to spend or save?

[Lora88]

Nursing homes have a 5 year look back if you want your children to inherit your house you need to title it in thier names now The nursing home will take it otherwise as soon as one of you is gone and the other in a home

[Spirit Deer]

We cut a lot of corners when we travel. We tow a giant economy-sized pop-up camper with all the amenities, because it tows low so does not create as much drag that cuts into gas mileage. We lose only one mpg when towing, fully loaded, even with all the extra crap we haul along when we go to RV rallies. We tow at around 60 mph where speed limits permit (mostly interstates), both for safety and for fuel efficiency which of course equals lower cost. We take food with us as much as possible, and don't eat out very much while traveling.

Traveling with our trailer gives us the opportunity to stay in amazing places like Yellowstone for pennies on the dollar compared to what a hotel room would cost, plus we save by having our kitchen along with us so we can make our own meals and not have to buy restaurant food, which isn't good for us anyway. The truck has enough towing and cargo capacity that we can take large, heavy coolers and lots of heavy canned goods to further cut down on our food costs while vacationing. When we went to Yellowstone two years ago, we spent about $14 on food during the entire trip, excluding ice for the coolers (and there are tricks to keeping those costs down, too.) We also travel with an RV so our dogs can come along, rather than having to pay for an expensive kennel for them.

The pop-up is working for us at this point. As we get older, we may go to some sort of hardwall pop-up for various reasons, such as ease of set-up. We'd like to take a cruise or two also, but for saving money, an inexpensive trailer is the best combo of convenience and cost savings for vacationing. All IMO of course.

We're also of the opinion it isn't any more work to set up our trailer than it is to drag our stuff into a hotel, and then we get to sleep in our own beds with sheets we know are clean, no bedbugs, we don't have to listen to the neighbors on the other side of the wall, and we can eat what we want instead of what's offered on a menu. There are just too many advantages to trailer camping at this point to settle for hoteling instead. But of course everyone is different and our way isn't for everyone.

The biggest expense for us to travel is always for gas, by far. We're still not sorry to be taking these trips. We camped forty nights and drove 9,000 miles in 2010, going to various places, and plan to do the same thing again as soon as we're caught up on some of the home projects we've been neglecting.

I still say, go while you can and at whatever your comfort level is for the cost and the method.

[auntie2many]

My grandpa worked hard at the same job for many years while grandma was a frugal homemaker. They talked about traveling and their faces would automatically light up. Well, grandpa retired at 68 years old and died of cancer at 71 years old, so they only got to travel a small amount. They were frugal. Grandma lived to be 85 and was sad for the lost time and plans that they had. Stay frugal, but still travel. Enjoy life. What good is it to pass away with money that cannot go with you in the hearst and grave. Make memories, have fun.

A2M