Help us decide...

2»

Comments

  • pink_pirlie
    pink_pirlie Posts: 238 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Buy the camper. You sound like you have worked hard and sacrificed a lot to get where you are now, give yourself permission to have a little fun.
    In my mind, there is little point getting to 55 and all you can show for the last 15 years is bricks and mortar.
    Experiences are priceless, especially with your little one.

    You earn quite a lot and must be relatively comfortable financially, so can!!!8217;t imagine it would take too long to save up for the camper or begin over paying your mortgage again once you have the camper.

    All your posts suggest you want to do it, but are looking for permission.

    What does your family think?
  • MF2015
    MF2015 Posts: 333 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    pink_pirlie wrote: »
    Buy the camper. You sound like you have worked hard and sacrificed a lot to get where you are now, give yourself permission to have a little fun.
    In my mind, there is little point getting to 55 and all you can show for the last 15 years is bricks and mortar.
    Experiences are priceless, especially with your little one.

    You earn quite a lot and must be relatively comfortable financially, so can!!!8217;t imagine it would take too long to save up for the camper or begin over paying your mortgage again once you have the camper.

    All your posts suggest you want to do it, but are looking for permission.

    What does your family think?
    Thanks for the reply. My wife is happy to go with the camper, but is worried by the bigger mortgage total.

    My student loan will be finished this month so that should give us an extra £220 to +£450 each month, that will more than cover the extra mortgage payments.

    It's just a psychological barrier taking money out of the mortgage pot rather than putting it in even if the aim would be to see it as a cheap means of financing the van and paying it off in over
    payments ASAP.

    I'm going to look at loan options to fund it, that will force me to overpay it early but the payments will obviously be more expensive.
  • alan_d
    alan_d Posts: 363 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Mortgage-free Glee!
    From my experience hiring camper vans and motor homes in the past, they are too big, cumbersome and noisy to live with as a daily driver. Also, compared with a car, they are thirsty, don't fit into most car parks and handle like a cow on roller-skates.
    I think you'd find that gets tedious very quickly. Also, when used on holiday, they are a pain to have to pack-up everything each time you want to go shopping or on a trip.
    To me, a far better (and cheaper) solution to comfortable camping is a caravan - about a third your £60k budget of £20k will buy a very nice one - which can be left setup on site and has all the mod-cons of a campervan - and usually more space.
    And it leaves you to choose a 'normal' car for day-to-day use, just sized with towing in mind.
    Also, if you don't have the space to store it, there are plenty of secure storage facilities around for a modest fee.
  • MF2015
    MF2015 Posts: 333 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    alan_d wrote: »
    From my experience hiring camper vans and motor homes in the past, they are too big, cumbersome and noisy to live with as a daily driver. Also, compared with a car, they are thirsty, don't fit into most car parks and handle like a cow on roller-skates.
    I think you'd find that gets tedious very quickly. Also, when used on holiday, they are a pain to have to pack-up everything each time you want to go shopping or on a trip.
    To me, a far better (and cheaper) solution to comfortable camping is a caravan - about a third your £60k budget of £20k will buy a very nice one - which can be left setup on site and has all the mod-cons of a campervan - and usually more space.
    And it leaves you to choose a 'normal' car for day-to-day use, just sized with towing in mind.
    Also, if you don't have the space to store it, there are plenty of secure storage facilities around for a modest fee.

    Thanks Alan but the size we are looking at is a Mercedes Marco Polo, it's based on a V class, the same size as a VW Transporter.

    Size isn't an issue, it's the same length as my current car, it's as quiet as a car and drives like a car and it will fit under barriers into multi story car parks.

    We have had campers for the past 30 years in the family, VW's, and love the freedom. You can pack up and go and be off to somewhere new in half an hour, you can't do that with a tin tent and your restricted to going back to pick up the shed if you want to move around to different places.
  • MF2015
    MF2015 Posts: 333 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Decision made!
  • shangaijimmy
    shangaijimmy Posts: 3,796 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Exciting times ahead!
    MFW: Was: £136,000.......Now: £61,892.24......
    Mortgage Neutral Deficit: £43,082.90... Mortgage Neutral Savings: £18,809.34
    MFiT-T6 #13 - £3,517 of £15,500 (22.69%)
    1% Mortgage Challenge 2022 - £157.59 of £650
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.1K Life & Family
  • 247.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards