Full Timing - A Poll II

[scotjimland]

The abiding thing is though once people are settled to fulltiming few want to give it up. It is generally health or family commitments that force the issue.

This was the reason I dug up this old thread.. I was hoping to hear from those who had voted first time around, if they had changed their mind.. given up, or had recently set off.

If I were to do it again, which is highly unlikely, I would not give up my house, .. but then that wouldn't be full timing in the truest sense.. .. would it. ?

I am of the opinion that it takes a very special type of person or couple to do it.. it certainly isn't for those who enjoy the security and comforts that a house provides. I've said this before, but worth repeating.. it is not a long holiday.. but a totally different lifestyle. I admire those who have made a success of it ......but not envious.

 

[smudger]

i dont care,been doing it 6 yrs now and aint thinking of giving it up, if anything get a new van.....it works for me cos i,m single ,no worry,s,but for a couple i would imagine they would have to plan carefully,.not botherd about the complications involved,tis like this, if yer dont go,yer dont know,the only thing i can say is, have a contingency plan, if it goes tits up,then at least you have somewhere to goe,. all i have is a house. but i still have to get there,not as easy as i,m a wheelchair user.,so i cant just pklonk myself into a hotel or anything other than a wheelchair accessable place, which is fewer and far between.
tis the chance you take....but what counts, is, its not where ever you are,its who ever your with that counts, ie, somewhere yoo can relate too , get help ,info, etc. thats what fun to me is, its what makes fulltimming what it is..ie there not gonna get me out of a hole, but they would help me.... or at least steer me in the right place....anyways time for beddyboos.you know the wagon,tis on the avatar,so if yer see me, knock the door and we will put the kettle on...ave an old chinwag

 

[Landy lover]

If I were to do it again, which is highly unlikely, I would not give up my house, .. but then that wouldn't be full timing in the truest sense.. .. would it. ?

I totally agree with you about not giving up your property Jim - many people say that if you keep a house then you are not fulltiming - to me if the house is paid for then keeping it - whether you have family living in it or you let it out for monthly rent all you are really doing is maintaining an investment - no different to having £XXXXX in the bank and tryiing to invest it but unless you are very clever I doubt you could get as good a return on your money without paying tax on it. To me a full timer with property is one that has thought their future through. None of us know what is around the corner for us

 

[artona]

I totally agree with you about not giving up your property Jim - many people say that if you keep a house then you are not fulltiming - to me if the house is paid for then keeping it - whether you have family living in it or you let it out for monthly rent all you are really doing is maintaining an investment - no different to having £XXXXX in the bank and tryiing to invest it but unless you are very clever I doubt you could get as good a return on your money without paying tax on it. To me a full timer with property is one that has thought their future through. None of us know what is around the corner for us

Totally agree with this. Fulltiming is what it means to the individual, its where your heart is. I also agree with Jims comment earlier that fulltiming is not a holiday. Its a lifestyle and where as you can forget planning for a week or so you can't long term or things will go astray. Money is the biggest problem I see people have. You have to budget well or get a job. There is no reason why you cannot live in a motorhome and work jsut as you do when you live in a house.

 

[scotjimland]

Money is the biggest problem I see people have. You have to budget well or get a job. There is no reason why you cannot live in a motorhome and work jsut as you do when you live in a house.

Totally agree Stew..

There is a lot of discussion about how much it costs but there is no definitive answer as there are too many variables and differences in life styles and expectations.. all I will say it's not cheap.. it may be cheaper than living in property but it still needs an income .. without a big pot, income from property or a substantial pension you will need to work.. but IMO if you work fulltime in the same location then it kind of defeats the reason for going full time.. but we can't work for ever.. so then what, could it be done relying solely on a basic state pension.. is anyone doing this ?

well, I guess it could be and no doubt some are doing so.. the downside to this is you don't qualify for housing and council tax benefits... which is a shame as the housing benefit would easily pay for site fees and help with vehicle running costs..

