Of Course We Can Do This, But Can We Do It Responsibly?

We have a desire to live the nomadic lifestyle in an RV, but can we afford it? The desire to do something sometimes overcomes the fiscal realities of an action taken.  The housing market before 2007 is a prime example.  People had mortgages for gigantic homes that they knew they could not pay, but that did not stop them from competing with the “Jones’s”.  Our desire to live in an RV and assume that lifestyle is very strong, but is it doable?  Is it fiscally possible and fiduciarily responsible? This is a question that anyone who wants to live the nomadic life must answer.

I very much appreciate folks like “I’m Not Lost, I’m RVing”, “You, Me, and the RV”, and “Next Exit” for sharing their data on how much it costs to full time RV.  Those three Vloggers have very different expenses and give a good idea of what you can expect for the lifestyle you want to live.

You Kids Are Not Ready For This…

Some in our close family, OK let’s just say it; our moms, have concerns about Chris and I checking out of the “real” world and living in a rolling shack with no fixed address.  Our moms, who come from a generation that saves every penny and is very frugal, think that we are starting too soon.  I think we are actually starting late, but that is because of my intense desire to get this started.  There is a phrase in Naval Aviation that comes to my mind; Kick the tires and light the fires!  That is my driving thought, but our mom’s concerns are valid and deserve consideration.

Ahhh, But We Are!

In deciding that we actually CAN do this and not put ourselves into the population living in tents in Los Angeles, we had to sit down and look at our current spending and what living in an RV would entail.  You can’t accurately use your current household budget to do this because budget categories are so different. but you can make some projections.  We tried to be as realistic as possible and project what our true costs would be.  Stacy from “I’m not lost I’m RVing” inspired us and gave us hope.  She is a medically retired police officer and she shares how her and Thomas afford their travels, largely on her pension.  She is a true inspiration and her story of survival is compelling.  I genuinely hope to meet her on the road so that I can shake her hand and thank her.

Our goal has been to be able to live the nomadic life within my military retirement pension and VA disability, and given the information from these other RVer’s we believe it is entirely doable.  We will have to embrace Boon Docking to some extent, but that is perfectly fine, and even desirable, for me!  Chris and I are both in our late 50’s, and if all goes as planned will be out of the workforce and full time RV’ers by April of 2021, which is before we turn 60.  Our moms are both still working even though they are approaching their 80’s, so they cannot fathom us stopping. 

Putting The Cards On The Table

My retirement pay is roughly $36K and we have no debt, so this should be totally doable.  On top of that, for the next 9 years, we have yearly income of roughly $39k ($3,400 per month) from the sale of stock from my previous business.  We do not want to have to depend on that money, but we can use some of it to supplement some side trips while traveling.  Right now we are both working until April of 2021 and most of that money is going into savings so that we can pay cash for a tow vehicle and travel trailer.  In addition, we are putting a fair amount into IRA’s and 401K plan.  After we stop working we will no longer be able to contribute because we won’t have “earned” income so we are putting in as much as we can for now.

Since we have a desire to live the nomadic lifestyle in an RV, we plan on selling our sticks and bricks and putting that money in the bank until we decide or are unable to continue living that way.  We can then use it to buy another stick and brick dwelling.  So given those factors, I believe we have exercised great care and have planned to attain this goal of early retirement in a reasonable way.  We have never wanted to live like millionaires, or to have all the latest and greatest gadgets.  We just want to live comfortably and spend our greatest asset, out TIME, with our families and watching our grand kids grow up.