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Old 09-29-2018, 11:45 AM   #1
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FUll Timing....

My wife and I, along with our 12 year old son, have contemplated from time to time selling it all, upgrading our rig, and living on the road. Aside from the tremendous shift in providing an education for a middle schooler, I realize that there is financial shift that occurs.

I'd be interested in hearing how people who have done this prepared and stuck to a budget as well as how drastically different that budget looks. We know that we would be giving up between 20-25k of living expenses (mortgage, taxes, utilities, second car, etc) by putting ourselves on the road but we would indeed be shedding income. Realistically we would be losing almost one entire income between the reductions in salary we would see by converting to jobs that would allow us to work from the road.

Would love to hear the thoughts of others on this topic.

Stan
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Old 09-29-2018, 04:09 PM   #2
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There are many, many people doing it. Here is their website.

https://www.fulltimefamilies.com/

Also, ependydad, a member of this forurm is full-timing with his two children, at least one of which is middle school age. His website is Learn To RV | All Things RV.

A google search will bring you lots and lots of information, much more than you can get here when you will get lots of "OPINIONS" instead of real information.
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Old 09-29-2018, 05:53 PM   #3
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Look at the classifieds on this Forum, there is a TT Membership up for sale at a good price.
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ml#post1807550
That is one way to full time and save a lot of money. As the ad stated, the membership allowed them to see almost all of the lower 48 states and stay for free. We did the same thing for 22 months. Because we had specific places we wanted to see sometimes the TT Campgrounds weren't convenient so we did pay once in a while. Most often when we paid, we got a good discount either through the TT RPI and Encore add-ons. We also used Passport America to get heavy discounts which is another great Membership.

I am lucky enough to be able to do my work anywhere there is a fast internet connection, in other words, where ever Verizon 4g Data was available. We rented our house so our Mortgage was being paid while we were on the road. Because of this, we actually were financially better off on the road even with driving 50k miles over that period, ~30k pulling the trailer and ~20k site seeing.

So, having written all that, my kids were 10 and 13 when we started, they had lived their whole school age lives in a small town and were active in sports and arts. They really missed their friends and activities while we were on the road. I am glad we only did it for the 22 months as the kids have integrated right back with their friends and most of their activities, though some of them have changed. I am sure there are many successful Full Time Families where there kids were able to become what ever the universe meant for them but ours are just much happier in a stable home environment. I also think they will be more ready for college than they would have been on the road. That last sentence for sure is my opinion, I have no way of proving this other than a gut feel.

We did this mainly for the kids to be able to see and learn about our great country and thankfully they did learn and I am certain they will remember the trip for the rest of their lives. For me, because I had to work, it was great but I can see where being retired and hitting the road would be so much cooler.

I say try it out and see if you like it, you can always get off the road if you don't.
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Old 09-29-2018, 05:57 PM   #4
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Ah, one other thing, check with your school district, ours had an online program that could be done for a year. That meant, they had the same curriculum as the school and it was free. My DW was able to talk them into allowing our kids to do it for a second year so we never had to pay for any schooling so that also saved us money.
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Old 09-30-2018, 11:44 AM   #5
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You can control your camping expenses by not staying in resorts , plenty of campgrounds for less than $ 400 per month . We paid $300 per month for a year in North Florida last year .
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Old 09-30-2018, 12:02 PM   #6
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your current income drop will be the major difference - if you can budget the smaller income and strive to keep things at a minimum when it comes to 'on the road' rv parks and additional electrical costs when parked at monthly or seasonal sites, you can make it work.
just like anything, it's a switch between home 'fixed' costs, such as mortgage, insurance, utilities, taxes, commuting, etc, and the new 'full time' RV payment, insurance, rv park and campground site costs, any 'additional' electrical costs, etc... but it can certainly turn out to be simply a 'switch' evenly between WHAT costs you have - it's not necessarily 'cheaper' to live in an RV, unless you already own a piece of land with utilities - otherwise you are paying 'daily' for most everything. While electrical is usually included in anyplace you normally stay for a day or a week, once you go to a lower cost monthly rate, they 'may' add the costs of electrical as an additional charge - but overall, it may still come out better, especially if you want to 'winter' in Florida, etc.

We've done it all, seen it all, and paid for it all - in every conceivable scenario during our four years. Daily, weekly, several weeks, monthly, monthly with additional electrical, etc. FUEL costs between destinations is probably an 'additional' cost of full-timing that is over and above 'normal' costs of owning a home, but you may be able to consider that a 'wash', as even with a home, you still 'travel' and 'vacation'... so it could be considered similar.

My wife is a teacher, so homeschooling our two teens was 'easy', at least from a 'place' and 'cost' perspective. Some kids will enjoy this, some others would rater have the 'social' aspect of a regular school. Some full-time teachers or homeschool parents might find that it's an easy proposition, others may not, especially on travel days or during 'vacationing' multi-day travels.

Some will question how to get their mail while on the road, others will simply set up a po box before they debark on their journeys, and just have any 'important' mail forwarded to them, if needed, or check it whenever they 'come thru town' again. Mail is not nearly as important of a concern as it used to be, but having an address still is. UPS and FEDEX is not an issue - you can receive those where ever you might be parked.
Some folks go to the trouble of registering as residents and paying any applicable vehicle taxes for their RV in another 'no income tax' and RV friendly state, like South Dakota, but that might be overkill and more complicated than helpful, especially if your RV is not an extremely high-dollar coach. Plus, you'd have to vote in that state as well. Too much for me to worry about.
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