Space Saving Tip : Those pesky plastic shopping bags

When you live in an RV, you think about space - primarily - how do you get MORE out of the space you have.

One area is those pesky little plastic shopping bags. These are extremely useful bags and by reusing them at least you are getting one more use out of them before passing them on.

Some of our uses are :

• lunch bags for carrying my lunch to work
• carrying my gym clothes with me 
• bathroom garbage can liner
• pick up after the dog bags

But if you SAVE them for these uses, they can easily take up a drawer or an undersink cabinet. In a regular house, no big deal. In a 399 square foot fifth wheel that is a problem.

While strolling through Target recently we found a stick on plastic bag holder and we've been using it for several months now and have been thrilled with the product. On the links I'll point you to equivalents on Amazon. 

RV Financial : RV Insurance Claim for an Awning

If you are looking for rv insurance, or curious about the cost of an rv awning repair, then this article might be helpful.

Our rv awning was recently damaged by a very sudden, very brief, and very gusty little storm. We are staying the La Hacienda RV Park in Austin TX [ I'm going to do an updated video and make it much better than one I've linked, but for now... ]. It turns out that near Lake Travis winds can be very gusty. Maybe that is why at least one part of the lake is called Windy Point.

It is true, that I have written several articles on securing the rv awning and had I actually secured my awning after we had retracted it recently instead of being lazy, we would still have an awning (and the $500 insurance deductible). But I'm out both and I'll update you so you can learn from my experience.

First, here is a list of the articles I've written that explain to me that I know better:

• Secure the awning the old fashioned way : Bring it in if you are not with it or your are going to leave even for 15 minutes.
• Secure the rv awning using a Walmart RV Awning tie down kit.
• Secure the awning correctly using your own awning tie down components. This is the best way if you are going to leave your awning out.

We insure with Geico (see my list of well known insurers for RV insurance).

First, what was damaged : The awning was flipped up onto the roof. The arms of the awning (which was made by Dometic and is a 12 foot awning) were bent and the fittings were either bent or broken off the RV. The awning itself, which is heavy bumped the air conditioning cover and knocked a hole it the cover. It also bent our radio antenna. The awning was also tugged from the RV itself so it would not be secure against water anymore.

What we did after the damage : We called TWO RV repair services. One came out after two days and pretended to care and told us he could do it for $200. Another came out when we called and he said it would be $1400.

We took the guy who cared even though his bill was going to be $1200 more. We believe that there is discrimination against travel trailer people - which is what our RV is.

We then called GEICO. They have a separate RV insurance department that runs seemingly independently from the rest of the company. They sent out an adjuster within two days. The adjuster himself attends training regularly and is an expert in RV's. He asked me to get the quote faxed to him which I did. He called me late in the day and told me that he 'locked in the GEICO claim amount' before he saw the quote. It turns out he was $100 over the quote. But the long/short of it is that both the estimate AND the insurance company were within 8% of each other with no communications whatsoever.

GEICO then deducts the deductible from the total and sends the balance. It is as easy as can be. 

Anyway, this is all a true story and is accurate as of August 2010 and it is about us and not just something I made up (like so much of what you find on the web).

Hope this helps! Cheers.

Keeping the RV Clean and Neat

Here is an update to the original post.

Sheri and I no longer recommend these mats at all. AT BEST, they would work for light duty and getting in/out of the RV. Even though we really liked it and the people who introduced us to them really liked them, we have already thrown ours into the trash.

So after about 5 months use, the material starts 'flaking' or shedding, almost like fiberglass particles and you get them everywhere. We left the mat out all the time, but it simply cannot stand up to outdoor use, particularly in the Texas sun (I ASSUME (but have no empirical evidence) the sun).

Our next attempt will be an astro-turf-like rug.



[ Original Post - Jan 2010 ]

When visiting our RV (recreational vehicle) recently Sheri and I ran across a woman who had a fantastic outdoor mat (or rug) under her RV retractable awning.

