We've had an idea. Our goal when moving to Massachusetts was to make all this money and pay off our debt. Seemed like a perfect plan on paper, we would set up our budget according to Dave Ramsey and everything would fall into place. The one thing that we didn't really account for was housing in Mass. Holy cow, it's expensive. We planned to rent because we didn't want to buy a house in an area then end up not liking the area. We wanted our rent to be around $1500. Reasonable rent right? No, that amount pays for an apartment in an iffy part of town. Keep in mind that we are from rural areas. We like our space. We were not going to live in an apartment. Now, we did find some houses in that price range but they were either too far from the city, were owned by shady people, or just not somewhere we wouldn't want to live. We also discovered that a second bathroom added about $500 a month to rent. Two bathrooms are a must in our house. So we are now stuck in the $2k range for rent a month! We are making more income, I'm working part time. However, we are wasting the majority of it on rent. We'll have nothing to show for it at the end of our lease.
This brings me to the idea... Let's buy a camper and live in it full time! I explained my idea to my husband. My pitch included points about how much money we'd save, how easy it would be to relocate to a new job, and how we could just simply go home when we are done job hopping. He agreed that it sounds like a good idea. So we begin our new adventure with some research.
You see we're not in love with the Boston area. It is a nice place, the people are nice, and there is so much history to enjoy. But, it's humid or freezing, there are millions of people, and we are just so far away from our families. And the snow...so much snow. That being said, we aren't planning on staying. We aren't going to be leaving anytime soon either.
On to the research part. We almost immediately found the camper that would work the best for us. If you are going to live in the firth wheel year round you want the Open Range 427BHS. (Check out the lay out picture above) It's the whole package. Keep in mind that we have one kiddo and a dog. So we need the bunk house. If it's just you or you and a significant other there are very nice models with one room. Some important features to consider are...
- This model is insulated, has the four season package.
- It has air conditioning and a heater (plus a ceiling fan!)
- Self leveling hydraulic system
- An area for a washer and dryer (a MUST have)
- One and a half bathrooms
- A king size bed
- A central vacuuming system
- Large holding tanks that are heated to prevent freezing
- Bigger refrigerator
- The "Bunk House" (a.k.a. the second bedroom)
- All the comforts of home (just in a smaller package)
There is a down side to this plan that is sort of keeping us from putting it in action. We will need to upgrade our little F150 to a Dodge 3500 dually. Yes, you are going to want a dually. We've been given some advice from folks who've lived this life style. These fifth wheels are huge, very tall. When you are driving down the interstate the trailer "walks" or whips all over the place. The duals help "anchor" the trailer and keep it on the straight and narrow. That being said, those are almost impossible to find here. I guess people in New England just don't need them. We could order one for $60k. No way are we spending $60k on a pick up. Plus we would still have to upfit it with the fifth wheel hitch. You are looking at another $1,000 for the upfit. The campers them selves run $30k (used) to $80k (new). We will have to finance this little adventure so we need to keep the costs down as much as possible. We plan to buy used.
Another problem is where are we going to park for the winter. The camp grounds here aren't open year round. The only other options are to rent a piece of land or live in a mobile home park. This is a bit of a challenge as land that has water and electricity hook ups is not readily available. The "mobile home parks" (a.k.a. trailer parks) are almost as rare. This is the main reason we haven't pulled the trigger on this idea. We need to make sure we are going to be able to live here for the winter in our home away from home.
If you are looking to do this and have any questions or comments please post in the comment section. I've done a bit of research but it's always good to compare notes.
Until next time..
- This model is insulated, has the four season package.
- It has air conditioning and a heater (plus a ceiling fan!)
- Self leveling hydraulic system
- An area for a washer and dryer (a MUST have)
- One and a half bathrooms
- A king size bed
- A central vacuuming system
- Large holding tanks that are heated to prevent freezing
- Bigger refrigerator
- The "Bunk House" (a.k.a. the second bedroom)
- All the comforts of home (just in a smaller package)
There is a down side to this plan that is sort of keeping us from putting it in action. We will need to upgrade our little F150 to a Dodge 3500 dually. Yes, you are going to want a dually. We've been given some advice from folks who've lived this life style. These fifth wheels are huge, very tall. When you are driving down the interstate the trailer "walks" or whips all over the place. The duals help "anchor" the trailer and keep it on the straight and narrow. That being said, those are almost impossible to find here. I guess people in New England just don't need them. We could order one for $60k. No way are we spending $60k on a pick up. Plus we would still have to upfit it with the fifth wheel hitch. You are looking at another $1,000 for the upfit. The campers them selves run $30k (used) to $80k (new). We will have to finance this little adventure so we need to keep the costs down as much as possible. We plan to buy used.
Another problem is where are we going to park for the winter. The camp grounds here aren't open year round. The only other options are to rent a piece of land or live in a mobile home park. This is a bit of a challenge as land that has water and electricity hook ups is not readily available. The "mobile home parks" (a.k.a. trailer parks) are almost as rare. This is the main reason we haven't pulled the trigger on this idea. We need to make sure we are going to be able to live here for the winter in our home away from home.
If you are looking to do this and have any questions or comments please post in the comment section. I've done a bit of research but it's always good to compare notes.
Until next time..
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