Fulltiming and mail forwarding

[Ross]

Do you fulltimers use a mail forwarding service?  I'm thinking I could almost get by without it.  I could use my mothers address for DMV and insurance purposes and the few bills I'll have can be set up to autopay from my bank account.  I can also sign up for on-line bill pay with my bank.  Other important mail, like business vendors, can be fixed by a quick call to the sender, although most of them use email now anyway.  Is there anything else I'm missing?

I looked into Good Sams forwarding service, but that would require changing my residence to FL.  On the other hand, that might be a good thing.

[TomNPat]

Ross,

I'm surprised that, in what you have described as an "already sinking economy", you could possibly think about selling out and going on the road full time what with the price of diesel!!!!!!!!!!!!

We use a Verizon card.  Forgot about a dish since it is so much easier to connect without setting up a dish each night.  We also have wifi card, but it is not as convenient since it needs to be moved to a 'hot spot'.  Verizon card works going down the road.

We do business on our Verizon card, can't afford the delays of waiting for wifi hot spots.  I'm in a little berg in the western part of the San Joaquin Valley of California tonight, typing to you.  When we leave on Sunday, my wife could type to you all the way to Sacramento and beyond.  $60 per month, cheap if your business does much business in our "already sinking economy".

Don't know about Sprint, never again will!!!!  They cust off our communications in the early 90's telling us that we were using a pay phone too much.  We went to two cell phones and will never deal with them again.

Pat & I can't afford to do without our Verizon card.

TomNPat

[Ross]

Ross,

I'm surprised that, in what you have described as an "already sinking economy", you could possibly think about selling out and going on the road full time what with the price of diesel!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I could stay here and continue watching businesses close thier doors around me.  I've been making a little side cash helping businesses organize for thier liquidation auctions. (see my post about the RV parts auction.  That's one of them.)  I could mortgage a house that's paid for just to pay the bills.  You think diesel is expensive?  Try paying for heating oil 6 months out of the year.  My friend who owns a heating oil conpany is expecting $3.50-$4.00/gallon by next winter.  My annual heating oil bill is aboout what my diesel bill will be and I can travel to areas that may be better off and live for a hell of a lot less.  This is a great place to live if you don't have to make a living here.

Fulltiming is something I had always planned on doing, just not this soon...

[Merlin]

[

... You think diesel is expensive?  Try paying for heating oil 6 months out of the year.  ...  My annual heating oil bill is about what my diesel bill will be and I can travel to areas that may be better off and live for a hell of a lot less.  ...

Excellent points.  Our move toward full-timing is also motivated by the high "cost to stay in the house".  Of course other factors weigh in, but that cost thing alone is enough.  We made up an extensive spread sheet to compare costs of staying on the foundation, or living on eight wheels.  The "wheels" came out the winner by a margin of 24%. And, this was not cramping our desire to actually move around and consume fuel in the process.  It should be a fun adventure; one that we have been dreaming about for many years.

[El-Sonador]

Full-Timing

There is an old saying... "be careful what you wish for"

The one thing I found is that I still need "something to do"... You know the story... Kids are grown and they are busy building their lives, so 'ol Dad enters the second half of his life.

Yes it is great to goof off on the beach, visit all these wonderful places, but sooner or later, when you have seen the things you want to see and visited the many places you wanted to visit, then what...?
This is a very real part of making a comitment to Full-Timing... something we all need to consider when making the leap to Full-Timing, after the bus conversion has long been completed and we have racked up all those miles behind us...

At the very least... it is food for thought.

Any comments about this part of Full-Timing...?
What are your plans or goals after the bus gets completed...?
Or is this just tooooooo much to think about...?


