I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. I can't believe I've been that busy but Mike and I looked at each other recently and said, “Aren't we retired? Why are we so busy all the time?” It was a good couple of weeks but I'll post on that later. This post is more serious. A lot of emotions are floating around in our hearts right now and I need to get this down.
Getting rid of 'stuff' can be hard. As you know, we made the decision in December to retire and become full timers by April 1st. We were renting so selling our home wasn't an issue. In actual fact we had to have a lifetime of stuff gone before the end of February as we'd already made arrangements to be in Florida for the month of March. Talk about a rush of emotions for the 2 months we were getting rid of stuff!
We sold most of it via Craigslist & a Cafe list. The first big thing to leave was hard (a grandfather clock purchased with some inheritance money after my mother died) - as was the last (my digital piano). But once we had our 5th wheel and were on the road in April, I felt like this HUGE weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Simple and frugal is oh, so much better. (Check out my blog post from January 18.)
We've spent most of our married life in New England but we lived in the Joplin, MO area the last 2-1/2 years - until we became full time RVers this Spring. (It's still our home base). Friends there were saddened that we were getting rid of 'stuff' but we kept telling them that 'stuff' isn't what matters. God and people are what matters.
How that lesson was brought home Sunday evening with the tornado!
All of our friends in Joplin are safe but one young couple who hasn't even been married a year are especially in shock. She is from Texas, he from Montana. His work was in the Joplin area and they belonged to our ecclesia. Initially, they rented a duplex in a lovely, upscale neighborhood. They were robbed twice. So in February they moved to a 3rd floor apartment, thinking it would be safer.
The apartment was right behind the Home Depot and Walmart in Joplin that no longer exist. Their apartment is gone. They have lost everything but were not hurt. We are so thankful for that!
As I wrote to her last night..That which doesn't kill us, serves to make us stronger. They must be getting really strong. (Actually, looking on the map at the damaged areas, I imagine the duplex they were in originally was probably destroyed as well.)
Events like that force us all to stop, reflect, and put things in perspective. Yes, it was hard getting rid of our stuff. Looking back, I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to just have had a big, one-day sale. Kind of like just ripping off the band-aid and getting it over with.
Then again by doing it the way we did, we know the big, sentimental stuff went to people who really wanted it and will take care of it. That's kind of comforting, too.
I also know that having lived in our traveling condo now for @ 7 weeks, I'm loving the simpler life style. We had company for a BBQ Sunday evening. I did a major cleaning of our abode plus did the dishes all in 40 minutes. THAT was wonderful!
By the world's standards we are poor; right now all we've got is our Social Security coming in. Hoping that will change over the next few months as we find ways to supplement our income and still travel. But this is so much better than stressing over a house or rent payment and all the accompanying bills. Plus you think twice about what you're going to buy because you have to consider storage space and overall weight.
As sad and concerned as we are for that young couple, we know they will survive, pick up the pieces and move on with their lives. I just hope they've learned valuable lessons that we didn't learn until years later.
Yes, we need essentials but we're better off without all the extra 'stuff' that this present society seems to think we 'need'.
Til next time,
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
About Me
Showing posts with label Being Frugal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Being Frugal. Show all posts
Frugal Fixes - Great Day!
What a day yesterday was! Sorry if the previous post seemed a bit disoriented and befuddled. Today, I'm still weak and coughing my head off but do seem to be slowly improving.
Yesterday was a wonderful day around the 5th wheel. After I got all curled up in my recliner with my blanket around me in the morning, Mike decided to go attack those power jacks in the front of the rig and see if he could figure out why they wouldn't turn on. He'd been outside about 30 seconds when I could have sworn I heard the jack motor come on and then stop. About 5 seconds later Mike came bouncing in the door doing the wildest happy dance I've ever seen him do. (Should have had my camera – LOL).
He had decided before going out there that he was going to begin at the jack motor and follow every single wire going out from it to check for loose connections, bad fuses, bad switches, etc. The first thing he did was follow the wires that go from the motor to the external switch. On the way there's a 30 amp fuse. He sort of flicked that with his finger as his hand went by and VOILA! Everything started working. He had taken that fuse out earlier and checked it; it looked fine. The casing was in good shape as is the solder that holds everything together. We've decided it must be a fuse that's starting to die. We'll be laying in a few extra fuses so we never have this problem again. We were soooo tired of hand cranking those jacks up and down. Mike was a riot; he was so happy!
While things were going well for him, I suggested maybe he should work on a few things that needed attention inside. There is a 27” TV in the entertainment center that came with our unit as well as a VCR. But the stereo is missing as well as a DVD player. We brought our own stereo and CD player with us but nothing had been hooked together yet. Mike can be really good with electrical things but not electronics – that's a whole 'nother ball game. He did manage to get some things hooked up and even had the CD player working with the sound coming out of the ceiling speakers. We need to still pick up a DVD player. I think we'd be wise to ask our son or son-in-law to come out and help us with hooking everything up together so we'll be sure they all work. LOL But the CD player working was a major accomplishment. Nice to sit here and have soft music playing.
Still on a roll, he decided next to tackle the directional reading lamp that's over my recliner. It's been very temperamental not wanting to stay on. Finally, it just quit completely. He knew it wasn't the bulb so took it apart and fiddled with it for a while. Success! It's working again. Neither one of us trust it very much; it just seems kind of 'mushy' inside. (Note: by this afternoon it had quit again. Time to buy a new one.)
He and I just felt so good today that between his labors and my suggestions some things were getting fixed in here that didn't need a service call. We've always tried to be self-sufficient when we could. Just because we're retired doesn't mean we should give up on doing as much of our own repairs and refurbishing as possible. It's part of being frugal.
By the time he'd done all that, he was getting restless and kept talking about the mini-lathe he wants. I suggested he look at them online. (We've been watching for a good used one but it's just not happening.) He found that the one he'd been thinking seriously about was on sale for just under $200. A little more than we really wanted to spend right now but after watching him pace and fidget about, I finally agreed that the time had come for him to buy one. He was off like a shot to the store about 20 miles from here. Not only did he get what he wanted but they knocked the price down another $50 so that he would purchase the 2-year warranty – he still came out below the listed sale price. No, he doesn't have the chisels yet but will soon. Yay! He's got a hobby!
As for his micro-managing I talked about in a previous post, it all seems to be settling down. Life is getting easier.
I also realized today that all the stress we'd been dealing with the last few months must be working its way out of our systems (maybe that's why I've been so sick) because for the first time in eons, I'm actually starting to get ideas in my head for a quilt I want to make AND some knitting I want to do. Now if I can just get rid of this cough.......
Til next time,
Gloria – The Internet GADabout
Yesterday was a wonderful day around the 5th wheel. After I got all curled up in my recliner with my blanket around me in the morning, Mike decided to go attack those power jacks in the front of the rig and see if he could figure out why they wouldn't turn on. He'd been outside about 30 seconds when I could have sworn I heard the jack motor come on and then stop. About 5 seconds later Mike came bouncing in the door doing the wildest happy dance I've ever seen him do. (Should have had my camera – LOL).
