Tag: money

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Finance travel

Extreme Cheapskates: How to Save TONS of Money While Camping

Time to read:

7–11 minutes

Since our blog, “Quick Money Hacks” (link below), did so well, I am back again with even more insane hacks to save you money while camping.

https://atomic-temporary-195534999.wpcomstaging.com/quick-money-hacks/

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Without Further Ado … How to Save Money While Camping:

1. Recyle Your Dryer Sheets

You can use dryer sheets more than once. Pop them bad boys into the dryer for a load of clothes as normal. When your laundry is done and the sheet is dry replace it in the box to reuse next time! You can easily get three or four loads of great smelling laundry from the same sheet this way.

2. Save on You Energy Bill

When you leave on vacation, or for a weekend escape, unplug all of your small appliances like your Alexa, TVs, alarm clocks, and anything else you can reach! Don’t pay for that “phantom” energy.

3. A Gourmet Date

Next time you go on a date with a potential cutie pie, make sure to split the meal & the check. This saves a TON of money!

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4. Stock Up on Sauces & Utensils

Next time you are at a local restaurant or order takeout, make sure to get extra napkins, utensils, and sauce packs in your bag to take home. Why buy this stuff at the grocery store when they are giving it away for free?

5. Old Fashion

If you have found yourself gaining weight and those old pants do not fit you anymore, don’t worry about buying a new pair. Instead, leave them unbuttoned & just use a shoe string to hold them onto your waist! No need to zip the zipper or button them up, or to waste money on the newest fashion trends!

6. It’s Raining Cats and Dogs!

Is your car looking a little dirty? Time for a wash? Check your local weather channel for the next time it will rain. When it does, run out there and wash your car with the assistance of Mother Nature! No garden hose required. This also applies for your pets, or yourself for that matter.

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7. Got Junk?

You don’t need to buy trash bags – EVER. Instead, save grocery bags when you go shopping and use them for all of your trash needs! They’ll fit the majority of your small bathroom, & office trash cans. For the kitchen & larger bins, use these mini-bags to take trash out in smaller portions – this will keep your trash can from piling up too.

8. Re-wear Clothing

You can rewear the same outfit at least 3 times before you truly need to wash it. Especially if you aren’t sweating or doing any intense work! Jeans & thicker materials can go even longer.

9. Movie Popcorn

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I’ll admit that I stole this one from a story Rachel Cruze of the Ramsey Show told, but it’s brilliant. Order a bag of popcorn from the movie theatre and enjoy your movie! When you leave, fold up the popcorn bag and put it in your pocket. Next time you see a movie, bring the used popcorn bag, pop it open, & get that free refill at the concessions. This hack allows you to only pay for that over-priced movie popcorn once with unlimited refills!

10. Restroom Etiquette

The rules for the bathroom goes as follows: if it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down. This saves thousands on your water costs.

11. Ziplock Baggies

Don’t keep buying these bad boys. After you use one, rinse it out in the sink and let it air dry. Next time you need to store your favorite snack it’ll be clean like a brand new bag.

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12. Interior Designer

Visit a couple of your local hardware stores and request free paint samples in a multitude of colors from each. Take the samples home and use them to paint your walls a new, lively rainbow – for FREE! Who said HGTV has all the tricks? Stay tuned in here.

13. Spooky Season

Right after Halloween, during the first two weeks of November is when they mark down all of the candy that didn’t sell. Stock up on all of your favorites at 50% off – or more. You can then use the leftover Halloween candy for Christmas stockings! The same concept applies for Valentines’ Day chocolates & Easter baskets.

14. Water Isn’t $3 a Bottle

After you have a nice Aquafina or Dasani bottled water bottle, refill it with tap water as much as you want instead of buying a fresh bottle. This works even better at a public place like school or work, where you don’t have to pay for the water yourself – FREE refills.

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15. Hang Paper Towels Up for Later

Why keep buying those pesky paper squares if you can re-use them again later? Hang paper towels up to dry & then re-use them – you can easily get three of four uses out of paper towels before they begin to tear.

16. Wash Your Clothes in the Campground Shower

You can skip the laundromat after camping by just washing your stuff in the bath-house shower before you leave. Better yet, take a shower with some of the clothes on and you’ve slayed two birds with one stone.

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17. Store Campground Water to Drink Later

You will have a water hook-up spigot at almost every RV campsite. If not, there’s definitely a water fill-up somewhere near the dump station. Make sure to fill up a few gallons of water in your left over water jugs & bottles for later. This saves you a few million dollars every week.

18. Free Coffee While Traveling

Stop into a local hotel to get some free coffee in the lobby. When you enter, you should see it sitting right out in the breakfast area. Just walk in, grab a cup, add sugar the way you like it, and head off. If they ask, you’re in room 301.

