[quote=Doooh]Here’s the thing, you don’t have to blow loads to get away. We do everything dirt cheap. I don’t think most folks realize how cheaply travel can be had.
We travel in a truck and camper, we sleep in Walmart parking lots, and on forest land along the way. Truck stops work but they’re a little loud. We actually save $ on the road vs at work running the rat race if we care to. I’m not eating lunch out at work when were on vacation, though I’m very frugal that way too.
The biggest expenses we incur while traveling is fuel. But, after adding up the mileage and fuel usage to and from work, we actually don’t spend more than $200 more on fuel than I would commuting to and from work in a months time.
Travel is dirt cheap if done right. We despise hotels to the point of bringing our own sleeping bags with us on the rare occasions we find ourselves in a hotel room. The bed gets stripped and we try not to touch the mattress. Hotel bedding makes me wince just writing about it.
We make ridiculous amounts of $, and get gitty about clipping coupons, we live in a barn at the moment and the wife wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re stupid frugal sometimes, yet have enough toys to last a lifetime. I actually think I could swing the toys we have, meaning buying and selling them, and make a $15k income a year doing it…. Tax free. I’m confident I can do that year in and year out. Doing it in this down economy proves it. It’s actually easier when times are tough. Toys are cheap right now. It’s all about buy things with pennies and selling things for dollars.
Our hobbies wouldn’t suffer, frankly I think I could make them flourish as a bonified side gig… Again, if I had time.
All this to say, life would still be fun, we wouldn’t be hermits stuck in the mountains like some think life is without a steady cash flow… Well, unless we wanted to be hermits in the Mountains, life wouldn’t be that way.[/quote]
It sounds like you have already figured out the question in your original post, which was “How cheaply can one live on a yearly basis?”
You have SPECIFIC needs/wants that differ than mine or others on this board and you’ve already indicated that living in a barn and traveling on the cheap is what you guys prefer.
So maybe you’re just looking for a sounding board, but I think really only you can answer the question as to whether you are ready to leave working for the MAN, how you want to live cheaply and budget your dollars, and what type of life you want to have.
