Can you afford to travel this year? - Page 4 - Montana Owners Club

Mrs. CountryGuy · 03-12-2008, 03:34 PM

bncinwv,

But, there we are in agreement, I can enjoy what God's blessings I have, no matter where I am, but, if I cannot afford to go to every campout, every Rally, or even take the rig out at all, I can still enjoy my children, grandchildren, my work, where I am at the moment.

It may be our choice to not take on extra jobs, therefore it may be our choice to park it till we can afford to yank her down the hard road.

Will it be the end of all of life's pleasures if we have to park Tana, NOPE. Will we like parking Tana, NOPE. But, reality sets in, the fuel goes up, food goes up, medical expenses go up. Unexpected major life changing expenses come up. Sometimes you just gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em.

It probably comes down to comfort level, we may say okkkkkkk, $3.50 a gallon is all I can feel I can justify. You might say, I can justify $4.50, cause it does not feel uncomfy till after $4.50.

Some of this also will have to do with are you driving a gaser or diesel. I don't want to start a war here on D vs G., but, your $100.00 will take you more miles down the road than our $100.00, D gets better mileage per gallon. Tis a fact. I think we did the math once and if gas was $2.00 a gallon, diesel would have to go up $1.00 above that before gas has any advantage over diesel. I might have the terms on that mixed up, that ole cloudy brain of mine.

Fact is, we do all have different comfort levels of what we spend on what. Fact is, every day spend in Tana is twice blessed. Fact is, I will find other ways, that fit into our retirees pocketbook, to spend quality time with my family and grandchildren even if I don't have the $$ to dump gas in Big Butt.

Fact is, I wish this conversation was totally unnecessary. Fact is, I would LOVE to see the price of ALL fuel come down. Fact is, we have postponed some travels till prices come down, or we recover from some nasty financial and medical situations that hit us this last 15 months or so. Life is not fair, life just is.

God granted me some grand memorable days in our Tana, may he see fit to grant me a few more. If not, I'll take peanut butter and jelly sandwichs to the park with my twin granddaughters, sit under a tree in the shade and spend very little fuel $$ and still enjoy every blessed moment God gives me with them.

Montana Sky · 03-12-2008, 03:46 PM

Remember that one can use the Wal*Mart and larger truck stops for over night stays to help offset the cost of being on the road. I typically find that running longer and harder days (700-1000 miles) and pulling into a Wal*Mart late in the evening for a free overnight will allow me one to two extra days at my destination while helping offset the fuel cost. I am with Rich and Bingo on this one. If I throw in the towel now at 28 yrs of age, what will I do with the next 55+ years of my journey on this earth?

bncinwv · 03-12-2008, 03:47 PM

All of us have to have the proper perspective on family and friends and I am glad we are in agreement about the important things in life. I always believe that HE will provide for those who believe that HE will provide (personal conviction!!!). Some call it whimsy......I call it Faith!! Sorry for the soapbox approach and the faith references, but we all have to learn to celebrate life all the time.....that is the simplest way that I can state it.....and I apologize for constantly repeating it and straying off topic from the OP, I will move on to another thread.....One week to go for camping season!!!!!!
Bingo

Parrothead · 03-12-2008, 03:48 PM

Bingo
I like your thinking. Your daughters are very fortunate to have you for a Father. When my youngest was very small we camped every other weekend while the weather permitted (tenting in upstate NY).
Often there was dust in the house, laundry undone, grass unmowed, etc. Does my daughter remember that? NO Does she remember the camping? YOU BET. In fact she is a Certified Wilderness something or other.
Happy trails...............................

Emmel · 03-12-2008, 04:42 PM

Carol, I've liked pb&j for a long time. I also decided to enjoy our back yard fire pit a lot more this year. We are presently trying to figure out where and when we will be pulling the Montana and most of the trips will be closer to home.

dsprik · 03-12-2008, 05:14 PM

I am curious to see how much CG will raise prices this summer. Don't know how they can when they are already losing business due to drastic fuel increases. It would be like throwing gas on the fire.

We will start looking for some land to put our Montana on for the summer months...

Ozzie · 03-12-2008, 05:21 PM

We have land in northern Mn. If a trailer is parked longer than two weeks - it gets taxed as a residence.

Waynem · 03-12-2008, 05:26 PM

Ozzie,
Can't you just move it back and forth 6 inches????

Ozzie · 03-12-2008, 05:54 PM

Hehe...well...

They send someone walking through a couple times a year to check for potential tax candidates...I doubt it. Good idea though.

