Should we live in a RV full time while my husband travels to different job sites?

Question

My husband will be assigned to different job sites for 2-6 months at a time, then we'll come back to our home base for a few months in between. He will get paid extra for his living expenses while on the job site. Instead of just throwing this money away to a hotel or corporate apartment, we were thinking about living in a RV (we are thinking about a 5th wheel with 2 bedrooms for $15-25k). That way, at the end, we'll have a RV paid off, or we can sell it & make some of our money back. Financially, I think this makes sense. However, I want to go into this with my eyes wide open. What are the pros & cons? Cold showers? Safety? What would you estimate are the monthly or yearly costs for upkeep, gas, rent, etc?

Answer 1

My husband traveled often before we became small business owners.We considered your option in the past so the family could travel as well with him but did not go through with it. My husband cut his living expenses in half and we invested the difference.

Accomodations on RVs can range from cheap to flat out ridiculus not to mention the cost of diesal fuel. Would you prefer resort type RV facilities or mobile park? Daily-weekly-monthly charges for hook ups-gas, sewer line.Hot showers are possible depending upon your RV accomidations. A considerable amount of parks offer shower facilities. Children? Consider school changes. Most decent RV parks have such nice communities. Some online RV communities offer a comment line from past visitors.Hope this was of some help. Good luck.

Answer 2

I think the job locations could be a factor for you, as well. My fiance and I just starting out and we live in the Bay Area. We bought a 28 foot trailer, and did some price checking on the trailer parks we liked best.

One was $540/mo, includes water, and required an $800 deposit (which you'd get back after a year of being there).

Another was $500/mo, includes water, required a $200 deposit and a $20 credit check.

These are San Francisco Bay Area parks, as well as quotes for long term living situations, but maybe that will help give an idea of what to expect for rent. I am sure you can be very frugal on electricity and gas if you try to be conscious of what you are using.

BTW, our 28 ft trailer works nicely for the two of us. It's one bedroom with a tip out for the dining and couch. We thought initially storage was going to be an issue but really, we just don't need all that stuff we used to have (toys from our childhood, clothes that didn't fit but I was waiting to loose a couple pounds, nick knacks, more than one set of dishes, etc). Honestly, being in a trailer this size helps you downsize a lot!!!  

Answer 3

We travel with my husband through RV. It is handy not having to pack every time you leave a job site, Gas is for shower and cooking is not that expensive(to save on it further on lite the water heater 30minutes before a shower), water stays warm as long as pilot stays lit,on some rv sites it is only 400-500(all electric&water included plus internet), RV don't loose value easily if in good conditions(some are over 15years old still selling for 15-20k). The best thing to do is look up were his next job could possibly be and compare hotel/apartment rate for 2 months to rv site for 2 months. We have found RV is great and we have 2 small kids 6 and 4yrs. Only con I can say is space but if it is just you and your husband that shouldn't be a problem. Good Luck!