Permanent Caravanning.

[Steve L]

Here's a snippet of information I thought I'd share with all who are full timing or even just moving houses.

After looking at Royal Mail.com, we discovered a little known way of captivateing our post for free. yep there is actually a free service!!

It's called post collect. All you do is fill out their printable form on tinternet and take it togther with two forms of ID, to your local sorting office in your home town.

They will issue you with a card and number and as long as you collect twice a week you can do this for an unlimited period of time for free.

The only hurdle is that the sorting office may not of "heard of the service" but if you gently pusuade them they will check the web and find your right.

So there we have it, probably the last free post office box service in the UK.

Steve L.

 

[Surfer]

Totally out of the blue and after untold years the council phoned us and told us that they had a place available for us to live (bricks and mortar) the asyluim seekers ahve decied that britian is not the place for them under the labour government.

To say the least we were gobsmacked as we had almost forgottten about our application some time back. We don't really want to move out of the caravan because of large council tax bills, escalating fuel (electric & gas) prices but unfortunately I have rheumatoid arthritis which seems to be getting worse. Up to June last year I was able to walk around but now I have to use elbow crutches and cannot help the missus with moving waste water or collecting water. (My excuse anyway) Some of you have already met the OH when you rallied in Stourport at Lickhill.

We have decided that we will take the place but carry on caravanning on weekends and our annual holidays. I don't think we can give it up even though we might struggle at times. Where else can you get free entertainment watching people trying to get out of mud with a normal car or watch people erecting awnings in gale force winds? Afterwards have a beer or three and a good laugh. those that have read other posts will know what I am on about.

 

[Steve L]

Well we've been full timing for a month now.

Our pitch unfortunately is on grass. Despite our best efforts the grass wore out so we had to move over about 8ft to allow the pitch to recover.

The van had sunk by about 3 inches which caused us a lot of bother to tow the van out. I'll use our hand winch next time.

Facilities are very good at the site and the management are not too concerned about us. Our only problem has been coping with the bank holiday weekend tourers. During this week we only see two or three tourers each night, but on friday the site will be full and like that over the weekend and then go back to normal by tuesday.

Price wise, we are averaging

 

[Surfer]

I think

 

[Steve L]

I agree Ian, it might seem pricey but due to the eratic disposition of my work I can only risk commiting to a week at a time. You see, next week I might not be in Herefordshire but in Lincoln or even Coldstream (scotland).

Must say that I'm quite enjoying the lifestyle change and seeing to the water etc every three days doesn't seem laborous.

I do find it amusing watching people turn up on site with their 20ft vans and put up a full awning just for one night and only for two people. I just take it all in my stride myself, if it takes two days to get sorted for a fortnight's stay then so be it.

The site I'm on is particularly handy for work, so I can use my mountain bike most days which is again saving me

 

[emmerson2]

I agree Ian, it might seem pricey but due to the eratic disposition of my work I can only risk commiting to a week at a time. You see, next week I might not be in Herefordshire but in Lincoln or even Coldstream (scotland).

Must say that I'm quite enjoying the lifestyle change and seeing to the water etc every three days doesn't seem laborous.

I do find it amusing watching people turn up on site with their 20ft vans and put up a full awning just for one night and only for two people. I just take it all in my stride myself, if it takes two days to get sorted for a fortnight's stay then so be it.

The site I'm on is particularly handy for work, so I can use my mountain bike most days which is again saving me

 

[Ogre]

Hi Steve: Mrs Ogre and I are now in our 8th Month as full timers.

To get round your 'sinking' problem, get someone to cut you 4 circles of thick wood. Heavy duty ply is good, and you can often get offcuts from joinery firms if you ask them nicely.

These spread the 'foot' area of your wind downs, and you'll find they do the job really well. If you wrap them in plastic, they will last for ages. I got a friend to vacuum pack mine, and they are as good now as when we sited the van.

The plastic ones available (expensively) are rubbish. They are OK for weekends, but useless for anything long term.

Glad you're enjoying it.

 

[Steve L]

We are still enjoying our full timing.

We are still at the same site as the managers are very nice and don't seem to mind our length of stay.

Being on a grass pitch is a bit of a bind and does require suffleing the awning contents weekly to alternate the door usage. Then after three weeks we move the van on the pitch to find fresh grass. Having no ground sheet also helps keep the grass in reasonable condition.

We are thinking of getting a newer van as our 25 year old van while in good condition is not quite as comfortable as an island fixed bed with all mod cons. We do have hot water, cassette loo and 4 burner hob with grill, seperate oven and a micro wave.

The life style is great and we have met some very pleasent people so far.

Even having two Labradors under our feet hasn't been too bad.

Steve L.

 

[Chrissylizzie]

Nice to hear your update Steve and glad that you are enjoying your new lifestyle. All best wishes

Chris

 

[Surfer]

Steve, that was one of the main reasons why we bought the largest caravan that we could afford. Although we could buy cash, we opted for 6 years on HP in case we had issues which we did but once we got onto the HP company the issues were resolved very quickly.

We waited until the end of the year sales and picked up out Lunar lexon 640 for over the

 

[Surfer]

With escalting energy prices we are now beginning to regret moving into a brick & mortar place. Our disposable income has reduce by close to

 

[Steve L]

I know exactly what you mean Ian.

