Joel, you made one comment that really struck home. I'm 65 years young, and I don't have a lot of money in the bank or a home that I own, but if I were to leave this world tomorrow, I could honestly say that I lived my life my way, and I'm very blessed to have the people and the things I've had in it. You do what's best for you and Emma; the rest will fall in line. Good luck, my friend, and have a Merry Christmas and a Safe New Year.
Absolutely. So many folks get stuck in this trap of what they think they need to do in order to be happy, a strict checklist of things instead of doing what actually makes them happy with consideration for the future as well. People are so incredibly worried about things that haven't happened yet, and don't consider the fact that folks have lived with MUCH less than us for all of eternity before us and lived quite well! Completely agreed. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well!!
I like this format of the video in the Cozy series.. mixing up the build, your trip this past summer, sightseeing, and these conversations type videos keep it fresh and entertaining and informative. As for as buying and selling houses, yea some can flip them and make money, but i think that most buy a home, raise a family, and cross their fingers that it is paid for at the end so in their golden years they don't have to worry about housing. Now whether you are living in a home, apartment which is a total waste of money, or an RV etc. is personal choice and at some point in life - hopefully long ways down the road - you may not be able to afford it, maintain it, enjoy it, etc. so I think that somewhere in the back of your mind, you need to have an exit plan especially if physically you just can't do it any more, Just my thoughts.
I'm glad!! This is definitely a bit more of a "reflective" time when the weather is a bit chillier, or it's rainy, it's so much easier to sit around and just chat with you guys! And very good points! Interestingly, I've thought a lot about the golden years, and being able to afford things. I've watched a lot of folks to learn from them, I'll be touching on that more in the future!
: ) THANKS again for sharing and mentioning my comment : ) Plan on finding out more and a trip to South Dakota in the Spring! ALL the BEST and Cheers ! : )
Oh you have to work work now get a house and retire. That’s the old way of saying. The way I put it. Whenever people retire that’s when they usually buy campers or RVs and they travel. But you guys are already doing it. I remember when people used to look down on people because they lived in RVs. But now it’s like more and more people are doing it for one, the housing prices into the freedom that you have. It’s like I’ve seen more and more since 2020. Me and my wife and our son and dog are really currently in the process of buying it an RV. Mention of RV what is your thought on Thor? I’ve seen a lot of Thor for very very cheap. But honestly, a cheaper route would just be going to do a conversion of a van or school bus.
As someone who has never cared about the house at all, seeing it for exactly what it is: a place to sleep and do the mandatory functions of life - it has always just seemed like an overpriced, stationary box. I'll take my overpriced box with WHEELS, thank you very much. 😂 We certainly have everything we could need, no functional difference for us. If we don't care about status and the status quo for the sake of fitting in, what value is that big box to us? I've been at it since 2015, and I couldn't be happier. A lot of folks see it as a temporary or "fun way of life for a while" but that's just not the case here! Thankfully, Emma completely agrees as well. 😎 That's very interesting that you guys are working on jumping in! What rigs are you looking at? A van or skoolie would definitely be more financially affordable, but Thor gets a bad rap because of the poor choice in materials. Very cheap pieces, thinner wood than they should use in places, things falling apart because of poor construction. However, I've done a few reviews on some Thors, and in my opinion they're not all as bad as their reputation! I would avoid their slides like the plague, not because I hate all slides, some are fine, but when you're buying the most "budget" of RVs, complicating it is the last thing you'd want to do. Their 28A floorplan is my favorite out there of any class C and 23H is a close second. 😊
@ alright yea. A house now is more of a financial burden to me anyway. You get a mortgage and you’re locked in. Then always having to worry about fixing something, plus the maintenance. Just seems like you save much more money by living in an RV or schoolie. With less of a headache. That and always a change of scenery. If you get tired of a place you can move quickly. Like a home if you want to sell, you have to fix stuff. Then as the house ages you have to throw more money in it. Like you said a home is a place to sleep or wind down. I mean if you go to work, you’re not really at home much anyway. In an RV take your home with you. But yes we are going to sell a lot of stuff and the house. My wife is a travel nurse, so we travel anyway for at least 3 months at a time with her 3 month contracts. I work from home. Just more logical for us to down size. I don’t even use all the space in our house now and hardly use half the stuff we even have. It sits there mostly lol.
