, but it can have its downfalls too!!!................
make a plan, look for the "what if's" find out what it is going to take and apply it and know it is going to work...........then and only then start looking for a coach to pull out of the driveway..........remember if you pull out of that driveway and that lifestyle its going to take as much effort to pull back into another one. and you have your whole family onboard
-- Edited by Lucky Mike on Tuesday 13th of November 2012 05:32:23 PM
Lucky Mike said
07:51 PM Nov 13, 2012
now it sounds like a decent plan...........I would say a coach of decent size with slides in your area could be had in the 20k area.......keeping its age in the early 2000 area........less if you want to go without slides and keep it no older than 95............if your just going to do as you say and basically go into a trial mode and not really change anything but "the front door and the view" its very doable and thow in alot of boondocking and camping with a frugal budget....and even your debt level should go down. online dietician I think would do well , I pay a dietician now to balance my medical diets and it is all done online and some of my foods are purchased thru her also.....(all the food is dropshipped , so she collects a percentage without stocking!!)
I now feel better knowing your start point, and yes there are a few kinks to work out. and alot of research to secure a workable plan....but what you have now is a foundation to work from.
do your finacial planning first.......figure out a good budget, that is more than practical and build in a safe margin so you wont over extend yourself....................Remember if you make 40 k a year without a budget you will safely spend 40k a year.......make a budget and track every dollar spent and you can save 15k a year easy!!!!
-- Edited by Lucky Mike on Tuesday 13th of November 2012 07:53:31 PM
momyfor2 said
11:59 PM Nov 13, 2012
I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to reply to my message.
We have been dreaming to do this for so long...and I mean years...looking back on our life , I can say today that we are in our better stage money wise, if one can say that...all in the right proportion of course, but still we are not in a position of having spare funds available for fun stuff too much.
We are in our 40's and we don't really want to wait to our 60's to do it , and since we really did not see any change money wise in the last years, unless we are going to win the lottery , I don't see a big change soon, again money wise...
We came to Canada 10 years ago, it was also a "suicide" step, we came just the 4 of us and 3 dogs...no family here, no friends, no one! We were young, with 2 small kids, but we knew if we wait -we will never do it. And although all the hard times, and there were plenty of them(!) we truly believe that we did the right thing.
Then we moved a province, about 7 months ago, again a decision that was made on the spot, and as soon as we arranged the funds for that we moved. It took us 2 weeks to do it. Once again, looking back, if we stayed , our situation was probably stayed the same , maybe even worse. We are very happy now.
And now this dream...going full time rving...that we have been dreaming of for so ling, and the whole family is on the same page here. We have 2 wonderful girls, 16 and 19 year old respectfully and they are thrilled about it, sometimes I think more than us...
I do have the concerns of the 19 year old, in terms of maybe this will hold back her life somehow, and I am still thinking how to solve this issue. Since we are new here she has no friends here, just a job she can quit is she wants to.Nothing special. And she is an artist, so she can do it from the way, where ever we are.
So it brings us back to square one- the money...it is always the money...
As said, we have no house to sell, nor saving accounts, so it has to be financed , probably for the full amount. We will have few thousands as a saving till we do it, but we will leave it for emergencies, and not using it towards the purchasing.
I can't purchase from second hand as I need finance, so it has to be through dealer, to buy used one with finance.
Looking on our income, I don't really see a big change soon....so it is to jump to the water or stay on the same spot..
Everyone tells me don't over think about it , just do it, and then the more cautious replies that advise me to deal first with the money issues, as rving with debts is not really fin, and i agree.
It is just that I can't see how it is going to improve, as we pay rent and utilities that cost a lot, and plus the daily necessities, there is not much left to save...so we thought that maybe going rv will produce 2 factors...1.we will pursue our dream and 2. we will be able to save a little.
We did not plan to buy a class A motorhome, those giant and beautiful ones, we planned on something smaller and old, just as a start. I think that less than 26' is too small for a 4 person family and 2 dogs.
So this is the situation right now and we are confused...so please feel free to reply with what ever you think that might be helpful for us . We will be more than happy to hear any comment based on your rich experience, and we are sure that it will very helpful for us.
Thank you all!
momyfor2 said
03:25 AM Nov 14, 2012
Hi Mike,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story and to reply, I appreciate it.
Our plans are to start the rving this spring, around May when winter is over, so we could enjoy it more here in the summer, and have more options to boondock and save a little for the winter after.
