Saturday, March 19, 2011

Obstacles & Budget

Full Time RVing Obstacles

We believe most people never pursue their dreams because they are trapped in a vicious cycle of living beyond their means. Why do we need to have the latest electronic gadgets, the big house, the nice car, and all of the other crap we really don’t need? So many people are living from check to check and are just one unexpected event away from losing everything. Just one unexpected illness, injury or accident could leave most people with nothing. It’s hard to admit but we are probably one of those people, as are 80-90 percent of people in today’s economy. We all get caught up in the day to day grind.a free campsite, usually with utilities included and some additional wages.



We think it’s time for us to be in control of our lives and have the opportunity to pursue our dreams. We need to get in a position that allows us to live more simply, with less stress and to be able to concentrate on the important things in life, the things that really matter. Wouldn't it be liberating to have no debt and to be able to pay cash for everything and to not be tied to a job you hate just to make payments.

First, we have to look at our current financial situation. Laurie and I have always had a budget and it has always worked very well. We have great credit as this is something we have worked very hard to obtain. It hasn't always been that way, with Laurie's prompt bill paying and somewhat obsessive budget regime we have worked hard to maintain a great credit score. We are not wealthy by any one's standards and we are not prepared to go on the road without a financial care in the world. We will be faced with financial decisions that will have an effect on the amount of time we spend traveling, boondocking and workamping. Boondocking and workamping are terms rvers use.

Boondocking definition; To camp in a
locations without power, sewer or water hook-ups, and almost always free.

Workamping definition; To exchanging skills for


Making a Full Time RVing budget

We need to start with eliminating expenses that we will not have on the road.

Our goal is to be left with necessities that we will have no matter what. We will be selling our house so we will no longer have a mortgage payment, real estate taxes, homeowners insurance, gas bill, electric bill, water and sewer bill, trash collecting bill, cable bill, land-line phone bill, Internet bill, home maintenance and repair expenses. Keep in mind we will need to replace some of these expenses in our full time Rving budget.



Here is a how the items break down in our budget.


6 comments:

  1. Just stumbled upon your blog and WOW! You guys are awesome and fellow gypsy spirits! You're gonna have an awesome adventure - can't wait to read more about it. Last year we decided to become full time boondockers ourselves! We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into but it has worked out awesome - even with a winter full of -40 cold snaps! We have learned a lot too though and made a few costly mistakes but thats about it! Check out our page: mountaingypsies.blogspot.com

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  2. Hello My name is Carl i am from Duluth and we just got done with our adventure of full-timing. Our site is livingabsolute.wordpress.com. You might want to allow more for the monthly camping as we went by the book and found in some places it was true but for the most part it was not. We traveled in a 34 ft Natl Dolphin we still have for sale and was just thinking about how much fun it was and just to let you know your not crazy as most think but won't say. If you have any ? I would love to try to give as much info as possible..Happy Trails From The Kurtz"s

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  3. We were the couple you described that had an unexpected event when I lost my job last August. I had a pension from a previous career but it was not enough to cover the mortgage, utilities, car payments, and medical insurance. Plus seven months looking for a job in California without an offer is very frustrating. So we have sold the house and getting ready to move into our 2002 Winnebago 31 ft class C motorhome. We only have 19,000 miles and are original owners so we will try it for awhile to see if we like the fulltime lifestyle before we decide to move up to a class A. We are scared but excited, and looking forward to getting away from the check to check lifestyle you mentioned. Not to mention the three hour stuck in traffic commute I previously endured each day. Wish us luck!

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  4. Just found your blog on hitchupandgo.com, we have been fulltimers since 2007 and working and/or volunteering along the way. It is fantastic to move where the weather is decent, and most importantly to be free of all the" stuff" that clutters most people's lives. The most important things in life aren't things. Best of luck to you, look fwd to reading your blog. We are at thearys.blogspot.com

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  5. Just found your blog on hitchupandgo.com, we have been fulltimers since 2007 and working and/or volunteering along the way. It is fantastic to move where the weather is decent, and most importantly to be free of all the" stuff" that clutters most people's lives. The most important things in life aren't things. Best of luck to you, look fwd to reading your blog. We are at thearys.blogspot.com

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  6. My husband and I are planning to become full time RVers within the next two years. We have actually done this before for 2 years and loved it. We had a class A gas RV last time and hoping to go into a Class A Diesel. We learned a lot on our first go round so we already know what we don't want. Now it is a matter of getting things in order and going for it once again.

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