I would STILL need a truck to tow my 15,000 lbs. So the alternative to my truck would be getting a free truck so I could invest that? Please inform me how to go about that.
At best I could have gotten a used watered down truck with 50k miles for $35k. Any less than that and I'd be looking at significant miles, plus I'm not driving a Dodge, nor a ford older than 2011 due to major model failures prior, and the 7.3 ford is incapable of towing my trailer.
Not to mention, I drive 25k a year so anything with significant miles will shorten my truck life, thus costing more. I have moved 3 times in the last 18 months, each 1200+ miles, and I'm unable to tow another vehicle, nor use public transportation or bike due to my typical job site locations. Unless most of you would feel comfortable riding your bike on 10 mile stretches of 70mph 2 lane roads with minimal shoulder. No thanks, personally, and there aren't usually Rv parks any closer to the job site so often the commute is necessary.
If I were you, I would seriously sit down and revisit your situation. Buying a $60k truck to drive 25k miles a year is insane on so many levels - fuel, depreciation, maintenance, insurance. All of this so you can tow a 15,000 pound fifth wheel 3600 miles in 18 months. If I understand correctly, this means you have been non-towing approximately 34,000 miles over the last 18 months. You are throwing away a fortune!
Have you considered starting over with an RV that you could move job site to job site instead of a fifth wheel, and towing a cheaper, 2-3 year old fuel efficient car to pile on the heavy mileage? The RV would then only travel 3600 miles over 18 months, and you could pile the 34,000 miles on a significantly cheaper car.
On another note, do you really see yourself doing this long term?
I have considered sooooo many options now, but the whole thing initially was a bit of an impulse buy because I was sick of moving full apartments every 6 months. With all the stuff I had, dog, short leases, it was very difficult and often cost a lot.
RV's also cost a lot more. I am already sacrificing a LOT living in a 40' space full time. I'm not going to get a outdated dump on top of it. A RV similar sized to mine of similar quality would probably cost at LEAST 50k-100k more than my 5th wheel. They are not cheap. Not for decent ones. Plus, when you live in it full time, if things break and have to go into a shop then you're at a hotel for months, I could go way more into it, but there's a lot to this lifestyle.
I foresee doing this another 6-8 years. I'll probably have kids in 3-4 and will travel with them and my soon to be wife until they start kindergarten. By then I should be semi near fire but will also still travel
And do contract work like 3 months a year or so, so my investments can continue to grow. My 5th wheel on a 7 year loan and Rv spot are 1200/mo which isn't bad. So other than the truck, which is $$, it's still far from the end of the world. I've still had several months this year where I've saved $10k in a month. I can make as much as double doing contract work on the road as opposed to if I took a permanent job. I just need to really start taking advantage, which I've done since early to mid last year. Took some time to get over all the spending. I'm still not great but improved.
I should also add that two of the years and about 70% of my trucks miles I worked for a company that paid for 100% of my gas, work and personal, and gave me a 650/mo truck allowance.
I also have a 99 Camry my fiancé drives, and I have since started using her car for any trips over about 45 mins.