HI From my name you can tell I am a "newbie" so new as i have not bougt a RV yet... Her is a lil info~ My family (my husband ,myself my 2 kids age 8 & 3) our wanting to buy a Rv to save some money so we can afford to build a house.We are planning to do some shut down work for about a yr. So is there anything I should know about pros and cons of different type of rv's? I am thinking a travel trailer or a moterhome ..but money is tight so tryinging to find something under $15,000 ..so as you can tell we are okay with used. are there certain features i should be getting ,especially with kids in tow? also what type of mileage does a M.home get compared to a T.trailer? also what about camp grounds ? my husband thinks we can park at nice ones for under $300 a month..is this true? my last question is has anyone Rv'd for any length of time with children,and if so can you share any tips or issues that you had that may help ... Thank you in advance
You came to the right place. Comparing travel trailers to motor homes is like apples and oranges. They both have their pros and cons. Motor homes are great for allowing your family space while traveling. Dad can drive while mom makes a sandwich and JR plays a video game and sis takes a nap. They tend to have tons of storage under the living section and are powerful enough to tow a car/trailer. You can pull into a campground and be set up in minutes. Larger ones usually run on diesel fuel (more expensive) and get upto 10 miles per gallon. Best bet is to have a car in tow so you do not have to pack up everytime you need to run to Wal-Mart. If you have a small car already, a motorhome may be the way to go Travel trailers require a pickup or SUV to tow. While in transit, nobody can be in the trailer (safety and laws). MPGs can vary due to type of tow vehicle and the type of fuel used. A 6 cylinder pickup can tow a 25' ultralight trailer with ease. If you already have a truck or suv, you may want a trailer Cost is also a consideration. New travel trailers can be 1/4 the price of a motor home. Both can hold their value. Considering your $15,000 budget, you can get a well equiped late model trailer compared to an older high millage motorhome. Depending on where you register your vehicles, taxes could be a concern. Here in CT, taxes on a motorhome are based on gross vehicle weight. Motorized vehicles cost more than trailers. You could be looking at a $100-200 for a trailer compared to a few thousand for a motorhome. Some things to consider is what you already have (car or truck) and how far between campgrounds you are going. Comfort over cost There are places for $300 a month or less. You may want to consider being a camp host or traveling worker. Figure out the area you want to travel to and ask some campgrounds if they need help. You may be able to get reduced rates or trade work for a site. A friend of mine is spending his retirement traveling to different campgrounds doing maintenance work and his wife is doing book keeping. One place, he rebuilt the restrooms and another he designed a new front entrance. Other places he did security work and mowed the lawn. Places are always looking for help Before I end, there is great debate on which is better, trailer or motorhome. There is up right answer and I am not going to say anyone is superior. I'm a trailer guy and I love it. Others would not set foot in them. I would say look at all your options and see what is out there. And do not be afraid to ask qustions. Many people here are looking to help.
One other option is a bus conversion. My husband and I are bus nuts and love full timing in our old bus. With them there are bays for plenty of storage and lots of room inside for living. Bus conversions can be bought fairly cheaply these days. We manage a campground right now and one thing to check into when looking for a campground is to see if they have an age limit for your RV. Some CG's don't allow RV's over a certain age. Depending on where you are going to be traveling the prices can be $300 or so on up. When checking on prices always ask if there is an extra charge for your kids, any pets you have, an extra vehicle, internet and/or cable. If you get a motorhome and need to have a towed be certain that the vehicle you have can be towed. Some vehicles are not really suitable for towing.
Where are you? North or South? If you are, say, in MINNESOTA, and you get a Travel Trailer, better get the cold weather package. ON the other hand, if you are, say, in Texas, might not need it. Only problem with motorhome is you have to tow your car. I'm too chicken to tow a car, but I'm a solo so no big issue. JJ
There have been a lot of debates over best type of RV. There are advantages and disadvantages each way you go. Before making the major purchase and going full-time I wanted to find out what I would be happiest with, so I did a test trip in a Motorhome, and in a travel trailer. I ended up buying a new travel trailer. One of the motorhome test trips was with kids, and it was kind of nice as it eliminated MANY extra stops along the way. The kids could sit at the table and play cards etc. So if you get a chance to borrow one or both do it. If you get a travel trailer look at layout, capacity of water tanks etc, and do get a sway hitch. Being from the Northwest I made sure I had a good furnace, handy if you will be traveling in the cooler states. I've found a number of good campgrounds, that are $300 or less/month. Rates vary by region and are not always logical. In Lubbock TX for example you pay about $200-225/mo for a nice site. In Santa Fe the cheapest RV Parks are DOUBLE that! Places with high real estate prices tend to reflect this in RV Park rates. You will want to call or email the parks where you are going. I've found rates by the week or month do not necessarily follow daily rates. In other words the ones with higher daily rates might just give you a better break on long term rates than the lower ones. Kids usually love swimming pools, if you can find parks with one. Take their bikes along, as it's amazing how youngsters can amuse themselves for hours riding their bikes in circles through the campground. When you travel, look at all the route options. With high gas prices the tendency is to look for the shortest routes. However a few more miles may offer a number of scenic and other attractions along the way that the kids will remember for years to come.