Meanwhile we can't leave the area we are living at right now, which is Alberta, Calgary area, as my husband works in Calgary full time job and we can't leave work till we know what is next...so in anyway, during the spring we plan to stay here in the Calgary area till the next winter, around Oct, or Nov2013.
We planned to boondock most of the times, leave for weekends to feel it more and do actual rving, and then during week days just basically boondock here and there in the Calgary area, while my husband still works full time in Calgary.
We thought that starting in spring for around half year would give us a chance to see what is rv, if we sort of like it and get along with it. We never tried rv before...
We don't want to spend money on renting rv to try, and have no one to borrow it from to try.
Then when winter comes, we are hoping to have a better idea of rving, if we like it or not, and what about the work, and determine then if we want to continue rving, stay in Canada rving , leave to USA for the winter, or just quit and go back to rental...(that makes me sad).
We plan to have around the $6k as something aside, for emergency, only while we are still here and my husband still works full time, so that means a full income still enters every month. The emergency is for god forbidden if he gets fired which you never know...
We have a network marketing business we are building as well to back us with the income situation.
We have no family here in Canada that can help us in any way, that means we will have to put our stuff in storage and pay it monthly, and if something happens we have no back up. That part is scary but we are kind of used to it, as we came here to Canada all by ourselves 10 years ago and made our way till today.
Since we are new here in this province we don't really have friends either, so basically we need to think 10 times on every step before we make it to be on the safe side.
I don't mean to say that we should be dependent on other people, but I think that the normal person has some kind of family or friend to get some help in bad times, we don't have this privilege. That is why it is easier for us to just leave a place, no obligations.
I have 2 teen girls, age 16 and 19 that are thrilled to do it as well, however we need to see how they will feel after the spring.
I have also 2 dogs with me, but that is the easy part...
My husband used to work in construction, more the residential renovation I would say, so this is something he can do aside if needed, depends where we will be and if opportunities come.
I am a dietitian and plan to start a business online, but this is just an idea and will take time, if any at all, till will generate some income. Meanwhile we need to rely on my husband's income, and stay here in the Calgary area.
We currently have a van which we plan to trade in for a small family car and buy with cash, so no loan on it. But this will work only if we buy a motorhome as we have no pick up truck.
So if we plan to buy trailer or fifth wheel, we would need a pick up truck and a trailer or fifth wheel to finance, which will be a big loan to handle. That is why we thought to buy small car with cash, and finance the motorhome with almost 100% finance. We plan to stay with in the $30k or less for motorhome, that leaves us with few options.
That is our story, in short, if we can say short...I hope that helps a little. If you would like to know more, just ask me, I would be more than happy to provide any info that would help you guys to help me to decide...
I know it is a personal decision and it is hard for an outsider, especially a person who has never known us, to make any decision, but I am asking for your input based on your experience and I am sure you must have a lot more than me...Basically any info and input would be helpful for us.
Thank you for taking the time to read my long message, I appreciate your time, and am hoping to hearing back from you.
Have a great evening!
momyfor2 said
04:19 AM Nov 14, 2012
Hi Mike,
Thank you for your quick reply, that was very kind of you.
I do have few questions for you , if you don't mind.
1. You say to buy a motorhome no older than 95. Why? Is it too old and won't be good enough, or the floor plans will be bad , what is the reason ?
2. When you say in the $20k area, what size of the motorhome do you mean?
3. What size of motorhome would you recommend us for a size of family as ours?
4. Is there a specific brand name of motorhomes that you would recommend to buy from? I know that some are less good, but I don't know which ones...
Thank you so much for your help, time and efforts to help us! That is very kind of you!
Have a great evening!
Sharon
Lucky Mike said
05:19 AM Nov 14, 2012
Ok a found a few in the Edmonton area 32 -36 ft.....Im hoping the prices are in Canadian and not USD.....found a really nice older diesel at 11,500......that is a great deal.........with 4 people though we are going to need 3 sleeping areas.....so normally you have bedroom, table booth , & jacknife coach or pullout......this means kinda cramp in the am in the living area.....I would suggest an awning Add a room to give you more portable living space ...
momyfor2 said
05:51 AM Nov 14, 2012
Hi Mike,
Thank you for the reply.
So you would suggest me to go with 32-36 ft as a start. Ok. Now is it better diesel or gas?
What do you think about toy hauler? Our 19 year old is an artist and we thought of looking for a toy hauler that we can use the back space as a mini studio for her art. Do toy haulers count as good ones; do you have any experience with them?
