Tag: RV Driving

2019 Year In Review

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2019 was a year of change and planning for our future.

After stumbling onto the F.I.R.E. movement and realizing we didn’t need to work into our 60’s, or even mid 50’s as we had always planned, we started taking our finances more serious. We cut back quite a bit on our spending and increased our savings rate nicely. We have never been able to accomplish a 50% plus savings rate because we have always had a sizable lifestyle and also took on the equivalent of a second mortgage with our RV. However, we did manage to move the needle in the right direction after cutting some costs and scaling back on frivolous spending.

On the downside, sort of, when I decided to move on from my job and start our business our savings rate went down to almost nothing for the last quarter of the year. Hopefully this is just a small set back as the business grows and contributes more to our finances. Continue reading “2019 Year In Review” →

Happy Thanksgiving!

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We would like to take a moment to wish all of our readers a happy Thanksgiving.

We appreciate your support and taking time to follow our journey.

Joe

This and That……

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It has been a few weeks now since our RV was damaged in a incident at a truck stop. You can read up on that here if you missed it. This has been a major bummer for us as we have had to cancel two trips now and have been stuck at home on weekends. The good news is that we finally got word this week that the repairs are completed and our RV is ready to be picked up.

The worry however, as with any vehicle, is that there will be additional issues that need to be worked out or that some things will not work the same as they did prior to the accident. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it. Also, our insurance waived our deductible so we are not out of pocket for any money. In the end, we got the best results out of a bad situation and we are grateful for that. Continue reading “This and That……” →

College Road Trip 2020

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This past Summer we enjoyed a wonderful family adventure. We visited Yellowstone National Park and a whole host of other states and campgrounds. It was our assumption that this trip would be the last time our son would join us in the RV as he would be heading off to college next Fall. Well, it looks like we will be doing a little family road trip next year after all.

Now that our son has accepted admission to a big east coast U we started discussing the logistics of getting him and his stuff across the country. Our first thought was for us to fly there and ship all of the necessary items to him. This was going to be very expensive as flying is not cheap and neither is shipping. Our son is also a student athlete so we are not just talking about shipping some clothes and some bedroom items. We need to bring his gear also, which is a big and heavy bag. Continue reading “College Road Trip 2020” →

Milestone Reached And A Huge Bummer

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Today I was expecting to write about how exciting it was to finally see our portfolio cross the seven figure mark, at least for now. But on Friday, as we were in line to fuel our RV for a weekend getaway, our joy and excitement took a pause when a trucker backed up into our coach and caused some significant damage.

Now, I know the natural reaction from people will be that it was an accident and accidents happen. Or that it’s just some damage that can be repaired and it’s more important that we are ok. And I agree with these sentiments. They are true and correct. However, the feeling we have goes beyond a vehicle repair because this is not just a vehicle to us, it’s our home. And when you are sitting in your home and see a truck coming and then hear and see your home being destroyed before your eyes the feeling cuts a little deeper than a car accident. It was a very upsetting moment for us. Continue reading “Milestone Reached And A Huge Bummer” →

What A Difference A Week Makes!

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In our last blog update, read it here, I discussed that two weeks into our new business venture we hadn’t had a single job come our way which was a little disappointing. I also discussed how I have been working a side gig job to try and see if it was a viable way to earn some cash while building some business relationships. This past week everything changed.

After spending time going business to business, meeting people and handing out business cards I decided to do a cold call of a large agency. The response I received was the usual “we will have someone contact you about getting your business set up in our system” which I agreed to but didn’t think much about. About two hours later my phone rang and it was an associate calling to take down my business information. Again, I didn’t think much about it because I’ve already been down this road many times in the last two weeks. But this time, as we grew close to ending our conversation, the associate stopped and asked “do you want your first assignment right now?” My stomach sank and I paused because I couldn’t believe what just happened and I didn’t know if I was ready to answer yes at that very moment. So in a complete haze I answered “sure”. Continue reading “What A Difference A Week Makes!” →

A Fresh Start

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That’s it! For the first time in my professional life I am not employed by someone or relying on an employer for a paycheck. I don’t know that it has fully hit home yet as my last week of work was a whirlwind that ended with an awesome gathering with my now former co-workers. I wasn’t expecting anything except the usual goodbyes and good luck that comes with being in management. What I got was a full blown celebration that lasted the whole day and continued after hours and late into the night at an offsite location. It was a very humbling experience that I am still in shock over.

My new venture is off the ground and I’m officially open for business. I’m still working on my final certification and should have that wrapped up in the next day or two. The next step is to make sure all of my lose ends are tied so I can spend some time getting out and networking with other businesses. I’ve never been in the position of having to network and hustle for business. The old adage of “fake it until you make it” keeps coming to mind as I will have to portray confidence in doing something that I really don’t have any experience doing. I think my years in the business world will help me with this process, but I can’t help but feel a little nervous about the thought of walking into businesses and trying to connect with folks. Continue reading “A Fresh Start” →

Countdown To Freedom

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As I head into my last week of work before setting out on my own I have to admit that I am nervous as hell. There is a lot to get done this week and it’s not easy to focus when I still have to go into an office every day and put in twelve hours. On top of all this I have another certification to get so I can make sure to reach my full earnings potential.

A couple of good things that have come up in the past week. First, after doing some market research I realized that my initial pricing was too low so I’m giving myself a raise before I even get started. Another good thing that happened is that I made an agreement with a local business to refer people to me. It doesn’t cost me anything and they will keep some of my business cards on their countertop. In turn they have someone that can service their clients when needed. Continue reading “Countdown To Freedom” →

10,000 Views

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We reached a nice milestone today by getting to 10,000 views.

When we started this blog just under five months ago I didn’t think we would get a thousand views in a year let alone ten thousand in less than five months.

Thank you to everyone that takes time out of their day to read our blog and follow our journey. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Joe

Popular Camping Products

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In previous blogs we wrote about our favorite gadgets and essentials for your new RV in which we listed items we love using now or have enjoyed using in the past during our travels.

I read a lot of blogs and belong to a lot of RV groups and there are many gadgets and products that are very popular with RV’ers and campers. We thought it would be a fun idea to change it up a little and create a list of these items since they are popular and everyone’s needs are different. Please note that we have not used any of these products. Continue reading “Popular Camping Products” →