The art of spending money

plumb1_2

I had a terrible time trying to park my motorhome. The salesman was very persistent and I forgot I lived on the 5th floor of a tower block with only a 2x1 mtr balcony.

Nebulous2

Stubod said:

..another one that fancied a motorhome but have been put off by the silly prices, and the more I consider it I think I would prefer going back to caravanning as this gives greater flexibility, (and you could buy a good car and a caravan for the price of a motorhome), but I accept it's each to their own.....

We've tried a bit of almost everything camping-wise. The only campervan we have had was a self-build. It worked reasonably well, but we should have started with a better base vehicle. 

I've ran the figures for a motorhome multiple times and just cant see that it is worth it to us. 

We bought a van to tow and carry bikes inside and a big twin-axle caravan just before covid, which was very lucky. They've both held their value extremely well and been very well used. 

It's important to use it a lot if you spend the sort of money to buy a motorhome. Our first decent caravan we spent over 60 nights in it in the first year. The converse of that was I knew more than one set of people who based on a rough calculation were spending over £1000 for each night they spent in their motorhome. It was very much a 'want it at any cost' purchase for them.

Dealers were offering 15 year finance packages on motorhomes at one time, they possibly still are. That kind of commitment from people who can't afford it is absolutely mind-boggling. 

Sea_Shell

Albermarle said:

Sea_Shell said:

Albermarle said:

Sea_Shell said:

I get enough stick on my "Nuts" thread as it is, without using YHs 😉

At least in the YH , you could put the heating on 

What??   I don't follow.

I understood from other posts that the heating is only on for very limited hours day at Sea Shell Towers, so was trying to make a joke about that....

This time of year 7am to 9pm.  Hardly very limited.

SMcGill

Well this thread has taken some interesting left turns! Back on topic, I too am an inveterate saver and I made peace with that before I retired, to the point that I set my monthly spend budget at 25% more than I actually need and built up a significant cash buffer ‘just in case’.

Obviously that all took some time but now (albeit only 9 months into retirement) I find I’m spending more on myself and am still coming in under budget which gives a similar satisfaction to ‘saving’ each month.

33scott

A small campervan is very much in plans for when I retire in 2 years time. My retirement will not include spa breaks, boutique hotels or cruises, that's just not me. Give me the corner of a muddy field any day. 

jimi_man

Albermarle said:

Sea_Shell said:

Albermarle said:

Sea_Shell said:

I get enough stick on my "Nuts" thread as it is, without using YHs 😉

At least in the YH , you could put the heating on 

What??   I don't follow.

I understood from other posts that the heating is only on for very limited hours day at Sea Shell Towers, so was trying to make a joke about that....

It's on all the time, but only just enough to melt the frost from the top of the duvet....

Sea_Shell

jimi_man said:

Albermarle said:

Sea_Shell said:

Albermarle said:

Sea_Shell said:

I get enough stick on my "Nuts" thread as it is, without using YHs 😉

At least in the YH , you could put the heating on 

What??   I don't follow.

I understood from other posts that the heating is only on for very limited hours day at Sea Shell Towers, so was trying to make a joke about that....

It's on all the time, but only just enough to melt the frost from the top of the duvet....

What is this....open season on SeaShell.     Everyone pile in and have a go.  


You do your retirement, i'll do mine.    

zagfles

Sea_Shell said:

jimi_man said:

Albermarle said:

Sea_Shell said:

Albermarle said:

Sea_Shell said:

I get enough stick on my "Nuts" thread as it is, without using YHs 😉

At least in the YH , you could put the heating on 

What??   I don't follow.

I understood from other posts that the heating is only on for very limited hours day at Sea Shell Towers, so was trying to make a joke about that....

It's on all the time, but only just enough to melt the frost from the top of the duvet....

What is this....open season on SeaShell.     Everyone pile in and have a go.  


You do your retirement, i'll do mine.    

I sympathise as I get this all the time in real life. People assume because I don't waste money on the sort of trivial fluff they waste money on, that I'll also not want to pay for essentials like heating! That it's an aversion to spending money rather than not wanting to waste money on fluff that doesn't get you anything meaningful extra.