It gets to the point where you will never own the house, but the house will own you. The energy that's spent paying for, furnishing, upgrading, fixing the house, not to mention simply covering insurance and taxes that you'll never see back. It's extraordinary how so many folks do it because that's the default. That's what we do! And some folks are wealthy enough that it doesn't phase them, but most of us aren't. Depending on how you live this life on wheels, you can save more than you'd imagine, or go broke every month -- but that's the beauty of it, it's completely up to you! You'll almost never forget something at home, since it goes right along with you, and especially with traveling nurses it's just the perfect option IMO. I've met quite a few of them that work contracts and can chase the great weather! Some hospitals (I think Seattle Children's is one) will even offer free hookups and a spot for the contractors. I think of my life working retail and renting a duplex, and for years I saw the exact same thing day in and day out. It wore on me and I felt like my life was completely wasted. Today, I see the whole world and something new each day, there's just no comparison. I feel so much more alive.
@@Apextn1if I may throw a suggestion in the ring. I have a Jayco Eagle that I knew very little about when I bought it. They are still pretty inexpensive and they use cheap internal material but where they shine is the shell, Jayco makes one of the strongest floor and roofs in the industry. Mine is on its 3rd interior redesign and the outside just touching up the seals and decals.
@ I’m not really looking for a trailer or pull behind at the moment. More of like an RV or a skoolie or van conversion. Pull behind wouldn’t be bad I don’t guess. Just seeing what is the best for full time living in one
I have to disagree with you about home values. I bought my first house in 1974,and prices have gone up steadily since then. The only exception was 1994 and 2010. But you only lost money if you sold because prices quickly recovered. Also, you can buy a home with an FHA insured loan for 3% down for owner-occupied. Renters in my area are paying 3x what I pay for my mortgage. And when you pay rent you are paying property taxes for the landlord.
Interesting. I wonder if that's more the values in California for housing? My learning must not apply everywhere! I've never heard of the FHA loans... Showing 3.5% down on my initial inspection, that's very interesting!
@CozyLivingMachine the house I bought in 1974 for $32k is now worth about $800k. And it's only a 1200 sq ft home built in the 50's. My budget at the time was $18k. The realtor talked me into spending more. Turned out to be good advice.
Joel and Ms Emma, are yall going to stay in an rv park when you get your trailer? You said the truck and trailer always stay connected, which would indicate that either you are going to continue boondocking, or you're not getting a trailer, but a slide in camper. However, if yall are getting a trailer, you could put a construction rack on Graham the Ram, and put 3-4 solar panels on it, a few more on the trailer, and a generator in the bed (under a lockable tonneau cover), next to a small deep freezer, and yall would be set for the apocalypse. Js I hope I didn't insult you or Emma with my comments lat time. BTW, you can adjust the volts on that new ecoflow dc-dc charger, I want to say it goes to 36 volts. One of the TH-cam channels covered it, they are made to charge power stations, but if it goes to 36 volts(different makes of power stations are different volts) it would charge your battery bank- I think. I know, I'm trying to fix a problem with your money again. I'll shut up.
You'll definitely see what plans we have in store coming up! We just released the information to the channel members about which rig we're getting, plenty of updates to come and we'll release to everyone once we have the new rig! And not insulted at all. 😂 Interesting about the Ecoflow device... I'll continue to keep an eye out, but I'm not finding any information about it! I see one that does up to 24V, but it's possible I'm just blind. 😂
Joel, you made one comment that really struck home. I'm 65 years young, and I don't have a lot of money in the bank or a home that I own, but if I were to leave this world tomorrow, I could honestly say that I lived my life my way, and I'm very blessed to have the people and the things I've had in it. You do what's best for you and Emma; the rest will fall in line. Good luck, my friend, and have a Merry Christmas and a Safe New Year.