The mat was this amazing rubbery material, I think polypropylene, and it was reversible. It was brown and white and was very, very light. She said it was very easy to clean - having hosed it off before with just a simple garden hose. She also said she loved how it easily rolled up and could be stored.

We had asked her where she had gotten it and she had said Walmart.

We found one mat at Walmart and purchased it immediately.

The MOST IMPORTANT benefit of having a mat is that it keeps gravel and dirt from being tracked into the RV from the campsite. We have found, more often that not, that the RV pad sites are gravel and not concrete, which means it is very easy to track in debris. The mat solves so much of that.

I tried to find the mat online at Walmart, but you cannot get it from walmart.com, which seems funny to me. You can however find it at amazon.com.

Good luck. We've put it over in our catalog section so you can find it over on that page.

List of Insurance Companies You Know that Carry RV Insurance

[ This is a list we'll update from time to time, but hopefully it helps you save time and comparison shop. Please leave comments that help people find the best deals or best coverage. ]

The links should take you to their RV insurance pages. Good luck!

It is worth mentioning that Geico and Progressive both are PAYING for the top spot on Google when you search for "RV insurance".

Geico - Mr. Buffets company. I insure with them. I always have to CALL to get better insurance rates - they never lower the rates without me asking. Grrr. Also, they were not too smart and if you are not careful you'll get the wrong trailer (like a storage trailer - or work trailer) insurance. We were looking at a 'travel trailer'. People who are not IN the RV world do not understand the difference. I repeat - most people do not know that the word travel trailer MEANS if they are not in the RV world!!!!

[ update on Geico ] : I've since found out that they have their own rv insurance division that specializes in RV insurance. Make sure you ask for the RV division. It is located in North Carolina. Since I've found that division, I've had very good luck obtaining rv insurance quotes for my fifth wheel and for our puma travel trailer. They are also very familiar with rv usage modes and I've found them pleasant. I've also filed an rv insurance claim with them very successfully and was impressed with their adjusting and claim process.

Allstate - Oddly, they call it Motorhome insurance, so I don't know if they won't insure travel trailers or fifth wheels. I wouldn't want anyone to waste their time - and I have to ASSUME that they don't or they would have said something different. I'm finding that if you go outside of the SCRIPT to the call centers their heads explode!

Nationwide - If you DIG deep, you'll find RV insurance on this site. When we moved my wife's Honda from Nationwide to Geico, we HALVED our insurance, so it would be interesting to see the difference.

Farmers Motorhome and Farmers Travel Trailer. I think the fact that they view these separately might be a really good omen that as a company they've at least thought out the real differences. I think we'll definitely get a quote from these guys. I do think it is important to note that a Motorhome is an entirely different set of risks for an insurance underwriter providing rv insurance. This is very sensible for them to be in different divisions.

Progressive - These guys will insure yo mamma! They have snowmobile insurance and Segway insurance. How cool is that?

USAA - I've noticed that many RV'ers seem to be retired military. So it is really great that USAA offers this insurance. They called it Motorhome only, so I don't know about the pull types of rv insurance, but click the link to look them up.

Safeco - To be fair, this company is owned by Liberty Mutual. But I don't know if you would get a discount for multiple vehicles if you insured with both.

American Family Insurance - I couldn't get an RV link but they have RV insurance. It looks easy to get a quote too.

Maybe some noteworthy mentions next because they are companies you've heard of as well, but not so much around insurance...

GMAC - Yep. They seem to insure RV's!

Good Sam - Many of you are Good Sam members, so I can't help but think this would be an important mention to the RV community. It looks like GMAC and Good Sam are affiliated for offering insurance so having both of these here might not make sense.

MetLife - How cool is it that the life insurance company has some really good RV insurance pages?!

AARP / The Hartford - No real comments here.

The following companies did not seem to even think about RV's...

• State Farm - Mentioned boats, but nothing else, even under the "other" category.
• Liberty Mutual - Did a search on their site, and found one little tiny comment, but nothing else.
• Travelers - Ironically, the name 'Traveler' indicates they ought to do this but they don't. If you search for RV on their site, you'll find that they HAVE an RV for driving to areas that need lots of adjusting!