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Landy lover]

could it be done relying solely on a basic state pension.. is anyone doing this ?

well, I guess it could be and no doubt some are doing so.. the downside to this is you don't qualify for housing and council tax benefits... which is a shame as the housing benefit would easily pay for site fees and help with vehicle running costs..

I guess it would be possible provided nothing went wrong - one of the things we have found is that as we get older we tend to naturally be more frugal - we certainly don't eat anywhere near as much now as say 5 years ago - I think to be safe you would need some extra income and a pot for spares repairs and contingency - our take on it is a minumum of 15k per year and with everything increasing in price I am guessing at 1.5k increase per year unless you are parked in a friendly farmers yard for a couple of quid a week which is no life to lead.

 

[scotjimland]

- I think to be safe you would need some extra income and a pot for spares repairs and contingency - our take on it is a minumum of 15k per year and with everything increasing in price I am guessing at 1.5k increase per year unless you are parked in a friendly farmers yard for a couple of quid a week which is no life to lead.

Yes, I agree,

before setting off our estimate was 12k minimum.. in practice it was closer to the 15k .. this was not living the high life or staying on expensive sites.. we stayed mainly on cheap or free aires.. but we were a family of four..

If you do seasonal work for say 6 months as site wardens, gives a weekly income of about £480 gross.. so you need to save £250 - £300 a week for the 6 month winter jaunt..

 

[Terry]

Along time ago I did a chart on estimated costs at full timing (somebody may find and link it )I started with around 200k invested @5 % and set about adding int and living costs for full timing but leaving out peoples income / pensions because they all differ :thumb:The upshot was after about 15 yrs the cash had just about GONE
terry

 

[Jim]

The Cost of Fulltiming

I know people that full time on much less that 12k a year. I know another that easily spends more than 30k. it really is a "how long is is piece of string question" for example if you already own and insure a motorhome and a house, you will save loads if you decide to only use one instead of both.

Some people spend a maximum of just £1800 a year to park, while some couples will spend double that on fags!

Some can earn more than they spend fulltiming by renting their home

A costs before and after fulltiming chart is simple to do but it will be vastly different for most.

 

[Jim]

Along time ago I did a chart on estimated costs at full timing (somebody may find and link it )I started with around 200k invested @5 % and set about adding int and living costs for full timing but leaving out peoples income / pensions because they all differ :thumb:The upshot was after about 15 yrs the cash had just about GONE
terry

Yes Terry but wouldn't the sums be the same whereever you lived?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[buttons]

After a year fulltiming I could never go back to living under one roof in the same godforsaken hellhole of a town with the same faces passing by every day and doing the same job for some ungrateful employer to pay bills that always seem to be more than I'm earning, In fact my friend is under strict instructions to shoot me if I ever change my mind :thumb:

Have you thought of seeing someone about these feelings

 

[buttons]

I know little about JJ but on the positive side JJ appears to have a good balance I could become just a tad jealous of his travels but he obviously has the personality and the tools to exist doing what he does, and long may it last.:youbetcha:

Any extended spell in a motorhome is great if you havent burnt all your bridges to get their. In my opinion, living in something that has a limited lifespan without funds to replace it is a road to disaster.

 

[Mags52]

A year ago I couldn't have imagined saying this but the thought of travelling for a year or more full time in the MH is very appealing. We are lucky enough to have a house that is fully paid off and a small but liveable on pension due to kick in at the end of the year. The problem as far as we see it is that selling the house to downsize isn't really an option as property here is staying on the market for 9 months - year and going for thousands less than the asking price. I know we can buy a smaller place for less too but the whole process could take a year or more and the resulting equity would be much less.
I think we need to conisder letting the place or getting family to live in it rent free but paying council tax, insurance etc. while we go and indulge our mid life dream

 

[artona]

Fulltimers live for today Buttons. They are doing what they want. Strangely enough you will rarely hear fulltimers discussing the merits of living in a shed (fulltimer lingo for a house lol).

Unless you win the lottery, get an inheritence etc etc an average house regardless of original cost will take up the greater part of your salary. Your next most expensive buy is going to be your car. Fulltimers need neither of those.

