Archive for Alternative Housing
Travel - Trailer Homesteading under $5000
I have another book review for you today. This is a book that I found at a gun show back in the mid 1990′s. It had a profound impact on me as I saw at an early age, I was in my early 20′s, an example of the freedom a person can achieve if they put their mind to it.
TRAVEL-TRAILER HOMESTEADING UNDER $5000 by Brian Kelling
I want to share with you 2 short excerpts from the book. These will give you a very good idea of the content and intent of this concise but highly thought provoking book. The first excerpt is from the introduction by “Bill Kaysing” and the second is from the authors “Preface”. Read the following and allow your mind to see what your possibilities for independence actually are…
Introduction:
Books don’t need to be long and wordy to provide a vital by-product… additional creative ideas of your own! This brief but comprehensive guide to self sufficiency and economic independence generates spin-off ideas on virtually every page. It’s a book with a built-in bonus comprised of solid facts inspiring your own imagination. So, as you read it, encourage yourself to visualize all the wonderful variations on the basic theme.
First of all, imagine owning a cozy, compact home of your own paid-for, countryside land for less than a few mortgage payments on a ticky tacky plaster box in some smoggy city. Now that’s a back-to-the-land dream for almost anyone from a young honeymoon couple to a pair of seniors looking for a way to stretch that modest Social Security check. There’s no hype in what you are about to read. Everything presented in this real-life narrative is practical, sensible and within the physical capability and financial power of just about anyone of average health and means. The proof is manifest; it’s all been done and the photos prove it!
Preface:
The object of this book is to show you how to purchase and setup a complete RV homestead for under $5,000, land and trailer included.You’ll have all the comforts of home: power, heat, pressurized water, refrigeration and a septic system.
Sound too good to be true? Its not-I did it, and I’ll show you how. I live in a 21 foot travel trailer on 5 acres in southern Colorado. Everything is paid for, and I have all I need in creature comforts. There are only four prerequisites: the money, a pickup truck, tools and the willingness. But before you sell everything and start off, I suggest you read this entire manual thoroughly.
Sounds interesting doesn’t it? Now imagine you’re a young man with the whole world ahead of him… I read everything I could get my hands on about this type of lifestyle. I would be at the local gun show every month and on the look out for not only the guns but self-sufficiency books as well! Sadly, I have retained very few of the books I purchased back in that time period.
This particular book may seem dated and $5,000 would be no more than an impossible dream at this time in the world. You might be right, it sounded optimistic even in the 90′s. The price tag is an attraction but the information and ideas are where the true value of this book come through.
The author shares step by step instructions on what he did and how he did it! The photos included make it nearly impossible for the reader to misunderstand exactly what is happening. There is little fluff in the text but it is highly readable… If you have the faintest interest in living on the cheap than you will have this book read in an hour or so. The down side is that after the book is completed you aren’t able to immediately get started on your own project.
What I took away from reading this book, at least a dozen times over the years, was priceless. I could go find a property and install the systems that I felt necessary, and do it on my own. There wouldn’t have to be sacrifices in comfort even if you had as little space as a travel trailer. There were creative ways to “have it all”!
I would recommend this book to anyone that has a spirit of independence! While the more advanced preppers among us will probably have already grown past the basic ideas shown here. Even they would still enjoy reading this book for the entertainment value in seeing someone else’s success story. We all read the forum posts of what others have accomplished with great interest. It seems that even a small detail of somebodies project may provide just what we were looking for to move forward with one of our own!
This book was published by an old classic – Loompanics Unlimited. This publisher went out of business a few years back. I also believe this book has been out of print since around 1999. However, I did check Amazon and found they have a number of both new and used copies. They seem to be on the steep side but if this book has caught your attention sufficiently, I would probably spring for it even if it is priced significantly higher now than the $9.00 bucks or so that I paid back in the 90′s.
I hope that even seeing the book’s title or maybe the cover photo would inspire one of you to kick start your own dream machine. There is just no limit to the amount of freedom we can all enjoy if we will just do some research. It takes some money, maybe not that much, and a healthy supply of ambition. The rewards will be a lifestyle built on our own terms, not those spoon fed to us by a society that is not interested in whats best for us!