Cheers, M

RV Communications : Internet for Puma

If you full time or even part time in an RV you'll probably realize very quickly that relying on the WiFi at the parks (RV or state) won't work for you. Works great when you don't need it and not at all when you do.


I would have purchased 4G Wimax from Clear but it is not available at La Hacienda RV park. Furthermore, it seems they are always out of the Sprint/Clear dual mode dongles which would be a pretty good solution, but they are out.

Satellite seems too expensive.

We tried getting ATT DSL to the RV Park pedestal but that did not work.

Maybe I could have tried cable, but the ATT experience made me want to avoid 'wired' (think non-mobile RV) solutions.

So we purchased service from T-Mobile. Here is why...
1) T-mobile has been my cell phone company for years and their network seems reliable and they are always very service oriented.
2) Their $39.99/month data plan HAS NO OVERAGE charges if you go over 5 Gig of data in a month.So in exchange for perhaps slower service than Sprint/Verizon you have a KNOWN bill. No Overage.
3) For Sprint/Verizon you could have bills in excess of $100-200/month very easily if you were not paying attention.
4) If you go over 5 Gig, T-Mobile MIGHT slow you down, operative word being MIGHT.

Notes :
1) We purchased the Huwei UMG181 (or basic webconnect stick - not the jet, not the rocket).
2) It is NOT compatible with the Cradlepoint CTR500 router. No matter what cradlepoint website says, I would not even bother with this combination.
3) It IS compatible (as of May 2010) with the cradepoint MBR900 router. In fact it started working WHILE I was reading the manual!!!!

So basically, the webconnect stick PLUS the cradlepoint MBR900 router and you can replicate the MiFi and other boxes.

Checklist for Equipping your RV for Living

[ We'll update this list from time to time. ]

These are things that you'll want to have in your recreational vehicle (RV) but won't carry back and forth. Think of this as equipping your second home. Some of these are household items, and some will be technical manly items.

* IMPORTANT : Always identify your nearest Tornado Shelter [Added 4/30/2010 due to lots of wind!]
* Corkscrew / Can Opener / Bottle Opener
* Electrical Heater - like a space heater - we LOVE having this with us.
* Frying pan / Saucepan
* Towels / Washclothes
* Broom / Dustpan / Small sweeper / Cleaning fluids
* Flashlight
* Tools [ added March 20 2010 ]
   - Screwdriver - multi-purpose
   - Pliers - also might recommend a channel lock.
   - Things to level the RV (we carry boards)
   - Jack pads ( we carry small boards )

Please feel free to send suggestions.

More on Connecting the Sewer to the RV

UPDATE TO THIS ARTICLE : Overall, Sheri and I really believe in the universal fitting. However, the one from Walmart that is pictured here is not a good one. Here are the reasons this one is not good.

1) The elbow separates from the universal adapter. All in all that is not bad, but the mechanism for taking them apart and keeping them together is VERY FRAGILE and is so easily broken or worn as to basically make it so the elbow won't stay in the universal fitting. Sad to say, but 'made in China' probably  means 'never once tested'.

2) The universal quick attach hose clamp that attaches the elbow to the flexible hose that most people use for the sewer hose is a bunch of baloney.

OVERALL : Don't buy the Walmart universal sewer adapter and elbow. There are better ones. As soon as I find one, I'll let you know.

Here are things we are going to look for in a universal RV sewer elbow in a new one which we'll soon have.

1) I think the unit should be clear plastic. Not so as to be grotesque, but so you can get an idea of the health of your holding tanks. Its like this - you want to know, even if you don't want to know.
2) I think that a lever of sorts should be attached to the fitting so you can get it on and off without tools.
3) The hose clamp that attaches the sewer hose to the elbow should work. It should not be a puzzle for people who do not care that much.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE :


When we were at our first RV park with Puma, what we call our recreational vehicle, we noticed that our flexible sewer hose had a GREAT connection to the RV. Those connections are very standard with special hooks and a quick on, quick off release.

