Personally it is finding opportunities to offset some of the costs to snowbird. I developed a small list to prepare a budget. I probably left something out, but it should help in making a decision.
Snowbird Budget Estimator:
Monthly Capital Investment
Tow Vehicle
Trailer/Mobile
Kitchen, Bath, Bedding
Vehicle Maintenance (include winter and summer-izing)
Depreciation
Registration/Plates
Rent + Utilities
RV Insurance
Lot Rent/Dues
Electricity
Telephone
Televison Subscription
Propane
Water/Waste Removal
RV Storage
Water Filtering
Daily Routine Expenses (you would have regardless)
Groceries
Cleaning Supplies
Personal Hygiene Items
Laundry
Entertainment
Eat Out Dining
Vehicle fuel (local travel)
Cheaper to stay home, but you only live once, so go ahead and spend the kids inheritance! As for moving to the SW and living there in the summer, that is like moving to Hades!
We don't save a thing. Everything is left on in our house because our nephew stays there while we're away. We're in the country with no other houses visible from ours. We asked him to stay because we were broken into while away. Helps him, too, because it puts him around 25 miles closer to work so saves him some money. We benefit and he does too.
heavyputer wrote: Folks don't snowbird to save money, except maybe fulltimers, they do it to save their sanity by escaping the cold winters. Like has been said, RVing is not a way to save money, it's a losing investment that folks choose to make.
Perhaps not for all, but some do save.
Living in Southern California was very expensive. Even living in a five star Mobile Home Park like we did after kids moved out. Lot rent kept going up until we were paying $750 a month, plus $25 for storage of our RV.
When we retired, there was no way our Social Security was going to cover our expenses in Orange County. So we decided to sell the Mobile Home and go full time.
We bought a resale membership in Thousand Trails (TTN) which has 59 five star parks for $1200 including transfer fee. Just had a friend buy one for $250 + $280 transfer fee. (New it would have been over 8000.) The older the membership, the cheaper the transfer. Then, we upgraded the membership to Platinum, currently that cost about $3450. All paid for out of our Mobile Home sale.
This allows us to stay in one park for 21 days, then go directly to another park for 21 days. Most of the parks are about 150 miles apart in CA(16) to OR, WA. Others in AZ, TX (5), TN, VA, SC FL(5), NJ, IL, MI, IN, etc are further apart.
Our yearly dues are $450 a year, and this allows us to live 365 days a year in Thousand Trails at no additional charge. Of course it costs for gas to drive from one park to another and back, but an example would be the $35 it costs us to go from Soledad to Wilderness Lakes.
We also have an affiliate membership in Resorts of Distinction, cost is $139 a year, which allows us to stay in 110 more parks, (two weeks each) without any additional cost.
Then, we have a FREE membership in NCAA CAMPGROUNDS, (available through ROD) gives us a 50% discount in 1700 campgrounds all over the country. So, though we travel 11,000 to 12,000 miles per year, we can do that on a Social Security income of $1200 per month and save $200 a month.
We move once every two or three weeks, When its a long distance between Thousand Trails or there are no TTN or ROD campgrounds along our route, we use NCAA.
Bob & Nadine 1984 Allegro 23 feet, always at home!
Living Life With a "Golden Age Passport"
and Thousand Trails VIP Membership, Priceless!.
Actually the point of my post was and is to try and help some see that they can save some money by doing the "away from home" things that will help offset the cost of "going south". There were some very good suggestions on this and thank you all for your input. If you see some that were missed, please add for the folks looking for a way to snowbird "on the cheap".
We had to stay home last year(Michigan) my electricity was 4 times as much as when we were gone and the propane was filled 3 times just during the winter as opposed to once for the year. Needless to say we are heading to south Texas this year.
Russ & Becky Bennett
2006 KSDP 3910
2008 Silverado Z71 Crew Cab
Nugget the Kamper Kat
WTTCS wrote: Actually the point of my post was and is to try and help some see that they can save some money by doing the "away from home" things that will help offset the cost of "going south". There were some very good suggestions on this and thank you all for your input. If you see some that were missed, please add for the folks looking for a way to snowbird "on the cheap".
Last year Pawatt made the exact same point that you're making now. That got me thinking back then. Sure enough, our first winter away it turned out true that it was cheaper then staying behind (and about 100 times more enjoyable.)
The cost of staying warm in a house, and paying for all of the daily utilities does add up fast.
I read that one of the top ten causes of bankruptcy is poor health due to lack of exercise. When I go south I actually want to get out and do something. I've tried health club memberships, exercise equipment etc. But those efforts were easily offset by the time I was forced to sit in front of the television.
We've been snowbirding since '03. I've lost 50 lbs. I'm in good enough condition now I plan to work 'till I'm 70. That'll put off social security until it jumps up that additional 50%.
I've pretty much got snowbirding down to closely a break even proposition. Mostly because I've structured my life that way. My "work truck" met my criteria as a tow vehicle. My home is designed so I can shut off the heat. Even my dog is the right size for travel.
The downside is that this plan is likely to add 10 years to my lifespan. What is THAT going to cost me??!!!
'03 GMC 4500 Topkick with Duramax/Allison
'04 36' McKenzie Medallion triple slide
Honda Magna motorcycle mounted on the front of the truck
Snowbird W/Ohio camper dock
This will be our first year snowbirding. We are planning on a three month stay, !/2 Dec., Jan. Feb. and 1/2 of March. We intend to mothball the house so there will be a cost for a plumber to come in and blow out the lines. I can do everything else that is necessary. Because the furnace will be turned off we will save about $300 per month in heat. We won't be using hydro so that will be another saving. Snow removal will save probably another $100 per month (or more). There will be some misc. savings on car insurance, sat. tv, possibly phone. Gas and food will be cheaper in Florida so we will save in that way. The major expenses will be additional health insurance and the travel costs. I believe that we can spend our time in the south without being hugely out of pocket. Our savings will certainly cover the cost of the CG with some left over.
Dan
Prince Edward Island
http://www3.islandtelecom.com/dankennedy/
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