If you haven’t noticed a trend in what I’m posting here, you will! I have a deep interest in alternative living arrangements as well as a lifestyle that requires no debt. If these subjects are of interest to you as well, stay tuned! I will try to not be to singly focused and have something for every one. If there are things that you would like to see that I haven’t begun to bring to the site, please email me your suggestions!
Prepper
Park Model RV
As preppers, I know I would be restating the obvious by reminding all of you that we don’t really require a lot to survive. If we have food, water and shelter secured, the rest is just ways for us to improve on the same theme. Actually the food and water aren’t even that difficult to work out if we take care of it while everything is still relatively normal and available and no further away then the grocery store. Shelter though, this is something else, at least if you want to move past the tent in the National Forest plan. Don’t get the wrong idea, I own a tent and it does play its roll in my preps. However, like I have stated previously, I like to have walls and a ceiling surrounding me while I sleep.
Maybe, I have a personal bent on this whole housing /shelter idea because its interesting to me. What I do know for sure is that long term shelter, whether its your primary residence or bug out location is going to be one of the most expensive purchases/expenses that you will ever have or make. This would necessitate spending the most time in making your decision prior to getting started.
Slightly different angle
I truly believe that to survive in the long run we all need to work at being debt free. I know that there are folks that can afford the fully stocked missile silo retreat but most of us are much more limited… I want to regularly be proposing alternatives for the rest of us to consider. You’ve seen what I ultimately chose for my family, the mobile home. This however may not be the right choice for you, I don’t want anyone to think I have all the answers or that my way is best. It is only best for me and mine, you and yours will have to make this decision for yourselves. I just want to help educate you with what I have found on my personal journey of discovery.
So, today I thought I would tell you about the “Park Model RV” that we spent some time investigating. These are the RV’s that are only RV’s for legal purposes. They require much the same process to move as a mobile home would. Pilot cars, over sized load signs, height considerations, etc. They are kind of a cross between a mobile home, cabin and RV. Only similar to an RV as they are extremely space efficient. These efficiencies are really cool to me, no wasted space but space for everything. Must be a personality thing with me as this is something I have always liked about boats and campers, ect.
These homes are restricted in square footage so they can maintain their designation as an RV. They have to stay under 399 sq. feet and can’t be more than 12 feet wide. Now something that I found interesting is that if they have a covered porch on either or both ends, this footage doesn’t count in the total? Not sure how that can be but it is what was explained to us. Pretty cool loophole to get extra footage!
Opposite end of the house
These are really built just like a conventional stick built home or cabin. They have 2×4 or even 2×6 walls and trusses for the roof just like most homes. They are weather proofed and insulated the same way as well. A number of the manufacturers even have taped and textured sheetrock interior walls. There isn’t much of a difference other than the foundation is actually a large trailer frame. Even this doesn’t have to be a detractor if we look at this from the standpoint of the county property tax savings. This is an RV so it would in my opinion be exempt from real estate taxes. The fact that you wouldn’t be planning on moving it doesn’t change the fact that its an RV, just like if you had a actual motorhome sitting on your lot… Big bonus in my book!
The feature that had me seriously considering this for long term was that everything is full size. The appliances, including laundry facilities are the same as in a regular home. Bathroom fixtures are the same, full size shower or bathtub. No cheapo entry doors, same doors as at my house… This is a really cool setup…
Front door
Now, the downside! Everything is full sized but still not allowing more than 399 sq. foot? This means the floor plan, as much as I appreciate what the industry has been able to come up with, is SMALL. I think its viable for a single or even a couple with a good marriage, patience would be required! For a family, not gonna cut it! These would be great for a family as a weekend place or maybe short vacation but everyday, just to small. I think that in a situation like TSHTF, nerves would be frayed already so the cramped accommodations wouldn’t be a help. This is all considering that you are prearranging the whole thing and not just having to settle for whatever you could get because in that case this would be a “something is better than nothing!”