19. Who Uses Trash Bags, Man?

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Next time you’re at the local dog park or see doggy relief stations, make sure to snatch up a few bags. You can use these for your dog later, as a food storage bag to put things in and tie closed, or as miniature trash bags – for FREE.

20. Try Carpool Trash Service

We’re pitching a new idea here – carpool trash service. Consider this a new service where you can drop off your trash and bags at your neighbor’s doorstep and they’ll take care of it bringing it to the dumpster for you. They have to go at some point anyway, so might as well save yourself the extra steps & effort.

21. Share the Warmth

Is it cold outside and you find yourself needing some warmth while camping? Check which of your neighbors left some firewood stacked outside and grab a few logs. This will help you stay warm, and they won’t mind – sharing is caring!

22. Luck o’ the Irish – FREE drinks

Did the neighbor leave out their cooler? Check what’s on tap – it might be a tasty new cider or a banger of an IPA. You never know. They won’t notice a few bottles missing & you’re getting to try out new beers you may have never had.

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23. Be the Campground DJ

How much did you pay for your last concert ticket? Probably close to $200 per person, right? Why should you make everyone pay that much when you can become the campground DJ? Break out the bluetooth speaker, blare your music at full volume, and save your neighbors the concert ticket fees.

24. Puppy Play Day

We just had this happen to us at a campground and loved it. When you leave for the day to go sight-seeing, driving through the city, or doing a local hike, make sure you leave your camper windows wide open back at the park. Fido needs the fresh air and will also provide a free alarm system for your neighbors. This works best when your dog is a constant barker – keeping your neighbors safe by barking and keeping an eye out for danger.

25. Family Showers!

Have everyone wear bathing suits and shower together as a family so that you can save money. Why shower four separate times when you can do it all in one? Let’s preserve the environment & save some water for the fishes, man.

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26. More FREE Water

When you’re out hiking and see a running source of water like a creek or river, plop your bottle down in there to refill it. If it makes you feel better, grab a Life Straw to help filter the water extra for drinking. Nature provides all that we need!

27. What’s the Wi-Fi Password?

You could buy an expensive Starlink for $699 or a T-Mobile Inseego Hotspot for $399 to get internet while on the road. But why do that? Surely someone at the campground has a network without a password – hack in & surf the web for FREE.

28. It’s On the House

It’s always beer-30 when you can find a great ale in the neighbor’s cooler like we mentioned above. But we’re not savages – be sure to recycle. Once you drink their beer, take back the bottle and leave it for them. I’m sure they care about the environment too, and in places like California, you can get them 5 cents back per bottle – win-win for everyone!

29. Make Your Own Path

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Why follow the sidewalk to walk all the way around your campsite and the neighbor’s to get to the bathroom or shower house? By walking straight through their campsite, you can save on steps. Going through their campsite will also allow you to scope out their stuff for potential sharing opportunities.

30. Clearance Sale!

Amazon has frequent sales on outdoor furniture, but why pay for anything? It’s always on clearance over at your neighbor’s campsite. Eye something you fancy that they have – like that zero gravity chair? Bring something you have & swap out. Trading your $5 bag chair is a great way to upgrade and it can’t be stealing if you leave something behind for them to enjoy – it’s a fair trade.

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Categories
Adventure Finance travel

Nomad Jobs: Get Paid While Traveling

The kids are back at it again, living in the van down by the river without a care in the world. “What the heck do they do for money?” you might ask. The answer is different for everyone. Some nomad jobs include camp hosts at campgrounds, have customer service jobs, work as insurance agents, or if you’re of the new-fangled age of kids, you can work remote freelancing. That’s what we’re going to focus on in this blog today! As always, I’d like to thank you for your time today. You’re in good hands!

Estimated time to read:

13–19 minutes

Real Quick …

Before we jump in, I’d like to remind you of the fact that money will not buy you happiness. Even nomad jobs can not produce happiness. It is merely a currency that allows us to exchange for products or services. Money really just is a tool – and it’s up to you to decide whether you want to have good, or bad, intentions with it. You tell your money what to do.

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– Table of Contents –

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1. Fiverr

Plenty of people are talented in their own right, and Fiverr is the platform for them to grow and create their own business. It’s the first on the list of nomad jobs.

Fiverr is a great choice for nomad jobs.

With Fiverr, you can search for just about any computer-type task that can be done. These range from: trip planning, video editing, graphic design, accounting, etc. You pay a basic fee for a service, enter your requirements and criteria, talk to the seller, and then they’ll return a finished product to you quick! Don’t forget to be nice and tip well.

As a seller you can work as much (or as little) as you’d like and Fiverr allows you the flexibility to work when you want to. With their huge categories of jobs available currently to work, feel free to jump in and start earning a commission today!

Fiverr categories for work.