He had decided before going out there that he was going to begin at the jack motor and follow every single wire going out from it to check for loose connections, bad fuses, bad switches, etc. The first thing he did was follow the wires that go from the motor to the external switch. On the way there's a 30 amp fuse. He sort of flicked that with his finger as his hand went by and VOILA! Everything started working. He had taken that fuse out earlier and checked it; it looked fine. The casing was in good shape as is the solder that holds everything together. We've decided it must be a fuse that's starting to die. We'll be laying in a few extra fuses so we never have this problem again. We were soooo tired of hand cranking those jacks up and down. Mike was a riot; he was so happy!
While things were going well for him, I suggested maybe he should work on a few things that needed attention inside. There is a 27” TV in the entertainment center that came with our unit as well as a VCR. But the stereo is missing as well as a DVD player. We brought our own stereo and CD player with us but nothing had been hooked together yet. Mike can be really good with electrical things but not electronics – that's a whole 'nother ball game. He did manage to get some things hooked up and even had the CD player working with the sound coming out of the ceiling speakers. We need to still pick up a DVD player. I think we'd be wise to ask our son or son-in-law to come out and help us with hooking everything up together so we'll be sure they all work. LOL But the CD player working was a major accomplishment. Nice to sit here and have soft music playing.
Still on a roll, he decided next to tackle the directional reading lamp that's over my recliner. It's been very temperamental not wanting to stay on. Finally, it just quit completely. He knew it wasn't the bulb so took it apart and fiddled with it for a while. Success! It's working again. Neither one of us trust it very much; it just seems kind of 'mushy' inside. (Note: by this afternoon it had quit again. Time to buy a new one.)
He and I just felt so good today that between his labors and my suggestions some things were getting fixed in here that didn't need a service call. We've always tried to be self-sufficient when we could. Just because we're retired doesn't mean we should give up on doing as much of our own repairs and refurbishing as possible. It's part of being frugal.
By the time he'd done all that, he was getting restless and kept talking about the mini-lathe he wants. I suggested he look at them online. (We've been watching for a good used one but it's just not happening.) He found that the one he'd been thinking seriously about was on sale for just under $200. A little more than we really wanted to spend right now but after watching him pace and fidget about, I finally agreed that the time had come for him to buy one. He was off like a shot to the store about 20 miles from here. Not only did he get what he wanted but they knocked the price down another $50 so that he would purchase the 2-year warranty – he still came out below the listed sale price. No, he doesn't have the chisels yet but will soon. Yay! He's got a hobby!
As for his micro-managing I talked about in a previous post, it all seems to be settling down. Life is getting easier.
I also realized today that all the stress we'd been dealing with the last few months must be working its way out of our systems (maybe that's why I've been so sick) because for the first time in eons, I'm actually starting to get ideas in my head for a quilt I want to make AND some knitting I want to do. Now if I can just get rid of this cough.......
Til next time,
Gloria – The Internet GADabout
Our 'Home' is home
Friday, the 25th, we picked up our 5th wheel. What a totally frustrating day it was!
Our appointment was at 11 am. We'd gotten Mike's youngest brother, who lives not far from us, to come stay with Mom & Dad for the day because we knew it was going to be a long day. 1-1/2 hour drive to the dealership, 2 to 3 hours work on the truck, walk-through of the 5th wheel, etc., etc. 1-1/2 hour drive back to the house with the 5th wheel.
We were 20 minutes late getting there. We left in plenty of time but there was a truck carrying a HUGE wide-load on one of the two-lane highways we had to take. It was so wide that there were 3 escort vehicles in the front and 3 in the back. Vehicles coming from the opposite direction had to pull completely off the highway onto the sloped shoulder and wait for this huge thing to pass. There was no possible way to pass. Finally, they pulled off onto another highway - which we should have taken as well but we opted to keep going.
We called our sales rep at the dealership and let him know what was going on and that we'd be a little late. He let the Service Department know. When we arrived, we had to wait 1/2 an hour while the people at the service desk figured out where our parts were. Finally, it came out they hadn't come in yet! What?!! They'd known we were coming in for the hitch work for 2 weeks and they knew we were coming from 1-1/2 hours away AND had to get someone to watch Mike's parents. They thought the parts would be in via UPS over the lunch hour so we got back in our truck and went out to lunch.
When we returned an hour later, the parts had arrived, thankfully. The mechanics took the truck to start the hitch work while one of the RV techs took us out to go through the 5th wheel. We went over it inch by inch and made notes of things we needed to repair - remember we bought it 'As-Is'. We discovered that all 3 slide-outs had pieces of the seals missing on both the interior and exterior parts of the slide - something we hadn't noticed when we bought it. Made a note that we'd have to get some 1" bubble gasket to fix those areas that were missing it; don't want the weather getting in.
It was also noted that the gray-water tank was half full and the black-water tank was completely full. The tech made a note to make sure those were dumped before we took possession and drove away.
We spent the rest of the afternoon signing papers and twiddling our thumbs. Did pick up a few things we knew we'd need in the 5th wheel but other than that we were just waiting.
Finally, around 4:30 we were shown how to hitch/unhitch the unit and at 5 were told we could leave, We were exhausted! We had expected the truck to ride differently with the 5th wheel attached but I think we were both surprised at what a huge difference there was!
After we got home and it was finally parked in the right spot of the driveway, I looked at Mike and said, "Don't forget to lock it up." He looked at me with a blank look on his face and said, "How? I don't have any keys." Joy.
Saturday morning he took his Dad out to show him things in the camper and discovered that the holding tanks had NOT been emptied. That was the last straw. I called and asked to speak to the General Manager, whom we had met when we signed the sales agreement 2 weeks earlier. He was at another of their facilities in Meetings so I asked for his email. I shot off a letter to him explaining our major problems and stating that although everyone had been very friendly, their service department was highly disorganized.
The GM wrote back almost instantly, apologizing and asking for a conference call on Monday between him, us, and the Service Department manager. I responded that Tuesday would be better because we hoped to be getting the parts we needed for repairs on Monday and would be running around. No response.
This morning Mike went out to do some measuring before he went out to buy the seals (we'd found a local source). The battery had gone dead and he couldn't operate the slides so couldn't measure everything to see how much of the seal he needed. He wanted to check the battery (which is new) but couldn't open any of the bay doors because we didn't have any keys. He was so disgusted! He called the GM but had to leave a voice mail. After an hour, I emailed the GM again. No response.
Finally, 2 hours later, Mike called the company directly. The GM had just left the receptionist's desk so she was able to get his attention. He said to transfer Mike to the Service Manager. That man had copies of all the emails and apologized profusely for all the problems on Friday. I knew he'd offered to replace the seals for us by the way Mike was responding and saying, "No, we bought it As-Is, we should do the work." I was across the room going "What is that man thinking?"
I spoke up and said, "You know, we could go there on Thursday on our way out of Florida and let them do the work." Light bulbs went off in Mike's head and he changed his response. We are now going to get Mike's brother to get Mom & Dad on their plane to New England while we head back to the dealer for the work. They're also going to dump and clean the tanks AND give us a free night at their connecting campground.