There are many manufacturers of this style RV, they have been around for many years. Having only more recently made the jump to house like construction from a real boxy like RV style of the past. Still had some cool features but not real attractive to me, like they are now! As with anything built for the consumer market, there are different prices and quality of construction. We looked at the homes made by traditional RV manufactures like Fleetwood, Alpenlite and Breckenridge as well as an independent builder.
The quality of construction is a glaring difference between the mass produced product over the independant. Although the big guys product looked good and was of course decorated to look like a cabin in the woods… It felt cheaper and lower quality overall. This is just my opinion after seeing what the independant was offering as competition. If one of you has one of these places, I’m sure it is more than servicable but I just preferred the other product.
10 inch I beam trailer frame...
The other drawback with any of these products is the price. Now both are relatively cheap as opposed to buying or building a house but still pricey in my book. The mass market homes we looked at were in the range of $40-50,000 and the independent was between $60-70,000. This did include the move to the site from the factory… Not gonna happen with this Prepper. At least not in the traditional fashion, me paying for them to build me one…
In a future post I want to discuss the possibilities of an owner built Park Model, you all need to think this over for yourselves and I’m sure each county tax office has there own take on the exemptions they allow for RV’s. Part of self sufficiency is the aspect of having a lifestyle that you can afford on little to no income, at least in my eyes! None of us knows what the future holds and having a paid for home or bug out location that isn’t going to require much tribute be paid to the county government for the privilege of living on our own land is something we all need to keep in mind.
I ultimately chose a different path for our BOL but this is one of those “Gets ya thinkin” type of products… The photos today are of the independant companies product. I apologize for not being able to get pictures of the inside as I had planned to get their location before they closed last night but was unsuccesful. They are a couple of hours from me and so I can’t just drop in unless I happen to be in the area, like I was yesterday. These picture will give you the overall idea of what I’m talking about when I bring these up!
I hope you enjoy contemplating this topic, I know I have! As usual I ask you to continue spreading the word about “Prepper Nation”. Until tomorrow…
Prepper
Our 1989 Nomad Fifth Wheel
Inside of the trailer, just to give you an idea...
- Another interior view…
So now what, we talked about the land, the clearing and the driveways. We looked at the Grid-no-Grid decisions and even the, snivel-snivel, WELL drilling debacle. What do you think comes next??? That’s right, decisions, decisions - do we keep staying on the property in the “Fabulous Fifth Wheel”? Yep, that’s right, I had gone down to the RV dealer and bought MY family the finest Fifth Wheel they had… You jealous yet? “Prepper just throwing his money around” bragging the whole time… Well, lets come back to reality, I never went to the RV dealer to buy any trailers. We did have a fifth wheel we were using to stay in. Fabulous, “HARDLY”, it was 21 feet of well used camping trailer at its best. We had purchased this 1989 Nomad from a friend of ours who was upgrading. We got it in 2004, I think? So it was 15years old when we got it, it was clean and it was ours. We traveled to a couple of campgrounds with it and then it made the pilgrimage to the property and never left. Don’t get me wrong it worked fairly well for our small family but was still a little cozy. It was the bug out place we could currently afford and so that’s what we had. All the necessities were taken care of in one fashion or other. Let me digress for a minute, this RV had a shower or so that’s what it was called. This shower was more like a very small closet you would find in a 1980′s home bathroom where a couple of towels might fit along with the plunger and maybe a few extra rolls of toilet paper. I’m a stocky full sized American man and thus would NOT be comfortable in such conditions. However, my wife and daughter both being petite fit alright. If TSHTF I would have been so glad to have even this but short of that I wasn’t going to be using it. Other than this one issue it would handle pretty much whatever we threw at it. Running water, microwave, propane frig that worked most of the time and padded boards to sleep on. I should probably stop knocking it because it really wasn’t bad at all, cheap living quarters and WAY better than tenting it. I know many of us preppers like the tent camping game but although I have gone that route on many occasions, RVing is better. Call me a Wuss if you must but real walls and a ceiling make me sleep alot better. We used it pretty hard but tried to maintain it and take care to not allow it to fall apart. I believe we paid $2,800 for it second hand in 2004and we just sold it in the last year