2. UpWork

Upwork is number #2 of nomad jobs.

Are you looking for another alternative to the above Fiverr? Introducing UpWork! We recommend this one as well because there are plenty of other jobs available.

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You can create a seller account to sell your services to others as a 1099 contract employee, and work when you want to. The only “boss” you have is UpWork’s guidelines, and a different client to work for every time.

3. Start a Blog!

Plenty of digital nomads nowadays have a blog, course, YouTube channel, or something similar. It’s basically the work of the digital world – teaching others how to do very specific or niche skills.

I have seen quite a few of them to claim to make into the $10k-$30k per MONTH range. I obviously can’t back this one up with evidence as we aren’t a blog that huge (yet?), lol.

Regardless, if you are creative and love sharing your thoughts with the world, a blog should be as second nature as journaling is to most people.

4. Become a Freelancer Writer

You can write about anything, especially if you’ve got a knack for any given niche genre. If you know how to write, and have knowledge to share with others, this is the sign for you!

There are people who make a living reviewing video games and news, others who write scientific research papers, and the occasional blog-writer (that’s us!)

You can write about pretty much anything, as knowledge goes for a pretty penny when sold to the right mind.

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5. Become a Bookkeeper

It’s easy to go online and get certified as a bookkeeper in little time at all!

Plenty of businesses are thriving yet need someone to help manage their numbers. That’s where you come in. Get certified, take invoices and expenses and help them know their numbers.

Websites like National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB) offer plenty of options for educational materials, exams, and getting you certified to help businesses in no time. You can save $50 right now and then the certification bundle becomes $449.

*We are by no way affiliated with the NACPB, we just want to help provide you guys with the most resources that we can.

6. Be a Virtual Assistant From Anywhere!

This is one dear to my heart because it’s what my girlfriend currently does. She’s been helping multiple business owners get crucial tasks done while we’ve been on the road.

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A personal (or virtual) assistant would traditionally book flights, plan events, get in contact with bill companies, hunt down clients for payment, and many, many other daily tasks. Here’s a website listing statistics and more information.

This is a very practical job, because everyone from CEOs to small-business owners need help handling billing, taxes, conferences planned, and so many other routine tasks.

7. Sell Handmade Products (Etsy, Farmer Markets, Facebook Marketplace)

Do you have a knack for creating knick-knacks? Can you sew, paint, carve wood, make jewelry, or anything else creative? Of course you can – and we won’t settle for anyone saying that they have no talents or skills. Everyone knows how to do something. Everyone has something that excites you. Maybe you like how things tick, maybe you really like people, or possibly you are great at organization.

Combine your passion with some crafting skills, then you’ve got a solid business model for markets like Etsy.

With Etsy, you can get super creative products from a small business and makers. Plus you are supporting a single person or merchant most of the time, and not a corporate shill seeking profit. I kind of like the feel of that personally.

8. Become an Educational Tutor

Not every student learns in the same way. Some are auditory learners, some are hands-on and learn by doing, and others need to hear information in a different way than their teachers will present it. That’s where you can come in as a tutor!

If you’re good at any subject, or even have the credentials of a teacher already, you can start helping students today! The Tutor website seems to be a great resource for this.

There’s potential for tutoring in any subject: math, science, English, Spanish, music, and plenty others. Get started helping kids grow smarter now!

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9. Learn Graphic Design

Have you dabbled with Adobe Photoshop creating memes in the past? How about self-learning how to use a platform like Canva for social media graphics? Regardless, the world is your oyster in this category.

If you have an eye for logos, creating graphics, flyers, social media posts, or virtually anything else, you’ll thrive here. It really is a build-your-own adventure sandbox software. You can design flyers for a business, wedding invitations, social media posts, logo designs, and anything else you can possibly think of. Canva is amazing – I’m not paid by them to say that, we just use them for everything design-wise.

There’s always something that a business needs to look good in this marketing driven world of today.

10. Online Marketing

It’s no surprise that businesses are easier than ever to start with the rise of the internet. Basically, anyone can pop up a shop with platforms like Shopify and get started selling a product right away.

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A core thing you need with any business is an audience, and a brand worthy of them telling their friends about. You have to be eye-catching, humorous, a great product, and also stand on good morals.

A marketing agent is someone who comes in and focuses on developing your brand, colors and schemes, designs, and more. They help make your product look better and better, and bring it to new heights, and eyes.

Is Van Life as Glorious as Instagram Lets You Believe?

Could you imagine living on the road as a digital nomad? Do you want to see different states, countries, and parts of the world? Are you bored of the sameness: sitting at the same desk, driving the same route to work, talking with the same people, doing the same old routines?