So, it pays to complain when things don't go right. You just have to be sure you do it right. State the facts and what you had expected without going into a tirade. 9 times out of 10 you will get a positive response. The GM was made aware of problems that they are working on to fix; the Service Department is going to try and stay on top of things better, and we get work done for free that we thought we'd be having to do ourselves. A win/win situation.
We will be leaving Florida one day later than planned which means we'll be a day later getting to our friends in Louisiana but, hey, we're retired now and can be more flexible! We still should be able to be in New England by April 14th which was the original plan.
On the plus side, we were pleased to see that when all the slides are in, we can still walk down the middle of the 5th wheel and get to the kitchen area without any problems. That means we can easily stop at rest areas and fix lunch or boondock for a night when traveling.
Anxious to get the bed set up. We love the 4" mattress topper I purchased last week. Just need to get the upholstery foam to make the extension for the head of the bed.
Stay tuned for phase 2 with the 5th wheel.
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
Our appointment was at 11 am. We'd gotten Mike's youngest brother, who lives not far from us, to come stay with Mom & Dad for the day because we knew it was going to be a long day. 1-1/2 hour drive to the dealership, 2 to 3 hours work on the truck, walk-through of the 5th wheel, etc., etc. 1-1/2 hour drive back to the house with the 5th wheel.
We were 20 minutes late getting there. We left in plenty of time but there was a truck carrying a HUGE wide-load on one of the two-lane highways we had to take. It was so wide that there were 3 escort vehicles in the front and 3 in the back. Vehicles coming from the opposite direction had to pull completely off the highway onto the sloped shoulder and wait for this huge thing to pass. There was no possible way to pass. Finally, they pulled off onto another highway - which we should have taken as well but we opted to keep going.
We called our sales rep at the dealership and let him know what was going on and that we'd be a little late. He let the Service Department know. When we arrived, we had to wait 1/2 an hour while the people at the service desk figured out where our parts were. Finally, it came out they hadn't come in yet! What?!! They'd known we were coming in for the hitch work for 2 weeks and they knew we were coming from 1-1/2 hours away AND had to get someone to watch Mike's parents. They thought the parts would be in via UPS over the lunch hour so we got back in our truck and went out to lunch.
When we returned an hour later, the parts had arrived, thankfully. The mechanics took the truck to start the hitch work while one of the RV techs took us out to go through the 5th wheel. We went over it inch by inch and made notes of things we needed to repair - remember we bought it 'As-Is'. We discovered that all 3 slide-outs had pieces of the seals missing on both the interior and exterior parts of the slide - something we hadn't noticed when we bought it. Made a note that we'd have to get some 1" bubble gasket to fix those areas that were missing it; don't want the weather getting in.
It was also noted that the gray-water tank was half full and the black-water tank was completely full. The tech made a note to make sure those were dumped before we took possession and drove away.
We spent the rest of the afternoon signing papers and twiddling our thumbs. Did pick up a few things we knew we'd need in the 5th wheel but other than that we were just waiting.
Finally, around 4:30 we were shown how to hitch/unhitch the unit and at 5 were told we could leave, We were exhausted! We had expected the truck to ride differently with the 5th wheel attached but I think we were both surprised at what a huge difference there was!
After we got home and it was finally parked in the right spot of the driveway, I looked at Mike and said, "Don't forget to lock it up." He looked at me with a blank look on his face and said, "How? I don't have any keys." Joy.
Saturday morning he took his Dad out to show him things in the camper and discovered that the holding tanks had NOT been emptied. That was the last straw. I called and asked to speak to the General Manager, whom we had met when we signed the sales agreement 2 weeks earlier. He was at another of their facilities in Meetings so I asked for his email. I shot off a letter to him explaining our major problems and stating that although everyone had been very friendly, their service department was highly disorganized.
The GM wrote back almost instantly, apologizing and asking for a conference call on Monday between him, us, and the Service Department manager. I responded that Tuesday would be better because we hoped to be getting the parts we needed for repairs on Monday and would be running around. No response.
This morning Mike went out to do some measuring before he went out to buy the seals (we'd found a local source). The battery had gone dead and he couldn't operate the slides so couldn't measure everything to see how much of the seal he needed. He wanted to check the battery (which is new) but couldn't open any of the bay doors because we didn't have any keys. He was so disgusted! He called the GM but had to leave a voice mail. After an hour, I emailed the GM again. No response.
Finally, 2 hours later, Mike called the company directly. The GM had just left the receptionist's desk so she was able to get his attention. He said to transfer Mike to the Service Manager. That man had copies of all the emails and apologized profusely for all the problems on Friday. I knew he'd offered to replace the seals for us by the way Mike was responding and saying, "No, we bought it As-Is, we should do the work." I was across the room going "What is that man thinking?"
I spoke up and said, "You know, we could go there on Thursday on our way out of Florida and let them do the work." Light bulbs went off in Mike's head and he changed his response. We are now going to get Mike's brother to get Mom & Dad on their plane to New England while we head back to the dealer for the work. They're also going to dump and clean the tanks AND give us a free night at their connecting campground.
So, it pays to complain when things don't go right. You just have to be sure you do it right. State the facts and what you had expected without going into a tirade. 9 times out of 10 you will get a positive response. The GM was made aware of problems that they are working on to fix; the Service Department is going to try and stay on top of things better, and we get work done for free that we thought we'd be having to do ourselves. A win/win situation.
We will be leaving Florida one day later than planned which means we'll be a day later getting to our friends in Louisiana but, hey, we're retired now and can be more flexible! We still should be able to be in New England by April 14th which was the original plan.
On the plus side, we were pleased to see that when all the slides are in, we can still walk down the middle of the 5th wheel and get to the kitchen area without any problems. That means we can easily stop at rest areas and fix lunch or boondock for a night when traveling.
Anxious to get the bed set up. We love the 4" mattress topper I purchased last week. Just need to get the upholstery foam to make the extension for the head of the bed.
Stay tuned for phase 2 with the 5th wheel.
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
Finding Frugal Deals
In anticipation of picking up our 5th wheel, we've done some research and talked to experienced full-timers.
Our unit is a 2000 and the outside is faded, chalky-looking, and has some black streaks (we're told the fading, chalky appearance can happen in 1 day here in the sun in Florida. LOL). We've been told by RVers around the country that we can clean up the outside. That we'll be totally amazed at the difference once we're done. So, per advice, we've been to Dollar Tree and bought Awesome Cleaner (for some reason you can only find it at Dollar Tree) for $1/bottle. You dilute it to 25% and use it to clean the outside. We were told it would remove any black streaks easily. Mike has already used it on the truck and was extremely happy with how well it cleaned it up. (I'm told this same company makes a spot remover and laundry detergent that are fantastic. Haven't found them yet though.)
Next I found a buffer/polisher on Craigslist for $20. Practically brand new. Now Mike just needs to pick up the waxes, etc., and we'll be ready to go.
We were also advised to get a CB radio if we were going to do much traveling as it's the best way to check on road, traffic and weather conditions. I looked at them online to get an idea of pricing - over $100 for a hand held one (doesn't require a license) with an external, magnetized antenna to go on the roof of the truck cab. Checked on Craigslist and found a nearly brand new one WITH the antenna we wanted - all for $50. Very pleased with our deals.