But the OTHER end had nothing.

So to dump our tanks, we pushed the hose down into the RV parks septic system's drain. But we knew that wouldn't work.

It turns out that Walmart has a really good RV department. When we were in that department we found a universal connector for the sewer. It was less than $10.

We immediately used it. I wasn't that impressed with the hose clamp. But we got it working. The universal fitting worked perfectly in the Llano River RV Park so we're 1 for 1 on that fitting working. This was a pretty useful thing so I wanted to post it so people knew these things existed. Also, I wanted to inform people about Walmart's little RV section.

RV Users Manual Information : Palomino Puma Users Manual

Update : You can download the PDF of the Palomino Puma Towable Users Manual from this link. I went ahead and scanned it and uploaded it to Google. Let me know with a comment if you cannot download it.


------

Puma is nearly 4 years old now. The literature pack that came with it has the refrigerator users manual from Dometic, the air conditioner user manual, the hot water heater manual, and a few other things like that.

But what it lacked was some REALLY USER consumable information that was a true users manual that addressed the question "hey - how does this thing really work?"

Sheri and I were wondering because we had an odd little problem where the hot water heater's electric start was kicking off the circuit breaker. We still don't know why, but it stopped doing it. But little things about the propane tanks gave us questions too.

So we got on the Palomino web site and they have a PAGE FOR REQUESTING PALOMINO PUMA User literature. We requested a users manual, and particularly a wiring diagram.

I honestly forgot about the request, which I made about 1 week before writing this.

What showed up was a really great document for understanding the travel trailer better. I think it would be useful for anyone, not just Puma users. I think it would even be useful for fifth wheel owners as well.

Anyway, check out the LINK I put in the area above with all cap letters and give it a try. Thanks Puma.

Checklist for Leaving RV at the Park and Going Home

Sometimes you will leave your RV ( recreational vehicle ) setup like we are doing so you have it as a vacation home. When you leave it, you have to do a certain amount of preparation. I think this list would need to be augmented for leaving for period of more than 2 weeks. Certainly, it would need to be augmented when towing the vehicle out. Here is another checklist for returning to your RV from your home.

I put together this checklist, which we discovered by making mistakes!

* Disconnect and Drain your clean water (especially if cold) from the system.

* Disconnect your cable TV (low priority).
* Unplug all appliances plugged into normal outlets if possible.

* Drain your black water tank if you are using it (we do).

* Follow with draining your grey water tank.

* Remove your sewer drain hose and stow.

* Turn OFF your hot water heater.

* Turn OFF your heating/air conditioning.

* Close all your windows.

* Close any roof-side vents (like in the restroom).

* Crank down your TV antenna (if you are using it).

* We LEAVE our slide out. I think this is personal conviction.

* Slide in your awning in case it is windy or will rain. Actually, bring it in no matter what.

* Put away loose furniture that is outside.

* Turn OFF and also check your Propane tanks.

* Probably a good idea to pull all of your blinds.

* LEAVE your electric plugged in for your fridge.

* Quick inventory - make list of what you need for the RV when you return.
* Dirty Laundry - Clothes / Sheets / Towels
* Leave a sign or card in the window by the door or nearby with your cell phone number [ Thanks to Thom Hock for the suggestion ]

* Lock your doors, storage areas.

Now, you can be sad that you are leaving your imaginary world where you do what you want to do whenever you want to do it AND that you are returning to the real world - that is - well - not that way!

Little things I've learned about RV naming

This might seem like a silly post, but here are some little things about how recreational vehicles might be named or what the little designations might be in their model numbers.

I don't think this is a hard and fast set of rules, but if I knew them a bit earlier, it would have been helpful.

SS = Super Slide

FK = Front Kitchen

RK = Rear Kitchen

RL = Rear Living

RE = Rear Entertainment (not much different from rear living)

BH = bunk house (extra beds for kids - not for example the kitchen table converting into a bed)

The numbers seem to come in two varieties - One number that is more like square footage and one that is simply the length of the unit. Typically, you can tell them apart because square footage has an extra digit.