I know that I was, and that’s when we set out on this adventure. We’ve lived in 15 different states over the last 10 months. Literally. We sold our house, cars, and live full-time in a Class C motorhome. It sounds CRAZY! But, that’s the life that we have chosen to live. As awesome as this all sounds, we want you to see the realities of this life as well!

11. Social Media Assistant

If you would have asked me before writing this blog if I believed that being a social media assistant was a real job, I would have been baffled. But, here we are.

Yes, there are literally people whose entire jobs are to schedule posts, engage with comments, share their content on the internet, and run customer service fronts. Now hows that for making the list of nomad jobs?

I’m personally amazed at some of these jobs on the list as they’re all unique in their own way, but this one has me chomping at the bit. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that this work is easy, or bad. I just want to snatch this job for a huge company like Skittles or something. Sponsor me!

12. Website Designer

It’s no question that with the rise of the internet, websites are more important than ever. To get your name or business out there, you have to have an online presence. Eventually, brick and mortar stores limit you nowadays. Not to mention that the majority of people look up a business online to see their Google reviews before considering a visit.

The internet helps you quickly connect to anyone, anywhere, in the world. The better your website is designed, the more people will be likely to find it and stay engaged with its contents. Don’t skimp too much on this front, as you want a great product.

Find a great web developer right now on Fiverr to get started. You can actually learn a website builder like WordPress or Wix to help jumpstart your career in web development. To become great at it though, you definitely need to learn C++ and web coding at a later point.

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13. App Developer

It’s no question that with the rise of the internet that website designers and app developers are more important than ever.

Apple offers plenty of resources from software development kits, digital textbooks to learn from, video explanations, and more. Although, some of these require a small yearly fee to get involved in their programs.

Every great app starts with a great app developer. Learn today, or commission someone on UpWork to help you turn your brilliant idea into reality. You never know what’s waiting for ya!

14. Get Paid to Walk Dogs

We’ve all seen that one person walking down the street. They’re walking six different dogs, and you are left perplexed by this. Most likely, they are probably walking dogs for a living, literally!

Yep, you heard me right. You can get paid to board dogs, babysit them for the day, and even walk them with apps like Rover. For what its worth, the name Rover is incredible.

Next time you find yourself planning a vacation trip or have to work and can’t plan to be around your doggos for a while, you can hop on the app and schedule someone to help you watch them.

This functions similar in the way that AirBnB works, where you open the app, find a local dog sitter and see their reviews, then contact them. Usually, when you go to drop off you will be able to meet the people and chat with them about all of their policies and vet (hah – good joke) if you want to use them!

15. Life or Career Coaching

It goes without being said that not everyone has ended up in a great spot in their current life. Sometimes we need help and we might turn to a friend, family member, pastor, or even advisor/counselor.

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There exists plenty of certifications online if you’d like to get them as well, that offer to train you in the ways of helping people and their largest life decisions. The one I found online by the Certified Life Coach Institute claims to be $995 for the initial course and certification.

There is a lot of grey area in places like this, because you don’t technically need any kind of degree or training to be a “coach”. But it really gets down to the brass tax when you see the experience the coach possesses, which is much more important.

16. Create Online Courses

I know a fantastic woman who has various years of experience and certifications in dog behavior and psychology. Not only does she offer consulting one-on-one to help teach dog owners, but she decided to launch a course.

By viewing her course here online, you can get the majority of the educational information and what she teaches, but at a lower rate and at your own pace. It’s not personalized for you like the one-on-one opportunities are, but that’s kind of the point with the course is to learn the general skills for your pup at a cheaper price point.

Desiree uses a very wholistic method of training – not strength and dominance.

Teaching a course is always a great way to help others learn a new subject or skill they didn’t have before. Udemy is a great resource for courses online, and I’d also recommend SkillShare (who is giving a free month trial RIGHT now).

17. Edit Videos like a Pro with Final Cut Pro

Everyone needs video edited for social media – specifically YouTube and TikTok nowadays. Whether it’s an individual person who doesn’t have the time to string together all of their travel vlogs, or a company needing to edit together promo videos. Oh, and if it wasn’t implied – yes, some people are making money from their videos!

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You can get started for free editing videos by using iMovie on Apple products. There’s also HitFilm which is free but has optional upgrades.

Once you get into the upper echelon, the majority of people use Sony Vegas, Final Cut Pro, or Premiere Pro as they are the top of the line softwares jam packed with movie-quality features.

18. Uber or Lyft Driving

Did you know you can become an Uber or Lyft driver even without owning a car? Let’s say you are a digital nomad like us, wandering across the USA, and you only have a motorhome (which is not fit for driving around city streets picking people up – trust me). Uber will let you rent a car through a partner company like Hertz for as low as $260/week. That’s discounted well below how much it costs to rent a car normally – usually double that number.

