QZ
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2017
- Posts
- 556
I would have to ask why you bought an RV and especially a MH. When I was working an older co worker said he was going to retire and pull his 16' TT to Arizona for the winter. Some of the others laughed and sort of considered him a dirt bag. As I got about 5 years from retirement and started researching I visualized hitting the road from Wisconsin and mapped a days travel and searched fro an RV park in that area. To my surprise it was about $30 a night. At that rate it is obviously about $900 per month to pay by the night. At that point I concluded that anybody who can retire and do that and pay for everything else probably isn't a dirt bag.
I also explored mobile and modular homes in retiree parks down south and out west and figured it would run about $500 to $600 a month even when we are not there and that did not include the purchase price. That would solve our winter snow problem but we were still 1000 and 2000 miles from our kids so back to the RV scenario and the discovery of boondocking and dry camping. For us that solved three problems, it got us out of the snow, let us visit our kids and cut the costs substantially. Two of our kids have a couple acres more in the country so we are able to spend a good deal of time with them. We also spend a few months on BLM and other free land.
If I average out a 7 month season that includes BLM, city parks, COE and RV parks such as $45 a night places in Moab I probably spend $5 or so per night. If we add in dump fees and propane I might be closer to $10. I have never tracked it closely and it varies with the weather and the availability of free spots and the areas we pass through.
With a MH and using it at by the night prices you are probably doing it as expensively as possible. I assume you have street bikes so you are probably not into dirt roads and camping areas. I would guess that a cheaper option would have been to own a pickup which could be used as a daily driver and a toy hauler. To keep the TH from being huge you do compromise on space and comfort but it is also cheaper and easier to store and maintain. A tow behind RV does much better when stored for long periods too. At this point about the only thing you can do is try to cut your nightly cost and you may be able to do it by checking out boondocking options or renting a seasonal site.
You cant just go on sites like freecampsites.net or Campendium and pick a spot and expect to drive in there with a MH and trailer. Some of the reviews that people leave tell you how wonderful the flowers are and not what size rigs can access it so you have to use things like Google Earth and street view to plan it out. On the other hand you may be able to come up with a few places that will work for you and maybe end up enjoying it more than RV parks. A good point that you made is that you love to work on it and that can be not only a huge savings but also much less hassle from incompetent and lying dealers. Good luck to you, maybe you will be back here asking about solar options
https://freecampsites.net/#!Georgia&query=region https://www.campendium.com/georgia
I also explored mobile and modular homes in retiree parks down south and out west and figured it would run about $500 to $600 a month even when we are not there and that did not include the purchase price. That would solve our winter snow problem but we were still 1000 and 2000 miles from our kids so back to the RV scenario and the discovery of boondocking and dry camping. For us that solved three problems, it got us out of the snow, let us visit our kids and cut the costs substantially. Two of our kids have a couple acres more in the country so we are able to spend a good deal of time with them. We also spend a few months on BLM and other free land.
If I average out a 7 month season that includes BLM, city parks, COE and RV parks such as $45 a night places in Moab I probably spend $5 or so per night. If we add in dump fees and propane I might be closer to $10. I have never tracked it closely and it varies with the weather and the availability of free spots and the areas we pass through.
With a MH and using it at by the night prices you are probably doing it as expensively as possible. I assume you have street bikes so you are probably not into dirt roads and camping areas. I would guess that a cheaper option would have been to own a pickup which could be used as a daily driver and a toy hauler. To keep the TH from being huge you do compromise on space and comfort but it is also cheaper and easier to store and maintain. A tow behind RV does much better when stored for long periods too. At this point about the only thing you can do is try to cut your nightly cost and you may be able to do it by checking out boondocking options or renting a seasonal site.
You cant just go on sites like freecampsites.net or Campendium and pick a spot and expect to drive in there with a MH and trailer. Some of the reviews that people leave tell you how wonderful the flowers are and not what size rigs can access it so you have to use things like Google Earth and street view to plan it out. On the other hand you may be able to come up with a few places that will work for you and maybe end up enjoying it more than RV parks. A good point that you made is that you love to work on it and that can be not only a huge savings but also much less hassle from incompetent and lying dealers. Good luck to you, maybe you will be back here asking about solar options
https://freecampsites.net/#!Georgia&query=region https://www.campendium.com/georgia