Oh - another thing...two weeks is about all the time you have before the locals try to eat their way in as well. Those chipmunks will feast on the wiring.

c5racer · 03-12-2008, 07:11 PM

I don't worry about fuel prices, I got a 2% raise in my social security the first of the year. Bush sends me a check every month, so I'm living high on the hog.

bncinwv · 03-13-2008, 02:48 AM

Obviously, most are taking the intent of my post wrong!! I will delete the original response that it seems offends some because it mentions the unmentionable......Money. The only point I was trying to make is the amount spent is inconsequential (whether it is nothing or whether it is a million dollars!!!), it is the TIME that matters. Each person has different financial resources, but we all have the same exact amount of time available in a day. Use this time wisely, and wisely in my eyes is with family and friends. Sorry for revisting this thread, but my intent was one to lift others up not to discourage them!!!!!
Bingo

richfaa · 03-13-2008, 03:16 AM

"If you want something bad enough you will find a way to make it happen".. Bingo has a driving source that provides motivation to .."make it happen." He is fortunate to have the finances to support his goals and he has a detailed plan as to how where and when he will use the finances. We all have differing motivating forces..that is our choice.. but Bingo made it happen...Be it 10K, 5K, 2K,1k. It is prudent to plan how to use those resources and time.The plan Bingo detials is his..the choices are his, the motivational forces are his. He did not have to share. He was trying to perhaps help others. He provided me some good information on how to use availible resources.We have differing motivational forces than Bingo..but at the end of the day.....We made it happen.

Waynem · 03-13-2008, 03:59 AM

I did not read Bingo's post as pertaining to money. I read it as spending quality time with family. It's not money that allows you to spend that time, its time that allows you to have quality time. I, no "we," wish so much that our grandchildren were close by so we could spend more quality time with them. The once a year, and in some instances when they were out of the U.S. every two or three years, just was not enough.

Now that we are retired, we are going to MAKE more quality time, and yes, it is going to cost us money. We are very fortunate that we are both retired with pensions. Yes, we are probably better off than many Americans, but not as well of as many Americans.

Bingo, it would not matter if you doubled those numbers, it still would equate to the time you spent with your family. Thanks for some good budget ideas also.

And, God bless.

Parrothead · 03-13-2008, 05:29 AM

Bingo
Don't apologize! I understood your message. Every person's situation is different and unique to them. We will have money to travel because that is what we decided to do in our retirement. Yes we have a good pension plus SS which we worked very hard to be able to receive. I feel bad that others do not have funds to travel but I'm not going to apologize because I can. Did God help me? You bet, he gave me the strength to see what I could do.
---------
As in all of our posts there is no need to be rude. The apologizes need to come from those that are.

Happy trails.............................

ole dude · 03-13-2008, 06:19 AM

Bingo--Keep the faith pardner. Spend time with the family, you are helping to shape the future of this great nation.

Mrs. CountryGuy · 03-13-2008, 06:43 AM

As usual, if I have offended by my strong stand, I apologize.

Next, me thinks, maybe we got off target here a bit, the original question was, can you afford to travel?? Not, will you spend quality time with your kids and grandkids.

I re-read a lot of this thread in the middle of the night, when I could not sleep, and I have to say, that I saw a lot of MOCers stating, the price of fuel is seriously making me reconsider our travel plans for the year.

Fact is, our Tana is rarely used for family events/vacations. So, cutting back on our travels probably will not even affect how we interact with our family. It will affect how we spend our time as a couple, away from family.

Fact is, life does not always go like you thought and planned. We got a good dose of it in the last 15 months, and in that time the price of fuel has gone skyrocketing. Our finances took a bit of a hit, and we are gonna have to sit a spell while we recover. My religious beliefs have little to do with this bump in our road of life.

That is the question that was asked, are you going to sit a spell, and many of us sadly fessed up that this is exactly what we are gonna do. The rest of you, enjoy, keep those campgrounds open for the rest of us while we sit a spell!

As usual, I find it very interesting to hear our different takes on one question. I hope that no one has been offended this discussion, no one intended such, NO ONE. We can agree to disagree, have done many times in the past and I'll bet we will again in the future. That is what is so great about the MOC.

Parrothead · 03-13-2008, 06:56 AM

Carol,
Your response was not what I was referring to. I totally understand that there are changes in our life that change our plans. Our PLAN got put on hold for two years because of my heart attack and my Mother's death.
Happy trails...................

bncinwv · 03-13-2008, 07:04 AM

Seems like anytime we get about 6 or 7 pages into a thread, that we start to wander off-topic (maybe this is an inherent MOC trait???). Bottom line, we will travel, we will budget, we will adjust budget accordingly, and we will enjoy whatever time we do have together, and we will still spend the same amount of time on-the-road. The original poster's question was how the prices would affect our travels. I told that, gave exact figures, and after the response being treated as it was, decided to remove that post. It will be more expensive than last year, but it doesn't change the fact, that it will not change our travels, but it will cost more, but we will plan accordingly because the value that I place on all of these trips is priceless. And as Parrothead stated, I should not have to apologize for that, but at the same time, I do have empathy for anyone who is put into a place where they have to pare their travels as a result of our countries idiotic environmental and economic choices that they make to protect us WITH NO CONCERN FOR OUR WALLETS!! I will apologize for the soapbox though, Sorry.
Bingo

Mrs. CountryGuy · 03-13-2008, 07:20 AM

Bingo

THAT IS A BINGO!!!

See, we do agree!

Sunshine · 03-13-2008, 07:56 AM

Yes, the rising fuel prices are forcing us to modify our travel plans, but we won't just park Hannah Montana. We cancelled our plans to attend the Tucson rally when fuel prices started rising almost daily. The $$$ saved by not making the longer trips will allow us to make more regional trips, and when we visit kids/grandkids, the stays will be longer.

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