Take Care.

@Rae: It’s called Casa De Luz. You’ll love it… stop by and say hi to the guy with the shiny hat. Mr Natural is a joke- not actually healthy at all (lots of sugar and deep fried junk)

@lala: There’s plenty of privacy. It doesn’t rock much, although you can also use stabilizing jacks to make sure there’s none. Plus, you can’t really tell what’s going on. it rocks more from walking around than having sex (hmm… maybe that says something about my technique..?)

Tynan

Tell us about this great restaurant. Is it Mr. —- on Cesar Chavez? I forget the actual name. We’re about to move from L.A. to Austin in a few months and will be visiting again (looking at small, east side properties) in a few weeks. Austin is our attempt to downsize and simplify our L.A. lifestyle.
So far, we’ve discovered many great eateries, but none that are macrobiotic. I’m a vegetarian and sometimes a raw foodist for periods of time. I’ve stayed at the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego and I know the other one is in Austin. Do you know it?

Rae

if my maths is correct, that means he lived in a $1.4M home ($14,000 / 1%) and dropped to an RV. yeah, right .. i believe that.

You are my freaking hero. If only life were so simple, I would already have followed in somewhat similar footsteps.

Simplification of life is the answer. Today I surround myself with complexity, and am told constantly that that is the answer to success in life. I don’t believe it. My soul refuses it. But the path of least resistance is, ironically, the path of complexity.

Sure, I have plenty of possessions. I am a bit of a pack rat. I’d probably stow much of it away in a unit somewhere. Eventually I would lose interest in most of it, I expect. I spend money on things that, when I have the rare spare time, give me maximum enjoyment to make up for the mass of complexity I have to deal with otherwise.

If I could simplify life, I could discard most expenses. Perhaps I could even afford to change jobs to something that satisfies my interests and goals rather than just do a job that uses certain skills for the end result of making other people more money.

I hope you blog often, because I will need to live vicariously through you.

[...] writes a guest post that teaches us that radical change requires … radical change. Clearly, if you want to change the results you’re getting, the first step is to ask [...]

Also, I would never pay pad rental. There’s no real benefit to doing so.

There are no $125k condos near where I park the RV usually (the closest approximation would be a 300k house in a nearby neighborhood). The taxes on that property alone (not to mention any sort of utilities, maintenance, interest on loan) would far exceed RV depreciation.

Another hidden benefit to the RV is that when I travel (I’m probably gone for 3 months a year) I pay zero costs. Most people are paying taxes / interest / (less) utilities.

Tynan

At some point, you will need to pay for pad rental, if you aren’t on the road all the time. Even at a modest $300 a month, this will inflate to $467 a month in 15 years and $728 in 30 years.

So $14k+21k+33k = 68k in RV purchases. Assume you pay no pad rental for five years, then 10 years of pad rentals at $300/month and 15 at $367 a month = about 102k.

To own an RV until 30 years from now, you’re looking at an outlay of $170k. That doesn’t even include gas.

If you bought a bachelor condo for $125k, you’d own it outright in 30 years. Given 5% average appreciation, it will be worth $540k in 30 years. And you can sell it if you want.

It’s a LOT of near-constant, close togetherness for one couple. And if you’re the least bit claustrophobic (I am), it definitely isn’t for you.

[...] Dla mnie to jednak ma szerszy wymiar ni? tylko procenty i dolary. Czyta?em wczoraj na blogu “Get Rich Slowly” Wpis go?cia, który wyprowadzi? si? z du?ego domu do mieszkania – a potem sprzeda? mieszkanie [...]

Lisa

Curious, what do you guys do about the laundry situation? Laundromats?

Jae

[...] Extreme Personal Finance: From Penthouse to RV So what’s it like living in an RV? It’s fantastic. [...]

Are most RV’s like that? Are there certain things to look out for to make sure to have?

From the top…

@fivecentnickel : My old car was an older Mercedes S600 with a V12. Not too practical. On a recent trip (I’m up in the Northeast now) the RV averaged 13mpg. Not great, but cheap enough considering I pay no rent.

I have a lot of friends and family I could stay at. If I didn’t, the cost of a hotel on rare occasion would still make the RV a good value. I need to get the fridge fixed soon, so I’m thinking about flying to LA to visit some friends during that time.

RV insurance is basically a combo of car and home. They cover a certain amount (decided by you) of your belongings inside.

@Pete : I don’t expect to have dinner parties, but how often did I have more than 5 people over to the condo? Consider the amount of fun going on road trips with my friends, though. It’s a tradeoff.

I eat breakfast in the RV sometimes, but the restaurant I go to serves perfectly balanced macrobiotic, organic, vegan meals. Having a near-perfect diet is very important to me so I ate there even when I lived in the condo. It’s $12 per meal, but eating such a good diet will probably add 5-10 years to my life. If you’re interested in this, I can point you towards more information.

Most women are very into the RV. I’m actually a pretty well known figure in the dating industry (one of the main characters in ‘The Game’). What most people THINK girls like and what girls actually like are quite different.

I don’t know how it would work with a big family. I would guess not well, but another commenter said that it works for them.

I’ve adapted to the 95 degree heat well. I was inspired by a cousin who lived in Mali for years and told me that her body adapted. Now I can work all day in the heat on my laptop, but the restaurant also lets me work in there all day. I’ve found that I do a lot more outdoor activities like swimming in the creek, though.

When people want to find me they call me or check by my usual spot because it’s in the middle of town.

@brooke: My lifestyle is pretty much finance independent, so I save more. I’m on a monster road trip right now too, so I guess you could also say that I spent a portion of it on gas.

@mike: Depends on the area I think, but generally you can park anywhere for up to three days and then you have to move. You can move a few feet, though. I am usually off visiting someone or doing errands every day or two though.

@icup: I like the idea of a boat too! Or a plane.

@AnnieT: I don’t know what the numbers are, but I know that I use far fewer resources now besides gas. My guess is that it evens out.

——

As for updates, I’ll see about writing another one for the site. I’ve written about it a few times on my blog at http://www.betterthanyourboyfriend.com

I plan on moving out on Jan 5 when I start my next “lifestyle experiment” which is living around the world, moving cities every 2 months or so. My schedule and plan are also on the blog.

Thanks to JD for having me post here and for everyone’s comments!

Tynan

>Once a week I drive less than a mile to an RV park and dump my tanks and get new water. That costs $5

A nomadic life on the road would undermine all the basics of life that I hold dear; an old homeplace to center oneself when life gets rough, a garden to toil in and to relax in at days end, a hammock under the fruit trees, a pool for the kids, a place to do large amounts of home baking and cooking-nope, this motor home life doesnt sound appealing at all.

Glad it’s working for you though.

Actually, I would like to do this, but on a boat fit for the ocean instead of an RV.

I have to say, reading stories like this are very inspiring. Not that I’m going to buy and RV and move into it, but to remind me that my little house in the ‘hood isn’t all that bad.

Was my math right – your condo is worth $1.4MM?!?!

Our “winter” or all-year “home” is just a room in my parents’ house that I use on a month-by-month basis.. I pay rent only when I’m there, and all of our clothes and stuff we may need periodically is kept there, like in a storage place.

We literally live out of our suitcases now -in hotels on project, etc, and we’ve stopped buying junk like furniture we didn’t need, or knicknacks. Which is quite nice…

This was all done so we could save money to pay down our debt, and then later on, for a downpayment on a home… So far, 3 months later, not bad.