Absolutely. So many folks get stuck in this trap of what they think they need to do in order to be happy, a strict checklist of things instead of doing what actually makes them happy with consideration for the future as well. People are so incredibly worried about things that haven't happened yet, and don't consider the fact that folks have lived with MUCH less than us for all of eternity before us and lived quite well! Completely agreed. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well!!
I like this format of the video in the Cozy series.. mixing up the build, your trip this past summer, sightseeing, and these conversations type videos keep it fresh and entertaining and informative. As for as buying and selling houses, yea some can flip them and make money, but i think that most buy a home, raise a family, and cross their fingers that it is paid for at the end so in their golden years they don't have to worry about housing. Now whether you are living in a home, apartment which is a total waste of money, or an RV etc. is personal choice and at some point in life - hopefully long ways down the road - you may not be able to afford it, maintain it, enjoy it, etc. so I think that somewhere in the back of your mind, you need to have an exit plan especially if physically you just can't do it any more, Just my thoughts.
I'm glad!! This is definitely a bit more of a "reflective" time when the weather is a bit chillier, or it's rainy, it's so much easier to sit around and just chat with you guys! And very good points! Interestingly, I've thought a lot about the golden years, and being able to afford things. I've watched a lot of folks to learn from them, I'll be touching on that more in the future!
: ) THANKS again for sharing and mentioning my comment : ) Plan on finding out more and a trip to South Dakota in the Spring! ALL the BEST and Cheers ! : )
Of course! That's awesome, you're going to love that trip!
Oh you have to work work now get a house and retire. That’s the old way of saying. The way I put it. Whenever people retire that’s when they usually buy campers or RVs and they travel. But you guys are already doing it. I remember when people used to look down on people because they lived in RVs. But now it’s like more and more people are doing it for one, the housing prices into the freedom that you have. It’s like I’ve seen more and more since 2020. Me and my wife and our son and dog are really currently in the process of buying it an RV. Mention of RV what is your thought on Thor? I’ve seen a lot of Thor for very very cheap. But honestly, a cheaper route would just be going to do a conversion of a van or school bus.
As someone who has never cared about the house at all, seeing it for exactly what it is: a place to sleep and do the mandatory functions of life - it has always just seemed like an overpriced, stationary box. I'll take my overpriced box with WHEELS, thank you very much. 😂 We certainly have everything we could need, no functional difference for us. If we don't care about status and the status quo for the sake of fitting in, what value is that big box to us? I've been at it since 2015, and I couldn't be happier. A lot of folks see it as a temporary or "fun way of life for a while" but that's just not the case here! Thankfully, Emma completely agrees as well. 😎
That's very interesting that you guys are working on jumping in! What rigs are you looking at? A van or skoolie would definitely be more financially affordable, but Thor gets a bad rap because of the poor choice in materials. Very cheap pieces, thinner wood than they should use in places, things falling apart because of poor construction. However, I've done a few reviews on some Thors, and in my opinion they're not all as bad as their reputation! I would avoid their slides like the plague, not because I hate all slides, some are fine, but when you're buying the most "budget" of RVs, complicating it is the last thing you'd want to do. Their 28A floorplan is my favorite out there of any class C and 23H is a close second. 😊
@ alright yea. A house now is more of a financial burden to me anyway. You get a mortgage and you’re locked in. Then always having to worry about fixing something, plus the maintenance. Just seems like you save much more money by living in an RV or schoolie. With less of a headache. That and always a change of scenery. If you get tired of a place you can move quickly. Like a home if you want to sell, you have to fix stuff. Then as the house ages you have to throw more money in it. Like you said a home is a place to sleep or wind down. I mean if you go to work, you’re not really at home much anyway. In an RV take your home with you. But yes we are going to sell a lot of stuff and the house. My wife is a travel nurse, so we travel anyway for at least 3 months at a time with her 3 month contracts. I work from home. Just more logical for us to down size. I don’t even use all the space in our house now and hardly use half the stuff we even have. It sits there mostly lol.