By th etime you have paid for your house and cars you can buy an awful lot of motorhomes........

 

[buttons]

A year ago I couldn't have imagined saying this but the thought of travelling for a year or more full time in the MH is very appealing. We are lucky enough to have a house that is fully paid off and a small but liveable on pension due to kick in at the end of the year. The problem as far as we see it is that selling the house to downsize isn't really an option as property here is staying on the market for 9 months - year and going for thousands less than the asking price. I know we can buy a smaller place for less too but the whole process could take a year or more and the resulting equity would be much less.
I think we need to conisder letting the place or getting family to live in it rent free but paying council tax, insurance etc. while we go and indulge our mid life dream

If you can manage this then go ahead and indulge, why sell your house if you don't need to. You will be happy the family will be happy and you have a home to call your own it's a win win.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[buttons]

Fulltimers live for today Buttons. They are doing what they want. Strangely enough you will rarely hear fulltimers discussing the merits of living in a shed (fulltimer lingo for a house lol).

Unless you win the lottery, get an inheritence etc etc an average house regardless of original cost will take up the greater part of your salary. Your next most expensive buy is going to be your car. Fulltimers need neither of those.

By th etime you have paid for your house and cars you can buy an awful lot of motorhomes........

Yep I'm sure some of them are. And the others....

 

[Jim]

Yep I'm sure some of them are. And the others....

What others are you asking about?

 

[Pat4Neil]

Sometimes I feel the more research and questioning you do the I feel like between the devil and the deep blue see (is that a saying).

We have started putting some of the plans in actions.

The house on the market tick
sold X
started clearing out and decluttering tick
start doing boot sales with stuff tick
making any headroom X (find it hard to get rid of stuff until we know the outcome of what we need, depending on what we decide)

plans for new truck habitation done about to place order tick
the truck for the base not got yet X

Retirement date sort of set tick

Where we are going to live ?

This is the biggest question, once we sell the house we will buy one buy to let property, and maybe a smaller one further a field to rent out or live in for a while, while getting an income of the first buy to let.

Option two buy to let the property and rent somewhere suitable to base ourselves for a year whilst doing the truck vehicles habitation fit out, it might be easier to have an address to do this as we need deliveries and to purchase things on credit cards.

Plus find some temporary work too, maybe just for the olympics summer time.

Start planning our first major trip, after smaller ones have been completed satisfactory. I suppose this is slightly different than a ready built motorhome and likely to have more teething problems, also the vehicle is old probably 1981-1988 which in itself lots needs sorting out.

Not sure if I am completely comfortable with giving up a base somewhere. Neil is, he finds it easy, but it tends to be me that has to worry about the finner details, logistics, financial and family commitment things.

As mentioned before we have started the wheels in motion, but are willing to see what crops up along the way to see where our paths go although there is one destination that is set and thats the world its just all the crap to deal with thats the boring bit.

Sorry if this seems a mixed post, but most of the times thats just what my heads like.

 

[artona]

Yep I'm sure some of them are. And the others....

I too am not sure who you mean either?

 

[Terry]

Yes Terry but wouldn't the sums be the same whereever you lived?

That depends on who does the sums :thumb:
I took no account of pensions etc, just a little above the average house value :thumbat the time ) I really must find the link :thumb: it made interesting reading even blowing 30 k to upgrade your van (if I remember right) but basically after the 15 yrs all the money had gone but you were left with the nice (I assume ) van
terry

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Jim]

OK, I see what you mean. You did the sums calculating from when someone sold their house and then full timed, how long they would last. without any other income or pension. I have seen similar spreadsheets.

It would be interesting to see something similar now, but to look at the differences between householder and fulltimer. Council tax, water gas and electric are extremely high and in the very short term house prices are falling faster than 3 year old vans are depreciating.

One things for sure, to build a spreadsheet that could take everything (peoples circumstances) into consideration is beyond me, let alone having collumns for lifestyle choice and how to put a value on it

 

[buttons]

What others are you asking about?

