quote:

This guy can fix anything, but is a very low stress/low income kinda guy. He will soon have social security for about $500/mo. + another $500 or so from an investment.

If he can fix things as you say, then he can make it by volunteering at both State and Federal Parks/Locations. Both can use manitance people and he can get FHU and maybe even soem pay for his services.

Hmmm, RVers as house sitters?! I think there could be possibilities in that area: vacation temps, other RVers houses, etc.
Re: foreclosures, I think it might depend on how bad it gets. IF lots of houses go empty, and banks start losing lots of $$$ to vandals, they might go for it.
IF there was a known entity that specialized in placing responsible RVers on a temporary basis, I suspect that entity might be kept busy. Anyway, the foreclosure trend is a scary thing.

walesmaven's comment that banks don't want the liability of a resident is a bit of a damper on things. So doing this with a foreclosure house is probably going to be a problem, unless the bank is really desperate.

On the other hand, if a long wait for a sale is expected, and the house is empty, it seems like a real estate agent might persuade the seller to go for this arrangement. It saves them money, after all. The thing would be to have a friendly realtor. Ideally, one who knew you and trusted that you wouldn't loot the place yourself.

Or a property management service that would take responsibility. That's going to be a bit harder to find though.

Sorry, one more "cloud on the title". As a former Realtor, my two cents on the subject is that many, [underline many], subdivisions/communities have covenants and restrictions that do not allow parking of RV's, trailers, motorhomes etc. on their property unless for "visitors" and at that, there is a time limit. Could be feasible on a country house, but even then, I don't see how you can simply hook up to someone's septic, sewer, water without a valid agreement -- and then there's the issue of whose name the utilities are registered to. Forget running a generator. Yikes! Then who takes the liability insurance for your protection on their premises?

Sounds like a great idea, is it a narrow market or a can of worms?

While we haven't done more than a 3 month jaunt at at time, but are about to head out for a 12 month RV trip, we think we can do it on under 1100 a month. That's a family of four.

We're not into the big tourist things. Don't watch tv. Own our PUP and car, and insurance is $240 a year. It's tight that way and leaves us with a lot of boondocking and very tiny medical expense savings and repairs. We do about $2200 a month but that's not every month so only thing reliable is the $1100 a month right now, that's what we budget for.

Meals are our biggest expense. Plan ahead, stick to it which is my weakness... "Oooh doesn't that Soso look great! Let's go dine!" hmm bad weakness to have. heh

Discipline, budgeting skills, and planning are a must from what I know of living on next to nothing, RVing or house bound.

Hi all I'm new here but I don't think he is going to have a problem at all. If he is a good handyman he could do well for himself on the road. There are always people who needs small or large things fixed. If he is good word of mouth will boost his income.To bad I'm in seattle as I would pay for a good handyman to do some fixing for me. Hanyman is a great atr and hard to find.

quote:

Food ..
$100.00 to $125.00 includes lots of steak and seafood items ... the trick ?? Make a list for the entire month and stick to it.
Do not buy anything that is not on your grocery list.

I realize this particular post is almost 2 years old, so am curious if you are still able to keep within that budget, considering todays outrageous grocery prices?

Food is one of our biggest monthly expenses, next to fuel. We can always sit longer in one place to save on fuel costs, but we still have to eat.

I would love to be able to spend only $100-125 a month on food, but is that realistic?

Hi CINDONA,

I wish it were still the same... but alas my food cost have gone up like everything else..

Since it was back in 2006 when I posted those figures, and the last post before yours was back in Aug of 2007, I am posting parts of the same original post with the new figures in RED for comparison..

Here is original post with 2008 figures.............................................

RV parks average about $25 this park is now $28 per night for full hookups and $275 $305 until this coming May when it will jump to $380 per month for extended stays.

Here is a rough breakdown of my own expenses.

Total monthly income = $1285.00 $1356
Social Sec. $1227.00 $1293
Veterans disability $58.00 $63

Monthly expenses =

Rent .. $285 $330 next winter in winter and $345 $380 for May through October in summer.
Utilities and cable television are extra.

Electricity .. $50.00 (+/-) raised to 13.5 cent per KWh which means an average monthly electric bill of $65

Cable Television $25.00 stayed the same... so far

Propane .. based on $2.55 $3.40 per gallon
Summertime ..$3.00 per month still about the same +-
Wintertime ..$75 to $100 per month $140 to $160

Truck fuel.. based on $3.00 gas = $3.22 and diesel = $3.60 per gallon
$5 to $20 $10 to $30 I don't drive as much now because of prices depends on how active I am that month

Truck insurance.. (2 of them)
$485.30 $385.60 for 6 months "Full coverage" dropped FULL coverage and now have BASIC insurance as Nevada law requires with CSE ins.company

Trailer insurance ..
$318.00 for full year complete "Home Owner's" policy with Foremost Ins. stayed the same
($318 divided by 12 months = $26.50 per month)

Food ..
$100.00 to $125.00 includes lots of steak and seafood items ... Had to cut back on some things like Petite Sirloin steak and fresh fish fillets to frozen fish and the cheapest price beef I can find ..
but by using a "Big ol' Hammer" and McCormick meat tenderizer, I make it tender enough to eat

The trick to eating cheaply but reasonably well is to make a list for the entire month and stick to it.
Do not buy anything that is not on your grocery list.