In larger areas like LA, Atlanta, New York City, you can rent just about any car that you want. Feel like driving people around in Mercedes-Benz luxury? How about saving the environment with an EV like a Tesla Model 3? You can get them all as a rental car, and make sure your passengers are safe, sound, and happy!

Another great thing about Uber and Lyft is that you get to pick when you’d like to work. Feeling sick today? Call out and sit home! Want to pick up three shifts tonight? Hop on the app and get going in your car! They make it seamless to transition from work-mode to chill-mode.

19. Uber Eats, GrubHub, PostMates

The barrier for entry here is low, as you just need a car, a phone, and some gas money (that’s the most expensive part). When you swipe one of these apps on, you can start driving to a store to pick up food for a customer.

You don’t have to cook the food, pick the order, shop for groceries, or anything. Usually, you arrive at the restaurant or store and go to the delivery pickup counter where the order should be ready for you.

This works on base pay plus tips, so treat your customers well to make BIG MONEY!

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20. Instacart, Shipt, DoorDash

Feel like delivering groceries and other quick convenience store runs? You can often deliver prescription medicines from CVS, Walgreens, and other big box stores directly to a customer.

There’s plenty of people wanting grocery delivery straight to their door. They place their order on the app, you go shop it, and you get paid to hand deliver it to their door.

Me over here grinding at my third job once upon a time.

These apps make it so easy to hop on and do a few deliveries, then shut off the phone and take a break at any time. Your pay is heavily dependent on tips the majority of the time, because base delivery pay is usually not the best here.

Budgeting is Also Very Important

Although we’ve equipped you with plenty of ideas to work and make money, the fact still stands that you need to know how to handle your money. We have a sample RV-life budget with actual numbers, not made up, within this read below.

https://atomic-temporary-195534999.wpcomstaging.com/10-tricks-for-the-perfect-trip/

Thanks for Giving Us [Your Time]

We know how valuable your time is, and that’s why we don’t want to waste a second of it. We want to help you build a quality life which begins with deciding how you want to live. By finding new ways to make money, you can afford to create this new life full of your passions, goals, and dreams. We aren’t here trying to sell you anything. We simply want you to be better off after every new read here on our blog. Thanks for reading today!

See you later – ciao!

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Categories
Adventure travel

What’s Your [Camping] Type?

There’s A LOT of options on the market for camping. You can get as simple as a tent, but if you aren’t a purist then you probably aren’t tent camping very often. For the rest of us, your options are typically between truck camper, travel trailer, fifth wheel, camper-van, motorhome, or a self-made conversion. Warning: If you’ve never RV camped before, you’ll be shocked by how small these are compared to the average home of today. Fair warning!

The different types of RVs (recreational vehicles)

We’re No Place Like Gone and we’ve been full-time living and traveling in our Class C motorhome for 9 months now, nice to meet ya! We’ve driven from the East coast to the West coast during our trip so far and have got to see 15 different states along the way! We are currently camping in the country of California. (That’s a joke – because California is HUGE and it’s literally named the Republic of California.)

Here’s the most common variety of campers and the likes:

Truck Camper
Travel Trailer
Fifth-Wheel
Camper-van
Motorhome – this is us!
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Are You Ready to Hit the Road?

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Truck Campers

Earthroamer SX – build shown is close to $1,045,000 (yes, $1 MILLION)

Starting off with a beauty, Earthroamer is in the upper echelon of truck campers. Priced as a luxury vehicle, they are self-contained and include all of the necessities that you need, while also including all of the things that you want. If you’re looking to go off-roading in style, while doing it self-sufficient and off-grid, this bad boy is for you.

Lance 650 mounted on short-bed Ford
Lance 650 interior
Lance 650 floorplan – dinette, toilet/shower, fridge, range, sink, closet, TV, bedroom and more in a small package!
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Lance truck campers are at a great price point, starting as low as $25,000 brand new. They’re available for Chevy/Dodge/Ford/GM trucks whether they’re short or long-beds. They have them for select Toyotas and Nissans as well. You get the modern luxuries in a very small package, that is still just an extension of your truck.

There are PLENTY of other truck campers on the market, for every size and shape of truck. We’ve even seen plenty of people that have custom built their truck camper, if you’re a handy type of person. You do sacrifice quite a bit of space over the likes of campers and motorhomes, so I’d recommend truck campers for 1-2 people and rarely more. There’s also options of truck campers with 1,2,3 slide-outs that help gain A LOT of space and storage for these. Expect to spend a little more money on these larger-sized $50,000-$100,000.