392 = 392 square feet. I think it counts the slides extended.

292 = 292 square feet.

29 = 29 feet (29 * 8) = the real square footage.

RV Lifestyle Article : The economics of living in an RV

In an another RV living affordability article, I had performed an analysis in Excel asking the question "Is an RV a good investment".  I had approached that analysis with the STARTING POINT that I would be paying $1400/month already in rent and utilities. I also made an assumption that you had some nominal savings. I picked a number for the analysis of $75K.

My results were a bit surprising. But if you see the analysis, you'll see than living in an RV can be just as good of a 'total asset value' at the end of the analysis period as purchasing a house. Of course Rent isn't even close.

But the mechanisms for value-capture are VERY different. For the RV scenario, the MAJOR value-capture mechanism is saving the difference between the old rent and the cost of the RV site. This is a key behavioral concept. Can you do it?

But I'm not sure how to do the analysis if you can neither afford rent @ $1400 (just a number that is reasonable for many urban areas) or a house.

In some ways an RV would be a spectacular way to live cheaply, live greenly (a new word), and also be prepared in case you need to move. Something so simple as moving from one end of town to the other could mean that you just move your RV to  the other side of town. That one move alone could save $20-100/month in gas. While the MOVE of the RV was not a 'low carbon' event, the savings from driving less every day month after month IS green and cannot be discounted.

Sheri and I thought about this a great deal.

While the RV itself would be expensive - we want a nice one - the rest of the package would not be expensive. For the folks that don't have a great deal of money, I'm convinced that with $5K you could get a pretty decent used RV.

Here are some thoughts and considerations in bullet form that Sheri and I have considered that are important in the RV purchase and living consideration. We'd love to hear from other people. This is in no particular order.

• When you think RV, you have to think about how you will tow it. You can OWN a truck OR you can rent a truck. I priced truck rentals and they are $100-200/day for short term. That is a very economical way to move your RV and keeps you out of having to own a truck.
• Sheri and will probably get a truck though. We LOVE Mr Big, but he is a gas truck and we are 100% convinced that diesel is the way to go.
• We believe that a fifth wheel is the best RV to live in full time. Also we're pretty convinced that we'll be OK driving it. No matter how much we look at the BIG daddy Class A's, the front part seems to use up the square footage. Plus we are simple people!
• Forgetting about trucks or RV costs, we can live at one of the BEST RV PARKS in Austin for $550 per month, utilities included. It is only a 1/2 mile from the lake, it has all sorts of amenities. So we would save almost $900/month by doing this. Do you know what kind of big rig we could buy with that kind of free cash?
• Insurance is a wash. Renters insurance versus homeowners insurance versus RV insurance.
• We are prepared to live in a small space. Puma is too small to live in for two people in my opinion.
• You have to have a slide-out in the master bedroom. Why? Because if you have a slide, you generally get enough space to walk around the bed and have a reasonable closet space.
• You probably would want one more slide to make the living area much bigger.

Anyway, these are some thoughts. We'll update this article and repost it to the top every now and then.

Cheers,

Clean Water for the RV

When we were at our first RV park with our recreational vehicle, we found that the water tasted just a little bit funny. It was a pretty good conclusion that the water will be different at every park and potentially not very good at all.

When we were at Walmart recently looking at the RV section in the store, we found several different water filters for less than $20.

We're now trying the one in the picture out and will update this post with more information on the filter. So far the filter works great and Sheri says the water tastes great.

We placed it on the city water connection input to the travel trailer. So our shower is filtered, our kitchen is filtered, and amusingly our 'black water' is filtered too. How cool is that?

RV Basics : Types of RV

I originally found the RV classifications a bit confusing so I thought I would write a small article to help my non-RV friends understand the differences.


Recreational Vehicles are divided between ones with a motor and ones without - called towable.