Is buying a model that is older than 95 will be a mistake and if so why?
We are kind of stuck with buying from dealers, used rv's, as we need finance, and it makes it harder to buy second hand out there. We have no way to loan from the bank so we would need finance from the dealers, which is why we are stuck to dealers and not private sales. Complicated...
Thank you so much! Have a great evening!
Lucky Mike said
07:06 AM Nov 14, 2012
95 is the year at this time I lock out at only because anything I buy is an investment.....I prefer a return on my investments but hate taking a loss.
95 five would put the coach at 17 years old....if it has high miles, That means its ready for problems and some of them are likely to not be minor.
if it has super low miles, it sat first thing I would do is be looking real hard underneath for frame and support rot, delamination on fiberglass and condensation issues. unless it was stored indoors, you are in the greater north which has some pretty abusive wet weather a simple pinhole in the skin allows moisture in then it freezes and expands.condensation will create frost heaves. plastics and metals contract and expand..........not to mention if you dont run the motor and transmission seals start to dry out. bearings start to corrode & dry out....
these are things to watch for not to scare you off.........the more you know the less you miss!!!!
as far as a toy hauler.....that is a personal preference , you will look at alot of floor plans until you narrow it down to the type that will work for you.
as far as one brand being better than another..........We all would love to be driving a Provost Quad slide, but most start used with a 600k pricetag and new 1.5 to 2 million!!!! LOL
what you can afford will again dictate what you will buy.
gas over diesel my opinion........gas engine over 100,k is getting ready for a new drive train.......diesel over 100,k is just broke in and ready to go!!!!.........again it will depend on your budget, there is a big difference in price between the 2
this is only my opinion........the dog tends to snore when Im talking to her, so take in only so much of it.......and hopefully it will make you research harder!!!
momyfor2 said
07:14 AM Nov 14, 2012
Hi Mike,
Thank you so much, it is very kind of you!!!!!
I will share all this info with my husband and will continue with my research as well. I hope we will make our decision soon.
HhhmMMMmmm. I can tell you a class a 40' gas can be had for 10 to 15 k here in the northern areas.......decent used 5vr packages in the same ball park.
If you take into account what you spend for monthly housing cost now on average that will not change, only the way you spend it out........my worry is that your leaving out without income. if you finance your equipment new or used you will add this immediately to your monthly overhead.... Is your husband a Contractor, do either of you have immediate means to keep some type of income coming in.
I am by no means trying to talk you out of it.....I started out with a backpack and sleeping bag and never looked back, I just want to make sure your dream doesnt turn into a nitemare . We all have seen within the campgrounds Families that had poor planning became stuck with no where to go.
Just thinking about cost for a family of 4 with Debt headed out in costs. the minimum needed would be around 3k a month.......suggestion would be is to pick an area for the move.......put out some job apps........and use the coach as the move ,then take the new job as the commitment to pay off the unit and lower the debt load back down.Before heading back out.
I wish I knew a little more about you and your actual situation
you dont need alot in the bank to make this work,,but you dont need to owe the bank to much either
are you going to be traveling only within canada or or you coming state side........
this is just a few thoughts...........Remember....RV dreams are all about the beauty and wonderful things traveling has to offer, but it can have its downfalls too!!!................
make a plan, look for the "what if's" find out what it is going to take and apply it and know it is going to work...........then and only then start looking for a coach to pull out of the driveway..........remember if you pull out of that driveway and that lifestyle its going to take as much effort to pull back into another one. and you have your whole family onboard
-- Edited by Lucky Mike on Tuesday 13th of November 2012 05:32:23 PM
now it sounds like a decent plan...........I would say a coach of decent size with slides in your area could be had in the 20k area.......keeping its age in the early 2000 area........less if you want to go without slides and keep it no older than 95............if your just going to do as you say and basically go into a trial mode and not really change anything but "the front door and the view" its very doable and thow in alot of boondocking and camping with a frugal budget....and even your debt level should go down. online dietician I think would do well , I pay a dietician now to balance my medical diets and it is all done online and some of my foods are purchased thru her also.....(all the food is dropshipped , so she collects a percentage without stocking!!)
