the moolah
5
The first thing (most) people ask when they hear of our adventure revolves around…you guessed it, money. Not where are you going or are you nervous/excited, nope., the mighty dollar wins. I don’t know how other people on the road do it but here’s our plan.
We started saving (for the sake of saving) after we sold our house. We didn’t save much during the years we owned our house because frankly that just wasn’t a reality at the time. To make up for this lapse we saved as much as we could week in and week out ever since. Neither of us are very material needs oriented. (this is hugely helpful) We live about 1 block (directly across the street) from a fantastic mall, a 4 minute walk and we rarely go. Even with Anthropologie & J Crew whispering my name (you know that’s a challenge!).
Also, we do not eat out. Not never, but a dozen times a year would be about the most. Almost everyone we know eats out several times a week or more. It just isn’t important to us, never has been and we eat healthier and better at home. We bought reasonably priced, well-made vehicles years ago (2003) and worked to pay them off asap. Having fancy expensive cars is not important to us and trading in for newer models, also not on our list. Being debt free is extremely important to us and all of the above choices are in line with maintaining this lifestyle.
With limited shopping excursions, eating at home, basic-paid-for vehicles and entertainment coming from having friends over (or vice/versa), tivo & redbox and (lately) pouring our time into restoring the airstream, we save a ton of expenses that many couples incur. All adding up to money in the bank.
We also chose to purchase an Airstream that was vintage and in need of repair, this saved us on purchase price and even with putting in a fair bit of money on renovations we still came out way ahead… this savings was helped greatly by my handy husband doing most of the work. Same goes with the vehicle, we purchased used after much time spent researching the best tow vehicles, comparing prices and looking daily for a good deal both local and nationwide. Daily, persistent looking is what ultimately led us to the SUV we purchased and love. (a quadrastreer v8 chevy suburban)
All of these choices allowed us to both save for our dream and purchase (without incurring debt) what we needed to make this dream a reality. None of these things were sacrifice’s to us, most were in our nature and the rest were superseded by our dream of seeing the United States on one big, long, road-trip. We don’t yet know exactly how much actual travel will cost us, we will live on-the-road very much how we live now. Of course there will be more “extra-curricular” expenses with all of the opportunities we are sure to come by but we’re prepared to pick and choose wisely.
I hope that if following a similar path is a dream of yours that you will take comfort in knowing that it isn’t magic or being wealthy that determines whether you can make your dream a reality, it just takes planning, debt-free living – or becoming so, some easy changes such as less eating out and less frivolous shopping….all very doable. More questions? Shoot us an email…
Filed Under: travel shoptalk
Tagged: airstream blog, debt-free living, money, rv blog, savings, travel blog
*please & thank you* link back to us if you re-post something you see here.
My husband and I did a year long trip in a Scamp in 2009! Send me your email and I can add you to our blog (we made it private after the year was over).
http://thewanderlusters2009.blogspot.com
And yes, we got the same question about money. We just felt it was was we were supposed to do- we had some money, but not enough to last a whole year- so we trusted that God would continue to provide for us and He did! We came back without going in the red!
Good luck to you guys!
I really like this one. It’s all about priorities – on what do you want to spend your money on? Everyone is different, but when someone wonders (rudely, usually), “How did they ever afford that?” The answer comes down to priorities – and choices, like you said. Brilliant! — Though we personally trade cable tv/tivo for eating out. No judgement!!
thanks katie! what a refreshing comment! even though i don’t know about that no tivo thing… haha!
Hey!
My name is Cortney. I’m a college student & I am in the process of saving up money to buy an old Airstream to full-time in. My goal is to get on the road in/around September 2014 (the fall after my graduation) and run for as long as I can, hopefully a year or two. I stumbled across your blog while researching different Airstreams, and this blog has been such an eye opener, I can’t even begin to express my gratitude. I can’t wait to have my own Airstream!
I would just like to take the opportunity to apologize if questions like “How much money did it take you guys to do this?” from readers like me may offend you. I try to be as tactful as I can when I speak with bloggers who full-time because I know they get so annoyed with questions about money & their financial situations. I only ask the questions I do because I want to full-time in a few years, & I want to get a rough comparison of numbers to ensure I have enough money to complete my project.
Anyway, again, I love your blog, and can’t wait to keep reading!
Thanks!
- Cortney
hi cortney!
just sent you an info packed email… talk soon!
*tiffany*