Steve

[jjrbus]

 My cousin collected my mail for me for the first few years and then he died.  I changed to a mail forwarding service in FL (can't think of the name) (cant remember a lot of things). Now my official residence is Pensacola FL. My vehicles are registered there, that is the address on my license ect. I travel alot spending up to 5 months overseas and some of my correspondence is time sensitive, so that goes to my friends who notify me by email. I could send all my mail to my friends but how bad can you abuse your friends? To ansewer your question, if my parents were still around and the state they reside in had no income tax, vehicle inspections, ect. I would be happy to save the few dollars a month and continue to be a burden on them.
  Three cheers for Sprint, I got godfathered into the original Vision plan and pay $15 a month for unlimited internet, I'm sure they are paying someone $250,000 a year to sit around and figure out how to take that away from me!
                                                                                   Work?/Play safely Jim

[DROdio]

I have a GREAT mail forwarding service:  www.PaperlessPObox.com

The mail goes to a PO box in California, and they scan the mail and send it to you via email.  So you get your snail mail in your email inbox.  It's great; i've been using it for several years.

[Ross]

Full-Timing

There is an old saying... "be careful what you wish for"

The one thing I found is that I still need "something to do"... You know the story... Kids are grown and they are busy building their lives, so 'ol Dad enters the second half of his life.

Yes it is great to goof off on the beach, visit all these wonderful places, but sooner or later, when you have seen the things you want to see and visited the many places you wanted to visit, then what...?
This is a very real part of making a comitment to Full-Timing... something we all need to consider when making the leap to Full-Timing, after the bus conversion has long been completed and we have racked up all those miles behind us...

At the very least... it is food for thought.

Any comments about this part of Full-Timing...?
What are your plans or goals after the bus gets completed...?
Or is this just tooooooo much to think about...?


Steve

I've done this before...sort of.  I lived on a 42 foot boat full time for 6 years in Portland Maine.  The only real downside was having no excessive storage space.  On the other hand, with out excessive storage space you tend not to collect all sorts of worthless crap that you just end up having to pay to get rid of.  I do like having a shop and when I was on the boat, I had the run of the marina facilities, so that wasn't an issue.

I'll have a HUGE capital gain on my house to deal with so I'll probably end up buying a piece of land somewhere in a warmer climate within a year or so.  Somewhere where land is not 30K an acre like it is here.  I'd put up a prefab steel building, maybe 40x60 and use that as a home base.  When I get to where I feel like I don't want to travel anymore, I'd put up a small modular...Or just live in the bus on the land.  All I really need is a big shop.  I'd rather spend money to build a newer bus than build another house.  I've always liked being upwardly mobile, but I like having my shop too.  A piece of land with a shop and bus might be the way to have both.

So for me, the only real issue I have with fulltiming is that I won't have my shop full of tools and equipment, but I think for a year or two, not having real estate to worry about will be a welcome change.  Just hope I don't run into any serious mechanical issues with the bus.  I've been through everything but the engine and transmission.  I figure it costs me just under $12,000 per year to own this house.  That doesn't include a mortgage payment.  The house is paid for.  That's just fixed expenses like heating oil, electricity, taxes, phone and cable internet.  That was with last years oil bre-buy of $2.03.  Next winter will be a lot more.

[Ross]

I have a GREAT mail forwarding service:  www.PaperlessPObox.com

The mail goes to a PO box in California, and they scan the mail and send it to you via email.  So you get your snail mail in your email inbox.  It's great; i've been using it for several years.

This is pretty cool.  I could use my mothers address for DMV to establish residence in NH and use this service for everything else.

RE: Residence in FL...Is it true that FL has no state inspection?  I know there is not state income tax.  FL might be the place to look for some land.  Maybe in the panhandle area.  I have relatives in Ocala.

[Big Tom]

I have been fulltiming for 11 years, use Escapees mail service.  Like to have my bank statements, insurance policies and bills, credit card statements, etc. in my possession.  Also like to get my magazines when current, and some like Bus Conversions are hard to find or not available on news stands.  Subscription savings versus over the counter prices help pay forwarding fees.

Most fulltimers who have prevailed on friends or family to receive and forward their mail find that those people get tired of it after a few months or years and it slips to bottom of their priority list plus harms the relationship.

One reason we chose Escapees is their flexibility in forwarding.  They forward when you want, not on a day they choose.  They are stable, an important issue since if a mail forwarder closes shop the U.S.P.S. will return everything sent there as undeliverable and not accept a change of address to forward it.  Dues plus mail service fees amount to about $10/month plus actual postage.  Info at escapees.com.

