Why can we all afford trailers?

[snapper]

We are in the work your putt off group as well. 2 jobs, we live in a 70 year old house in a nice suburban area. I have been in law enforcement for 20 years and was also restricted to 1 vacation a year due to costs, with the trailer for 6 years we now take many small 2 to 4 day trips with the kids and and the costs have dropped substantially.

I enjoy the traveling and seeing this great county and meeting great and friendly people along the way. Its good to see there are still good people out there. If you watch the news it would seem that everyone has gone nuts and the world was coming to an end. Thank God for camping and good people.

[Weezer]

Every time this thread floats back to the top it just sorta "gigs" me.

I've posted to it once before, and stated we have what we have because we *work* for it. We work hard and we live conservatively. We only get one shot at this thing called life.

DH loves golf. So he plays golf. We both love camping, so we camp.

Neither of us want to live to be 90, with money we'll leave for the kids to fight over, and look back thinking about what we wish we'd done.

Should we feel (or be made fo feel) guilty about that?

That ain't happening here. I refuse.

I look at this phrase with intended emphasis:

I want to live until I die.

[mackman1994]

DW and I work hard for our money and the best way to get away from all the stress for us is to go camping. We forget about all the hustle and just relax. For us its way cheaper than a rubber room. Plus why not its only money and you only live once. Just picked up my truck in March and picked up the new 5er yesterday!!!!

[psaman]

Originally Posted by Weezer

Every time this thread floats back to the top it just sorta "gigs" me.

I've posted to it once before, and stated we have what we have because we *work* for it. We work hard and we live conservatively. We only get one shot at this thing called life.

DH loves golf. So he plays golf. We both love camping, so we camp.

Neither of us want to live to be 90, with money we'll leave for the kids to fight over, and look back thinking about what we wish we'd done.

Should we feel (or be made fo feel) guilty about that?

That ain't happening here. I refuse.

I look at this phrase with intended emphasis:

I want to live until I die.

Exactly!!

[Weezer]

I guess I should have explained our hobbies a bit better, and "justify" them for those that need such;

DH loves (and I do mean *loves*) golf. It's cheaper to have the clubs you want if you learn and become a custom golf club maker and build 'em yourself...and even make a little side money making them for others. It's also cheaper to be a member of a CC if you love golf so much you just *gotta* play it often.

DH and I both love to travel. It's been in my blood since birth. We also love camping. It's *much* cheaper to travel if ya have an RV; no crazy hotel room charges, you can cook in instead of expensive restaurant meals, no airline tickets with extra luggage fees these days, etc. And... the scenery outside the window of our RV is usually much better than in a hotel room.* And we know no one else has slept on that bed...PERIOD!

While on the road one day we got to talking about how to combine his love of golf with my love of travel. AHAH! We *can* combine the two! So we have a bucket list of areas we'd like to go to that have golf courses he'd like to play. We're shooting for Myrtle Beach next year.

So having an RV is kinda like being a member of a CC. Both are easy to justify if you're not being biased about it.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

*Unfortunately the view out of our RV right now is the back side of our S&B.

P.S. The 5er has an awesome place to store his sticks also!

[Hudlow]

....they're cheaper than therapy....

[Weezer]

Originally Posted by mackman1994

DW and I work hard for our money and the best way to get away from all the stress for us is to go camping. We forget about all the hustle and just relax. For us its way cheaper than a rubber room. Plus why not its only money and you only live once. Just picked up my truck in March and picked up the new 5er yesterday!!!!

Mackman,

I saw this picture over on the Phat Phrog thread.

Yanno what it says to me?

"I worked hard for this, it's MINE, I'm *going* to enjoy it, and I'm *going* to get it home, weather be damned.

This picture is the epitome of the "can do attitude" of RVing people.

Git 'er done!

[Weezer]

Originally Posted by Hudlow

....they're cheaper than therapy....

X eleventy Mr. Hudlow!

Brevity is the soul of wit, eh?

And more often than not, wit *is* truth.


TBH though, sometimes I look at that thang sittin in the back yard and think I need therapy/counseling. /snark

[mackman1994]

Originally Posted by Weezer

Mackman,

I saw this picture over on the Phat Phrog thread.

Yanno what it says to me?

"I worked hard for this, it's MINE, I'm *going* to enjoy it, and I'm *going* to get it home, weather be damned.

This picture is the epitome of the "can do attitude" of RVing people.

Git 'er done!

weezer

If you are looking for places to camp near golfing try near Bella Vista Arkansas There are four courses in the town and some of the greats views for camping.

[B47]

Originally Posted by Weezer

Every time this thread floats back to the top it just sorta "gigs" me.

I've posted to it once before, and stated we have what we have because we *work* for it. We work hard and we live conservatively. We only get one shot at this thing called life.

DH loves golf. So he plays golf. We both love camping, so we camp.

Neither of us want to live to be 90, with money we'll leave for the kids to fight over, and look back thinking about what we wish we'd done.

Should we feel (or be made fo feel) guilty about that?

That ain't happening here. I refuse.

I look at this phrase with intended emphasis:

I want to live until I die.

And with your attitude and zest for living,you will probably live to be 100 and go out with a smile on your face.

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by mackman1994

DW and I work hard for our money and the best way to get away from all the stress for us is to go camping. We forget about all the hustle and just relax. For us its way cheaper than a rubber room. Plus why not its only money and you only live once. Just picked up my truck in March and picked up the new 5er yesterday!!!!