I now feel better knowing your start point, and yes there are a few kinks to work out. and alot of research to secure a workable plan....but what you have now is a foundation to work from.
do your finacial planning first.......figure out a good budget, that is more than practical and build in a safe margin so you wont over extend yourself....................Remember if you make 40 k a year without a budget you will safely spend 40k a year.......make a budget and track every dollar spent and you can save 15k a year easy!!!!
-- Edited by Lucky Mike on Tuesday 13th of November 2012 07:53:31 PM
I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to reply to my message.
We have been dreaming to do this for so long...and I mean years...looking back on our life , I can say today that we are in our better stage money wise, if one can say that...all in the right proportion of course, but still we are not in a position of having spare funds available for fun stuff too much.
We are in our 40's and we don't really want to wait to our 60's to do it , and since we really did not see any change money wise in the last years, unless we are going to win the lottery , I don't see a big change soon, again money wise...
We came to Canada 10 years ago, it was also a "suicide" step, we came just the 4 of us and 3 dogs...no family here, no friends, no one! We were young, with 2 small kids, but we knew if we wait -we will never do it. And although all the hard times, and there were plenty of them(!) we truly believe that we did the right thing.
Then we moved a province, about 7 months ago, again a decision that was made on the spot, and as soon as we arranged the funds for that we moved. It took us 2 weeks to do it. Once again, looking back, if we stayed , our situation was probably stayed the same , maybe even worse. We are very happy now.
And now this dream...going full time rving...that we have been dreaming of for so ling, and the whole family is on the same page here. We have 2 wonderful girls, 16 and 19 year old respectfully and they are thrilled about it, sometimes I think more than us...
I do have the concerns of the 19 year old, in terms of maybe this will hold back her life somehow, and I am still thinking how to solve this issue. Since we are new here she has no friends here, just a job she can quit is she wants to.Nothing special. And she is an artist, so she can do it from the way, where ever we are.
So it brings us back to square one- the money...it is always the money...
As said, we have no house to sell, nor saving accounts, so it has to be financed , probably for the full amount. We will have few thousands as a saving till we do it, but we will leave it for emergencies, and not using it towards the purchasing.
I can't purchase from second hand as I need finance, so it has to be through dealer, to buy used one with finance.
Looking on our income, I don't really see a big change soon....so it is to jump to the water or stay on the same spot..
Everyone tells me don't over think about it , just do it, and then the more cautious replies that advise me to deal first with the money issues, as rving with debts is not really fin, and i agree.
It is just that I can't see how it is going to improve, as we pay rent and utilities that cost a lot, and plus the daily necessities, there is not much left to save...so we thought that maybe going rv will produce 2 factors...1.we will pursue our dream and 2. we will be able to save a little.
We did not plan to buy a class A motorhome, those giant and beautiful ones, we planned on something smaller and old, just as a start. I think that less than 26' is too small for a 4 person family and 2 dogs.
So this is the situation right now and we are confused...so please feel free to reply with what ever you think that might be helpful for us . We will be more than happy to hear any comment based on your rich experience, and we are sure that it will very helpful for us.
Thank you all!
Hi Mike,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story and to reply, I appreciate it.
Our plans are to start the rving this spring, around May when winter is over, so we could enjoy it more here in the summer, and have more options to boondock and save a little for the winter after.
Meanwhile we can't leave the area we are living at right now, which is Alberta, Calgary area, as my husband works in Calgary full time job and we can't leave work till we know what is next...so in anyway, during the spring we plan to stay here in the Calgary area till the next winter, around Oct, or Nov2013.
We planned to boondock most of the times, leave for weekends to feel it more and do actual rving, and then during week days just basically boondock here and there in the Calgary area, while my husband still works full time in Calgary.
We thought that starting in spring for around half year would give us a chance to see what is rv, if we sort of like it and get along with it. We never tried rv before...
We don't want to spend money on renting rv to try, and have no one to borrow it from to try.
Then when winter comes, we are hoping to have a better idea of rving, if we like it or not, and what about the work, and determine then if we want to continue rving, stay in Canada rving , leave to USA for the winter, or just quit and go back to rental...(that makes me sad).
We plan to have around the $6k as something aside, for emergency, only while we are still here and my husband still works full time, so that means a full income still enters every month. The emergency is for god forbidden if he gets fired which you never know...
We have a network marketing business we are building as well to back us with the income situation.
We have no family here in Canada that can help us in any way, that means we will have to put our stuff in storage and pay it monthly, and if something happens we have no back up. That part is scary but we are kind of used to it, as we came here to Canada all by ourselves 10 years ago and made our way till today.