Motorized RV's are categorized as Class A Motorhome, Class B Motorhome or Class C Motorhomes. If you think good, better, best, that little mnemonic won't work. Most people 'think' of Class A Motorhomes when they think of the word RV, but something like 85% of all RV's sold are Towables. People like these because you don't have to fool with hooking up to a tow vehicle but they seem to have less living space than the fifth wheels (in my opinion) and if you want to have a car you still have to tow a car.


Towables are classified as either fifth ( 5th ) wheel or travel trailers. Our RV, which we call Puma, is a travel trailer. 


There are other classes like pop-up campers or tent campers, but I'll just stick with these main types.


Motorized RV 


Class A - This is the classic RV. It is specially constructed to be a true RV from the ground up. Sometimes you'll hear them called Diesel pushers or Gas Pushers based on the type of engine they use. These are the big daddy machines. 


Class B - This is a VAN, like a GMC or Ford, that is converted to an RV. I think of a student criss crossing the country and having a little pad like this as the mini-home. This is the smallest type of motorized RV or motorhome.


Class C - This is a cross between a Class A motorhome and a Class B motorhome. It has a the cab, cabin, or drivers area usually in a separate area, making this look like a pickup with a topper or drop in the bed camper, but these are designed to be TRUE RV's.


Towable RV 


Fifth Wheel - This RV is named after the hitch (which looks similar to the hitch on a tractor trailer), but it is more easily identified by its distinctive shape which is meant to allow the hitch to connect to a receptacle IN THE BED of a pickup truck (or larger). You might use terms like gooseneck trailer to describe the shape. Believe it or not, the newer RV's (since approximately 2005 or so) allow you to completely STAND up in the section that goes over the truck bed. To me, this looks like the most livable and PRACTICAL RV for full time living or even traveling across the country. The NEAT thing is you can just disconnect your tow vehicle and use it to get around town. Being a fifth wheel in shape makes it easier to handle than a travel trailer, both while towing in regards to safety, and while backing too.


Travel Trailer - I actually don't known the numbers, but this RV ought to be the most plentiful. They range from small car towable designs to very large models that rival, well almost rival, fifth wheels. Puma is a travel trailer. These have a straight design - they look like a loaf of bread with a hitch that comes out directly to connect to a hitch on the bumper ( or thereabouts ) on a pickup.


I've attached pictures of the different types of RV's here.

Class B Motorhome RV 

Fifth Wheel RV (pictured : Toy Hauler, a cool fifth wheel)

Class A Motorhome RV

Travel Trailer RV 

Class C Motorohome RV 

Useful RV kitchen Ideas

Today I would just like to share some of my novel kitchen ideas and give you some ideas that might work for you. I purchased a toaster oven and I love it. toaster ovens have come along way and I must say, they work as well as a traditional oven in most cases and you don't heat up the RV.

Another great investment was the electric skillet, non stick is a great invention. I use mine at least once a day for various meals and this saves on gas and clean up. Both the oven and skillet store nicely in the cabinet under the fridge.
I also have found that the collapsible bowls make for easy storage as well and the clean up in a snap.

Under my sink I have found that using the plastic baskets for my utensils and dish towels work well for organizing and keeping things under the sink neat and tidy. Plastic baskets are a great invention, for under the bathroom sink as well. Well I hope that this gives you some ideas for your next RV trip.

RV is defined as "Home" in IRS Home Interest Deduction

Regarding RV's (Recreational Vehicles) I don't even KNOW what I don't know! I stumbled across this little tidbit and wanted to pass it on. Currently, Sheri and I pay interest currently on Puma. So naturally, this IRS publication caught my eye.

Look for the definition of "Qualified Home". If you see what I see, it says : "For you to take a home mortgage interest deduction, your debt must be secured by a qualified home. This means your main home or your second home. A home includes a house, condominium, cooperative, mobile home, house trailer, boat, or similar property that has sleeping, cooking, and toilet facilities.".

You file your taxes the way you want, but we'll be calling Puma, a home!

Hot Water Heaters

It turns out that turning on and off hot water heaters ISN'T just about saving energy. This article, sent to me by a reader of my RV (recreational vehicle) blog pointed out some other thinking about hot water heaters.

