Permanent Caravanning.

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Mar 16, 2005
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Sorry I didn't remove all the adverts by the member 'michael'.

I spotted one in Chit Chat last evening and deleted it at 18.49. I emailed him and he has since replied and apologised.

I didn't notice the others in General till this morning. Mea culpa.
 

pog

Mar 16, 2008
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Well. Progress report. As we enter our 6th Month of our chosen lifestyle, I'm pleased to report that we have taken everything that winter has had to throw at us, and we're still loving it. Some of the gales we've been through, have been fearsome, and enough to send the caravan and awning into orbit, but we're still OK. Good guy ropes, and long metal pegs are the secret.

We've also floored out the awning with 4 sheets of 8' X 4' 19mm tanolised board on 3" X 2" treated bearers to keep the floor off the ground, and dry and damp away. It's been a huge success.

Our gas cylinder (6Kg Propane) finally ran out on March 19th...having lasted since December 20th......absolutely amazing.
 
Sep 21, 2006
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I have read the posts from you full-timers and am green with envy-good luck and all the best. I hope that one of these days we can summon up the courage to join you!!!! - Maybe our hand will be forced as the bills get bigger and the wages increasingly fail to keep up...Similarly, our 24 years old daughter has two jobs and is struggling to keep up bills and payments on her modest home, its a crime in the 21st century that the rich get richer and the willing are increasingly priced out of what they have every right to expectin return for hard work and honesty....a modest home and enough income to manage a modest lifestyle......
 
Mar 25, 2008
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Hi again everyone,

Glad to hear you are all ok and have come through the snow and wind unscathed.

We too have been lucky and have weathered the weather without mishap.

It was actually exciting on Sunday morning to get up to a white world and a blizzard. We were out 'playing' with the dogs before breakfast and had loads of photos of it all to send to all our housebound friends:)

We moved last week to another site...A fantastic spot in the midle of nowhere with hardstanding and electric and NOBODY else here!!

My new job enables me to 'work from home' so I get to enjoy the peace and wildlife all day, whilst hubby has to go into the real world to work!

Only one blot on the horizon, this afternoon I as stung by Bee52 whilst having half an hour sunbathing:) Still I'd much rather be here than back in bricks and mortar!!

I totally agree with the comments about acclimatising... We too have cast of jumpers and coats for most of the time and it has to be really cold to put them back on!

Nice to speak to likeminded people.

Its marvellous
 
Jan 21, 2008
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I have been in a similar situation. Nine years ago I started a job in London. Initially I stayed with my parents in Essex and commuted in. However, commuting in was expensive, and I was fed up playing sardines on the Central Line. No way could I afford any property in London, so I bought myself a narrowboat! I got a good second hand one,one previous owner, on board generator, washing machine, central heating - the works. it was moored on the Regents Canal in central London, a stones throw from Camden Lock, and a 15 min walk to work. Bliss! Bit like caravaning on water my Mum said!

Life changes though, I got married, had a daughter and moved to Derby where (and when!) houses were affordable, so very reluctantly the boat had to go. Don't half miss it mind...

So good luck to everyone! Although if I was doing it again I am sure it would be another narrowboat!
 
Aug 4, 2004
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Hi again everyone,

Glad to hear you are all ok and have come through the snow and wind unscathed.

We too have been lucky and have weathered the weather without mishap.

It was actually exciting on Sunday morning to get up to a white world and a blizzard. We were out 'playing' with the dogs before breakfast and had loads of photos of it all to send to all our housebound friends:)

We moved last week to another site...A fantastic spot in the midle of nowhere with hardstanding and electric and NOBODY else here!!

My new job enables me to 'work from home' so I get to enjoy the peace and wildlife all day, whilst hubby has to go into the real world to work!

Only one blot on the horizon, this afternoon I as stung by Bee52 whilst having half an hour sunbathing:) Still I'd much rather be here than back in bricks and mortar!!

I totally agree with the comments about acclimatising... We too have cast of jumpers and coats for most of the time and it has to be really cold to put them back on!

Nice to speak to likeminded people.