Generally the sort of people who'll use price as a benchmark for quality, who'll refuse to buy stuff that's "too cheap". Who use phrases like "you get what you pay for" and "buy cheap buy twice".

It blows their mind when I tell them stuff like I flew to Venice for a fiver on Ryanair, or had a better holiday staying in hostels than 4* hotels. It just does not compute with them. They think I must be lying, that I'd really have preferred paying BA £200 or staying in some boring posh hotel where everyone keep themselves to themselves rather than a friendly hostel where people are up for a chat and share travel advice etc, but I'm just too tight to pay for it. Because they think price always correlates with quality.

But I can give as well as take. The "sky hostel" analogy for business class I mentioned earlier does seem to wind people up - try it next time someone tells you about their business class flight

in_my_wellies

zagfles said:

Sea_Shell said:

jimi_man said:

Albermarle said:

Sea_Shell said:

Albermarle said:

Sea_Shell said:

I get enough stick on my "Nuts" thread as it is, without using YHs 😉

At least in the YH , you could put the heating on 

What??   I don't follow.

I understood from other posts that the heating is only on for very limited hours day at Sea Shell Towers, so was trying to make a joke about that....

It's on all the time, but only just enough to melt the frost from the top of the duvet....

What is this....open season on SeaShell.     Everyone pile in and have a go.  


You do your retirement, i'll do mine.    

I sympathise as I get this all the time in real life. People assume because I don't waste money on the sort of trivial fluff they waste money on, that I'll also not want to pay for essentials like heating! That it's an aversion to spending money rather than not wanting to waste money on fluff that doesn't get you anything meaningful extra.

Generally the sort of people who'll use price as a benchmark for quality, who'll refuse to buy stuff that's "too cheap". Who use phrases like "you get what you pay for" and "buy cheap buy twice".

It blows their mind when I tell them stuff like I flew to Venice for a fiver on Ryanair, or had a better holiday staying in hostels than 4* hotels. It just does not compute with them. They think I must be lying, that I'd really have preferred paying BA £200 or staying in some boring posh hotel where everyone keep themselves to themselves rather than a friendly hostel where people are up for a chat and share travel advice etc. Because they think price always correlates with quality.

But I can give as well as take. The "sky hostel" analogy for business class I mentioned earlier does seem to wind people up - try it next time someone tells you about their business class flight

I could have written this. I will spend money but I won't waste money. I'll save money in some areas of my life in order to spend it in others. Amongst my friends I think I have a reputation for being careful but then I'm the one they come to for advice, they're happy to take away a bag of vegetables or fruit from my garden or jars of chutney, jam, etc. They pay £5 to park the car in the nearest car park and make fun of me from parking behind it for free. 
I'll keep the 'sky hostel' up my sleeve!

Linton

Nebulous2 said:

Stubod said:

..another one that fancied a motorhome but have been put off by the silly prices, and the more I consider it I think I would prefer going back to caravanning as this gives greater flexibility, (and you could buy a good car and a caravan for the price of a motorhome), but I accept it's each to their own.....

We've tried a bit of almost everything camping-wise. The only campervan we have had was a self-build. It worked reasonably well, but we should have started with a better base vehicle. 

I've ran the figures for a motorhome multiple times and just cant see that it is worth it to us. 

We bought a van to tow and carry bikes inside and a big twin-axle caravan just before covid, which was very lucky. They've both held their value extremely well and been very well used. 

It's important to use it a lot if you spend the sort of money to buy a motorhome. Our first decent caravan we spent over 60 nights in it in the first year. The converse of that was I knew more than one set of people who based on a rough calculation were spending over £1000 for each night they spent in their motorhome. It was very much a 'want it at any cost' purchase for them.

Dealers were offering 15 year finance packages on motorhomes at one time, they possibly still are. That kind of commitment from people who can't afford it is absolutely mind-boggling. 

Rather than a motor home I would recommend a narrowboat.  It makes the journey to your destination part of your holiday rather than a chore.  We aim for at least 2 months out every year