Alternative housing options

[Jeremy E.]

http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/9-weird-ways-to-save-on-housing-costs/

[Elderwood17]

Interesting read!   I would not advocate squatting due to the legality of it, but still a good read.

[forummm]

Why buy and renovate a school bus when a used RV is going to be more functional and cost about the same?

[Karen]

My husband and I live in an "Alternative Housing Option" that, surprisingly, was not discussed in the article.  We are team truck drivers.  We live in our company truck.  We don't pay a penny for it, nor do we pay for the diesel.  We ARE paid handsomely to drive our "home" around though.  So because of that, we have no costs for housing, electricity, fuel, insurance, land tax, etc and are able to save a crapload of money each week.

I write a blog about the life:

www.teamtruckinglife.blogspot.com

[Mr Dumpster Stache]

My husband and I live in an "Alternative Housing Option" that, surprisingly, was not discussed in the article.  We are team truck drivers.  We live in our company truck.  We don't pay a penny for it, nor do we pay for the diesel.  We ARE paid handsomely to drive our "home" around though.  So because of that, we have no costs for housing, electricity, fuel, insurance, land tax, etc and are able to save a crapload of money each week.

I write a blog about the life:

www.teamtruckinglife.blogspot.com

I looked at your blog; sounds awesome! Your "day in the life of" was fun because I live in Cheyenne, and work in logistics.

[Karen]

Mr Dumpster,

I go through Cheyenne twice a week. One never knows what kind of weather surprises one will experience through Wyoming! Some of my faves are the 50+ mph wind gusts.

[patrickza]

My husband and I live in an "Alternative Housing Option" that, surprisingly, was not discussed in the article.  We are team truck drivers.  We live in our company truck.  We don't pay a penny for it, nor do we pay for the diesel.  We ARE paid handsomely to drive our "home" around though.  So because of that, we have no costs for housing, electricity, fuel, insurance, land tax, etc and are able to save a crapload of money each week.

I write a blog about the life:

www.teamtruckinglife.blogspot.com

Nice blog, I like the way you make your life work around the job and save a fortune in costs. How does the pay work for you as a couple, do you get paid per trip and manage to do it faster as a couple, or do you each get an hourly wage?

[Mr Dumpster Stache]

Mr Dumpster,

I go through Cheyenne twice a week. One never knows what kind of weather surprises one will experience through Wyoming! Some of my faves are the 50+ mph wind gusts.

If you ever get stranded here because of a blizzard or something, let me know. I'll bring you food. :)

[mm1970]

Why buy and renovate a school bus when a used RV is going to be more functional and cost about the same?

I guess it depends on the RV.  I've known some folks who have bought and renovated busses for less than $5k, but most motorhomes around here are more than that.

[mm1970]

My husband and I live in an "Alternative Housing Option" that, surprisingly, was not discussed in the article.  We are team truck drivers.  We live in our company truck.  We don't pay a penny for it, nor do we pay for the diesel.  We ARE paid handsomely to drive our "home" around though.  So because of that, we have no costs for housing, electricity, fuel, insurance, land tax, etc and are able to save a crapload of money each week.

I write a blog about the life:

www.teamtruckinglife.blogspot.com

Look forward to reading your blog. I read a blog of a woman who thru-hiked the PCT, then got her truck driving license, and she and her hubby also team drive.

[Karen]

Patrickzza:

That's a great question - gives me inspiration for my next blog post as our pay structure is quite unusual!  We get paid by the mile.  Each trip that we do has a set amount of paid miles and we get paid every Friday.  As a team we have to get the loads there faster as we're expected to keep that truck running 24/7 whilst we're under load.

Mr Dumpster Stache: 

Thanks so much for the kind offer of blizzard food!  We're often shut down in WY during the winter.  If we're going WB and Sherman pass is closed to Laramie, we'll probably find ourselves at the TA in Cheyenne.

[Bearded Man]

Pretty awesome plan, I like it. Care to share (or maybe it's on your blog) what your guys' income is from doing this and how much of it you save? Also, I see you plan to retire in 9 more years. Will you be buying an RV and traveling or buying a house somewhere?

[Karen]

Bearded Man:

We aim to save $80,000 per year ($20K per quarter).  We invest it all.

I have to admit that we're not especially frugal with our money but because we live such an austere life as it is, neither of us are bothered about the money we do spend (assuming our $80K savings quota is met of course).

As far as living arrangements go when we retire - that depends largely on the amount of money we'll have and how the investments have done.  The loose plan now is to buy a log cabin in the North Georgia mountains and spend 3-4 months each year travelling around the UK and Europe in a caravan (RV).  I am a dual citizen and my husband will soon be able to take his US citizenship so he will be dual as well.

[Daleth]

My husband and I live in an "Alternative Housing Option" that, surprisingly, was not discussed in the article.  We are team truck drivers.  We live in our company truck.  We don't pay a penny for it, nor do we pay for the diesel.  We ARE paid handsomely to drive our "home" around though.  So because of that, we have no costs for housing, electricity, fuel, insurance, land tax, etc and are able to save a crapload of money each week.

I write a blog about the life:

www.teamtruckinglife.blogspot.com

The other alternative they didn't discuss was living in an investment other than a flipper house. In other words, a multi-unit or a mixed-use property where you live in the residential part. That's what we do and it's awesome.

[Roots&Wings]

Bearded Man:

We aim to save $80,000 per year ($20K per quarter).  We invest it all.

I have to admit that we're not especially frugal with our money but because we live such an austere life as it is, neither of us are bothered about the money we do spend (assuming our $80K savings quota is met of course).

As far as living arrangements go when we retire - that depends largely on the amount of money we'll have and how the investments have done.  The loose plan now is to buy a log cabin in the North Georgia mountains and spend 3-4 months each year travelling around the UK and Europe in a caravan (RV).  I am a dual citizen and my husband will soon be able to take his US citizenship so he will be dual as well.

Wow, I suspect you may have quite a following when you share more of the financial details! That is incredible yearly savings, nicely done :) And a very interesting lifestyle that I never even knew about - thanks so much for sharing your blog link.

[scrubbyfish]

www.teamtruckinglife.blogspot.com

Karen: Phenomenal blog!! Gosh, am I loving reading the details!

I did a version of this for a few weeks (with a boyfriend getting a truck across Canada and allowed to take heaps of time, so we did). If I had a hubby, I would want us to be doing our lives together, like you guys are :)