I will be writing on behalf of myself, and my husband.
We made the decision a few days ago to do it, to become full time RVers, and now I can't stop thinking about it! We have a few things against us right now, the biggy being debt. We should be out of debt in 3.5 years, but this will be all credit cards, the house, and the car paid. Currently I am learning to be a web developer, and so we have included this into our waiting time too. If we can pay our debts sooner, you bet we are selling everything and buying our new home sooner too!
I have been scouring the web looking for information to better help us get everything ready. I came upon this site this morning and it was a God send! So much information that I am soaking up like a sponge! Finding out there is a forum too just made my day better. Being able to meet other people who have the same dreams as us is going to help, as long as you all don't mind me asking questions of course.
So a little about us. Well, I am an English girl, living in the sticks of New York with my husband. I have been here for two years, and I cannot stand the winter!!! England is wet, but it's never as cold as it gets here. After the first winter, I wanted out! We discussed moving to Virginia or West Virginia, but the thought of having another looooong mortgage when we are 3 years away from being mortgage free just didn't sound appealing. We even toyed with the idea of moving back to England. Then we got onto the subject of traveling, and that was the answer. We both want out from under the debt, the snow, the burden of the house and not being able to go anywhere!
Before I moved to America, I lived in a caravan (RV). It was a tiny little 2 birth that I parked at my parents garden. The only problem was I couldn't go anywhere in it. Other than that, I loved it!!! I couldn't afford to rent or buy a flat, and now my parents use it for holidays. We won't be getting a 2 birth this time, but we are looking for a class C RV. We will have our two dogs with us. My Jack Russell came over with me from England. He is used to living in an RV. Our Wiemeraner will be happy wherever my husband is.
I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone here, and I will apologise in advance as I have lots of questions!!!
TRAILERKING said
03:24 PM Jul 31, 2015
Welcome aboard....
Sushidog said
04:11 PM Jul 31, 2015
Welcome to the board, Yula. You might also want to check out the Escapees forum too. Lots of the folk here frequent both (but this one's my fave.)
Everyone's situation is unique, but have you considered putting your S&B home on the market before it's paid off and using the some of the proceeds to pay off your other high interest debt? Since you only have a brief time left on your mortgage, you must have substantial equity to allow you to buy your FT RV with money to spare for savings and investments. Good, used class C's can be a very affordable way to explore the lifestyle, more so than you might think. I was able to save much more money and live cheaper after I let my house go, as it was very expensive for us to live in. With high property taxes, insurance, maintenance repairs, etc. it was much more expensive for us than any other living option. If you plan on keeping your S&B house (and renting it) while you RV full-time, as some do, it can turn into an property management nightmare. I'd rather be free of that worry and have the financial resources available to re-purchase a fixed residence if and when I ever decide to do so, saving years of property management headaches and expenses. Personally, our exit strategy is to park our RV permanently in our favorite location when we're no longer able to withstand the rigors of the FT lifestyle. One could switch to a park model upon leaving the road, or even pay someone to move it for you (perhaps seasonally) when you are no longer "roadworthy" yourself. From your photos though, those decisions look like they are miles down the road.
Chip
gilljr said
07:55 PM Jul 31, 2015
Welcome, we also started before being debt free. We are still making it and loving it.
Terry and Jo said
07:01 AM Aug 1, 2015
Welcome to you and your husband, Becky. Glad to have you join the "family" that is the participants on the RV Dreams forums.
Don't be surprised if you get to looking at things and then decide to change your RV of choice. When we did our research, with living in ours full time in mind, we looked at both Class A's and fifth wheels. The cost factor was a big deciding factor for us, and because we planned to stay in one place for longer than most RV'ers do, the fifth wheel won out.
Enjoy the research and planning. It looks like you "may" have time to do a lot of that, depending on whether you decide to sell the New York place or not.
Terry
marianne57 said
12:59 PM Aug 1, 2015
Welcome and Congrats on your decision. Word of caution...I know for us and many others posting that often the original dates you set, somehow get shorter and shorter! :) Don't be surprised if you find yourself out there a lot quicker then your original date. You'll get a lot of great info here and everyone is very helpful. Good luck with your plans, and hopefully you're somewhere warmer soon!
Little Yula said
01:16 PM Aug 1, 2015
Thank you for the welcomes everyone.
We will sell the house and use that money to buy the RV. We don't want the hassle of renting. We have worked out how much debt we have to pay off, how much the RV will be, and as of right now, we just can't do it that way. :( We want to put as much money as we can in the savings to fall back on, just in case! I have everything written down, so as we pay off the debt, I can see how close we are to achieving our dream. Mike wants to be debt free before we sell because that will be more money to put on the RV and in the bank. I want to get it lower, but I wouldn't mind using the money from the house to pay a little debt off too. I know as of now, it just wouldn't work out that way. But I am willing to give us a year or so before I approach that option again! I figure, I should have my schooling finished by then, I can help pay more of the debt off, and he may be sick of waiting too!!!
That is the same plan we have Chip. Spend time on the road, and then when we are too old, or whatever, find a spot we like the best to live the rest of our lives.
Terry, we have looked at 5th wheels too. They are gorgeous! We haven't ruled them out yet, but Mike wants to keep his mustang and tow that behind us. So that's why we have been looking at the C classes.
Terry and Jo said
08:37 PM Aug 1, 2015
Check to see if the Mustang can be towed four-down, meaning with all four wheels on the ground as you tow. If it can't, then you would need either a tow dolly to put one axle on or a full trailer to load the whole car onto. With either a tow dolly or trailer, as you go to RV parks and campgrounds, you'd have to find a place to park the RV, the Mustang and have a place to park the trailer/tow dolly.