Since we are new here in this province we don't really have friends either, so basically we need to think 10 times on every step before we make it to be on the safe side.
I don't mean to say that we should be dependent on other people, but I think that the normal person has some kind of family or friend to get some help in bad times, we don't have this privilege. That is why it is easier for us to just leave a place, no obligations.
I have 2 teen girls, age 16 and 19 that are thrilled to do it as well, however we need to see how they will feel after the spring.
I have also 2 dogs with me, but that is the easy part...
My husband used to work in construction, more the residential renovation I would say, so this is something he can do aside if needed, depends where we will be and if opportunities come.
I am a dietitian and plan to start a business online, but this is just an idea and will take time, if any at all, till will generate some income. Meanwhile we need to rely on my husband's income, and stay here in the Calgary area.
We currently have a van which we plan to trade in for a small family car and buy with cash, so no loan on it. But this will work only if we buy a motorhome as we have no pick up truck.
So if we plan to buy trailer or fifth wheel, we would need a pick up truck and a trailer or fifth wheel to finance, which will be a big loan to handle. That is why we thought to buy small car with cash, and finance the motorhome with almost 100% finance. We plan to stay with in the $30k or less for motorhome, that leaves us with few options.
That is our story, in short, if we can say short...I hope that helps a little. If you would like to know more, just ask me, I would be more than happy to provide any info that would help you guys to help me to decide...
I know it is a personal decision and it is hard for an outsider, especially a person who has never known us, to make any decision, but I am asking for your input based on your experience and I am sure you must have a lot more than me...Basically any info and input would be helpful for us.
Thank you for taking the time to read my long message, I appreciate your time, and am hoping to hearing back from you.
Have a great evening!
Hi Mike,
Thank you for your quick reply, that was very kind of you.
I do have few questions for you , if you don't mind.
1. You say to buy a motorhome no older than 95. Why? Is it too old and won't be good enough, or the floor plans will be bad , what is the reason ?
2. When you say in the $20k area, what size of the motorhome do you mean?
3. What size of motorhome would you recommend us for a size of family as ours?
4. Is there a specific brand name of motorhomes that you would recommend to buy from? I know that some are less good, but I don't know which ones...
Thank you so much for your help, time and efforts to help us! That is very kind of you!
Have a great evening!
Sharon
Hi Mike,
Thank you for the reply.
So you would suggest me to go with 32-36 ft as a start. Ok. Now is it better diesel or gas?
What do you think about toy hauler? Our 19 year old is an artist and we thought of looking for a toy hauler that we can use the back space as a mini studio for her art. Do toy haulers count as good ones; do you have any experience with them?
Is buying a model that is older than 95 will be a mistake and if so why?
We are kind of stuck with buying from dealers, used rv's, as we need finance, and it makes it harder to buy second hand out there. We have no way to loan from the bank so we would need finance from the dealers, which is why we are stuck to dealers and not private sales. Complicated...
Thank you so much! Have a great evening!
95 five would put the coach at 17 years old....if it has high miles, That means its ready for problems and some of them are likely to not be minor.
if it has super low miles, it sat first thing I would do is be looking real hard underneath for frame and support rot, delamination on fiberglass and condensation issues. unless it was stored indoors, you are in the greater north which has some pretty abusive wet weather a simple pinhole in the skin allows moisture in then it freezes and expands.condensation will create frost heaves. plastics and metals contract and expand..........not to mention if you dont run the motor and transmission seals start to dry out. bearings start to corrode & dry out....
these are things to watch for not to scare you off.........the more you know the less you miss!!!!
as far as a toy hauler.....that is a personal preference , you will look at alot of floor plans until you narrow it down to the type that will work for you.
as far as one brand being better than another..........We all would love to be driving a Provost Quad slide, but most start used with a 600k pricetag and new 1.5 to 2 million!!!! LOL
what you can afford will again dictate what you will buy.
gas over diesel my opinion........gas engine over 100,k is getting ready for a new drive train.......diesel over 100,k is just broke in and ready to go!!!!.........again it will depend on your budget, there is a big difference in price between the 2
this is only my opinion........the dog tends to snore when Im talking to her, so take in only so much of it.......and hopefully it will make you research harder!!!
Hi Mike,
Thank you so much, it is very kind of you!!!!!
I will share all this info with my husband and will continue with my research as well. I hope we will make our decision soon.
Thank you so much for everything!!!!
Good night,
Sharon