Sweet!!! You sure that truck can handle that bad boy?? Nice set-up.

[mackman1994]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

Sweet!!! You sure that truck can handle that bad boy?? Nice set-up.

Handles her great! I was quite pleased how well it pulled with a 15-20 Mph crosswind!!!

[Hudlow]

Originally Posted by Weezer

X eleventy Mr. Hudlow!

Brevity is the soul of wit, eh?

And more often than not, wit *is* truth.


TBH though, sometimes I look at that thang sittin in the back yard and think I need therapy/counseling. /snark

We walk a fine line....

[BigBaron]

I love reading through this thread, too. Being overseas for over a decade, I literally forget what American work ethics are like at times. (Mine haven't changed, though)
Kudos to you all who have worked your putts off!
Golf... Why did you all have to mention golf? Arggggghhhhh....
It's about $400 a round here in Korea, and you need a threesome at minimum. No walk-ons allowed.
My clubs are growing roots.

[Weezer]

Originally Posted by BigBaron

Golf... Why did you all have to mention golf? Arggggghhhhh....
It's about $400 a round here in Korea, and you need a threesome at minimum. No walk-ons allowed.
My clubs are growing roots.

Whut? You don't get out in the yard and practice? I thought all golfers' wives had to put up with huge divots all over the back yard.

DH got "distracted" while loading stuff from the shop to the RV yesterday, and the next thing I knew divots were flying. (sigh) He dang near landed one on our dog's head. Poor lil guy was sleeping in the sun and then all four paws were 3" off the ground simultaneously.

Now if he could be so precise with landing the ball. /snark

[BigBaron]

I live on the tenth floor. They don't take kindly to divots in the park, either!
We do have the world's largest driving range nearby (Dream 72) but that got old...

[BruceM]

When our Rockwood 2109S comes in it will be our 3rd rv. Started with a Coleman popup 16 years ago, then a TrailManor 3124 we had for 14 years and just traded in on the Rockwood.
I worked in real estate and invested in rental properties. My wife is a nurse and we're both savers.
Not having kids helps a lot.

[Agewon]

I've been lucky enough to find a company that allowed me an opportunity to embed myself, which took 11 years and long hours. My DW was smart enough to go into a field that was short handed and paid well (visiting nurse). Our gains have been "gotten" through hard work and planning.
Our first house was a modest ranch that I gutted and updated with a new owner in mind. All done with cash, little by little as to not dig into debt. The gains from that house allowed us to buy a much larger home that requires the same treatment, but this time I'll be buried in the back yard.
The above required us to send both children to daycare until they started school and allowed us to budget ourselves. Once the kids went to school full time, the excess money was divided into savings and fun-savings.
We chose to get into RV camping mainly as a means to save money while adding more family trips. We used to plan a bi-annual trip to Disney or an island, but I think in this case, quantity is better than quality (in terms of destination) more time spent as a family during downtime is better for us.
As to the OP question, I don't really believe that what you're seeing from overseas is reality. Many people really can't afford the things they're buying, and putting themselves into debt to keep up with the Joneses. It was evident in the crash of '08 and even today. People are refinancing their homes to buy a car they don't need, or a trip they shouldn't be taking.

[Weezer]

Someone said the baby-boomers coming into retirement age is causing a huge movement of RV buyers.

Whatever it is, has anyone else here noticed the big increase of entries on the Welcome Mat thread?

I can't keep up! Just this weekend it's being extremely fast paced.

I can say that for us it's not about keeping up with the Joneses, as we don't know any Joneses we'd care to spend senselessly tit-for-tat with. Our closest couple-friends were influential in our getting in to RVing, as they are long time campers and we all four wanted to spend more time together. They are ecstatic for us and we are ecstatic to be able to share this adventure with them.

I've been told that not only do I march to my own drummer, I kicked the drummer's arse, stole his drum and started my own parade.

Seriously though, throughout our lives, before DH and I married, and since we married, we've put others before ourselves. A few years ago we decided *enough* it's time to put ourselves first.

Some people would describe us as selfish these days. I'm totally ok with that.

"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have."

[BigBaron]

Originally Posted by Agewon

As to the OP question, I don't really believe that what you're seeing from overseas is reality. Many people really can't afford the things they're buying, and putting themselves into debt to keep up with the Joneses. It was evident in the crash of '08 and even today. People are refinancing their homes to buy a car they don't need, or a trip they shouldn't be taking.

Don't I know it! I have friends who have so many petrochemical toys that I can only guess that they sell drugs on the side or something!
I used to joke that they should require a "leased" sticker on leased cars in California. Either people are really dumb, or as you say, they have refinanced their house to buy toys and go on trips they can't afford. Then there's our old neighbor, who bought all the toys and filed for bankruptcy without any shame...
Being in construction, we used to pull UCC filings on customers to see their financial condition before signing a contract. Some were at 90% financed! You'd never have known it from the outside.

I do know many who CAN easily afford the things they have, and most pay for their trailers/RVs/HDTs outright. They either worked hard and lived smart, or were in "the right place at the right time" business-wise. The majority were (are) small/medium-sized business owners. A few have BIG companies. They really know how to play!

I just am concerned for our children, but then again, aren't we all?