3 slide-outs (sofa, dinette, kitchen)
Loki Basecamp
Host triple slide-out with plenty of space on larger trucks

Pros: If you already own a truck, you just need to buy the camper portion to get started. For recreational campers, you can easily detach the truck camper and leave it at home while you still commute to work like normal. Truck campers detach and can be self-contained on most surfaces, just like any other camper. This makes your truck still usable if you want to leave the camper portion behind and go explore. Otherwise, it’s small and easy enough to drive with for any adventure. No pesky backing in a trailer or motorhome. No hitching or unhitching required

Cons: Not much storage, plus you sacrifice the truck bed to live in this monster! This is a difficult space to live in full time because of the tiny space and minimal storage.

Travel Trailers

Where do I start with travel trailers … when there’s a MILLION different layouts and options available.

Lance travel trailers with weights and info.
Airstream travel trailer size variations

As a beginner, many opt to get the smallest travel trailer – and that’s reasonable. It looks scary to drive a freaking 18-wheeler- length rolling home. Most people will aim to get between a 25 and 35 foot travel trailer, especially if you have kids or any pets. Although, you can definitely exist in a much smaller space if you are willing to be minimal about your camping.

Airstream Classic interior
Grand Design Imagine
Keystone hideout, bunk beds for the kids!
Old school Shasta (we stayed in one of these)
Tab camper – “I just a baby!”
Riverside Retro in teal/turquoise
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There’s plenty of very, very small options that are well under 20 feet as well, but I know that scares most people away when they actually see how small it is, these are things like Tabs. In this small of a vehicle, you’re sacrificing a lot over your traditional at-home living and I’ll admit that.

We personally accepted that we want a smaller space to save money, and to pair down into a more minimalistic lifestyle. We have a 26 foot Class C motorhome, don’t tow a car, and it’s been a dream for us. Camping, and life in general, really is a “choose your own adventure!”

Pros: You can pretty much pick your dream floor plan, with as many slide-outs and storage as you want. They literally have thousands of options here. Another good thing here is that if you already own a truck or large enough SUV, you’re pretty much ready to buy a trailer and take off!

Cons: If you’ve never driven a big truck or pulled a trailer, then be prepared for a learning curve. Also, backing in a travel trailer is somewhat frustrating for newbies – expect fights with your spouse (LOL). Difficulty of hitching, unhitching, setting up levels and chocks.

Fifth-Wheels

The difference between fifth-wheels and travel trailers are that the fifth wheel hitch mounts within your truck bed, and the space above is generally used for a bed or additional storage. Fifth wheels generally have much larger turn radiuses.

Fifth-wheels are pretty common nowadays, and for great reason. You combine the great size of a Class A motorhome with the ease of use of a travel trailer. Not to mention that you get to also include the space above your truck bed as additional living space, which travel trailers just can’t match. The turning radius on these bad boys is quite large too, much better than your pull-behind campers that can jack-knife (turn too hard and the trailer and hitch will crunch in on itself).

Finding a fifth-wheel for just about every price point is practical, with floor plans to appeal to everyone. Slide-outs here can almost double your living space in some cases.

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Scamper (small camper)
Older fifth-wheel still works great!
Grand Design Reflection, a very common fifth-wheel that has it all

Pros: Gain the space over your truck bed as a living quarters, compared to travel trailers losing that. Quite easy to level and balance out once un-hitched from a truck. Can get these as large as a Class A motorhome, basically 45 feet of usable floor plan PLUS slide-outs and storage underneath.

Cons: Price, usually between $50,000-$150,000.Very bulky and usually between 25 and 45 feet. Harder to drive especially for newbies if you’ve never pulled a trailer. Hitching, un-hitching, and setup is more than a smaller travel trailer or motorhome/van. You must have a special hitch to connect to your truck.

Camper-vans

These are sometimes called Class B motorhomes (see below motorhome section), although not always. Sometimes simply called vans, these things are literally a mini-van that you sleep in. You can see the yellow VW below and this thing is beautiful.

1976 Volkswagen Westfalia – man, we’d love to have one of these!

Because of the size of these, you obviously won’t get very much storage space. Not to mention living space, which is basically non-existent. You usually have the front seats to drive, bench seating that converts to a bed (or in the case of the VW you can sleep in the pop-up camper top portion), a mini-fridge, little camping range, and a few cabinets. That’s about the extent of what you get here with vans.

A huge mention here is that these will not typically include a bathroom of shower, some of the most crucial luxuries for many of us. Expect to use the campground showers and toilets!

Of course, you can spend much, much, more on the higher end Class-B motorhomes. These would be camper-van conversions such as the Airstream Interstate, Thor sanctuary, and the Storyteller Overland.

Lexus camper-top
Honda Element interior
Dodge Promaster
Interior of a Ford Transit campervan
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There’s a wide differential in prices of camper-vans, and there really is a different vehicle for everyone. They all vary widely with features, sizes, bed types, and more. If you’re considering one of these, make sure to do your extensive research and expect to pay a pretty penny. You’ll spend between $25,000-$225,000 whether you want a used little Dodge Promaster that’s been partially renovated, or a brand new ready to live in beast like the Winnebago Revel.