It gets to the point where you will never own the house, but the house will own you. The energy that's spent paying for, furnishing, upgrading, fixing the house, not to mention simply covering insurance and taxes that you'll never see back. It's extraordinary how so many folks do it because that's the default. That's what we do! And some folks are wealthy enough that it doesn't phase them, but most of us aren't.
Depending on how you live this life on wheels, you can save more than you'd imagine, or go broke every month -- but that's the beauty of it, it's completely up to you! You'll almost never forget something at home, since it goes right along with you, and especially with traveling nurses it's just the perfect option IMO. I've met quite a few of them that work contracts and can chase the great weather! Some hospitals (I think Seattle Children's is one) will even offer free hookups and a spot for the contractors. I think of my life working retail and renting a duplex, and for years I saw the exact same thing day in and day out. It wore on me and I felt like my life was completely wasted. Today, I see the whole world and something new each day, there's just no comparison. I feel so much more alive.
@@Apextn1if I may throw a suggestion in the ring. I have a Jayco Eagle that I knew very little about when I bought it.
They are still pretty inexpensive and they use cheap internal material but where they shine is the shell, Jayco makes one of the strongest floor and roofs in the industry. Mine is on its 3rd interior redesign and the outside just touching up the seals and decals.
@ I’m not really looking for a trailer or pull behind at the moment. More of like an RV or a skoolie or van conversion. Pull behind wouldn’t be bad I don’t guess. Just seeing what is the best for full time living in one
I have to disagree with you about home values. I bought my first house in 1974,and prices have gone up steadily since then. The only exception was 1994 and 2010. But you only lost money if you sold because prices quickly recovered.
Also, you can buy a home with an FHA insured loan for 3% down for owner-occupied.
Renters in my area are paying 3x what I pay for my mortgage. And when you pay rent you are paying property taxes for the landlord.
Interesting. I wonder if that's more the values in California for housing? My learning must not apply everywhere! I've never heard of the FHA loans... Showing 3.5% down on my initial inspection, that's very interesting!
I would have to agree with you. Purchased home in Bremerton, WA in 2000, sold in 2023 and almost quadrupled my money.
Oh man, 2019-2024 have been INSANE for real estate! From what I've read, it's unprecedented.
@CozyLivingMachine the house I bought in 1974 for $32k is now worth about $800k. And it's only a 1200 sq ft home built in the 50's. My budget at the time was $18k. The realtor talked me into spending more. Turned out to be good advice.
Joel and Ms Emma, are yall going to stay in an rv park when you get your trailer? You said the truck and trailer always stay connected, which would indicate that either you are going to continue boondocking, or you're not getting a trailer, but a slide in camper. However, if yall are getting a trailer, you could put a construction rack on Graham the Ram, and put 3-4 solar panels on it, a few more on the trailer, and a generator in the bed (under a lockable tonneau cover), next to a small deep freezer, and yall would be set for the apocalypse. Js
I hope I didn't insult you or Emma with my comments lat time.
BTW, you can adjust the volts on that new ecoflow dc-dc charger, I want to say it goes to 36 volts. One of the TH-cam channels covered it, they are made to charge power stations, but if it goes to 36 volts(different makes of power stations are different volts) it would charge your battery bank- I think. I know, I'm trying to fix a problem with your money again. I'll shut up.
You'll definitely see what plans we have in store coming up! We just released the information to the channel members about which rig we're getting, plenty of updates to come and we'll release to everyone once we have the new rig! And not insulted at all. 😂 Interesting about the Ecoflow device... I'll continue to keep an eye out, but I'm not finding any information about it! I see one that does up to 24V, but it's possible I'm just blind. 😂
BTW, where is your mailing address? I don't see it, I'm old you know.
No worries! 721 4th Ave #694 Kirkland, WA 98033
@CozyLivingMachine much obliged. Yall have a good night.
@@williamsuttle3645 you too!