I have in the past sold my caravans twice for similar reasons ,caravanning may be nice but its not a cheap holiday.We took mobile home holidays in France ln the off peak periods & found that in many cases it was much cheaper than owning/taking our own caravan what with the costs of towing,insurance,ect ect now we have both,a nice house (paid for) & a nice caravan bought new in 2005 (paid for)
I think that a home comes first ,there are many other ,& cheaper ways to have holidays when you look around
I know how you feel . I sold our bailey last year for £4000 because like you work commitnents meant we wasnt getting the use of it. After i sold it i bought a smaller and older van for £300 done it up and we now use that one when we can get away.I even moved it off storage onto my mums driveway so now it doesnt cost any money and if we cant get away i am not frustrated about having a £4000 ornament.
I'm with danthevanman on this one as we use our van as a lovely retreat from stresses of work, home etc. A very difficult decision to have to make though..........!
a wee update here.i get a bonus from work every april and this year its close on 1000 so that leaves us 3k to find.
A family member has offered us the 3k over 2 years as (in their words) its doing nothing in the bank anyway.they themselves are caravanners and know how much our van means to us and know that it would be a wrench to let it go.so as it stands at the moment the van is staying,however it doesnt get away from the fact the van is very very underused.So I think we may try and even get away for 2 day breaks this year to try and get as much use as we can
------------- Who needs travel agents,we have our static
Hope things will work out for the best. We are retired and have a caravan that we can't afford to use as much as we would like but we feel that it is nicer than using hotels etc so we keep it. If you do sell you will have a nice home and in a year or so may be in a position to get another van and would then have the best of both worlds.
Fife-bloke it sounds like you can work your problem out, at least for the time being. This year we are taking deliberate steps to reduce our caravanning costs, to ensure we can continue to afford our favourite hobby: travelling shorter distances to sites, using CLs and CSs typically £8 to £10 per night rather club sites at £20 to £25 per night, eating out less, and preparing meals at home rather than paying higher prices for ready made meals. Good luck. Dan
Quote: Originally posted by fife-bloke on 07/4/2011
a wee update here.i get a bonus from work every april and this year its close on 1000 so that leaves us 3k to find.
A family member has offered us the 3k over 2 years as (in their words) its doing nothing in the bank anyway.they themselves are caravanners and know how much our van means to us and know that it would be a wrench to let it go.so as it stands at the moment the van is staying,however it doesnt get away from the fact the van is very very underused.So I think we may try and even get away for 2 day breaks this year to try and get as much use as we can
I did not quite understand the first time of reading this post but re-reading realise that your relatives were not offering to buy it off you but kindly help you with finance. Doh, I must get new glasses! Nice relatives to have
Quote: Originally posted by fife-bloke on 07/4/2011a wee update here.i get a bonus from work every april and this year its close on 1000 so that leaves us 3k to find.
A family member has offered us the 3k over 2 years as (in their words) its doing nothing in the bank anyway.they themselves are caravanners and know how much our van means to us and know that it would be a wrench to let it go.so as it stands at the moment the van is staying,however it doesnt get away from the fact the van is very very underused.So I think we may try and even get away for 2 day breaks this year to try and get as much use as we can
I did not quite understand the first time of reading this post but re-reading realise that your relatives were not offering to buy it off you but kindly help you with finance. Doh, I must get new glasses! Nice relatives to have
Cheers
Carol
lol i didnt word it very well carol,yes theyve offered us the money as a loan interest free and in return as well as getting the money back,we treat them to a chinese meal and that we enjoy our holidays this year.we both are really happy tonight
------------- Who needs travel agents,we have our static
Quote: Originally posted by DanTheVanMan on 07/4/2011
Fife-bloke it sounds like you can work your problem out, at least for the time being. This year we are taking deliberate steps to reduce our caravanning costs, to ensure we can continue to afford our favourite hobby: travelling shorter distances to sites, using CLs and CSs typically £8 to £10 per night rather club sites at £20 to £25 per night, eating out less, and preparing meals at home rather than paying higher prices for ready made meals. Good luck. Dan
thanks dan
------------- Who needs travel agents,we have our static
Hi fife-bloke, every cloud etc,had to do same for son, when he went to buy a house, they wanted big deposit,which is rich, as we the tax payer had to pay to bail them out of their mess, and they repay us by not lending us money without big deposits, (hanging to good for them comes to mind) May find later on,there will be more caravaners in similar position, Its very good of your family to ofer to help,And very happy that you dont need to sell van,if all works out for you,Good luck,happy caravaning.
------------- If everything runs smoothly then I must have done something wrong
If in Doubt Check it Out.
Hi there, glad you are able to keep your caravan and what nice relatives you have. Hope you all manage to get away soon. Will you maybe be able to go away at the end of the month, with having the Friday off for the Royal Wedding and the Monday May Day holiday that would be a nice little break and good to introduce your new addition to caravanning. We are hoping to go away next week for a few days, not booked anything yet but are off for the week. We have booked to go to Tarland at the end of the month with Fifer 55 so that should be good.
I think you have very nice relatives to want to help you this way. Is it perhaps that you have gone on holiday with them either some or all. So the company they prefer to have is yours. So they do not want to lose that.
Through the years of our 47 years married we have gone up & down like a yo yo. I am sure everyone does during their lives.If you can afford to pay your relative back without pressure. Good luck to you to keep your van. BUT if it looks hard ahead of you at this time. Bricks & mortar are worth more and always will be worth more than any depreciating caravan, tent or Motorhome
You can have just as much fun in a tent, it may not have every mod-cons as a caravan does. But it has a lot more than when we had to come down from a caravan and that was NOT to buy any bricks & mortar it was for a car to get around with. But it made an easier choice for us as no car no caravan anyway.But it was a lovely van.
Think well as £20 per week = £1000 a year can you make that, can your OH do what I did and use ALL of my wages to get us our first campervan and pay for 4 solid years all what I earned, as we always share what we have. One has both has. That is why we are now just starting into our 48th year. Decision is for both of you that way if it does go pear shape no one can accuse the other. Just pull together to get it going right. Dont do that- and your pull apart. The no caravan is worth it.
Good health whatever your choice is. You still have a very nice considerate family
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Topic: thinking of selling up