Read this article about reasons to keep the hot water heater ON AND at 140 degrees F!

You be the judge? How susceptible to bacteria might you be?

Turning On and Off the Water Heater to Save Electricity

If my recreational vehicle ( RV ) is plugged into an all electric system (like a 50 Amp) and I heat my hot water with electric, is it better to turn off the hot water heater when I don't use it or leave it on all the time?

I spoke with Dr. Paul Ballentine, an MIT and SUNY Grad with expertise in Thermodynamics and he said turning off a hot water heater at anytime is a good idea. Paul is very active in the green energy community in Austin Texas so I consider him a pretty strong source.

The reason people think it is not a good idea, according to Paul, is that there is a misconception that hot water heaters consume more energy when they are starting up.

I personally searched the web and could not find anything that said that hot water heaters consume more energy on the startup phase. So you can feel assured that it is OK to turn off the hot water heater (assuming turn on is easy) and you will save energy.

Here is a reference to a nice simple model from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Notice that there is not a penalty variable in the formula for startup!

Is an RV a Good Investment?

This probably could be very controversial but I wondered if an RV is a good investment? I know it depreciates and homes appreciate, but what do the NUMBERS say?

I had to start with "Is an RV a good investment" and add "compared to what I'm doing now".

So, THIS LINK is a google docs spreadsheet.

I make some ASSUMPTIONS (please be gentle oh blogosphere). I started with the idea that I am doing something now - say rent @ $1,400 per month. I then decided my choice was to buy a house or buy an RV and I compared the three. I assumed a savings rate, a mortgage rate, pad expense (for the RV), real estate taxes. I ignored the idea of an RV loan, although it is not out of the question, AND you even get a mortgage deduction with an RV loan. The one thing you don't get is property tax which may make beating the standard deduction difficult.

What was suprising... is RENT is the absolute WORST path no matter what - not even close. But surprisingly, house and RV were not that far apart in 'end point final assets', but for ENTIRELY different reasons.

I left out some details like fuel costs for heating and cooling  or rv insurance or home insurance as they needed to be purchased on both options. Anyway, just meant this to be FUN and thought provoking.

Marlan

Mini Catalog of Useful RV Things

[ This is a list that we'll update from time to time... ]
[ PS - These are all things that we are using, have used, or are REALLY close to what we are using. ]




Recreational Vehicle Outdoor Mat or Rug - A great mat that will keep you recreational vehicle CLEAN and it is simple to clean as well. Reversible too. Very easy to roll up and light weight.











Audio Headphone to RCA connector Y connector or splitter - This is SUPER useful for playing your iPod on older stereo systems. You just plug one side into the iPod (or similar) and the other side into the Red and White RCA plugs on your stereo. Then you simply use the "Aux" or Auxiliary selection on your stereo to play your music.










Valterra Universal RV Sewer Adapter - This saves worrying about not having the right size to screw in the dump 'zone'.













7 pole extension cord. Allows your 7 pole trailer lighting to reach a few more feet. Very handy for connecting an outlet made for a fifth wheel to a travel trailer.

7 pole Extension cords for the Trailer lights and brakes

I know this seems SO OBVIOUS that it is painful, but we purchased Mr. Big (our pull vehicle for Puma our recreational vehicle) used and Mr. Big was already equipped with a 5th wheel hitch and a 7 pole receptacle for the 5th wheel.

But we had a travel trailer and the only thing brought back to the travel trailer hitch was a 4 prong connector.

Now those 'crazier' (more ambitious) minds thought that they should get under the truck, splice into the wiring and then route/drill/and mount another 7 pole receptacle on the hitch of the truck.

That sounded like a great deal of work. We didn't do it . We found a GREAT 7 pole extension cord which is available at most RV stores - or at least the ones with a nice selection.

Now I'm accused of picking a solution that is 'not elegant'. You can't please everyone, but I'm sure happy about it!

I'm attaching a picture so you can see it and not have to click on the link.