Over the course of 3 days, I got several quotes for insurance. We've been with Allstate for years and had found them to be cheaper than other insurance companies with great service. However, we were floored at what they charged us for insurance on the truck when we got it in January - $1600/year! We were told they could insure the 5th wheel but it turns out they would only insure it as a trailer - not as a full-time living space - with no insurance on contents & no liability insurance if someone should get hurt in it, etc. $408/year for insuring it just for replacement cost. So a total for both vehicles of just over $2000/year with Allstate - without the type of coverage we required.
We belong to Good Sam's RV Club so checked on their insurance through GMAC. We were given a full-timers' quote for the truck and 5th wheel combined with better coverage than Allstate for just over $1400. WOW! Then I checked with Miller RV Insurance out of Oregon. They had been recommended by a bunch of other full-timers and are licensed nationwide. They quoted with a few different companies and different ways (one option was to insure the truck through GMAC (just over $700) and the 5th wheel through a different company $400+).
We ended up going with one of the Miller quotes - same exact policy as we were quoted through Good Sam but $150 cheaper. They are great people to work with and worked hard to find us the best deal. In time we may add an umbrella policy but in the meantime this will do nicely.
I'm also gearing up to improve the bed in the 5th wheel. I'm going to get some upholstery foam and make that extension to put at the head of the bed. I found a high-quality 4" memory foam mattress topper at half price to put on before the regular mattress pad and bedding. Will need a new bedspread but am thinking I will make a quilt with fabric I have back in storage that is the right colors for the decor that's already there.
If there's room, we're talking about building or buying a second hand small island with lockable wheels that will extend our storage/workspace in the kitchen. Will be better able to make a decision once we've got it here and can take our time considering things.
So, in another week our full-timing adventure begins. Are we excited? Yes! Are we nervous? Yes! Have we enjoyed our time with Mike's parents? Yes!
Am I ready to leave Florida? YES! On many levels! We are not 'city' people by any stretch of the word. The traffic here is horrendous - not as bad as Seattle but getting there. We hadn't been down here for several years and are amazed at how bad the traffic has gotten. And 80 degree temps with 90% humidity in March does not a happy, healthy Gloria make. (They've announced on TV that we're experiencing the highest pollen count they've had in over 10 years.) Mom and Dad are flying back to New England a week from today so we'll be hooking up the 5th wheel and heading north ourselves.
I rather imagine this will be our last visit to Florida. Looks like we'll have to be snowbirds for a year or 2 with the 5th wheel we bought but, hopefully, we won't be coming this far south. We'll see.
Til next time,
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
Our unit is a 2000 and the outside is faded, chalky-looking, and has some black streaks (we're told the fading, chalky appearance can happen in 1 day here in the sun in Florida. LOL). We've been told by RVers around the country that we can clean up the outside. That we'll be totally amazed at the difference once we're done. So, per advice, we've been to Dollar Tree and bought Awesome Cleaner (for some reason you can only find it at Dollar Tree) for $1/bottle. You dilute it to 25% and use it to clean the outside. We were told it would remove any black streaks easily. Mike has already used it on the truck and was extremely happy with how well it cleaned it up. (I'm told this same company makes a spot remover and laundry detergent that are fantastic. Haven't found them yet though.)
Next I found a buffer/polisher on Craigslist for $20. Practically brand new. Now Mike just needs to pick up the waxes, etc., and we'll be ready to go.
We were also advised to get a CB radio if we were going to do much traveling as it's the best way to check on road, traffic and weather conditions. I looked at them online to get an idea of pricing - over $100 for a hand held one (doesn't require a license) with an external, magnetized antenna to go on the roof of the truck cab. Checked on Craigslist and found a nearly brand new one WITH the antenna we wanted - all for $50. Very pleased with our deals.
Over the course of 3 days, I got several quotes for insurance. We've been with Allstate for years and had found them to be cheaper than other insurance companies with great service. However, we were floored at what they charged us for insurance on the truck when we got it in January - $1600/year! We were told they could insure the 5th wheel but it turns out they would only insure it as a trailer - not as a full-time living space - with no insurance on contents & no liability insurance if someone should get hurt in it, etc. $408/year for insuring it just for replacement cost. So a total for both vehicles of just over $2000/year with Allstate - without the type of coverage we required.
We belong to Good Sam's RV Club so checked on their insurance through GMAC. We were given a full-timers' quote for the truck and 5th wheel combined with better coverage than Allstate for just over $1400. WOW! Then I checked with Miller RV Insurance out of Oregon. They had been recommended by a bunch of other full-timers and are licensed nationwide. They quoted with a few different companies and different ways (one option was to insure the truck through GMAC (just over $700) and the 5th wheel through a different company $400+).
We ended up going with one of the Miller quotes - same exact policy as we were quoted through Good Sam but $150 cheaper. They are great people to work with and worked hard to find us the best deal. In time we may add an umbrella policy but in the meantime this will do nicely.
I'm also gearing up to improve the bed in the 5th wheel. I'm going to get some upholstery foam and make that extension to put at the head of the bed. I found a high-quality 4" memory foam mattress topper at half price to put on before the regular mattress pad and bedding. Will need a new bedspread but am thinking I will make a quilt with fabric I have back in storage that is the right colors for the decor that's already there.
If there's room, we're talking about building or buying a second hand small island with lockable wheels that will extend our storage/workspace in the kitchen. Will be better able to make a decision once we've got it here and can take our time considering things.
So, in another week our full-timing adventure begins. Are we excited? Yes! Are we nervous? Yes! Have we enjoyed our time with Mike's parents? Yes!
Am I ready to leave Florida? YES! On many levels! We are not 'city' people by any stretch of the word. The traffic here is horrendous - not as bad as Seattle but getting there. We hadn't been down here for several years and are amazed at how bad the traffic has gotten. And 80 degree temps with 90% humidity in March does not a happy, healthy Gloria make. (They've announced on TV that we're experiencing the highest pollen count they've had in over 10 years.) Mom and Dad are flying back to New England a week from today so we'll be hooking up the 5th wheel and heading north ourselves.
I rather imagine this will be our last visit to Florida. Looks like we'll have to be snowbirds for a year or 2 with the 5th wheel we bought but, hopefully, we won't be coming this far south. We'll see.
Til next time,
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
Buying an RV on a Frugal Budget
If you remember from my last post, we spent our first week here in Florida making Mom and Dad comfortable with us and recuperating from all the craziness during the month of February. We did do research online looking for a 5th wheel during that week. Didn't really find anything though which was probably a good thing as we had no energy to go look at something.
By that first weekend here in Florida though I was starting to get antsy about finding something in decent shape in our price range. So the beginning of our second week here, we got serious in our search. Friends had offered to come keep an eye on Mom & Dad while we were out looking so we started contacting dealers and private party sellers in earnest.