BTW, I don't give anyone access to my bank accounts to pay bills.  Most are authorized to be paid automatically by credit card, then I pay that bill on-line.  Puts the credit card company in the middle to resolve disputed charges, whereas if someone misuses your bank account number it is between you and the bank.  I have had a couple of erroneous charges on my credit card, no big fraud involved but unauthorized, and credit card company immediately straightened it out.

As far as fulltiming, go for it!  If you get bored there are a lot of opportunities to volunteer, do a little work for space rent, etc.  A friend who is a auto racing nut got a great RV space and utilities just to be on the grounds as something of an "eyes and ears" watchman at Watkins Glen Raceway.

[jjrbus]

       www.amhomebase.com  is the one in FL, they will give you all the info you need to make an informed decision.  Check out all the websites for all the services and pick the one that is best for you. One thing I have not seen mentioned here is you do not even have to have an address, you can have mail forwarded to general delivery anyplace you are going to be. Heading for Snowshoe Montana next week, call or email the service and have them send the mail there! I've found that with the internet there is a lot of mail I do not need, bank statements, broakerage accounts, bills that I can pay online. I've also changed my lifestyle a bit in that I only use one credit card just to keep things simple.
                                                          Work?/Play safely Jim

[NCbob]

Ross...you hit the nail on the head.  I live in rather a mild climate for winters and I don't want to share what I paid this winter for fuel oil. Darned near what my lot rental in Central Florida is going to be for the next winter.  And I'm not going to support a house for the six months we're gone. 

Fortunately, in our area, there are ample units to rent should we decide to rent again next year.  All things considered though we might just have an auction (after all the kids take what they want) and go full timing in the two favorite areas we love....Central FL and our beautiful NC mountains.

Full timing poses some problems of a medical nature though (if you're old like us) in that your PCP isn't right around the corner and at some time you'll have to depend on local physicians (or in our case the recommendations of our PCP for Physicians in Central FL) and/or ER's.  Not a comforting thought at best.

So we're approaching the full timer option with all the pro's and cons in the picture.  But as for the cost....we can do it on our S/S
without tapping the savings except for emergencies.

FWIW

NCbob

[NCbob]

Oh, and I forgot...we get a PO Box in the nearest town (keeping the other at base with a forwarding address) and even though the USPS tries to mess up our mail it manages to find us, without the benefit or interferance, of third parties.

NCbob

[belfert]

Sorta veering off topic, what are folks paying to heat a house with fuel oil for a year since it has been brought up?

I live in Minnesota and have natural gas heat in a fairly new 1400 sq foot house.  My gas and electric bill for the previous 12 months was $1625.  I air condition non-stop for about 10 to 12 weeks over the summer and heat at least portions of 8 months a year.  I expect to pay around $1800 for the next 12 months.

I couldn't hardly drive my bus much of anywhere for that money, nor could I get much of an RV lot if any for that amount per year.

Brian Elfert

[Ross]

Sorta veering off topic, what are folks paying to heat a house with fuel oil for a year since it has been brought up?

I live in Minnesota and have natural gas heat in a fairly new 1400 sq foot house.  My gas and electric bill for the previous 12 months was $1625.  I air condition non-stop for about 10 to 12 weeks over the summer and heat at least portions of 8 months a year.  I expect to pay around $1800 for the next 12 months.

I couldn't hardly drive my bus much of anywhere for that money, nor could I get much of an RV lot if any for that amount per year.

Brian Elfert

1600 sq/ft I paid $2700 between last September and now for oil.  That was at $2.03/gallon.  My electric bill averages $150/month.  The little bit of AC in the summer ballances out with the furnace running in the winter.  So thats $4500 for electric and oil and todays *cheap* oil prices.  Next winters oil prices will make this past winter look cheap.  My electric bill alone was more than your gas and electric combined.  Electricity here is very expensive because none of the power companies here make thier own.  They are a middle man.  They buy it from another power company who makes it then sell it to us.

My friend with a 3600 sq/ft two story with radiant heat paid $6800 for oil this past winter.  My mother has 2800 sq/ft and also has radiant heat and she paid $4200.  Both are new construction.  Seems that peeps with radiant heat are paying more.