Having sold our house, it has lifted a great weight off our shoulders. The "poor" sod who bought it, while he got a property in very good order, has now seen it's value go down nearly 10K in 4 months. He is bordering on negative equity just on the property value.

Utility bills have rocketed and so again a double whammy for house holders.

We however have parted with

 

[mikecandsarahb]

by the sounds of it you seem to be doing well in this life,

my partner an i are looking into doing this as we cant afford the prices of gas electric and rent, not being able to afford a house with only one income we are just getting more into debt.

we do have a small child and would just like to know the things to look out for when going into this way of life, for all of us.

im not looking for people to judge what we are doing or want to do just to help as we think its th ebest way to give everything we want for our daughter.

reguards mike

 

[Surfer]

Mike, if you are renting I would say go for it and buy the biggest twin axle you could possibly afford. Plus side is the child gets brought up in pleasant surroundings without yobs to influence the child. No escalating council tax, energy costs etc. Financially without a doubt you are better off.

 

[Steve L]

Hi Mike.

I quite agree with Ian, you will have a much more affordable lifestyle.

We have gone from struggling to pay for a three bedroom property which took all of my 28K sallary to just keep going, to paying our site fees at

 

[Surfer]

Steve as we are on leave in September we might be on the same campsite for a day or two. I will contact you nearer the time.

 

[Steve L]

Steve as we are on leave in September we might be on the same campsite for a day or two. I will contact you nearer the time.

Ok Ian, that sounds fine.

I study form on the forum at weekends as I work long days in the week. So if you let me know when your going to herefordshire we could arrange a meet.

Cheers Steve.

 

[Janice_374372239]

Hi Ogre,

Have only now found this topic and your post being new to Practical Caravan.

We are thinking of doing the same as you but we are at the other end of the scale. We have our own home with only a year to go on the mortgage which may sound idyllic but we are both now out of a job and at our age (50 and 53) we are having no luck whatsover finding jobs. I have a small amount of redundancy to live on for a few months then after that we will have no income apart from Jobseekers allowance. We will have to sell our home to buy a caravan and towcar and invest the rest for later in life, we do plan to have a very happy and full later stage of life!

I have also read the other posts which have been really interesting and helpful but would appreciate yours and anyone elses thoughts on what we are planning.

The main difference between us and you and the others is that we are going to actually live for a month at a time on one site in our caravan and then move on so we can see some of the country, and are going to try to find work although we don't hold out too much hope.

I just wish we were doing this through choice not neccessity.

Janice and Jim

 

[Jo-AnneFairway5402010]

ogre, i would love to do what you want to do. maybe when my kids have left home i will follow in your footsteps.

good luck and keep us posted.

jo-anne

 

[ed1]

hello

we are also trying to do similar to you, but put the house up for sale last august and now are taking it off the market, we need a certain amount to make it worth while doing and at the moment we just wont get it, ....so we have decided to wait and ride it out for now.. we were going to sell up and move around to find a plot of land to maybe build something, and in the mean time live in the van....we are looking at the highlands or even over to hebrides, so our dream is on hold for now.....but keep in touch if you do manage to do it....obviously dependent on a house sale maybe, regards ED

 

[Barking]

Hi, we have now completed seven months of living in our caravan, 4 of which we have worked as camp site wardens - and we have had a great time. we finish work next week and have 6 months of touring and various holidays to look forward to.

If you can do it go for it, I certainly have not missed the joys of home ownership.

Barking

 

[Guest]

Just one comment on Steve's maths. If my calculator is correct

 

[Steve L]

Well SL my math might be rusty but the general conscensus from the towns folk I meet throughout the country in the duty of my work, is that they wish they could take the plunge and get off the treadmill of house ownership.

We have now had 5 lovely months at our site and it is still just as beautifull and peacefull as ever. The caravan is proving to be most comforable. We have yesterday splashed out

 

[Surfer]

Ok Ian, that sounds fine.

I study form on the forum at weekends as I work long days in the week. So if you let me know when your going to herefordshire we could arrange a meet.

Cheers Steve.

Unfortunately we have had to put a visit on hold due to bad weather. We have been out for the last 10 days but all the mud and changing location eventually got to us so we are at home at present. One thing about permanent, once set up no further issues etc.

 

[Surfer]

Hi Ogre,

Have only now found this topic and your post being new to Practical Caravan.

We are thinking of doing the same as you but we are at the other end of the scale. We have our own home with only a year to go on the mortgage which may sound idyllic but we are both now out of a job and at our age (50 and 53) we are having no luck whatsover finding jobs. I have a small amount of redundancy to live on for a few months then after that we will have no income apart from Jobseekers allowance. We will have to sell our home to buy a caravan and towcar and invest the rest for later in life, we do plan to have a very happy and full later stage of life!

I have also read the other posts which have been really interesting and helpful but would appreciate yours and anyone elses thoughts on what we are planning.

The main difference between us and you and the others is that we are going to actually live for a month at a time on one site in our caravan and then move on so we can see some of the country, and are going to try to find work although we don't hold out too much hope.

I just wish we were doing this through choice not neccessity.

Janice and Jim

As your house is nearly paid up, why don't you consider getting another small mortgage on it and then buying a caravan and car cash using the mortgage money. Rent out the property which will then cover the mortgage payments and maybe even give you a little extra. At least then you are secure in the knowledge that you still have an investment.