We are halfway through the year and four months into our fulltime RV journey and we are having the time our our lives.

One of the things we love is being spontaneous and taking things as they come. When you are living on the road you never know when opportunities will come your way. June was one of those months where once again the unexpected happened but at least this time it was for good as opposed to what happened to us in March. Click here if you don’t know that story. This time we were offered jobs at the campground due to some work campers leaving unexpectedly and after giving it some thought we decided to go for it. You can read all about it in our previous blog.

We are now a few weeks into our new positions and we are really enjoying our time learning new things and all about the operations of a campground. Most people come into the campground and are excited to be there which makes for a great atmosphere and it can be a lot of fun. Of course there are always some folks that are just miserable people and have nothing better to do than complain about stupid stuff and often about every other campground they have stayed at along the way. In those instances we do our best to appease them and move them along because they will never be happy no matter what you say or do. Sometimes I wonder why these people even bother to RV if they are so unhappy all the time.

Becoming work campers is something we always considered doing because it fits perfectly into both the RV and FIRE aspects of our lives. We get to do a little work to keep ourselves busy, learn some new skills and make a little bit of money. Work camper jobs typically also include a free campsite and utilities for the duration of your agreement so you are also saving money on your budget. And the best part is you can choose where you want to go and plan your travels around different opportunities. It really is the perfect plan for us and we will certainly be taking more jobs in the future.

In other work related news something amazing happened this month. It’s something that seemed like it would never come to fruition. It’s something that we have discussed for months if not years but it was always met with resistance, questions and concerns. But now it has finally happened and there is no turning back! What could this miraculous turn of events be you ask?

Well, one day I was working a shift at the campground and Mrs. RVF decided to pay me a visit. As she walked through the office door she had a big smile on her face and proclaimed “I did It!” At that moment I had no idea what she was talking about so I looked at her hand to see if she was holding an adult beverage. She then reminded me that she had her monthly call with her management team at her regular job on this very day. And during this call she did the unthinkable! She decided it was a good time to officially give notice that she will be retiring at the end of August. Yes, my dear readers you read that right!! MRS. RVF will be retiring and enjoying the RV life without being strapped down to a corporate job at the end of August! I was/am shocked as I never thought she would go through with it. She has worked non stop since she was 16 with only vacations here and there. It’s a big step and a huge decision but that’s what we plan for.

In light of this amazing development, we need to start putting our retirement plan into action so we can be ready for the day when there will be no more corporate paychecks. We have been doing really good on our budget the last couple of months so I don’t have any doubt we will be successful. There are a couple of things we do need to be ready for such as paying for one more year of college for our son and figuring out medical insurance once our corporate coverage expires. These are both going to be costly, but they were already accounted for in our plan so barring any unforeseen complications, it is just a matter of laying out the cash as needed.

While we are on the subject of cash, here is how our portfolio performed in June 2021:

Portfolio = $1,564,318

Portfolio Goal = $1,500,000

Amount Needed To Reach Goal = ZERO

Our Portfolio Increased By $17,575 or 1.14% From The End Of May

Year-To-Date Our Portfolio Has Increased By 27.01%

Net Worth = $1,597,968

Our Net Worth Increased By $20,869 or 1.32% From The End April

Year-To-Date Our Net Worth Has Increased By 10.81%

June was a rocky month but we managed to once again end on the positive side which is always a good thing. The month also brought along dividend payments that totaled just under $7k all of which was reinvested into our various mutual funds and stocks in the mini dividend portfolio. This was also a nice recovery from the beating our dividend payments took in the second quarter of 2020 when the pandemic forced many companies to suspend or cancel dividend payments. These cuts caused a 32% decrease in our payouts in Q2 2020 versus Q2 2019 but with things getting back to normal our payout for Q2 2021 increased by over 56% year over year to put us back on track with our historical trend

Going into July I am very weary of where the markets are heading. We are off to a good start but the inflation data is cause for concern and market prices are high. The fed maintains that inflation is only transitory and will subside which reinforces their stance to not raise rates for some time in the future, like 2023. I hope they are right about this because if not then we are in for some pain if they are forced to reconsider that stance and raise rates sooner than expected. The bright side is it will be a buying opportunity but I prefer to not have a market correction just as we are putting our retirement plan into action. However, if for some reason we do head into a correction, we will be fine as we have enough cash to get us through a couple of years which allows some time for our investments to recover any losses. But let’s hope we don’t have to experience that anytime soon.

We have two more months left in Utah and our work camping jobs. After that we will be heading to Arizona for the Fall where Mrs. RVF will experience life outside of the corporate world for the first time as an adult. We are really looking forward to being able to go hiking and sightseeing without worrying about keeping a schedule.

Thank you for reading our blog. Please follow us on social media for more updates as they happen.

Until next time…………

Joe