Does anyone think buying a camper is a good idea?

[Raineyrocks]

What's the bank going to do with your house?

Who knows?  That's what I worry about because what is the use of buying storable food and things like that if you lose the place to store them in?

I was thinking a camper could be a way of at least owning something outright but then again what land would I put it on?

[Raineyrocks]

What's the bank going to do with your house?

That's my way of thinking. If times were so hard that I fell behind in mortgage payments, but continued to pay something, then that's worth more to them than a foreclosed house in a crashed market.

I was listening to I think it was Alex Jones  , (yeah I know, I know), and he had a guest on there saying that the USA could call in all debts and people would lose everything if the economy collapses.  It really doesn't make that much sense but I can't see "them" just letting us keep what we haven't paid for.   Also even if the economy collapses and somebody owns their home, there are still taxes of course that they wouldn't be able to pay because money is nothing, right?

[Pat McCotter]

Fiat money is debt. If you get rid of debt you get rid of fiat money.

[Raineyrocks]

I can think of a lot of ideas for temporary shelters that I would use before I would use a camper, I guess it depends on how fancy you want to live... I would suggest investing the money for hard times in the future instead of buying a camper.

What other shelters would you use?  The reason I said a camper is in case you have storable food and stuff like that, it would be somewhere to at least keep it so you could eat.   If I save money, (which is getting impossible to do right now), what if that money I saved becomes worthless?

I'm on a payment plan for propane that let's us pay a certain amount each month instead of getting hit with a $800 fill bill and it was $230 a month last year, this year it's $403 a month.   Our electric has gone up $50 a month too and I really don't know why, we didn't run air conditioners or anything like that.

[Raineyrocks]

I think buying a camper is a great idea. Not really for economic collapse, really. More for having fun.

I honestly wish I could have that great outlook instead of being stressed all the time.   I do the "stress" to myself but it seems like it's become a way of life for me and I don't know how to stop it.

[Raineyrocks]

One of this type of camper is good... and relatively cheap... and as an RV Specialist I have never known anyone who did not love theirs.

Are they pop up campers?  I was looking at some on craigslist but we couldn't afford anything right now and some of them are expensive.  Where would you get a shower?  I'm a little, (okay a lot), paranoid of pop up campers.  I keep envisioning someone coming along and slicing the material with a knife to get in and kill my family.  I don't know why but I do. Gosh I need to have some fun!

[Raineyrocks]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uOmpt93oo4

Wicked neat!   You find the most unique videos!

[ByronB]

I can think of a lot of ideas for temporary shelters that I would use before I would use a camper, I guess it depends on how fancy you want to live... I would suggest investing the money for hard times in the future instead of buying a camper.

What other shelters would you use?  The reason I said a camper is in case you have storable food and stuff like that, it would be somewhere to at least keep it so you could eat.   If I save money, (which is getting impossible to do right now), what if that money I saved becomes worthless?

I'm on a payment plan for propane that let's us pay a certain amount each month instead of getting hit with a $800 fill bill and it was $230 a month last year, this year it's $403 a month.   Our electric has gone up $50 a month too and I really don't know why, we didn't run air conditioners or anything like that.

My favorite idea for a cheap shelter (don't know if it has been tried or not) is to make a arch/dome with rebar, cover it with wire mesh, pack straw bails on top, cover that with a thin layer of concrete, put torch-down over the concrete, then plaster the inside.

My problem with a camper is that they tend to become a sink-hole for money (at least with the people I know that own campers), even if you get a really cheap camper chances are that something will be need to be fixed (leaking roof?) to keep it in habitable condition.

I never did suggest saving large amounts of US dollars... I would suggest investing in something a little more stable if you can.

Wow, that is a pretty rough bill, I met people (doing residential HVAC) that said their bill was $700 a month in the cold months (and this was two years ago) but still I would take a very close look at the insulation/windows/door seals, take a look at your furnace (if it runs too inefficiently a new one could pay for itself in a year),  and consider turning the heat to 60 or so... then if you find a few problems and get them fixed you could save a bit of money by getting off of that fixed monthly payment plan.

[Raineyrocks]

I can think of a lot of ideas for temporary shelters that I would use before I would use a camper, I guess it depends on how fancy you want to live... I would suggest investing the money for hard times in the future instead of buying a camper.

What other shelters would you use?  The reason I said a camper is in case you have storable food and stuff like that, it would be somewhere to at least keep it so you could eat.   If I save money, (which is getting impossible to do right now), what if that money I saved becomes worthless?

I'm on a payment plan for propane that let's us pay a certain amount each month instead of getting hit with a $800 fill bill and it was $230 a month last year, this year it's $403 a month.   Our electric has gone up $50 a month too and I really don't know why, we didn't run air conditioners or anything like that.

My favorite idea for a cheap shelter (don't know if it has been tried or not) is to make a arch/dome with rebar, cover it with wire mesh, pack straw bails on top, cover that with a thin layer of concrete, put torch-down over the concrete, then plaster the inside.

My problem with a camper is that they tend to become a sink-hole for money (at least with the people I know that own campers), even if you get a really cheap camper chances are that something will be need to be fixed (leaking roof?) to keep it in habitable condition.

I never did suggest saving large amounts of US dollars... I would suggest investing in something a little more stable if you can.

Wow, that is a pretty rough bill, I met people (doing residential HVAC) that said their bill was $700 a month in the cold months (and this was two years ago) but still I would take a very close look at the insulation/windows/door seals, take a look at your furnace (if it runs too inefficiently a new one could pay for itself in a year),  and consider turning the heat to 60 or so... then if you find a few problems and get them fixed you could save a bit of money by getting off of that fixed monthly payment plan.

Wow, that's a creative shelter!   Thanks, I'm going to show Rick that one.  The repair issue is why Rick doesn't want to get a camper if we could save up $$ for one.
I wish we could buy gold that would be a great investment.

The house was built in 2004 and no one lived in it except for us so I guess everything is efficient, we are having a wood stove put in the basement and 3 vents being put in on the 1st floor of the house so I hope that helps.  We figure with the little bit of money we have it's better to do that than get a camper.    

Rick is trying to get wood cheap and it's been rough finding good deals.   We never turn the heat on upstairs, (2nd floor), we never ever have in any house we've lived in because we sleep better in the cold anyway.  Every year I look for heavy comforters and blankets at yard sales so we are warm upstairs but anytime in the past when I've slept in somebody's house with the heat on I wake up and my nose is all dry, not to mention my skin too. 

I have heard a lot of people complain about the cold temps up here but they don't bother us unless it's like -7 below. In the winter I've hardly ever gone out with a heavy coat on just to train my body to handle the cold better, it works, except in extreme conditions.