Monday, March 7th, we drove up to the Tampa area to a huge dealership that had been recommended to us. Mike had called first and was told by the salesman that, yes, they had quite a few good units in our price range. The place was gorgeous! 130 acres owned by the dealership which included RV's for sale, an RV park, a restaurant, a Campers World. The place just went on and on. There was even a security guard at the gate checking RV's that were coming and going.
When we met with our salesman though, disappointment started to set in. He wanted to spend a huge chunk of time 'selling the dealership' instead of showing us RVs. That got old quickly! Finally, he put us in a golf cart and started taking us on a tour of the RV's for sale - mostly Class A's - which isn't what we wanted. When we did finally get to the 5th wheels, he kept showing us things that either didn't have what we wanted - or were way over our budget. Finally he showed us one that he said they just wanted to move quickly and were willing to come down to meet our price. It was lovely. We went over it with a fine tooth comb then Mike made an offer.
Basically he laughed at us - and then we realized we'd been taken for a 'ride'. He thought by getting us in there, that he'd be able to get us to either raise our price range - or be willing to take out a loan. Nope, not going to happen! We don't have a lot of money, it's going to be our only place of residence, and we're trying to not run up debt! We're retired and on a fixed income now and have to make do with what we can afford on what we have. Period. The salesman was shocked - don't imagine he runs in to too many people who stand as firm as we did.
So nothing positive on Monday.
Tuesday and Wednesday were occupied doing more research and making a ton of phone calls. We were learning that when the cheaper units were advertised, you had to act fast cause they were snapped up quickly. Mike was able to get appointments to look at 3 on Thursday when some other friends were going to come parent-sit for us.
The first 2 were at another dealership. This salesman wasn't nearly as nice as the one on Monday - he was definitely a 'used-car-salesman' of the old school. It rained off and on that day and the first unit he showed us positively reeked of mold when we stepped into it. There was a huge puddle in the middle of the floor in the living area - and he acted so surprised! Bolted out of that one in a hurry. The second unit was much nicer and we saw no evidence of leaks but it had more than 1 dead mouse in it somewhere. Nope, not for us. If you can't stand to stay in it when you're just looking at it, why would you want to buy it? That salesman argued with us all the way back to our truck. Was so happy to get out of there.
The last appointment that day was a private seller. We'd seen 2 pictures of the outside and 1 of the inside in the listing. What we could see looked very nice. It was described as being in excellent, brand new condition (refurbished) and had all these nice things - including brand new wood floors (not laminate). It was a disgusting piece of junk! The thing had been stripped of all essentials (propane tanks, hoses, electric connection cord, etc., etc.) and ALL the furniture was missing. The 'new' wood floors were horrible. Stained and scarred up. Someone had put a very thick, uneven, fresh coat of polyurethane on them without sanding or re-staining them first - which just highlighted the blemishes even more. As we were getting in the car to leave, the guy offered to drop his price by about $1500. Nope, still not worth it. We wasted our time and gas to get there.
Needless to say, we were both getting a bit discouraged. Mike kept saying, "We've got a few weeks yet." which was true, but, being a woman, I needed to know that I was going to have a roof over my head that was 'ours' when March 31 came along. So we spent Thursday evening and Friday doing more research and making phone calls.
The problem was that all those great deals that we'd been seeing while we were still in MO had pretty much dried up because the season was ending here in FL. Timing is everything, isn't it?!
Friday, I took a break at lunch time & had a nice chat with Mom and Dad after lunch. Then Mike and Dad ran out to do an errand. About 2 I decided to check Craigslist one last time and up popped a new ad for a decent looking 5th wheel in our price range. At a dealership. I shot off an email asking questions and got a call back within 10 minutes from a salesman. He actually went out to the unit while we were talking so that he could answer any questions I had because we were 1-1/2 hours away and didn't want to waste another trip. He was extremely nice and very helpful.
Mike and Dad came back while I was still on the phone with him so Mike chatted with him for awhile, too. Next thing I knew, all 4 of us were in the truck on the way to Bartow, FL to look at the unit in person. We got there a little after 4 pm and by 6 pm papers were being drawn up for our purchase. It was 6:45 by the time we got out of there and Dad likes to eat at 6 on the dot. So the first thing we did was stop at a Perkins Restaurant for dinner. We'd had fun together driving up to Bartow because we took back highways and saw a lot more local scenery then we would have seen on the Interstate. Dad loved seeing all the cows & orange groves. But coming home it was dark and they just wanted to get home. Finally rolled into the driveway at 9 pm and they went straight to bed.
It was fun having them with us to look at just one unit (don't think they - or us - could have handled a full day of looking at units together). Dad follows Mike around like a shadow and wants to help him with whatever he's doing so he was enjoying poking around the mechanics of the unit. Mom climbed up into it and gasped, "OH! If our camper had been like this, I wouldn't having minded spending the summers in it so much!" She really liked it!
So, what we bought on our frugal budget was.....a 2000 Fleetwood Prowler, model 32-5D. It's about 34' long and has 3 slide-outs. It does have a little damage in the back but Mike's pretty sure he can fix it. It doesn't have as much storage as we were hoping for but we've lucked out on the hitch situation. Our truck already has an in-the-bed gooseneck hitch. After 3 different guys and Mike crawled all over the truck at the dealership, we found out that we only need a gooseneck extension on the 5th wheel and we're all set! That frees up a ton of room in the bed of the truck for storing more stuff. We'll just have to get a cover to go over stuff and around the gooseneck.
We take possession next Friday, March 25th. That will give us almost a week to get it cleaned and polished on the outside, make some repairs in the back, and do some cleaning on the inside. The dealership is even going to get us temporary plates to get it back to MO. We are very impressed with this dealership and would recommend them. Dusty's RV (Camping World) in Bartow, FL. I think we met all the big muckity-mucks there as well as most of management in the service department and were very impressed. Very straightforward and down to earth.
I'm already thinking about little things we can do to get more storage inside but already I'm happy with the homey feel it has. A little nervous as we start this new adventure in our lives but also excited about getting on with it.
And, I have made a pledge of myself. We still have family and friends who think we're nuts for doing this - nuts to be full-timers, nuts to buy an older unit, etc., etc. I don't want to be rude with them - although it does really bug me when people think they have the right to tell you what to do when they haven't walked in your shoes. Anyway, I have decided that when any more negative comments or questions come up, I'm just going to smile sweetly and change the subject. Constantly, until they get the message that I'm not going to talk about it. We're not expecting to not have any problems...we're alive and breathing and have been so for 62 years. There's always problems around the corner. But there's also adventures and excitement as well as calm and contentment. We just do the best we can. :)
Oh, another good reason for buying an older, cheaper unit.....If in a year or 2 we decide full-timing isn't for us, we won't have invested a ton of money.
Next time I'll tell you about my two cheap finds and our insurance adventure.
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
By that first weekend here in Florida though I was starting to get antsy about finding something in decent shape in our price range. So the beginning of our second week here, we got serious in our search. Friends had offered to come keep an eye on Mom & Dad while we were out looking so we started contacting dealers and private party sellers in earnest.
