Tag: financial independence

June 2021 Financial Update

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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.

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We Got A Job!

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Well sort of. We have now been at the same campground for over a month and for the most part we have enjoyed our time here. While Mrs. RVF continues working her full time job I have spent most of my time doing strenious activities like hiking, fishing, vehicle maintenance and tending to our new mini dividend portfolio.

One thing you get to see when you are at a campground for an extended period of time, as opposed to just overnighting or stopping for a weekend stay, is the business side of running a campground. The daily chores, maintenance, unexpected problems, contractor delays and the never ending projects that campground owners work so hard to complete in order to better their property. All of this is going on while at the same time trying not to disrupt service or create a negative experience for their customers. It’s a delicate balance and as much fun as it sounds like it would be to own a campground it really is a tough business.

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April 2021 Financial Update

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The month of April came and went in what seemed to be a flash and we are happy it is over. The month began with us still being stuck camping in a bodyshop parking lot as repairs continued on our RV. Once the wonderful folks at M&M Coach completed the work it was time for us to head to South Dakota so we could complete the process of becoming residents.

Of course everything we hoped to avoid on our journey to and from South Dakota ended up happening. And why not since Murphy’s Law seems to be our copilot and trial by fire is the gauntlet we apparently have to run through in order to live this amazing life.

We hit below freezing temps, snow and heavy winds pretty much every single day in Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. Just the week before these same places were enjoying sunny 80 degree days but now it’s snowing in the middle of April. We made sure to fill our water tanks every chance we got because several campgrounds were unable to turn on their water due to the risk of the pipes freezing. This also meant we had to ration water because getting more would require breaking down camp and driving the RV somewhere in snowing conditions to refill the tank. No thank you!

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Becoming South Dakota Residents

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To us one of the essential parts of becoming full time RV’ers was to establish residency, or domicile, in a state other than California. This is something most full timers do if they no longer intend to have a permanent residence or home base in a state. There are several reasons both financially and logistically to take this step and although it takes a little bit of work it is a fairly easy process and well worth the time.

When it comes to full time travelers some states are more beneficial than others. Have you ever noticed that many RV’s on the road are to be registered in South Dakota, Texas or Florida? This is because these three states are considered full time friendly states and make it very easy to become residents even though you don’t intend on being in the state most of the time. Another thing these three states have in common is they have an income tax rate of ZERO!! That’s right, if you are a resident of one of these three states you do not have to pay a state income tax. Contrast that with California who has one of the highest state tax rates in the nation and you can start to understand our motivation for getting out of the state. Continue reading “Becoming South Dakota Residents” →

March 2021 Financial Update

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There is not much more that can be said about our current situation than we outlined in our previous blog. The good news is that there is now light at the end of the tunnel and we are taking everything one day at a time.

Financially the month of March was pretty good considering we had a large cash outlay to pay off our son’s first year of college. Due to this expense we expected that we would, at the very least, have a negative month. We were really just hoping it wasn’t too negative. Throughout the month the markets were very choppy due to rising yields, inflation concerns and of course covid-19. In the end some positive news pushed the markets up and much to our surprise we were able to squeak out a small gain. Continue reading “March 2021 Financial Update” →

Living The Dream For 30 Days

Published on by RV-on-FIRE.com21 Comments

There is a common understanding in the RV community that the full time lifestyle while amazingly liberating, can also be extremely challenging and frustrating. The mantra that you have to take the good with the bad is repeated adnausium in social media groups. There is no going into this way of living without knowing that you will eventually face your share of challenges and adversity. Well, after one month of living the dream, consider us fully christened into the realm of taking the good with the bad! Continue reading “Living The Dream For 30 Days” →

What To Do With Cash Now?

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I don’t know about you, but I remember the days when you could earn some interest on your cash. This is definitely not the case in today’s low no interest rate environment.

Back in the 90’s and early 00’s we had a cash account with a brokerage where we parked our emergency cash fund. Our balance back then was about $35k and we would happily earn about $75 a month in interest. It wasn’t crazy money but it was better than a bank savings account and was still liquid should an emergency arise. We at least felt like the money wasn’t getting killed by inflation while it was protecting us from unforeseen events. Continue reading “What To Do With Cash Now?” →