Help With Finances/ Realism

[MeganG]

Hi there,
So I really want to travel. I'm a writer so my job allows for it (as long as I have WiFi once a week to submit something, I'm good). So I'm looking at the motorhome life. By that I mean, using a motorhome as a permanent accommodation (with bills/post being sent to my parents' house for convenience). Currently, I'm looking at buying a motorhome through a payment plan (roughly £300pm) but I'm curious as to what the average insurance/taxes etc people have to pay on their motorhomes is. Needing to look realistically at the cost to see how much more expensive it will be than my current rent on my flat. My sister will be joining me in the summer months and will be splitting the money with me then but for around 8 months of the year, I will be on my own so I need to work out if this is actually possible for what I have. Also, any tips on budgeting while living in/buying a camper would be really appreciated.
TIA

 

[ceejayt]

I suggest you take a browse around the full timing forum - plenty of ideas and people with similar experiences as your own

 

[pappajohn]

Most expensive aspect is motor insurance.
To do it legally you need full timers insurance which will be in four figures and not many insurers are interested in providing.
Next expense will be campsites, unless you plan on wild/free camping, which has its own drawbacks.
Then fuel, if you plan on a lot of travelling.

After that it's not really any different to bricks and mortar.

 

[Janine]

My son 'fulltimes' but he managed to reduce his insurance premiums by coming 'home' (ie my house) for 30 days in the year. He is insured with AIB so might be worth having a chat with them.

Not sure how the insurance company would be able to find out just how many nights he parks on my drive though (although it actually is a lot more than 30 days l )

 

[Minxy]

Hi Megan, welcome to the fun house.

Best thing you can do is join as a full member then you can look at some of the great resources which are only open to members, including Jim's excellent 'Buyer's Guide' which is free to members (£7.99 otherwise) and one on security too.

As for your plans, its probably doable, but I'm a bit concerned about your buying on a payment plan? Can you explain what that is please as there are good and bad ways to do this and I don't want you to get caught by a bad one.

Also an idea of the max you want to actually spend on a MH and type you're looking at will elicit more specific help.

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[ianthebuilder]

Hi Megan,, what type of things do you write?

 

[Minxy]

Hi Megan,, what type of things do you write?

... not sure it would be the sort of thing you'd read Ian ... unless there are lots of piccies!

 

[ianthebuilder]

... not sure it would be the sort of thing you'd read Ian ... unless there are lots of piccies!

How very dare you!!!!

I’ll have you know in the last week, I have just read and finished Moby dick,,, and I’m halfway through the complete works of Shakespeare! And I’m only half way through because this War and peace is taking me longer than i thought!! CHEEK!!! Xx

 

[Minxy]

How very dare you!!!!

I’ll have you know in the last week, I have just read and finished Moby dick,,, and I’m halfway through the complete works of Shakespeare! And I’m only half way through because this War and peace is taking me longer than i thought!! CHEEK!!! Xx

I rest my case

 

[ianthebuilder]

Still a lot of long words!!!

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[Reallyretired]

Back to the OP. Road tax is cheap especially if over 3500kg, if your licence has C1. Mine is £165 compared to £540 on my car. Insurance is only expensive if full-time.

 

[Robmac]

You will probably need to add the cost of disposing of your waste every few days.

Many fulltimers stop over at a CL/CS every few days to empty their grey water and cassettes and fill up with fresh water. The cost of doing this can vary from £5 per night upwards.

 

[Lot lover]

It used to be said about the cost of a Rolls Royce that if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

Is the limiting factor in your use of your MH going to be your income? My knowledge of UK flat rents is based only on what I read but I cannot believe that MH costs will be anywhere near the cost of a flat.

What % of the time will it be parked up as opposed to driving? Diesel is darned expensive.

Where will you stay overnight? FLT (or travellers to use another word) are not welcome everywhere.

We are not full timers - insurance is a few hundred € with no annual road tax but not everyone has the luxury of living in France.

Suggest that you hire one for a month in the hope of finding out whether you can exist in a shoe box.

But remember PPPPPP.

Sounds a great idea in theory but I think that you are mad, good luck anyway.

 

[Hollyberry]

I unintentionally full timed for two years and enjoyed every minute. I went from a 10 room ( plus the 5 bathrooms!) French Manor house to a 7 metre motorhome with 2 dogs and 2 cats. If health allowed I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
As others have said, check the insurance carefully.
I did stay on a lot if C&CC sites as the main reason I full timed was poorly daughter, arrival of prem grandchild, back and forth to hospitals etc so it was convenient to stay on a site close to my daughter's house.
It is possible to save money by staying on CLs/CSs and temporary holiday sites in the summer ( I stayed on a few really lovely ones) Wild camping is much easier in Europe that the UK, though I found it was possible here and I didn't have any problems.
UK supermarkets for shopping, parking isn't always the easiest so a bike to fetch shopping is useful.
Have a contingency plan for if the Moho is damaged, unusable for any reason. And for peace of mind have up to date security measures and things like carbon monoxide detector.
It's possible you could also get a free pitch by house sitting/ pet sitting.
Well worth the £15 to join here as you'll get access to the full site 24/7.

 

[138go]

Looks like the OP has given up on he idea. Another one of those posts that go nowhere. Perhaps its time to put a stop to first time posters starting threads. They could be limited to just replying to threads to start with. A number of forums I use are like that. You join in first then get the chance to ask questions.

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[Ernesto]

I agree maybe on other forum areas that might work .......but if there's going to be a section labelled "Help for the Beginner", I think Beginners have to be able to ask for help

 

[Minxy]

We met a young lady in Spain in her camper which she lived in with her pooch, she was a freelance worker so had decided to have a trip away in between jobs and loved it ... she was intending to come back to the UK to live most of the time regardless of work, but found it so much easier and cheaper to live in Spain that she's decided she'll only come back to the UK when work requires her to do so (not sure what she did but I assume she could fly in/out).

So, if you can live abroad in Spain/Portugal and still do your writing that would seriously cut down your living costs.