Pros: These are as small as your basic SUV or truck that you’re probably driving already. Picture a plumbing or construction work truck, but converted into a living space. Can be 4WD or lifted for plenty of driving clearance.

Cons: Basically zero storage – you’re living in a van, man. These rarely even can fit a shower or toilet. You’ll either have to use the camping bathrooms, or opt for a composting toilet and outdoor shower spray wand.

Composting toilet that slides outdoors
Composting toilet inside a van
Outdoor shower wand for exterior bathing
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Motorhomes

Very important to note that this “class” system does not jump from A, to B, to C depending on length or price by any means. In general, Class A motorhomes are the largest and most luxurious or expensive. Class C motorhomes are a budget version of that, and in much smaller form factors. Then, you have Class B motorhomes which are heavily improved camper vans with all of your modern accessories, usually at a smaller package than both Class A and C motorhomes. I know, it’s pretty confusing, but I didn’t create this system!

Class A: The “Crème de la crème” (French, literally means cream of the cream, or translated further to mean cream of the crop, or the best of something) of motorhomes. These bad boys are usually starting at $50,000 for a VERY used model. You can expect to pay close to $250,000 for a decent motorhome here, and easily up to $1 million dollars for some of the top of the line options like Prevost.

Prevost, top of the line of motorhomes. This thing is like close to $1 million brand new.

These Class A motorhomes have all of your luxuries of a modern home, albeit in a much smaller package. They have sprawling living spaces, slide-outs to add additional space, king beds, dual-vanity sinks in the bathroom, and huge residential refrigerators (RV fridges are typically much smaller than a home/residential fridge). Expect to pay quite a pretty few pennies for these though.

Another super important thing to note is that Class A motorhomes can range from the smallest at about 22 feet, all the way up to 45 feet of living space.

Pros: More space than you should ever need. Easy setup: you pull-in, park, use your auto-levelers and hook up power, water, and waste. That’s basically it! You can tow almost any car, truck, or SUV. These things are beasts and way a ton, plus have massive diesel engines capable of pulling just about anything.

Cons: These motorhomes are huge and when you see them out, they’re usually 35-45 feet long. You’re basically driving a school bus with much more weight and features inside. Most engines here are diesel – expect HIGH fuel prices especially in these hard times. Good luck parking this thing anywhere, as its too large to fit in a lot of places.

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Class B: These are also lumped into the “camper-van” category quite often. In reality, Class B motorhomes are larger and considerably more upscale over the traditional camper-van. Usually Class B motorhomes have a bathroom and shower, even if they’re tiny and hard to use, where as camper-vans almost always do not. The length of a Class B motorhome caps out at about 22 feet in most cases, so these are typically easy to maneuver and drive anywhere!

Storyteller Overland
Dodge Ram Promaster
Airstream Interstate
Winnebago Revel

Pros: Very small and easy to drive, not much of a difference from your daily commuter. You can park it just about anywhere, standard parking spots are big enough. Most of these vans are available with 4WD making them beasts to go off-roading or onto a beach.

Cons: Very small space, good luck with storage, because you don’t get much. Usually your dining table/dinette converts into your bed. Although, in certain models you can definitely use the front driving seats as your dining space. Vans or Class B motorhomes are VERY expensive … usually starting at $100,000 and exceeding well above that!

Class C: This is where WE fit in! We have a Class C motorhome, and it’s a 2022 Coachmen Crosstrail XL 23XG. Yep, that’s a mouthful – why do they name these things like freaking extraterrestrial planets?

Our dining table
Our baby – 2022 Coachmen Crosstrail XL 23XG
Simple bathroom
“If I fits, I sits” – words of a cat (but I’m a dog)
One happy customer!
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Class C motorhomes vary greatly between about 22 feet and 33 feet, and you can’t get much larger than that. Once you step above that threshold, you’re looking at either a travel trailer, fifth wheel camper, or a Class A motorhome because each of these have options to go much larger.

Pros: These offer a nice blend between the Class A and the Class B, which is why I’m baffled why it’s called a Class C. (I guess Class C was the third thing invented by combining the other two?) Budget friendly for the whole family, and Fido!

Cons: These cap out at about 35 feet, so if you want larger you’ll have to get a Class A or travel trailer/fifth-wheel. Very low ground clearance – expect to scrape a lot when driving. Not the most luxurious, if you want that instead: look to Class A or B.

The Others

We’ve seen just about everything on our trip over the last 9 months of full-time RV living. We’ve seen plenty of music festival-goers basically living in their vans and school buses. I spotted a Honda Element with a pop-up rooftop camper once. Plenty of SUVs like Toyota 4Runner, Subaru Outback, and others that people have slapped a rooftop camper top on. We’ve even seen a few people using “Camp mode” on their Tesla as they sleep in it at their campsite pedestal charging overnight.