for $1,850. For what it was we got it cheap and the next folks got a good deal as well. Now lets do the math, $950.00 for around 4 years worth of use… Not bad, less than $20 a month over that time period? Back to the story at hand, we had to decide what to do next as far as the “Shelter” was concerned. I think that I may have already given it away, having said we sold the RV in 2008? Well, we decided to sell the fifth wheel. That is after we had the other “Shelter” in place. Like many reading this I had big dreams of building the ultimate retreat complete with covert stocks of Zombie wire to put in place when the time came… Also, like many of you, I had to deal in reality! Fortunately, I married a lovely woman and she’s on board with the whole BOL/weekend getaway property. However, we DO NOT have an unlimited budget to work with. We would have loved to build a stick built home here, but even doing alot of the labor ourselves would have massively broke the budget. This is where I cry again about the DEEP DARK HOLE I had just experienced, sob-sniffle… We considered building a good sized garage with living quarters above. Even a small cabin that could eventually be converted to house guests later… Everything we seemed to come up with was going to use the remaining budget several times over? Previously, a family member had pointed out to me that some mobile home parks were closing in their area and the homes had to be moved but they were just about giving them away… Thanks but no thanks, we really want to go with stick built, blah, blah, blah. I hadn’t even thought about it again in over a year and then as usual one day I get this great idea? Why not get an older singlewide mobile home? Yes, this family member DID point out the fact that this was not MY great idea! You can always go round and round about where a great idea came from but I never saw the point… I had this great idea to look into! I wondered if Mrs. Prepper was going to go for this as there seems to be a stigma surrounding these homes, some people won’t even consider em – go figure? Well, we discussed this and she thought it was a great idea as well! Success, now to just locate one of these little golden nuggets.
This is a good place to stop for today as there is at least a full days post on what we went through locating the right home to have moved on to our land. I think that this will even be inspirational to all the open minded folks. We started out thinking this was going to have to be an old, smelly fixer upper if we were going to get it for the price we would be happy with. You will, I think you will, be happy to see what we eventually found… Stay tuned as I will bring you the rest of the story, to quote Paul Harvey, later this week. Actually it won’t be the whole rest of the story but at least this next chapter.
I included an extra picture of the interior of the trailer, I have a few more so let me know if its something you want to see. I complained about this RV but for one or even two people this would be an option worth looking at. I have seen many viable RV’s with really cool setups out there right now for almost free, price is always subjective… If you have a BOL area that doesn’t get terribly cold in the winter months I think you could be quite comfortable. I know that you can find units with larger showers as well, nullifying my largest complaint!
Prepper
- Redneck-Mansion
Since we’re all just starting to get to know each other here, I don’t want to assume anyone is interested in alternative housing options? I can’t imagine that anyone would have a different view from mine, I mean really, how do you mess with perfection?? I think that we all spend the better part of our lives, day in and day out chasing that mortgage payment… HOW SAD! I have certain priorities in my life and sadly making the dang mortgage payment is still one of em. I’m working diligently to change this because I think its the biggest SCAM these scum bag Politicians have ever perpetrated on us. We’re so busy chasing our own tails or maybe its the “Jones” tail? Either way we we’re chasing something that doesn’t lead to freedom and that my friends was the American Dream, FREEDOM! Not the frickin white picket fence that sits in front of the McMansion on the golf course. Now, I understand that there are folks that have that dream and I’m the last one to tell you you’re wrong, work hard for whatever you want but I doubt the things I’m discussing on this blog are going to be of much interest to you. Please don’t go away mad if I’ve offended you, stick around and explain your side of the story. As for me and mine, we’re getting out of debt and not going back. Oh, before I forget, I don’t lay the blame fully on the scumbag politicians for this lapse in judgement by the American people. I blame us, the American populous, no I know not everybody jumped on board but alot of us did. It was the politicians that took full advantage of the situation and helped us get into the comfortable rut many of us find ourselves in, SLAVERY. Owing our life’s blood to the company store. Well, not me, not anymore… I have the better part of my debts paid off and will now go in for the death blow and knock out the mortgage once and for all. Alright you say, enough