Monday, March 7th, we drove up to the Tampa area to a huge dealership that had been recommended to us. Mike had called first and was told by the salesman that, yes, they had quite a few good units in our price range. The place was gorgeous! 130 acres owned by the dealership which included RV's for sale, an RV park, a restaurant, a Campers World. The place just went on and on. There was even a security guard at the gate checking RV's that were coming and going.
When we met with our salesman though, disappointment started to set in. He wanted to spend a huge chunk of time 'selling the dealership' instead of showing us RVs. That got old quickly! Finally, he put us in a golf cart and started taking us on a tour of the RV's for sale - mostly Class A's - which isn't what we wanted. When we did finally get to the 5th wheels, he kept showing us things that either didn't have what we wanted - or were way over our budget. Finally he showed us one that he said they just wanted to move quickly and were willing to come down to meet our price. It was lovely. We went over it with a fine tooth comb then Mike made an offer.
Basically he laughed at us - and then we realized we'd been taken for a 'ride'. He thought by getting us in there, that he'd be able to get us to either raise our price range - or be willing to take out a loan. Nope, not going to happen! We don't have a lot of money, it's going to be our only place of residence, and we're trying to not run up debt! We're retired and on a fixed income now and have to make do with what we can afford on what we have. Period. The salesman was shocked - don't imagine he runs in to too many people who stand as firm as we did.
So nothing positive on Monday.
Tuesday and Wednesday were occupied doing more research and making a ton of phone calls. We were learning that when the cheaper units were advertised, you had to act fast cause they were snapped up quickly. Mike was able to get appointments to look at 3 on Thursday when some other friends were going to come parent-sit for us.
The first 2 were at another dealership. This salesman wasn't nearly as nice as the one on Monday - he was definitely a 'used-car-salesman' of the old school. It rained off and on that day and the first unit he showed us positively reeked of mold when we stepped into it. There was a huge puddle in the middle of the floor in the living area - and he acted so surprised! Bolted out of that one in a hurry. The second unit was much nicer and we saw no evidence of leaks but it had more than 1 dead mouse in it somewhere. Nope, not for us. If you can't stand to stay in it when you're just looking at it, why would you want to buy it? That salesman argued with us all the way back to our truck. Was so happy to get out of there.
The last appointment that day was a private seller. We'd seen 2 pictures of the outside and 1 of the inside in the listing. What we could see looked very nice. It was described as being in excellent, brand new condition (refurbished) and had all these nice things - including brand new wood floors (not laminate). It was a disgusting piece of junk! The thing had been stripped of all essentials (propane tanks, hoses, electric connection cord, etc., etc.) and ALL the furniture was missing. The 'new' wood floors were horrible. Stained and scarred up. Someone had put a very thick, uneven, fresh coat of polyurethane on them without sanding or re-staining them first - which just highlighted the blemishes even more. As we were getting in the car to leave, the guy offered to drop his price by about $1500. Nope, still not worth it. We wasted our time and gas to get there.
Needless to say, we were both getting a bit discouraged. Mike kept saying, "We've got a few weeks yet." which was true, but, being a woman, I needed to know that I was going to have a roof over my head that was 'ours' when March 31 came along. So we spent Thursday evening and Friday doing more research and making phone calls.
The problem was that all those great deals that we'd been seeing while we were still in MO had pretty much dried up because the season was ending here in FL. Timing is everything, isn't it?!
Friday, I took a break at lunch time & had a nice chat with Mom and Dad after lunch. Then Mike and Dad ran out to do an errand. About 2 I decided to check Craigslist one last time and up popped a new ad for a decent looking 5th wheel in our price range. At a dealership. I shot off an email asking questions and got a call back within 10 minutes from a salesman. He actually went out to the unit while we were talking so that he could answer any questions I had because we were 1-1/2 hours away and didn't want to waste another trip. He was extremely nice and very helpful.
Mike and Dad came back while I was still on the phone with him so Mike chatted with him for awhile, too. Next thing I knew, all 4 of us were in the truck on the way to Bartow, FL to look at the unit in person. We got there a little after 4 pm and by 6 pm papers were being drawn up for our purchase. It was 6:45 by the time we got out of there and Dad likes to eat at 6 on the dot. So the first thing we did was stop at a Perkins Restaurant for dinner. We'd had fun together driving up to Bartow because we took back highways and saw a lot more local scenery then we would have seen on the Interstate. Dad loved seeing all the cows & orange groves. But coming home it was dark and they just wanted to get home. Finally rolled into the driveway at 9 pm and they went straight to bed.
It was fun having them with us to look at just one unit (don't think they - or us - could have handled a full day of looking at units together). Dad follows Mike around like a shadow and wants to help him with whatever he's doing so he was enjoying poking around the mechanics of the unit. Mom climbed up into it and gasped, "OH! If our camper had been like this, I wouldn't having minded spending the summers in it so much!" She really liked it!
So, what we bought on our frugal budget was.....a 2000 Fleetwood Prowler, model 32-5D. It's about 34' long and has 3 slide-outs. It does have a little damage in the back but Mike's pretty sure he can fix it. It doesn't have as much storage as we were hoping for but we've lucked out on the hitch situation. Our truck already has an in-the-bed gooseneck hitch. After 3 different guys and Mike crawled all over the truck at the dealership, we found out that we only need a gooseneck extension on the 5th wheel and we're all set! That frees up a ton of room in the bed of the truck for storing more stuff. We'll just have to get a cover to go over stuff and around the gooseneck.
We take possession next Friday, March 25th. That will give us almost a week to get it cleaned and polished on the outside, make some repairs in the back, and do some cleaning on the inside. The dealership is even going to get us temporary plates to get it back to MO. We are very impressed with this dealership and would recommend them. Dusty's RV (Camping World) in Bartow, FL. I think we met all the big muckity-mucks there as well as most of management in the service department and were very impressed. Very straightforward and down to earth.
I'm already thinking about little things we can do to get more storage inside but already I'm happy with the homey feel it has. A little nervous as we start this new adventure in our lives but also excited about getting on with it.
And, I have made a pledge of myself. We still have family and friends who think we're nuts for doing this - nuts to be full-timers, nuts to buy an older unit, etc., etc. I don't want to be rude with them - although it does really bug me when people think they have the right to tell you what to do when they haven't walked in your shoes. Anyway, I have decided that when any more negative comments or questions come up, I'm just going to smile sweetly and change the subject. Constantly, until they get the message that I'm not going to talk about it. We're not expecting to not have any problems...we're alive and breathing and have been so for 62 years. There's always problems around the corner. But there's also adventures and excitement as well as calm and contentment. We just do the best we can. :)
Oh, another good reason for buying an older, cheaper unit.....If in a year or 2 we decide full-timing isn't for us, we won't have invested a ton of money.
Next time I'll tell you about my two cheap finds and our insurance adventure.
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
Searching for a Good, Used 5th Wheel on a Frugal Budget
While I was waiting on my embroidery/sewing machine to be serviced Monday in Springfield, I ran over to an RV dealer that has been calling us incessantly for the last 3 weeks. They have a good reputation nationwide. It was a valuable learning experience because it confirmed that we're going to get more bang for our buck buying privately.
