Miles2go

From what I can find, a poll like this was done in 2006 and a lot has changed since then. New Living Car Free forum regulars, new economy, etc...

Juha

Different countries, different tax rates, different purchasing power etc...

fietsbob

After taxes and living expenses about a 6 pack worth, and thats cheap domestic beer, not Microbrew.

Smallwheels

As a minimalist I don't need much stuff. I have no plans to purchase a house or condominium so I don't need to save money for those. I'm saving for an RV. Thought I'd have one by this summer but it ain't happenin.

SPECELIZEDRIDER

I like the Road Treck RV I had an RV before my divorce and they are expensive, so dont expect to save money with anything bigger than a class B BTW IM from Helena myself.

Roody

It really is hard to save for big ticket items right now, partially because interest rates on savings are so low. When my parents taught me to put money in a savings account, interest rates were around 5%. Nowadays they are more like 1%. The inflation rate is higher than that, so it's like you're losing a little money if you keep it in a savings account.

I know credit is a controversial subject on this forum, but I think you might want to consider financing that RV if you really want it right now. IF you can find a low interest rate, and IF you can keep working to make the loan payment on time every month.

Not that I condone RVs. To me, primitive camping is more fun and a hell of a lot cheaper. But TEHO. Or do you want to move frequently, and stay in each town for only a few weeks or months? In that case, you could try riding your bike to the town, then finding a cheap job and a furnished apartment or weekly rate motel.

wolfchild

Before buying anything expensive on credit you need to have a solid well paying job or enough skills and enough motivation to get a reasonably well paying job. It is a very foolish thing to buy something expensive such as an RV on credit when not making a lot of money. How can somebody find a well paying job when wondering all over the place in an RV like some kind of gypsy ?... Fuel is expensive, so is insurance , what about maintenance and then loan payments on top of that all. Not good.

wolfchild

It's only fun for a couple of days or weeks... It's a miserable way to live that way for an extended period of time. There is a world of difference between taking a camping vacation and a hobo lifestyle.

Roody

Who is talking about a hobo lifestyle? I assumed he wanted to buy the RV for vacations, but maybe not. But certainly you wou would need quite a bit of money just for the expenses of traveling around in an RV.

wahoonc

Depends on the RV and what you are going to do with it...

I lived in a pickup camper off grid in the woods for 6-9 months, loved it. The camper was free, we moved it on a flat bed trailer.

I have not one but two vintage Airstreams, 1975 and 1981. I paid ~$3500 for the 1975 and will have about $10,000 in it when completely done with the rework. The 1981 was given to me. It is going to get some basic work done on it and end up being a guest cottage. It has some frame issues that could be repaired but it isn't worth the money or effort to me, so it becomes a fixture on the farm.

I have spent up to 6 months at a time living in a tent in primitive conditions when working as a high adventure camp counselor years ago. The main camp had platform tents, those were the fancy places to stay. A large portion of the world's population lives in conditions that are much worse than primitive camping.

Aaron

Artkansas 

I thought he was going to use the RV as his living quarters and become mobile, an "air conditioned gypsy".

gerv 

Smallwheels, what about one of these? I bet you could get a bus chassis and put something like this together. DIY style.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

wolfchild

The longest I've ever spend living outside was 2 months and that was without a tent and sleeping bag and no fancy high tech gear. I made it as primitive as I could and pushed myself to the limits. Trying to survive in northern canadian wilderness without a gun or bug reppelent is a hellish experience. I came back a different person. It was an interesting experience which opened my eyes and really made me appreciate all the little things in our lives which people take for granted. I wouldn't do anything like that ever again unless it's an emergency and our civilization collapses.

wolfchild

Forget air conditioning it only contributes to global warming, don't need no AC. Just get a real gypsy caravan. They're green, environmentally friendly, no gas, no insurance, no loans or rent payments and horses are sustainable non-poluting form of transportation.

Smallwheels

Specelizedrider I remember that you mentioned you were from Helena once before. Cool. You understand the cold weather riding here.

I'm familiar with the Tumbleweed Tiny House company's plans. Those are really awesome little homes. The do it yourself versions cost over $20,000. There are people who build and sell them or very similar versions too for more than double that amount.

I want to live in an RV instead of renting an apartment and giving my money to someone else. I vacillate between a few designs of very small RVs. Each one has benefits that suit me. In this small town there are trailer parks that allow RV trailers as tenants.

I like tiny trailers such as the Tumbleweed designs, the Casita/Scamp fiberglass shell trailers, and stealthy converted cargo trailers. Those look like basic white cargo trailers on the outside but are customized for living on the inside. This allows them to be parked in cities where it is illegal for people to sleep in RVs on the streets. Without any outward signs of habitation it is very unlikely that police would come knocking on the door of one of those. They would knock on the door of a Tumbleweed or Casita trailer because they are clearly residences.

Slide in campers that fit into the back of a pickup truck are about the same size but are much shorter than a truck pulling a trailer. That type isn't stealthy but it can fit in many more places than a thirty-five foot long truck and trailer combination. The last type I like is a plain van with a regular height roof. If it is a cargo van without windows it is totally stealthy and also short in length. The downside is the space is small and doesn't allow standing. The lack of standing isn't a problem in warm climates where one could just relax outside of the van until it is time to sleep. In the cold northern winters, remaining in a van without standing for twelve hours at a time would be uncomfortable.