Terry
Little Yula said
12:49 PM Aug 2, 2015
Thanks Terry, that is good information for us to have, as we certainly wouldn't think of that alone. It would be a shame to sell the car, but if it helps us to achieve our new goal, it is something to consider.
Hello everyone.
I will be writing on behalf of myself, and my husband.
We made the decision a few days ago to do it, to become full time RVers, and now I can't stop thinking about it! We have a few things against us right now, the biggy being debt. We should be out of debt in 3.5 years, but this will be all credit cards, the house, and the car paid. Currently I am learning to be a web developer, and so we have included this into our waiting time too. If we can pay our debts sooner, you bet we are selling everything and buying our new home sooner too!
I have been scouring the web looking for information to better help us get everything ready. I came upon this site this morning and it was a God send! So much information that I am soaking up like a sponge! Finding out there is a forum too just made my day better. Being able to meet other people who have the same dreams as us is going to help, as long as you all don't mind me asking questions of course.
So a little about us. Well, I am an English girl, living in the sticks of New York with my husband. I have been here for two years, and I cannot stand the winter!!! England is wet, but it's never as cold as it gets here. After the first winter, I wanted out! We discussed moving to Virginia or West Virginia, but the thought of having another looooong mortgage when we are 3 years away from being mortgage free just didn't sound appealing. We even toyed with the idea of moving back to England. Then we got onto the subject of traveling, and that was the answer. We both want out from under the debt, the snow, the burden of the house and not being able to go anywhere!
Before I moved to America, I lived in a caravan (RV). It was a tiny little 2 birth that I parked at my parents garden. The only problem was I couldn't go anywhere in it. Other than that, I loved it!!! I couldn't afford to rent or buy a flat, and now my parents use it for holidays. We won't be getting a 2 birth this time, but we are looking for a class C RV. We will have our two dogs with us. My Jack Russell came over with me from England. He is used to living in an RV. Our Wiemeraner will be happy wherever my husband is.
I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone here, and I will apologise in advance as I have lots of questions!!!
Everyone's situation is unique, but have you considered putting your S&B home on the market before it's paid off and using the some of the proceeds to pay off your other high interest debt? Since you only have a brief time left on your mortgage, you must have substantial equity to allow you to buy your FT RV with money to spare for savings and investments. Good, used class C's can be a very affordable way to explore the lifestyle, more so than you might think. I was able to save much more money and live cheaper after I let my house go, as it was very expensive for us to live in. With high property taxes, insurance, maintenance repairs, etc. it was much more expensive for us than any other living option. If you plan on keeping your S&B house (and renting it) while you RV full-time, as some do, it can turn into an property management nightmare. I'd rather be free of that worry and have the financial resources available to re-purchase a fixed residence if and when I ever decide to do so, saving years of property management headaches and expenses. Personally, our exit strategy is to park our RV permanently in our favorite location when we're no longer able to withstand the rigors of the FT lifestyle. One could switch to a park model upon leaving the road, or even pay someone to move it for you (perhaps seasonally) when you are no longer "roadworthy" yourself. From your photos though, those decisions look like they are miles down the road.
Chip
Welcome to you and your husband, Becky. Glad to have you join the "family" that is the participants on the RV Dreams forums.
Don't be surprised if you get to looking at things and then decide to change your RV of choice. When we did our research, with living in ours full time in mind, we looked at both Class A's and fifth wheels. The cost factor was a big deciding factor for us, and because we planned to stay in one place for longer than most RV'ers do, the fifth wheel won out.
Enjoy the research and planning. It looks like you "may" have time to do a lot of that, depending on whether you decide to sell the New York place or not.
Terry
Welcome and Congrats on your decision. Word of caution...I know for us and many others posting that often the original dates you set, somehow get shorter and shorter! :) Don't be surprised if you find yourself out there a lot quicker then your original date. You'll get a lot of great info here and everyone is very helpful. Good luck with your plans, and hopefully you're somewhere warmer soon!
We will sell the house and use that money to buy the RV. We don't want the hassle of renting. We have worked out how much debt we have to pay off, how much the RV will be, and as of right now, we just can't do it that way. :( We want to put as much money as we can in the savings to fall back on, just in case! I have everything written down, so as we pay off the debt, I can see how close we are to achieving our dream. Mike wants to be debt free before we sell because that will be more money to put on the RV and in the bank. I want to get it lower, but I wouldn't mind using the money from the house to pay a little debt off too. I know as of now, it just wouldn't work out that way. But I am willing to give us a year or so before I approach that option again! I figure, I should have my schooling finished by then, I can help pay more of the debt off, and he may be sick of waiting too!!!
That is the same plan we have Chip. Spend time on the road, and then when we are too old, or whatever, find a spot we like the best to live the rest of our lives.
Terry, we have looked at 5th wheels too. They are gorgeous! We haven't ruled them out yet, but Mike wants to keep his mustang and tow that behind us. So that's why we have been looking at the C classes.
Check to see if the Mustang can be towed four-down, meaning with all four wheels on the ground as you tow. If it can't, then you would need either a tow dolly to put one axle on or a full trailer to load the whole car onto. With either a tow dolly or trailer, as you go to RV parks and campgrounds, you'd have to find a place to park the RV, the Mustang and have a place to park the trailer/tow dolly.
Terry