The ones I was shown yesterday were either too small or had major problems developing - which the salesman was surprised I spotted. The very first one he showed me had a major de-lamination problem. Nope, sorry, not for us.
It pays to research. Learn about what to look for when shopping for used RV's BEFORE you go shopping.
I've added a few sites with information on what to look for here. Do a search in Google or Bing and you'll find many more sites.
RV - Buying used
Checklist for buying the perfect used travel trailer
Buying a Used RV
We're hoping to find a gem that's 32' to 34' long with a minimum of 2 slide-outs (one in the bedroom allowing for a bigger bed and more storage). Also, need something that's more of a high profile (taller height) because Mike is 6' 8" and the shorter height RV's just aren't going to cut it. We also want a kitchen that has decent amount of cupboards and counter space. So many RV's have such small counters that if you set 4 coffee cups on the counter, it's all used up.
In our price range we know we'll have to make compromises. But....we have seen some bank repos that were newer in our price range so I think it's just going to be a matter of being in the right place at the right time to get that great deal!
Another problem we think we've solved.....With Mike being so tall, we've been concerned about the length of the bed in 5th wheels even with a slide-out in the bedroom. Unless we luck out and find one with a king-size bed (which isn't likely), we'll end up wit probably end up with the more common RV Queen bed - 60" wide x 72" or 74" long. A residential Queen-size bed measures 60" wide x 80" long. The shorter length would not be good cause I would end up not having much of the mattress to sleep on with him having to spread his length to my side. But after kicking around some ideas we came up with this idea......
Get some upholstery foam the same height as the mattress and how ever many inches wide you need it - looks like we'd need 6" to 8". (You can glue 2 layers of foam together if needed to get the correct height.) Cover it with some fabric (I can handle that). Slide the head of the mattress down and slip in the covered foam before adding the mattress pad and bedding. Because it's under the pillow area, it shouldn't cause any problems and he will have the extra length he needs.
When it's time to bring in the slide-out that the bed is in, just pop up that foam piece and push the mattress back up against the wall and head of the bed platform so it won't damage anything because it's too long. Next time you bring out the slide-out, just pop the foam back in place. Good, frugal solution, don't you think?
Tomorrow we plan to drive up to Kansas City to the Mid-America RV show. No, we we're not going to buy a new RV but it will give us a feel for the various brands. Plus, there's lots of other related vendors at these things. Should be a great learning experience! (And it will give us a much needed break from this mess.)
Til next time,
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
The ones I was shown yesterday were either too small or had major problems developing - which the salesman was surprised I spotted. The very first one he showed me had a major de-lamination problem. Nope, sorry, not for us.
It pays to research. Learn about what to look for when shopping for used RV's BEFORE you go shopping.
I've added a few sites with information on what to look for here. Do a search in Google or Bing and you'll find many more sites.
RV - Buying used
Checklist for buying the perfect used travel trailer
Buying a Used RV
We're hoping to find a gem that's 32' to 34' long with a minimum of 2 slide-outs (one in the bedroom allowing for a bigger bed and more storage). Also, need something that's more of a high profile (taller height) because Mike is 6' 8" and the shorter height RV's just aren't going to cut it. We also want a kitchen that has decent amount of cupboards and counter space. So many RV's have such small counters that if you set 4 coffee cups on the counter, it's all used up.
In our price range we know we'll have to make compromises. But....we have seen some bank repos that were newer in our price range so I think it's just going to be a matter of being in the right place at the right time to get that great deal!
Another problem we think we've solved.....With Mike being so tall, we've been concerned about the length of the bed in 5th wheels even with a slide-out in the bedroom. Unless we luck out and find one with a king-size bed (which isn't likely), we'll end up wit probably end up with the more common RV Queen bed - 60" wide x 72" or 74" long. A residential Queen-size bed measures 60" wide x 80" long. The shorter length would not be good cause I would end up not having much of the mattress to sleep on with him having to spread his length to my side. But after kicking around some ideas we came up with this idea......
Get some upholstery foam the same height as the mattress and how ever many inches wide you need it - looks like we'd need 6" to 8". (You can glue 2 layers of foam together if needed to get the correct height.) Cover it with some fabric (I can handle that). Slide the head of the mattress down and slip in the covered foam before adding the mattress pad and bedding. Because it's under the pillow area, it shouldn't cause any problems and he will have the extra length he needs.
When it's time to bring in the slide-out that the bed is in, just pop up that foam piece and push the mattress back up against the wall and head of the bed platform so it won't damage anything because it's too long. Next time you bring out the slide-out, just pop the foam back in place. Good, frugal solution, don't you think?
Tomorrow we plan to drive up to Kansas City to the Mid-America RV show. No, we we're not going to buy a new RV but it will give us a feel for the various brands. Plus, there's lots of other related vendors at these things. Should be a great learning experience! (And it will give us a much needed break from this mess.)
Til next time,
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
Frugal Truck Hunting....
We spent the better part of last week driving around looking at older, second-hand trucks trying to find one in good mechanical condition that could pull a fifth wheel. It was quite a week with trucks either not being what we wanted or being sold before we got there to look at them. One had everything we wanted except - it had such high lifts that the running board was higher than my knees and the muffler had been changed to something 'special' so that you could hear that truck coming 2 miles away. Nope, not for us.
Finally found one about 600 miles from home. It's a Ford F350, dually, 4x4, crew cab, long bed, leather interior, added heavy duty steel bumpers. The motor (diesel, 7.3L Powerstroke) is good and strong and clean with new batteries and other 'things' (can you tell I'm not the engine-wise one of this family?). The transmission only has 25,000 miles on it. The tires are brand new.
All we really need to do to it is get a back fender repaired (should be just a patch job), get the driver's seat reupholstered or replaced, get the steel, heavy-duty bumpers repainted (showing a bit of rust), and remove all the business decals the previous owner had on it. Got it for less than KBB wholesale pricing. Mike fell in love with it. Hope we got a good deal.
Oh, we need to get a jack. We were about 1/3 of the way home when a front tire went flat. There was no jack in the truck! Called the guy we'd bought it from and he didn't think there had ever been one. Excuse me? That was the one thing we didn't think to check.
We did have a bit of a problem with the seller. We'd been watching this truck on Craigslist for a couple of weeks and had even spoken to the seller a couple of times. On Wednesday when we went to look at the ad again, he'd put up a new ad lowering the price by $500. We took off for Austin, TX to see this truck first hand!
When we agreed to purchase it, he tried to charge us the original price - not the lowered price. Needless to say, we were not happy and nearly walked away from the truck. In all my years of dealing with people on Craigslist, I've never had someone try that trick. He finally agreed to the lowered price and took it for an hour or so to get some things out of it that we didn't want to pay extra for - like a huge auxillary fuel tank that would have been in the way of the fifth wheel hitch as well as a very large tool box. We assume the jack was removed with that stuff accidentally.
Fortunately, I was following Mike in our mini-van so he used the jack from that car to jack up the truck - a bit scary since that jack wasn't designed to hold as much weight. I was Nervous Nellie the whole time he was under the truck jacking it up. But everything went off without a hitch and we had no further problems the last 400 miles home. The truck ran beautifully. It's now sitting in our driveway waiting on us to recuperate from all the driving (1500 miles in 4 days without enough sleep) and find some spare minutes to get out there and fix the little things it needs.