Roadtrek Class B machines (super fancy high roof vans) cost at least $30,000 used in good condition. An empty used 16' X 6' cargo trailer might cost $3000. Add $4000 for converting the interior to something comfortable with electricity, AC, water, propane for cooking and heat, and some solar stuff, and it's a really cheap alternative to buying an RV or building a Tumbleweed tiny house. Trailers require trucks to tow them. So if I must buy a truck I might build a small slide in truck camper instead of buying one. Overall it might be the cheapest way to go that allows me to have standing room. I've seen home made versions. Their downside is that they are the smallest of the full standing height RVs out there. The floor length is only eight feet long.

These web sites inspire me.

A small article about a stealthy trailer dweller. https://cheaprvliving.com/StealthCargoTrailer.html He has since bought a conventional RV trailer because he mostly likes visiting small towns in the west that don't hassle people about living in trailers on the side of the roads.

The site where the article is posted: https://cheaprvliving.com/

The newer site that came after the others above: https://cheapgreenrvliving.com/

If you read this blog from beginning to the current posts you'll journey along with a musician who gave up living in an apartment in L.A. for a Class B van. He remained in L.A. for quite a while. Then he ventured around the country and loved it. He switched to a slightly larger Class C RV for over a year. Now he's downsizing to a Volkswagon Vanagon that he is customizing for even simpler living. Learn all about the benefits of mobile living in detail with this three year old blog. https://www.tosimplify.net/

Living this way isn't for everybody. I understand that. It is something I want to try because it is appealing to me.

Once I start renting a room instead of paying for my monthly apartment rent, I'll be saving over $450 per month towards my dream. If I can find a full time job instead of a part time one I'll be doing even better.

Dahon.Steve

Smallwheels. I actually like the concept of living in a van for some strange reason. I figure is Social Security and Medicaid go under, I may to sell my home and live in a van because there is no way I'm going to be able to afford property taxes and insurance without income. In fact, I would have to work till I drop if the intention is to live indoors. Not very attractive.

There's video on YouTube on someone who goes off the grid every once in a while in a van. You can park practically anywhere without too much fear of the police. No so with a camper where people would know someone is living there so you would have to spend alot of money on campsites. The problem with choosing a motorized vehicle as a home is the cost is almost as much as renting a small studio out west.

I-Like-To-Bike

How does a car free person move this, or any other RV or trailer, from place to place?

Roody

Smallwheels, sorry, I had forgotten that your plan was to live in the RV. IIRC, we had a previous thread about this, or maybe it was in the Simple Living thread.

I think I told you before that I am acquainted with a guy who lived in a camper van for quite some time, in the suburbs of San Diego. He had no problem with it, but was happy to move back into traditional housing. I think it was unplanned, one of the millions of evictions in 2008 and 2009.

I dis some research at the time. I learned that a lot of people were "camping" in Walmart parking lots. Apparently, if you buy something at Walmart--even a pack of gum--you can't be kicked out of the parking lot for loitering. Anyway, my friend mostly just parked on streets in industrial sections and I guess nobody bothered him. I know this doesn't apply to you, since you will have a big rig parked in a legal area, but I thought it was kind of interesting.

Roody

Most of them have a tandem bicycle with some bungee cords, and give a couple meth heads $100 a mile to tow the RV. It's kind of expensive, but still cheaper than the high costs of car ownership.

I-Like-To-Bike

Sounds as realistic as some of the other pipe dreams enumerated here.

Mobile 155

Just as a thought, I have known several people that live in small trailers and RVs. My Son did for three years. One of the options you have is working at the RV park. Many have seasonal help and you get a small paycheck and free space rent plus hookups while doing it. They would in one state till they get the itch to see another state. They put out feelers to other parks and know what openings are available before they move. If you have the talents to be a handy man, grounds keeper, janitor and retail store worker you could fit in. There are RV mail centers that will receive and forward all of your mail wherever you are. The big advantage is you get to see much of this beautiful country we have if you wish. If you start checking into it you will find a whole community of people living this way. You don't need a car once you get to the RV Park either. I have a friend that lives at a KOA campground right now and has for the last three years.

Smallwheels

Many cities have created ordinances that forbid camping in Wal-Mart parking lots. Of course they also forbid sleeping in your vehicles along city streets. To me this is the stupidest thing ever. Why wouldn't any city want to bring in more people into their towns who would be spending money, lots of money? RV dwellers and vacationers spend money wherever they stop. I have read that RV park owners and people in the housing industries have worked to create such ordinances against people living in RVs or cars on streets. It is because such people aren't contributing to fill their pockets. Isn't it strange that one can park a car legally and go to a store or even leave it overnight and it isn't a problem? Put a person in that parked car and somehow it becomes evil and some kind of threat to society.

For me there would be a cost increase to move into an RV in the short term. If it lasted for a very long time the cost per month would eventually drop and save money for me. Were I living in a very expensive housing market then money would be saved immediately.

For instance, someone living in the Malibu or Pacific Palisades area in California would need to spend over a million dollars to buy a very small property there. Somebody living in a van in the area would definitely be saving a fortune. They would have the same glorious ocean views from beach parking lots without the need to be very wealthy. Even with the price of a new van fully fitted with everything needed to survive in comfort ($50,000) it would be a super cheap way to live. Spending that much money to live in a van in any small town where rents are low would be an added expense. It would cost more than the monthly rent and utilities for an apartment.

Mobile 155

It is interesting to see the majority taking the poll fall in the Median US income or above.

I-Like-To-Bike

On whose unoccupied, undeveloped valuable ocean view land would you (and all the other seekers of inexpensive beachfront parking for their RVs) park your van for little expense?

Anybody who owned such valuable land would/could find a more desireable and profitable use for that land then rent it for peanuts, or allow squatters to take it over.

Smallwheels

Parking lots are everywhere or did you forget about such things?