I don't see how to make it work - RV-Dreams Community Forum

sadrand · RV-Dreams Community Member

I don't see how to make it work

jomago · RV-Dreams Family Member

One of the things people do is start earlier.
When I retired (at 58) we had built up a good nest egg, with no debts.
Of course I had to wait till age 62 to start SS and 65 to start medicare.
My daugther has 1 year to go to get to full SS, which I advised her to do.

If I had to workcamp to make things work, I would have kept on working
instead of taking a workcamping wage at less than 1/25 of my then salary.
When retired , that is what I wanted to do, retire, not work.

To each his own, but I think full timing is a way of life and a great way to enjoy the rest of your life. I also believe you have to start your planning and and saving for retirement a lot sooner.
The people I feel for are those that work 35 to 40 years for a company, to get medical and
a small pension and then have the company sell out from under them and leave them high and dry with nothing.

mikeway · RV-Dreams Family Member

You may have a couple of benefits as a retired teacher, or not. When my wife retired from teaching, in Florida, she was able to remain with the system medical plan. It was somewhat beneficial but the cost is still $440 or so a month. At age 64, your costs tend to run higher than Howards and others. My own health insurance is even higher. That and prescriptions become the major cost factors. Both our plans have great prescription coverage. WalMart has the $4 national generic cost, that helps if your pills are on their list. Mine wasn't.

Social Security at 62 or above really helped us.

Our house, in the Florida market which has tanked, still has not sold. Thanks all you sub-prime lenders and speculators. Our costs remain high there.

Once you hit the road though, your costs are controllable. Fuel is governed by how much and how far you travel. Food should cost little more than it did last year unless you are on the left coast. Campgound fees are the other major factor and they seem to be going up, soemthing about a fantasy involving boomers and disposable income. We have memberships and our costs average under $8 so far this year.

These are what drive the need to workcamp or not. If you live simply, in state parks and national forest campgrounds, get your internet from free hot spots, and your entertainment from people watching you save a little. Insurance will kill the budget though, that makes it difficult.

Read Howard's RV-Dreams.com finance pages and compare your income with Howard and Linda's outgo. That should tell you a tale or woe or go.

A little rambling but places to begin looking.

Mike

Howard · Host

There is no question that workamping alone without supplemental income is a tough way to full-time.

With that said, you are right that there are a lot of people doing it.

Let's see if I can help. Workamping at $7 an hour, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year gives you a gross of $14,560 ($1,213 a month). I have no doubts whatsoever that a single guy can get by on that. smile

However, most people don't want to work that much, so let's say you work 9 months at 30 hours a week at $7 an hour. Wow, that brings things down to $7,560 ($630 a month). That probably ain't gonna cut it. But at least it allows some time off and more exploring.

You can choose anywhere in between and, of course, actual workamping lowers your campground fees as you should have a free site.

Now, instead of traditional workamping, you may want to do more traditional work that does NOT include a free campsite. Often you can find work at higher rates, pay for a campsite at a monthly rate and come out ahead. We have run into several people that do that.

We have readers that are blackjack dealers nine months of the year and make $15 - $20 an hour including tips. We have met others that work seasonal jobs at $12 - $17 an hour.  Yes, they work hard but they make it happen. There are lots more examples.

Taxes, at the income levels we are talking about here, are virtually nothing so I wouldn't worry about that. Of course, you still probably want to establish residency in a state that does not have an income tax AND does not have a personal property tax on your RV and car.

Let's look at expenses. Insurance will likely be your highest expense category and one that you will have little control over. Our insurance expenses are about $5,400 a year for the RV, Truck, Health, Life, and Umbrella policies. Yes, we are younger, but there are also two of us. And you may not need life insurance at all.

We keep premiums low by having high deductibles. So you could always set aside a little cash from the sale of your house and put it in an interest bearing account for possible future deductibles. Be sure to consider a Health Savings Account for health insurance.

You can control phone expenses, TV, internet, entertainment, gas, and even food. It just takes a little prioritization.  And with you being single, you can obviously get by on less than we can in these categories.

I know we could get by on $1,500 a month in expenses, including insurance, if we workamped year round and cut out a few "luxuries".  Year round workamping would get us free camping, and it would greatly reduce our diesel costs and our entertainment costs. It would be extremely difficult, but we could do it.

Only you can decide how much you want to work. There is no sugar-coating it. It's tough to full-time just by workamping. But there are several options to earn additional income and there are many ways to cut expenses. You are only limited by your desire and creativity.

But I do know one thing - YOU will never know until you try and there are lots of people here to offer you support and encouragment. biggrin

blijil · RV-Dreams Family Member

Check out Tioga Geroge - http://vagabonders-supreme.blogspot.com/
We are amazed at how he has developed a fullfilling lifestyle and requires so little money. Check out his MsTioga Magazine to get the background and budget information.

Even if his lifestyle is not for you the blog is full timer entertainment.

Larry and Jacki

Tom N Gina · RV-Dreams Family Member

Another thing to consider when starting out is look for newer used equipment. Will save you big bucks in a long run. However if you are new to RVing do your research by reading and asking questions of those around these forums. Most everyone here would like to see you succeed in making your dreams come true. The knowledge here and there will help you with what to watch out for and what to look for.

Like us we can't even digest purchasing a new vehical and driving off the lot only to take the big hit. Same goes for the RV of your choosing look for one a few years old in great condition. As for the size of your new home you do not need a huge rig if you are by yourself. This can save even more cash up front not to mention the insurance cost. Keep up your research and you will find that if you really want too you can. You may have to work but when you get itchy feet all you have to do is look into the direction you want to go and head out. Hope this helps and good luck in making your dreams come true.......