talk, just go on and do it! I will and I think many of you are going to come along and join me. We prep for this and we prep for that, we even prep for being able to make the darn mortgage payment if times get tough. Good for us, we’re the thinking crowd that at least sees that times can get tough. How much more could we all put into preps and the other important things in life if we didn’t have to make that payment every month. Well I don’t know what anybody else’s plan for getting the biggest debt paid off is but mine is to sell that house. Not right this minute but soon, good economy or bad its still worth something! Even if its down 30%, you can have it 70% paid for by selling it. Make up the 30% from somewhere else or even take the 30% back as another personal debt and pay that off after you lower the monthly bills by getting the mortgage company out of your pocket. However you decide to get the debt gone, just get it gone. At that point you will have to decide what comes next, you have to live somewhere! I agree, we all do have to live somewhere but where. My plan is going to sound radical to many of you and even a couple years ago I wouldn’t have given it serious consideration. What about a MOBILE HOME? No, not really a mobile home as in RV, although not out of the question or even a bad idea. A mobile home, like a singlewide or even a double wide setup somewhere on your own land. Before you get carried away, I don’t mean one of the super cool tricked out triplewides that are just a McMansion that happened to be built on a frame and delivered to your foundation instead of being built on it. I mean a used, maybe even smelly older mobile home. Please don’t get offended if that’s where you live now as I think you’re smart and quite possibly made a wise choice. I have discovered what I believe to be a very viable housing option. I have seen these homes built in the mid 1990′s with conventional construction techniques and materials selling for well under $10,000 dollars. Maybe that’s not cheap where you live but its almost unbelievable here in Western Washington. These are fixers and have to be moved onto your lot, they can’t stay where they are any longer. So, if you’ll move em you can have em for a song. Now I know what you’re thinking, a step down in your standard of living, maybe, maybe not! I said I really don’t want that mortgage debt anymore, this may be an option that could work into the plan to get out from under it. I will go into the issues of how and where to acquire the land in another post but I do want you to let this soak for a few days. Open your mind and see if you’re willing to let me tell you more about what I’ve been finding. The worst that happens is you think this guys nuts, a mobile home, over this palace I live in now! Wait and see, I’m excited to continue brainstorming on how we can all find ways to take control of our lives back for the sad place to many of us have allowed them to go! Today’s Friday, so I won’t commit to having something posted over the weekend but check in just in case, I’m really enjoying what we’ve gotten started and may find some time for one more post this week…
Side Note: Just to throw in something for the politically correct crowd… My use of “Redneck” in this photos caption is being used as a term of endearment, we preppers all know – “A Country Boy Can Survive”.
Prepper
Alternative Housing – Park Model RV
Posted by: Prepper | Comments (6)Park Model RV
As preppers, I know I would be restating the obvious by reminding all of you that we don’t really require a lot to survive. If we have food, water and shelter secured, the rest is just ways for us to improve on the same theme. Actually the food and water aren’t even that difficult to work out if we take care of it while everything is still relatively normal and available and no further away then the grocery store. Shelter though, this is something else, at least if you want to move past the tent in the National Forest plan. Don’t get the wrong idea, I own a tent and it does play its roll in my preps. However, like I have stated previously, I like to have walls and a ceiling surrounding me while I sleep.
Maybe, I have a personal bent on this whole housing /shelter idea because its interesting to me. What I do know for sure is that long term shelter, whether its your primary residence or bug out location is going to be one of the most expensive purchases/expenses that you will ever have or make. This would necessitate spending the most time in making your decision prior to getting started.
Slightly different angle
I truly believe that to survive in the long run we all need to work at being debt free. I know that there are folks that can afford the fully stocked missile silo retreat but most of us are much more limited… I want to regularly be proposing alternatives for the rest of us to consider. You’ve seen what I ultimately chose for my family, the mobile home. This however may not be the right choice for you, I don’t want anyone to think I have all the answers or that my way is best. It is only best for me and mine, you and yours will have to make this decision for yourselves. I just want to help educate you with what I have found on my personal journey of discovery.