Going on your survey alone jim the 4.63% of the poll results. And of course the others that have the same feelings with no access to your poll.

 

[Jim]

Going on your survey alone jim the 4.63% of the poll results. And of course the others that have the same feelings with no access to your poll.

But what is your point? What about those people?

 

[artona]

Going by the survey 86% of motorhomers are in favour of fulltiming.

Is this a deathnail of house dwelling

 

[Gromett]

It is different for everyone...
For me I had 15 years left to pay on my mortgage @ £450 per month. Add council tax, water, sewerage, electric and gas it must have been over £700 per month. I can't remember exactly how much now tbh.

My equivalent expenses are £10 a night for a CL plus gas cylinder and thats at the upper end. So £310 a month for the CL and in winter £100 per month for Gas. £410 so that less than the mortage on it's own.

For me fulltiming is much much cheaper and selling the house was an easy decision. If I owned the property outright I may have kept it to rent.

If you still need to work fulltiming can still be better than having a mortgage as you can save money faster.

All the above is based on the fact that I had a motorhome so had to pay for the costs of it as well anyway. Fulltimers insurance is exensive but if you added up the Car insurance, Motorhome Insurance, building and contents insurance it still worked out cheaper for me. I no longer pay car, building or contents.

All the other costs are the same. My living expenses have actually dropped because I am not going out to the pub 3-5 nights a week with friends. I am not buying junk for the house as I now have to think where can I put this before I buy anything.

My Diesel/petrol costs have reduced as I don't do anything like the mileage I used to because I don't drive to a place then drive home again after. I drive to a place then think about where to go next.

I am single so I don't have to work out details with anyone else. If I were in a relationship I am not sure it would work out so easily to be honest probably not.

I am never bored now, I used to be quite often when I was stuck in the same house looking at the same 4 walls with the same view out the window looking forward to the next visit to the same pub to meet the same people to talk about the same crap.

Anyway, I am waffling again.......:Blush:

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[coolasluck]

We are very much commited to full-timing,its a case of now getting fed up with the talking and reading about it and just want to do it.We are looking to long term first which will mean downsizing our house and buying outright a smaller one,hopefully in north devon.From here we will long term and discover how much we love the life and go from there,with our house empty we will have a base to go back too until we decide to rent it out.I do know that after selling our current house we could never have our hearts and soul into another bricks and mortar house again.We have done so much we our current housee.t.c.Possibly while prices of houses are low we would be better off staying on the property ladder until at least the prices get high again.My wife is more of the opinion that she wants to eventually sell the house and escape the aggrovation that you can get renting out your bricks and mortar.
I have been more interested of late in looking into buying land abroad where you could rest up your motorhome and take a bit of a break my idea is in buying a plot in eastern france which would be an ideal stepping stone for the rest of europe.
We would much rather spend 200k now and have a good 15-20 years of living life, than getting old(if your lucky) and enjoying your money when infirm,i think if you think hard about making your financial decisions then when you invest or spend it you should not look back with regrets but look at how many years of enjoyment you have had in particular whilst everyone else in the rat race works.

 

[buttons]

But what is your point? What about those people?

I don't have a point. I was purly responding to the statement Quote:"Fulltimers live for today Buttons. They are doing what they want."
This would suggest that all fulltimers are perfectly happy with their lot. Not the case some are stuck with no way out and others have given up in a far worse state than they were before they had this notion.
I think I need a coffee.:Mellow:

 

[Terry]

Anyone fancy going through my 3000 plus posts to find the calculation sheet ?
terry

 

[scotjimland]

Going by the survey 86% of motorhomers are in favour of fulltiming.

sorry Stew.. not being picky .. but how do figure that ?

Of those who bothered to vote ... (figures rounded)

24% are doing it and enjoying it

18% are planning

18 % intend to try it

total 60 %

36% would never do it

4% gave up

1% wish to give up

total 41%

 

[artona]

Anyone who likes the idea of fulltiming is in favour Jim. Revisit the figures mate

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}