So we have a truck on our frugal budget! Now to start searching for the 5th wheel.
Til next time,
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
Finally found one about 600 miles from home. It's a Ford F350, dually, 4x4, crew cab, long bed, leather interior, added heavy duty steel bumpers. The motor (diesel, 7.3L Powerstroke) is good and strong and clean with new batteries and other 'things' (can you tell I'm not the engine-wise one of this family?). The transmission only has 25,000 miles on it. The tires are brand new.
All we really need to do to it is get a back fender repaired (should be just a patch job), get the driver's seat reupholstered or replaced, get the steel, heavy-duty bumpers repainted (showing a bit of rust), and remove all the business decals the previous owner had on it. Got it for less than KBB wholesale pricing. Mike fell in love with it. Hope we got a good deal.
Oh, we need to get a jack. We were about 1/3 of the way home when a front tire went flat. There was no jack in the truck! Called the guy we'd bought it from and he didn't think there had ever been one. Excuse me? That was the one thing we didn't think to check.
We did have a bit of a problem with the seller. We'd been watching this truck on Craigslist for a couple of weeks and had even spoken to the seller a couple of times. On Wednesday when we went to look at the ad again, he'd put up a new ad lowering the price by $500. We took off for Austin, TX to see this truck first hand!
When we agreed to purchase it, he tried to charge us the original price - not the lowered price. Needless to say, we were not happy and nearly walked away from the truck. In all my years of dealing with people on Craigslist, I've never had someone try that trick. He finally agreed to the lowered price and took it for an hour or so to get some things out of it that we didn't want to pay extra for - like a huge auxillary fuel tank that would have been in the way of the fifth wheel hitch as well as a very large tool box. We assume the jack was removed with that stuff accidentally.
Fortunately, I was following Mike in our mini-van so he used the jack from that car to jack up the truck - a bit scary since that jack wasn't designed to hold as much weight. I was Nervous Nellie the whole time he was under the truck jacking it up. But everything went off without a hitch and we had no further problems the last 400 miles home. The truck ran beautifully. It's now sitting in our driveway waiting on us to recuperate from all the driving (1500 miles in 4 days without enough sleep) and find some spare minutes to get out there and fix the little things it needs.
So we have a truck on our frugal budget! Now to start searching for the 5th wheel.
Til next time,
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
Living Frugally in Retirement
We were doing some research on the web yesterday concerning living as cheaply as possible. Came across a free article from Countryside Magazine that we'd read back in 2005.
How We Went From $42,000 to $6,500 and Lived To Tell About It
Sounds impossible, doesn't it? It isn't but it does require that we get out of debt (we're mostly there) and change our priorities. It also involves becoming more self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency isn't a big problem for Mike and I - but writing down where every single penny has gone is. It's a habit that we're working to develop (notice I didn't say 'trying' but 'working'). It's going to take determination and I think we're each going to have to 'police' the other. Keeping track of our funds down to the penny is going to be really important in living frugally.
We've always been on the side of self-sufficiency. I usually make everything from scratch when cooking because a) it's cheaper & b) I know what's in it (can't say that about pre-packaged food from the store). Until recently I made most of my clothes. Depending on what I need, I can usually save 2/3 by making it myself. (Admittedly, some items just aren't worth the time and trouble.) I also spin wool and knit. We've gardened over the years and Mike does some woodworking and is good at fixing things.
I think as time goes on and more economic problems come into play, people everywhere are going to have to get back to the basics. Sadly, a lot of them don't know how to do things - they're used to just going to the store and buying it. Now is the time to start honing skills. It's surprising how satisfying it can be to smell your own bread baking or put on that dress or sweater you've just made.
I've found several sites with tips on living frugally in retirement - some deal specifically with being a full-time RVer and living on the cheap. One article dealt specifically with canning food while living in an RV and how to store the finished product in the RV. Very helpful.
We're still searching for our truck and rig. We've only got X$ to spend and refuse to go in debt for these things. Out there somewhere is the deal we need. We did go to a Ford dealership a couple of days ago so Mike could actually sit in some Ford F-350's. We're looking for an older one that's been well maintained with dually back wheels, 4x4, diesel, long bed (and crew cab, if possible). Mike is 6' 8" and at one time couldn't get into anything Ford made. The roofs were so low he had to tip his head sideways and the steering columns were placed in such a way that he couldn't get his long legs in. We knew this was the truck we needed to search for but decided we better make sure he'd fit. Yay!! He fits!
So the search is on in earnest. We need to get the truck first so that we can sell my car and still have something to drive around in.
Today is the day the sorting of our belongings begins in earnest. Honestly, I've been dreading this but will be glad - oh, so glad - when it's over.
Gloria - The Internet GADabout
How We Went From $42,000 to $6,500 and Lived To Tell About It
Sounds impossible, doesn't it? It isn't but it does require that we get out of debt (we're mostly there) and change our priorities. It also involves becoming more self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency isn't a big problem for Mike and I - but writing down where every single penny has gone is. It's a habit that we're working to develop (notice I didn't say 'trying' but 'working'). It's going to take determination and I think we're each going to have to 'police' the other. Keeping track of our funds down to the penny is going to be really important in living frugally.
We've always been on the side of self-sufficiency. I usually make everything from scratch when cooking because a) it's cheaper & b) I know what's in it (can't say that about pre-packaged food from the store). Until recently I made most of my clothes. Depending on what I need, I can usually save 2/3 by making it myself. (Admittedly, some items just aren't worth the time and trouble.) I also spin wool and knit. We've gardened over the years and Mike does some woodworking and is good at fixing things.
I think as time goes on and more economic problems come into play, people everywhere are going to have to get back to the basics. Sadly, a lot of them don't know how to do things - they're used to just going to the store and buying it. Now is the time to start honing skills. It's surprising how satisfying it can be to smell your own bread baking or put on that dress or sweater you've just made.
I've found several sites with tips on living frugally in retirement - some deal specifically with being a full-time RVer and living on the cheap. One article dealt specifically with canning food while living in an RV and how to store the finished product in the RV. Very helpful.
We're still searching for our truck and rig. We've only got X$ to spend and refuse to go in debt for these things. Out there somewhere is the deal we need. We did go to a Ford dealership a couple of days ago so Mike could actually sit in some Ford F-350's. We're looking for an older one that's been well maintained with dually back wheels, 4x4, diesel, long bed (and crew cab, if possible). Mike is 6' 8" and at one time couldn't get into anything Ford made. The roofs were so low he had to tip his head sideways and the steering columns were placed in such a way that he couldn't get his long legs in. We knew this was the truck we needed to search for but decided we better make sure he'd fit. Yay!! He fits!
So the search is on in earnest. We need to get the truck first so that we can sell my car and still have something to drive around in.
Today is the day the sorting of our belongings begins in earnest. Honestly, I've been dreading this but will be glad - oh, so glad - when it's over.
Gloria - The Internet GADabout