your RV - use it or lose it - money invested

[Mountainmanbob]

a while back we sold our
older Super Chief motor home
we had it for about 4 years
took it out prox 12 to 15 times
prox lenth of stay 4 days
had 15 thousand invested
after some repairs if you know what I mean
received 7,400 when sold

so let us see here
looks like
not counting insurance or registration
my daily cost for use was 158 dollars a day

yes
I could have gotten a pretty nice hotel room
for that amount of money
and would not have had the concerns
with getting the rig up and ready etc etc

but

there is someTHING special as you all know
regarding having our own
home on wheels
sleeping in our own beds
out on the road
or
deep in the desert or forest all alone

here is the point
as I shared this also with the MountainLady
we need to use these RV THINGS
so as to get our monies worth
the more we use it
the cost of our daily use comes down

yes
this all makes sense
let us all plan a trip ASAP

your RV - use it or lose it - money invested

have a blessed camping day planned soon
Mountainman

[Ovair]

Wife and I have done the math too. You are absolutely right. Use it. Otherwise you're wasting money.

[nailit]

We're using ours to the fullest. Just got back from a week long hunt, now heading out to desert camp with the gang weekend after next. Two more trips in Feb. Today is the day clean out the 5er for the next trip.

We rather use our 5er than a hotel room...anytime.

[KyDan]

We're heading to Florida in Feb.
Check my signature.
100 days in the last 2 years.
We're doing pretty good considering my wife is still employed!

[RubenZ]

Last time I checked there were no Hotels in the secluded mountains of West Texas nor could I light a campfire inside the hotel room or BBQ in there. Oh and last time I checked I never saw Deer, bobcats, etc. out my hotel rooms LOL..

Give me an RV any day!! Also your math forgot to include FUEL COST lol pulling a trailer with a big rig vs taking the family car.

[trudinator]

Considering our loan payments (we're not lucky enough to have purchased ours outright!) and roughly 50% markup for fuel for the truck, odds & ends, etc., I figure ours cost us $43 a day for the 61 days we camped in 2011. Not too shabby. We already have 35 days booked in 2012, and I'm getting ready to book another 9 nights in a few minutes....life is good!

[Mountainmanbob]

Originally Posted by trudinator

I figure ours cost us $43 a day for the 61 days we camped in 2011.

We already have 35 days booked in 2012,
and I'm getting ready to book another 9 nights in a few minutes....
life is good!

yes I agree with you
not only are you
working a good program money wise
but life is good
I'am grateful that we all here
have been ((blessed)) with the monies
so as to buy our rigs and use them often

Originally Posted by RubenZ

Oh and last time I checked
I never saw
Deer, bobcats, etc. out my hotel rooms

excellent points Ruben
one can not put a price on that
getting out into God's country
and seeing it up very close
away from the big city

Originally Posted by KyDan

We're doing pretty good
considering my wife is still employed!

my wife is also still working
as the Mountainman is retired
yet
another THING to be grateful for
especially in these days and times

Mountainman

[Terier]

There's also costs in using your RV too such as gas and camping fees. However, as long as I am using my trailer I am gaining the offset of my investment in comparison to wasted money sitting in the driveway aging away.

To be honest there can be a lot of work involved with using an RV but I usually find it to be rewarding.

[RubenZ]

dont forget storage cost LOL. Wanna talk about not getting money's worth, we pay 28.00 a month for storage plus 25 for insurance + the payment. Then again our trailer was only around 14k. BUT in 7months we've only camped 16 days in it LOL. But then again both my wife and I work and have full time jobs and a 2yr old. So really, we plan our trips around holidays only mostly. Our next trip is Martin Luther King weekend and next one will be during Spring Break.

[trudinator]

Originally Posted by RubenZ

dont forget storage cost LOL. Wanna talk about not getting money's worth, we pay 28.00 a month for storage plus 25 for insurance + the payment. Then again our trailer was only around 14k. BUT in 7months we've only camped 16 days in it LOL. But then again both my wife and I work and have full time jobs and a 2yr old. So really, we plan our trips around holidays only mostly. Our next trip is Martin Luther King weekend and next one will be during Spring Break.

I didn't figure in the insurance, which adds another $23 monthly, but I did mark up my figures by 50%, so that should take care of it. we keep it on our property, so no storage fees. My DH and I both work full time also, but we don't have any kids, so we are able to go at a moment's notice. Once in season our TT is loaded up with everything we need except for a few groceries. We can be ready to go in a couple of hours.