Medical .. $8 per month co-pay for each prescription at the VA Hospital. same price for VA meds... BUT.. I now buy two of my VA meds from Wal-Mart's $4 list ... saves me $8 a month

Everything else from the VA is free, all operations, doctor visits, etc...

I also have Medicare .. I kept part "A" only, I don't need part "B" of the Medicare coverage.

This saves me over $500 per month for health insurance. I realize that some folks are not veterans and therefore don't have this medical coverage. So medical premiums must be figured into their budgets.

AT&T Home Phone ..$5.00 (senior rate) for unlimited local calls. no change, still $5 for senior "Life Line service"

I dropped long distance on land line phone and use land line strictly for computer and local calls.

Cellular phone ..
$39.99 = 450 min prime time plus 5000 min anytime plus no roaming and no long distance, plus "Roll Over" minutes are FANTASTIC...
(The reason I dropped land line long distance)

Dropped back to the AT&T $29.99 package which gives me 200 anytime minutes and 1000 weekend and nights minutes ... plus no long distance or roaming charges no matter where I am in continental USA...

The FREE long distance and FREE roaming is why I went with the $29.99 deal instead of the $19.99 deal which only gives 100 minutes and nothing else.

Cellular "Data" service with GC83 air card ...
$59.99 for UNLIMITED data , UNLIMITED time online and don't have to worry about looking for a "hot Spot" or having to pay roaming or long distance charges to be online.

I had to drop the data card service.. won't fit into my budget anymore. But I signed up for AT&T DSL service for $19.99 .. which saves me about $40 per month

Laundromat ..
including soap, bleach and dryer cloths ...$9.00
$11.00

Personal things ..toilet paper, razor, shaving cream, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, shampoo, etc………………….. $3.00 $4

Haircut ..$8.00, just went up from $5 same

Cleaning supplies ..Dishsoap, scouring powder, etc: .. $1.00 same

Internet access..$9.95 JUNO.COM for full unrestricted access 24 hours per day. stayed same, but I pay it yearly, not monthly $119.40

Since I was "Grounded" because of 50% vision loss in 2007, and can no longer see well enough to safely maneuver the truck and 5th wheel, I live in a very nice RV park in Carson City.
As per my signature, you can see that my trucks and 5th wheel are over ten years old.. But they all are in excellent shape.. and paid for.

The trick is not to try and keep up with the Joneses.. live your own life on your own terms.

Just do what "YOU" want to do... and don't try to fly with the flock when summer comes around ..

Hope this helps

John

quote:

Internet access..$9.95 JUNO.COM for full unrestricted access 24 hours per day. stayed same, but I pay it yearly, not monthly $119.40

This seems unnecessary since you have a DSL connection. Granted, you will have to give up your JUNO email address, but there are plenty of free alternatives.

You are correct Tom and Rocki...

But you also hit the nail on the head when you say I would have to give up my Juno address..

I'm an old stick-in-the-mud who is set in my ways and don't like changing things that don't need changing..

I joined Juno when they were just getting started many, many years ago.. late 1980's I think.

The started as a free "Email Only" company with no access to the internet, it was for sending and receiving emails only..

Over the years they have grown to be the large full function ISP they are today and changed their name to "United Online" and own several other companies like the "NetZero.com" company..

My Juno account is so old that I have a 4 digit/letter password... which is no longer allowed..

almost everything now-a-days require a lengthy password composed of all sorts of weird configurations of numbers and letters..

Plus all of my friends, family and associates know my email address by heart..

Dropping Juno would be like losing my best friend or family member..

John

John,

Wow! A little over 5% increase in income, and an almost 23% increase in expenses.

And, I see you have made adjustments (as have we) in things like cell phone plans and insurance coverages to offset some of the expenses.

Excellent information and exactly what I was looking for. I am going to shop once a month and stick to the list (by leaving my husband at home)...and I will let you know how I'm doing in 3-6 months.

Thank you very much!

(Oh,and we've never cared much about keeping up with the joneses, so no problem there.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cindona,

I would love to know what happened with TKs cousin? Did he try it? Is he in the process or totally discouraged?

It may be a trueism that most folks don't want to believe but if he is not already a "Budgeteer" the odds are very high that he won't be one in any lifestyle. That could be a real disappointment because the rosy future would be seriously dimmed by the glum history of always being behind the 8 ball, financially.

On the brighter side, he has lived this long with his own "style" of life and would likely continue to adapt as needed. People that are as handy as he sounds are usually pretty good at "figuring" what needs to be done to make anything work.... albeit not to a predefined specification.

Just curious what developed for him so far.

Howdy Folks. TK's cousin did buy a 1972 single axle trailer WITH a 1979 big block V8 Ford for $2500 from a retired fellow who kept them up.
His teenage son thinks the combo is really cool as he can take his dirt bike in the back of the PU. Rick, however, isn't convinced the hassle of a "large" TT is worth it compared to the better mileage and ease of driving of a camping van, which is what he had before (1969 Econoline). In short, he is still looking for something that will get better mileage without having to spend much dineros.

quote:

If he can fix things as you say, then he can make it by volunteering at both State and Federal Parks/Locations. Both can use manitance people and he can get FHU and maybe even soem pay for his services.

My thoughts, exactly........

Business Week reported that a couple needs $225k saved for an age 65 retirement to cover all medical expenses. See Fulltimin-it planning - medical expense estimation for an analysis of what this means.

This is for a couple and most folks pay most of the amount in Medicare withholding or other insurance premiums.