I think you understand that to get a campground rate in the $300/month range you will need to commit to a park for at least a month. Weekly rates are usually about six times the daily rate. Monthly rates are usually about three times the weekly rate. So the monthly rate will usually be about half what you would pay if you commit to only a day at a time. It is much more economical to stay put.
Hello newbie, Exciting times ahead for you... I have a truck camper, I'm married without kids and have only ever stayed for at most a week at any campground or RV park so don't really have personal experiences that I can share. But I did come across some articles recently that may help (not sure if this will get through as it might be considered a competitor to this site): What type of RV is right for you How to entertain kids on the road Good luck, J.
First of all, there isn't much of real quality in a motorhome that can be purchased for $15K. At the same time, if you need to buy both the trailer and the vehicle to tow it with, that too will be very limited by that small a budget. Second, you say you want to do this to save money to build a house. After ten years of RV travel, I assure you that while some things about this lifestyle do cost less than a house, if you plan to travel and work, the jobs you find will be short term or seasonal and they will not provide the level of income that can usually be expected if you work at a permanent position. I'm not familiar with the term "shut down work" so I have no idea what kind of income you will have. To live year around you will need at a minimum, a high quality, well constructed RV. It should have as highly rated insulation package as you can get and dual pane windows. You will need something that has at least the cabinet doors and drawer fronts made of solid wood to withstand the wear of use. With children, you will need the largest refrigerator you can find as most RV refrigerators are quite small. Storage will be some problem as children will need toys and such, in addition to the usual clothing and possessions. You don't say the age of the children, but you will likely need space for plan and activities as well as sleeping space. Living in an RV can be quite confining for two adults and to do so for extended periods with a family is more challenging. It will help if you are in a position to follow the weather, staying where there are few days that the children will be restricted to the RV. RV parks with play grounds will also be important so check that before you select one. To find one for $300/month in south Texas is fairly easy, but it is going to limit you some. To do so in south Florida in winter it will be very unlikely that you can find one fit for a family for that price. We found most parks there to charge about $50/night, with weekly rates running equal to five nights fees and monthly at about three weeks fees in most cases. I suggest that you go to an RV store and buy a copy of one of the campground guides and use the internet to see what the monthly rates are running in different parts of the country. We have seen daily rates in the past year or two that range from as low as $22/night to as much as $57/night for very modest RV parks.
QUOTE(Kirk @ Jul 1 2010, 09:34 PM) [snapback]22798[/snapback] First of all, there isn't much of real quality in a motorhome that can be purchased for $15K. At the same time, if you need to buy both the trailer and the vehicle to tow it with, that too will be very limited by that small a budget. Second, you say you want to do this to save money to build a house. After ten years of RV travel, I assure you that while some things about this lifestyle do cost less than a house, if you plan to travel and work, the jobs you find will be short term or seasonal and they will not provide the level of income that can usually be expected if you work at a permanent position. I'm not familiar with the term "shut down work" so I have no idea what kind of income you will have. To live year around you will need at a minimum, a high quality, well constructed RV. It should have as highly rated insulation package as you can get and dual pane windows. You will need something that has at least the cabinet doors and drawer fronts made of solid wood to withstand the wear of use. With children, you will need the largest refrigerator you can find as most RV refrigerators are quite small. Storage will be some problem as children will need toys and such, in addition to the usual clothing and possessions. You don't say the age of the children, but you will likely need space for plan and activities as well as sleeping space. Living in an RV can be quite confining for two adults and to do so for extended periods with a family is more challenging. It will help if you are in a position to follow the weather, staying where there are few days that the children will be restricted to the RV. RV parks with play grounds will also be important so check that before you select one. To find one for $300/month in south Texas is fairly easy, but it is going to limit you some. To do so in south Florida in winter it will be very unlikely that you can find one fit for a family for that price. We found most parks there to charge about $50/night, with weekly rates running equal to five nights fees and monthly at about three weeks fees in most cases. I suggest that you go to an RV store and buy a copy of one of the campground guides and use the internet to see what the monthly rates are running in different parts of the country. We have seen daily rates in the past year or two that range from as low as $22/night to as much as $57/night for very modest RV parks. Hi Thanks for the advice....well my kids are age 8 & 3...."shut down work" what this is is where you go to mills and you work for a small time frame could be a few days to a few months..you usally work 6 days a week from 12-16 hr days ....you get time and a 1/2 over 40hrs and they pay you per dium ....my husband used to do this as a welder before his accident..i am going as a fire watcher/mill rite ....pay is between 10-18 an hour depending on the job .... my husband gets social security so we will have money to pay our basic needs ..so anything i earn will be strictly savings... The 15,ooo is just for the Travel trailer ..my husband already has a truck but if its not big enough we probally only need a few thousand with the truck to upgrade to a bigger truck.. thou i am hoping not to have to spend that much..i have been searching lots to craiglist and i have found TT as love as $5000 ...but like you said i need a BIG one...so i have noticed that the ones i need are looking at 10-12000$ anyways ...thanks again for the advice
What year and make is the truck? You may be all set with what you have. Another thing about 5th wheels, as others have said, the trailer hitches in the bed rather than to the rear. With that, you lose all of your bed space for things like bikes, toys, coolers, etc