[RubenZ]

Thats nice. My wife and I did that before I took it back to storage. We have jackets, blankets, spices and little odds and ends that pretty much make it ready to go. Only thing that takes long now is getting stuff for our 2yr old. Even then, pampers and whipes etc are already in trailer. The Bad thing for us is we live in DEEP south Texas and just to get to any decent camping area we have to drive 5hrs to San Antonio so going for a weekend even then takes an extra day off.

[MtnGuy]

I put more mileage on my bicycles that I did towing the camper last year. 2 trips to Va. Beach at 365 miles round trip each, plus 2 trips to the Skyline Drive......but that is close.

Sad, sad, sad.

Looking forward to putting some miles on the camper doing the Elkhart Frog Rally this year......that ought to be about 1300 miles round trip.

[jtstromsburg]

Brought home our (me, wife, and two little girls) new tt the end of July and camped over 30 nights before winterizing, then decided to use it again over Thanksgiving weekend. Stored in one side if my new driveway. With the deal we got on it, and great camping within 20mi, I don't care how the financial statement of camping looks, we love it! Can't wait to head out again. Should be interesting with a new baby coming early July!

[Filthy Beast]

I'm with RubenZ, it's just the way we choose to travel, even if it costs a little more than the hotels and meals out.

[GASPEDDLER]

I too considered the amount of time I would actually spend in my RV vs the expense prior to purchasing. I pulled the trigger because I had spent too many weekends sitting on the couch watching the boob tube while my kids grew up before my eyes. One day I realized my oldest would be leaving for college in only three years and I figured it was time to spend more time with my kids before it was too late. There are way too many distractions at home which allow for each of us to do our own thing and not spend that time together. I want my kids to look back and remember the times when dad took them camping. Heck, my 9 and 13 year old boys are already talking about buying RV's when they grow up so that they can take their own kids camping....and oh yes even grandpa (myself) gets to come along. You cannot put a price on that kind of an experience. BTW, I just made a reservation for the MLK weekend and already had a reservation for spring break week...I'm counting the days!

[Mountainmanbob]

Originally Posted by jtstromsburg

I don't care how the financial statement of camping looks, we love it!

priceless I would say
those times away from home
in our little home on wheels

we go to Borrego Springs often
65 miles to God's big open desert
a while back
we spent 35 dollars a day
for Palm Canyon State RV park
thus 3 days was 105
I had an idea to place an ad
in the local newspaper
WANTED
part time RV spot with hookups $100 mo
the Lady at the Borrego Sun
said "she did not think we would get any calls
turned out I got three calls in three weeks
the second place I checked out
was just what the doctor ordered
sitting on the Rocking Ranch
with a unobstructed view for miles
if we only use it 3 days a month
it pays for itself
much better than being cramed in somewhere
just a thought for any of you out there
who visit one location often

keeping the price down
so we can go more often

the more I (we) use it
the better the savings

honey we got to use that THING
so as to get our monies worth

looks like I'am heading out alone
in a little over a week
MountainLady will be working
going out camping
so as to save us some more money !!!

(((( just another excuse for the wife ))))

by

Mountainmanbob

[carsonizik3]

Just purchased a new 365 SAQ Sandpiper. It was very expensive for me and the wife to purchase. But the kids and wife are counting the days till our first trip. (so am I). New trailer will be here in mid Feb. If everything goes as planned there will be a week long trip to Myrtle Beach and 10-12 trips to Pigeon Forge in 2012. Its all about spending time with the wife and kids. We also have a few friends that have campers that camp with us. We custom ordered this camper so we could get all options we wanted so maybe we will keep it for a long time. Just today I called the factory rep and added slide awnings to the purchase order.What we get out of it is worth more than anything.

[Iggy]

I think everyone agrees RV is a bit expensive. Rig cost and devaluation, Insurance, Loan interest, storage and the RV campsite costs as well as fuel all runs up the costs. You also have to have the vacation time to use it which some are limited.

With all that in mind my wife says that when we stop she know she is in sleeping in a clean bed. For her that makes all the difference.
Oh did I mention being retired and lots of money helps a lot.

[RubenZ]

This is what its all about LOL:

[IMG]
img_9160-resized by Ruben Zamora, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]
RDZ_9975resized by Ruben Zamora, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]
RDZ_9994resized by Ruben Zamora, on Flickr[/IMG]

[2Susan]

There are intangibles - such as knowing who slept on those sheets last, knowing who has used the bathroom, and being able to open a drawer or cupboard instead of pawing through a suitcase. You have the option of eating in when the other options are less than ideal road food. Children can keep to the same routines. You don't have the worry about security folk pawing through you luggage wearing the same gloves they were wearing searching the last person's dirty socks and underwear.