So, today I thought I would tell you about the “Park Model RV” that we spent some time investigating. These are the RV’s that are only RV’s for legal purposes. They require much the same process to move as a mobile home would. Pilot cars, over sized load signs, height considerations, etc. They are kind of a cross between a mobile home, cabin and RV. Only similar to an RV as they are extremely space efficient. These efficiencies are really cool to me, no wasted space but space for everything. Must be a personality thing with me as this is something I have always liked about boats and campers, ect.
These homes are restricted in square footage so they can maintain their designation as an RV. They have to stay under 399 sq. feet and can’t be more than 12 feet wide. Now something that I found interesting is that if they have a covered porch on either or both ends, this footage doesn’t count in the total? Not sure how that can be but it is what was explained to us. Pretty cool loophole to get extra footage!
Opposite end of the house
These are really built just like a conventional stick built home or cabin. They have 2×4 or even 2×6 walls and trusses for the roof just like most homes. They are weather proofed and insulated the same way as well. A number of the manufacturers even have taped and textured sheetrock interior walls. There isn’t much of a difference other than the foundation is actually a large trailer frame. Even this doesn’t have to be a detractor if we look at this from the standpoint of the county property tax savings. This is an RV so it would in my opinion be exempt from real estate taxes. The fact that you wouldn’t be planning on moving it doesn’t change the fact that its an RV, just like if you had a actual motorhome sitting on your lot… Big bonus in my book!
The feature that had me seriously considering this for long term was that everything is full size. The appliances, including laundry facilities are the same as in a regular home. Bathroom fixtures are the same, full size shower or bathtub. No cheapo entry doors, same doors as at my house… This is a really cool setup…
Front door
Now, the downside! Everything is full sized but still not allowing more than 399 sq. foot? This means the floor plan, as much as I appreciate what the industry has been able to come up with, is SMALL. I think its viable for a single or even a couple with a good marriage, patience would be required! For a family, not gonna cut it! These would be great for a family as a weekend place or maybe short vacation but everyday, just to small. I think that in a situation like TSHTF, nerves would be frayed already so the cramped accommodations wouldn’t be a help. This is all considering that you are prearranging the whole thing and not just having to settle for whatever you could get because in that case this would be a “something is better than nothing!”
There are many manufacturers of this style RV, they have been around for many years. Having only more recently made the jump to house like construction from a real boxy like RV style of the past. Still had some cool features but not real attractive to me, like they are now! As with anything built for the consumer market, there are different prices and quality of construction. We looked at the homes made by traditional RV manufactures like Fleetwood, Alpenlite and Breckenridge as well as an independent builder.
The quality of construction is a glaring difference between the mass produced product over the independant. Although the big guys product looked good and was of course decorated to look like a cabin in the woods… It felt cheaper and lower quality overall. This is just my opinion after seeing what the independant was offering as competition. If one of you has one of these places, I’m sure it is more than servicable but I just preferred the other product.
10 inch I beam trailer frame...
The other drawback with any of these products is the price. Now both are relatively cheap as opposed to buying or building a house but still pricey in my book. The mass market homes we looked at were in the range of $40-50,000 and the independent was between $60-70,000. This did include the move to the site from the factory… Not gonna happen with this Prepper. At least not in the traditional fashion, me paying for them to build me one…
In a future post I want to discuss the possibilities of an owner built Park Model, you all need to think this over for yourselves and I’m sure each county tax office has there own take on the exemptions they allow for RV’s. Part of self sufficiency is the aspect of having a lifestyle that you can afford on little to no income, at least in my eyes! None of us knows what the future holds and having a paid for home or bug out location that isn’t going to require much tribute be paid to the county government for the privilege of living on our own land is something we all need to keep in mind.
I ultimately chose a different path for our BOL but this is one of those “Gets ya thinkin” type of products… The photos today are of the independant companies product. I apologize for not being able to get pictures of the inside as I had planned to get their location before they closed last night but was unsuccesful. They are a couple of hours from me and so I can’t just drop in unless I happen to be in the area, like I was yesterday. These picture will give you the overall idea of what I’m talking about when I bring these up!
I hope you enjoy contemplating this topic, I know I have! As usual I ask you to continue spreading the word about “Prepper Nation”. Until tomorrow…
Prepper