Full Time RVer

Aside from fuel for the rig, one of the biggest expenses RVers cope with is that of keeping groceries in the galley. If your RV budget can get a bit tight, here are some tips that might help you get more miles out of your food dollars:

First, like your mother always told you: Don’t go grocery shopping without a list. If you do, you’re more likely to buy stuff you don’t really need. We made a list on our word processor of all the commonly purchased grocery (and non grocery) items. We broke them down in rough categories, so when we hit the store, our list is already laid out roughly to where we’ll find things group.

For example, we keep the milk, cheese, and other “dairy” items in one clump on our list. We print several copies of the “list” and hang them on a hook inside one of our galley cabinets. As we notice we need something, we simply put a check mark next to the item on the list.

Since much of our time we find ourselves in “little burgs,” where grocery store competition is small, we only buy the stuff we really need to get by when in that area. Once a month we typically hit a “big city,” and take our list with us to do our “major shopping.”

Take advantage of coupons where you can. Not always easy if you’re on the road, but we have found that you can sign up with some of the big chain stores to get weekly special ads sent to you by e-mail. Once a week we get a big advert from Safeway–and we can print manufacturer coupons from their site. Most of these are indeed, manufacturer–as opposed to “store brand” coupons, so they can be used in any store that takes coupons, including Walmart.

Don’t imagine that everything you purchase at a “club” store like Costco or Sam’s Club is going to be cheaper than at the regular retailer. We’ve found milk to be a lot less expensive at a club store, but other items may actually cost more when compared on price per unit basis. And produce at the club stores is usually way out of line in terms of price, and not necessarily of any better quality than at a more upscale supermarket.

When shopping, try to stay in a dollar limit. After our major once-a-month blast, our chief purchasing agent (her) takes the remaining grocery budget dollars–in cash–and divides them up into equal amounts for the remaining number of weeks on the month. If say there’s a hundred grocery dollars left, then we’ll likely have $25 a week for the rest of the month.

So how do you avoid “overspending” when trekking through the store? Set your spending limit before you step in the door. Don’t worry about trying to keep track of how much you’ve put in your cart to the cent–especially if you “do it in your head.”  As you stick an item in the basket, round the dollar amount up or down. For example, if the loaf of bread is $4.15, then mentally add $4.  If the hamburger is $6.67, then mentally add $7 to your tally. We’ve found it better to use a calculator, but sometimes you can forget to punch in a number.

Interestingly, a study by the Georgia Institute of Technology found that those on really tight budgets, the ones that had the most to lose by overspending, we’re those who were most likely to overspend.  Why? Because they were so engrossed in keeping a mental tally down to the penny, that invariably they’d ‘muff it,’ and forget to add something. That same study says that customers who find themselves spending more than they planned held it against the store; those who spent less, we’re happier with the store. Stores who have in-cart “scanners” to help the customer keep track of what they’d put in their baskets are big winners.

And oh yeah, you know this one too: Don’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry You’re bound to spend more money–and probably on stuff that isn’t good for you!

photo: Poldavo (Alex) on flickr.com with creative commons license

Fulltime RVers are subject to the same health issues as their stix-and-brix counterparts; the problem is, when traveling you don’t always have the benefit of as much “local knowledge” as those who stay in the same place. When an emergency arises, you probably won’t have much choice about where you go for help–you may be limited to whatever happens to be in reach, or where the Medic crew hauls you.

But there are plenty of times when you know you need to get hospital help that isn’t as emergent. How do you choose a hospital that’s right for you? Provided your health care insurance will “work with you,” in terms of allowing a choice of hospitals, fulltime RVers have an advantage:  They can go where they want. Still, how do you choose from among the thousands of hospitals around the US?

First, some simple things to look at: Is the hospital in an area convenient to your RV lifestyle? Can you find a suitable park or other location to put your RV? Some hospitals have RV spaces for patients and their families. Does the hospital recognize (and work with) your health care insurance plan? Is it accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body–we’ll give you more on that later. Is the place clean? Look around in the waiting rooms, and then ask to see patient rooms.

In terms of accreditation, you can turn to The Joint Commission, a medical accreditation body that examines medical providers and hospitals to see if they meet quality care standards. Their website lets you search for hospitals based on zip code or city and state. You’ll find out what specialties (if any) a given hospital is recognized for, which can be real helpful if you have a major health problem you need help with. Check out their site at www. jointcommission.org and look for the “Quality Check” area.

Another web site that can help you sort out the good from the bad is provided by the magazine, US News and World Report. They publish an annual list of the country’s best hospitals by specialty. The outfit ranked on a variety of areas, but included in the evaluation process were patient safety issues, deaths, and a facility’s reputation. Drilling down to a specific hospital also shows how patients viewed their own treatment at given facilities, and these outcomes were measured against state and national standards. Visit the site at http://health.usnews.com/health/best-hospitals.

If you’re new to the RV lifestyle, or just at the planning stage, a big question for many is this: How can I make it financially? If you’ve got a retirement income that needs shoring up, or you’re looking to make nearly all your income from scratch, working on the road can be daunting to think about.

If you need reassurance, think of this: Thousands of RVers are working on the road, doing things that they may never have dreamed of. There are resources to help you. Here are a some of great Internet resources that can help you find work on the road.

Perhaps the best-known to RVers is Workcamper News. As their website puts it, “Workampers are adventurous individuals, couples and families who have chosen a wonderful lifestyle that combines ANY kind of part-time or full-time work with RV camping. If you work as an employee, operate a business, or donate your time as a volunteer, AND you sleep in an RV (or on-site housing), you are a Workamper!”

Workcamper News brings outfits with jobs together with RVers who are looking for work. A regular print media magazine gives job listings, but if you’re looking for work you can upgrade your membership and get the latest information from the Workcamper website. A basic membership to the print version starts at $30 a year, US, or you can subscribe to the electronic version only for $37. Get both for $42. Many RVers who want to workcamp swear by this outfit.

Another place to look is at coolworks.com. This outfit is an electronic “connect the employer to the employee” website, but not directed only to RVers. You can find jobs across the US, Canada, and Mexico that will fit an RVer’s needs, but hey, want to travel internationally and leave the RV back home? The coolworks site can help you out here, too. The site breaks jobs into categories by type, or you can hunt for work by location. The employers are the ones paying the freight on this web site, so RVers looking for work can go there and look for jobs today at no cost.

Finally, retiredbrains.com is another site, particularly directed to folks who have had years of work experience and are now looking to come back and use that experience in a temporary, full time, or part time way. Focusing on older folk, you’ll find the site has information on a wide range of topics, far aside from just looking for employment. But if the employment side is what you’re interested in, click on the “find retirement jobs” button. Job listings are free to browse.