Financial Columnists Suggest RVing Alternative

The financial column, Motley Fool, recently ran a piece entitled "The Cost of Working." In it, authors Billy and Akaisha Kaderli questioned the wisdom of working longer to build up the 401K retirement plan. After examining just how much more it costs to work, rather than to retire, the Kaderlis provided some suggestions on how to cut back on costs. One of them? Consider leaving the conventional stix and brix house behind.

"And why not try someplace new? There are many ways to downsize your housing expenses. You could rent or purchase a condo, with amenities that management takes care of," write the minding-your-money folks, "You could move to a sailing vessel or houseboat, or maybe an RV. We know many RV and boat "full-timers" who long ago gave up the conventional house. It's not because they cannot afford one -- they simply prefer the unhampered lifestyle."

The article also provides other insights on how to reduce the cost of working--and helps you get closer to retirement (and that fulltime RV lifestyle). Check it out here.

Photo: AndWat on flickr.com

Guide helps fulltimers decide on an RV homebase

For anyone considering the fulltime RV lifestyle, a state to establish a home base can be vitally important. For these RVers, the new 2008 guide "Selecting An RV Home Base" from the editors of Trailer Life and Motorhome magazines is a "must-have" planning tool for selecting a state to call "home." Among the most important issues for RVers are taxes and RV fees. Which states have the best income tax advantages? Which states offer the best rates on RV registration? The fact is, picking the wrong state to establish an official residence could result in spending thousands of dollars a year that could be saved by establishing a home base elsewhere. And just how does a full-time RVer establish an official residency? Is it enough to simply rent a post office box? Probably not. In this annual guide you will learn: financial liability by state, Federal taxes for fulltime RVers, state retirement exemptions, tax advantages of each state, vehicle licensing registration specifics, voting rules and requirements. This is a little book but the information is valuable and almost impossible to find elsewhere without countless hours of research. The book can be ordered at RVbookstore.com.

Camp Hosting Doesn't Always Mean "No Money"

A couple who camp host in a small town in Texas prove that a camping hosting position doesn't always mean an RVer who puts in time only for an RV site.

Rosie and Walt Bullock camp host in Grapevine, Texas. In addition to having a free hookup website, the couple also receives a stipend for their work. Do they work 7 days a week in a slave labor position? Not at all, in fact, the couple works 3 days, then has 7 days off. Not bad at all, and it's a contract job with the city, which owns the local campground.

Check out the full story in the Star Telegram. But take one thing with a grain of salt: The paper indicates the city pays stipends of $70 to $100 per day for working. If it's true, better hurry--that's a pretty rich allowance in addition to the hookups!

Photo: Star Telegram

RV Voter Rights Challenged in Tennessee

While fulltime RV folks who call Oregon their registration "home" may not have trouble with upcoming elections, that apparently isn't the case with those from the Volunteer State. According to news from the Good Sam Club, 286 fulltimers who used a mail forwarding service in Cleveland got tossed off the Bradley County voter's rolls. Why so? Because they'd dared to use the mail forwarding facility's address as their permanent address.

The American Civil Liberties Union has stepped into the fray, filing a lawsuit on the part of the disenfranchised RVers, with the claim that these folks have had their constitutional rights abridged by the action of the local county government. The afore mentioned RV club says they'll file an amicus brief in support of the RVers. This "friend of the court" brief, coming from an outside party, is aimed at assisting the court in making a fair decision. It will be up to the court to determine whether it wishes to admit the brief or deny it.

Whether or not the court will hear--and decide--on the case in time for next fall's elections remains to be seen.

To listen to the story, check out this audio post on NPR radio.

Photo: CAVE CANEM on flickr.com

Keeping Timely: Fulltimer's Maintenance Checklist

Life is pretty busy, even for fulltiming RVers. Actually, maybe it's "mow busy" for us fulltimers. It seems like if we have a spare moment, something comes up that eats at that spare moment, to the point we find ourselves coming and going.

But if we slip up and forget something important, we all know what happens. Any of those spare moments we were looking forward to spending on ourselves wind up being spent on something else--like changing out a hot water heater that went gunny bag because we failed to spend a few minutes when we should checking on its welfare.

Enter "Firedude," a fulltime RVer with a heart. Firedude has put together a nifty maintenance checklist in "Word" format. You can download the list, print it out, and hang it up with your calendar as a reminder (with a suggested timeline) that will help you remember to check on the anode rod in the water heater, the batteries, and those other important items that get swept to the backs of our minds by all those other pressing issues. Follow this link to your own copy. It might help you to keep from having a Homer Simpson day.

Photo: Grant Robertson on Flickr

Oregon Voter Rights for Fulltimers?

With the election on everyone's mind (kind of hard to be away from your mind if you watch the news) the question of voter rights often is raised. How about fulltimers out on the road?

If you're an Oregon resident--and just what constitutes an Oregon resident is a subject taken up in the Albany Democrat Herald newspaper. Using the illustration of the Oregon resident who a decade ago sold their 'stix n brix' home, bought a motorhome, and ran off to sunny Mexico, the Democrat Herald writer points up that Oregon law still considers you an Oregon resident. What marks the point when your 'Beaver Tail' disappear? Apparently until you 'intend not to return.'

I'm not going out the limb and hand you the saw. Since the law on the Oregon books is considered a bit vague, then leave me out of it. Just read the story for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Photo: BBC

Firemen Ask for Solo RVer's Help

In a free seminar put on by the Quartzsite, Arizona fire department for RVers, an interesting--and somewhat 'stop and think about it'--topic was brought up. Almost every year, says the fire department representative, a body is found in the Quartzsite desert, usually of someone who wandered off, got disoriented, and never made it back to their rig. Since solo RVers have nobody "at home" to notice their absence, 'could we please make it easier on the fire department and medical services folks?'

The recommendation was that solo RVers put emergency contact information on their person and in their rigs? One possibility is the so-called "vial of life," something as simple as a jar inside your refrigerator with your personal information inside. At times government officials finally wind up going inside an apparently abandoned RV to try and get the bottom of a missing owner. Too often they're able to identify the owner from vehicle registration information, but just who to contact may not be clear. In one instance the police found a cell phone in an "abandoned" rig and kept it charged up and at the station until a concerned friend called find out why they hadn't heard from their loved one.

Sobering, yes. But loving kindness moves us to do what we can to avoid this problem.