Its marvellous
Although we enjoy where we are and the people around us sometimes we lust for the wide open spaces with no one around. Unfortunatley not many places like that in the Worcestershire area.
 
Mar 25, 2008
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Hi Ian

Yes we are lucky finding this litle out of the way spot....

The farmer is in the process of developing the site to attract more business, he has just installed hardstanding and electricity, but work sems to have come to a standstill at the moment.

Ah well, more time for us to enoy the peace:)
 
G

Guest

Ogre,

I am very saddened to read of your expectations on life. You have obviously suffered great tragedy and for that I can only offer sympathy, which does not really give any answer.

However, i cannot share your outlook on life as having no meaning. There is always a meaning, it is just that you have not found it yet, or have chosen not to look. I, like others often pass people being pushed in wheelchairs and who obviously have mental difficulties. Basically they are vegetables and in those cases i can possibly see the phrase 'meaning of life' being representative. You are living in your caravan and able to move from place to place so in those respects have advantages over some others.

You choose not to make any claim for supplementary income. That is your choice but it is available and if your circumstances are correct, then you would be fully entitled to claim it. I fully accept Brown does not make it easy, but if it is there then i would be dammed if i would let him away with not paying it to me.

Look at this way,as far as I know we only have one life, or at least nobody has proven to me otherwise. therefore use it to the fullest extent you can. Every day that you can get out of bed is a bonus, so use it.

Sorry, I am not trying to be hard or unsympathetic, but i have seen life in places that make the UK look like paradise. You have decided on your new lifestyle and that is fine. But make it a positive move, not a negative.
 
May 21, 2008
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Well the time is getting closer for us to go the permanent caravanning route.

Her in doors has tried to find a suitable place to rent but all we could find was either too damp and dodgy or the rent was sky high. I mean you have to put a grand down as damage deposit on a
 
G

Guest

We have been round this one many times. there are those who feel it is a great idea, and others who feel it is a shortsighted copout.

I fully agree that in certain areas of the UK the cost of housing has become a joke, but that is not the case throughout the whole country. It may be that people do not wish to move from where they were brought up, and that is their choice, but if it is the case of getting a home, then I do not see the problem. I would argue that the requirements to afford a home are not that much greater than many years ago, when saving for a deposit was a nightmare. I would also point out that in the long run people who do not have some form of investment, whether it be property or other financial means, will fall even further behind and that is not a position I would wish to contemplate at an elderly age.

In order to purchase our 1st home we sold the caravan, and could not afford another one for many years. That was our choice as we felt it was the only way to get ahead. I would also point out that inflation is offically marked at 2.5% but we all know it is realistically nearer 10%, therefore costs are going to increase faster than salaries so you need something that will adsorb that difference and property is one way that has stood the test of time, provided you are in for the long term. Prices will probably fall in the coming year, and then rise again as demand takes off.

For those that feel this is the best way to go, then fine, but do ensure you save enough to make sure you can rejoin the ladder at a future date. There are some in our current world who feel that declaring themselves bankrupt is the answer. Yes, it gets rid of the debts, but it does not resolve the problem and will be with you the rest of your life.

I would suggest anyone that feels their current problems can only be resolved this way should first seek some professional advice, just to make sure that they have not missed a better alternative.
 
May 21, 2008
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Chris,

I've registered our car in my daughters name so that we can tax it. I insure the car in my name using her address. Any other important postal links I handle via the collect from the sorting office system or by redirection.

I think Scotish lad is a little wide of the mark though.

We are using our caravan as wehave had to sell our property to reduce expendature. This was done as we are in rel terms having to deal with double figure inflation and not the poxy 2.5% that the Gordon is dreaming up!

If could afford
 
Feb 23, 2007
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Chris,

I've registered our car in my daughters name so that we can tax it. I insure the car in my name using her address. Any other important postal links I handle via the collect from the sorting office system or by redirection.

I think Scotish lad is a little wide of the mark though.

We are using our caravan as wehave had to sell our property to reduce expendature. This was done as we are in rel terms having to deal with double figure inflation and not the poxy 2.5% that the Gordon is dreaming up!

