Friday, July 31, 2009

Latest Obsession

Last week I wrote a post about a friend who is on across country RV trip with her family. Since then I have been a little obsessed. I think we need to get an RV. Seriously. We are a family of 5. Airline tickets are already expensive. Soon (now for some) hotels will require us to get 2 hotel rooms. This is all pricey. The kids eat crap for food anyway, so food we make in the RV will be perfect. I think this can save us a lot of money.

Actually, I am not sure we will end up saving money in the long run. But I think we will be able to take longer/more vacations for the same money. For example, next month we will go to Rehobeth beach for a few days. We will drive up and stay in a hotel that is about $275 a night. We will probably stay 3 nights. We could stay for $60 a night at the local campground, which comes with a swimming pool, playground and free shuttle to the beach. And that's not the best example.

The kids do fine when we drive 8 or so hours to Grampa's house in our minivan. I'll bet we can go MUCH further in an RV. Did you know DisneyWorld has a campground on property near Fort Wilderness complete with character dining, pony rides, etc for about $57!! And that is only a 13 hour drive from here!!

I totally think we should do this. Given the current economy you can get used RVs (class C) for $10-15k. Am I crazy?? DH kinda thinks so.

6 comments:

Amy W said...

I would LOVE to get an RV, but my husband thinks I am nuts.

And Fort Wilderness in Disney? The coolest campground I have ever seen!

Unknown said...

Well, it would take 55 hotel stays (at $275 a night -- what hotels are you staying at??) to break even, not including gas and insurance.

You can rent them, can't you? Or, you've got so many friends, maybe you could all chip in, and timeshare it.

3XMom said...

well, $275 is for Rehobeth, 2 blocks from the beach in the summer - and a large room, so we have enough room for the 5 of us. Average hotel for us is about $200. (hell in NOWHERE upstate NY this weekend we had to pay over $200 just to not be in a roach motel!) 55 hotel stays is about 5 years. Not bad. Reanting them is pricey. We will rent before we make any decisions to buy, but not a good long term solution if we decides it makes sense. Timeshare is an idea...

Unknown said...

Make no mistake, I do think you're crazy...but this is not the only evidence for that. :-)

We have much more research to do into the concept before we get anywhere near taking out the loan to buy one. Since we both agree on that, I'm not so worried.

Betsy, short for Elizabeth, formally known as Esther said...

I am so on board with this! I would love to have an RV!

Randy said...

With five people, you might want to consider a pop-up trailer. They're cheaper and much easier to haul and newer ones come with AC, etc. Of course, it's still not the same as a true RV...but I'd get a big camper and a truck before I'd get an RV.