If could afford
 
Jun 25, 2006
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Chris,

I've registered our car in my daughters name so that we can tax it. I insure the car in my name using her address. Any other important postal links I handle via the collect from the sorting office system or by redirection.

I think Scotish lad is a little wide of the mark though.

We are using our caravan as wehave had to sell our property to reduce expendature. This was done as we are in rel terms having to deal with double figure inflation and not the poxy 2.5% that the Gordon is dreaming up!

If could afford
 
G

Guest

I may indeed be wide of the mark, but I am not so sure. Having personally lived in a caravan when I first got married and earned the princely sum of
 
May 21, 2008
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First of all, in reply to Phils comments.

I do appologise if I've hit a raw nerve, but the point I was making was that there are those who deliberately put themselves in that position, to "persuade" the housing authority to prioritise them over and above other much more genuine cases.

I too have a sister in law who lost her husband between christmas and new year. She is practically being told that she must work despite having a 7 year old child and living 6 miles from any shop. Then in the next breath they say her car is a luxury item, she should walk to the shops!!

In reply to Chris. As my daughter shares the same surname and the log book shows me as the last previous "registered keeper" ( you see you are not necessarily the wrightfull owner especially if you contract lease a vehicle) , then should I make a claim as the insurer it should eventually be paid out. They might buck and rear a bit over the name on the log book and I'd probably have to go to court, but as I have insured the vehicle in my name as the primary user and the registered keeper is actually a family descendant, then effectively I've not broken any laws as such, just manipulated them to suit a situation and actually provide a fixedaddress for contact in an emergencey.

Now for Scotch Lad.

I do share your thoughts as I've been through a Liquidation before where our house was secured against the business which although profitable, could not weather some conglomerate git putting all the group debt into the subsidury company we worked for and sending it down the pan! Thus taking us with them. As usual our bank manager would only lend his umbrella when the sun is shining.

Caravan sites and caravans have moved onward and upward these days, often offering better facilities than most family hotels and views of the countryside we can only dream of. We are probably going to stop at Townsend caravan park for a few weeks to break us in. Its a 4 star park 6 miles from Leominster Herefordshire and has excellent facilities. Also It is only 3 miles from my workplace, so I could dig out the mountain bike and get fitter into the bargain. Sure the site fees are a bit steep, but with only a car to run twice a week, and food for two plus two Labradors, we should have plenty of change from my wages.

I reckon that I might just buy a small paddock and plant a trailer tent and grow it into a twin unit mobile home over the next decade. I know of several "families" who have done that and got retrospective planning conscent in Herefordshire.

You know the old sayings. An englishmans home is his castle, and, If you can't beat them join them.

Steve L.
 
Aug 4, 2004
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We know Townsend in Pembridge well as it is probably one of the best sites in this part of the country. Also a good site to start off on your new quest. We stay about 30 miles from yourselves.

There are a couple of us the correspond from time to time off line so if you wnat to do the same, ask the mod to put you in touch with us.
 
G

Guest

You have obviously made your decison and I can only wish you well.

However, do check your insurance situation. I am not too sure how you can insure something you don't actually own. You could be a named driver on your daughter's policy for the same vehicle, and then a claim could be made, but of course the premium would reflect her circumstances. I suspect your idea of winning a court battle is optimistic, and if you lose, you pay all the costs. That will truly bankrupt you, and possibly your daughter as co-defendant.

I also come back to the same 'bottom line' If you look at financial circumstances since the end of the last War then only 2 things have beaten the 'game' The first is houses and the second is the stock market, which may sound strange in the current climate, but over the long term it is the only other thing that has beaten inflation. So, although you may be ahead at this point in time, you have to look at where you may be in 5, 10 or even more years time. Putting money in a savings account is never going to to keep ahead of the costs. The only other way is the long shot in the 2.30 pm at Kempton or the Lottery. Both of which I feel are very long odds indeed, especially with my luck.

I also look at the fact that the instant you sell a house you do 2 things. Firstly, you pay a 3rd party for fees. In Scotland that amounts to 1-2% of the sale price. On a sale of
 

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