“Life really is about creating your own adventure.”

-No Place Like Gone, 2023

We’ve Had Fun Today – Did You?

We can only hope that you had a blast reading our blog today. We love camping and traveling full-time so much that we have dedicated our time to help others do the same. It’s truly a lifestyle fit for just about everyone, with many, many options to suite your needs. The experience of camping is how you can live simply, see plenty of beautiful landscapes, and experience the world through your own lens.

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<img alt=" Matt with
Matt with
No Place Like Gone

Hey! I’m the man behind the magic – AKA the camera and blog. I’m also a purveyor of craft beer, grill master, and chief RV driver. Connect with me on social media below:

Check out these related reads:

Categories
Giving

How Can You Spread Holiday Cheer this Year?

It’s the most joyful time of year, so how will you spread your Holiday Cheer? The beautiful thing about Christmas music is that it always manages to tap those emotional cords inside of all of us. We can’t resist those nostalgic feelings that take us back to when we were a kid, and the family traditions that we love oh-so very much.

Regardless of how busy the year has been for you, Christmas and New Year’s are always the time to reset and feel like you can start the new year fresh.

“You can have a bite of my apple.”

One thing we quickly forget is being nice to others. In this crazy world, it’s so easy to get worked up and to react emotionally to others in rage or anger. Making generosity a top priority is a vital way to stay healthy and mentally well. We mean it.

You gain nothing from greed and overindulgence. The happiest, healthiest life is through being kind to others. We belong together as community. The wise writers of Proverbs 11:14 says that, “In counsel … there is safety.” Everyone working together will improve us all. Think of the last time that someone did something kind or generous for you. I’m sure it was super impactful for you.

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What Can You Do to Be Generous?

  • Hold a door open for someone at the store and greet them with a smile.
  • Offer to help an elderly person carry their groceries out to the car. You can even go the extra mile and load them up in the car, if they want you to.
  • Pay it forward at a restaurant. Pay for the person’s food behind you at the drive through. This is popular especially at Chic-Fil-A and you can start the chain that many others will continue behind you!
  • Find a mother with a full cart at the grocery store. Offer to pay for her groceries at the checkout. This will feel like you moved mountains for her and her children.
  • Give Secret Santa a shot! Find a local toy drive, church, or foster home. Often you can pick the gender and age of the kid so that you can tailor the gifts to fit them well. For some children, even new clothes go a long way.
  • Donate your old clothes to a foster home, church, or charity store like Miracle Hill.
  • Volunteer at Meals on Wheels, or your local food bank/drive to help serve food to people this Holiday.

These are just a few options, that range from spending money, volunteering time, or random acts of kindness throughout your day. There’s something for everyone to try on this list. And if you are short on money, check out our blog here for the newest tips.

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We Want to Have a Give-away!

We want to start by spreading the Christmas cheer ourselves, so we are having a give-away! We truly believe that we boost our OWN quality of life when you do nice things for other people. The power of giving can make you want to smile from ear to ear, and also it empowers you to let go of your money.

Dave Ramsey preaches with references to scripture that there’s only three things to do with money and they should all be done equally. He teaches giving first as the most crucial, then saving and spending. When the triangle of money lines up, you will feel the best about your financial decisions. Give, save, spend. I encourage you to just try it. When’s the last time you gave to someone or were generous, and actually regret it? Probably never!

The Ramsey Giving Show 2022 – Ramsey Solutions.

Generosity has power. We are meant to work together with other humans as a society.

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To enter the give-away:

  • Follow us on Instagram here or click the Instagram icon above!
  • Comment on any of our posts with the hashtag: #NoPlaceLikeChristmas to enter with one admission.
  • We would also love for you to make a post with your recent giving or generosity and use the hashtag #NoPlaceLikeChristmas for a second admission.
  • This is a no purchase necessary give-away. We are not selling entry tickets or alternate methods to win. It’s FREE!
  • Let’s make it #NoPlaceLikeChristmas for everyone this year!

We will be drawing a winner on Christmas Eve, December 24th, to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Please pay attention to your Instagram inbox, because we will direct message the winner there. We will also announce who has won the give-away on our Instagram story for everyone to see.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! Please ask yourself, “How Can You Spread Holiday Cheer this Year?”

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See our latest Instagram posts here, and follow us for the give-away:

Categories
Finance Lifestyle

Turn Your Car Payment into a Million Dollar Retirement

Audio version on Spotify.
Average car payment as of June, 2022 – Business Insider

Wow, that’s a headline huh … according to many studies, the average car payment of Americans is up over a record breaking $700 for the FIRST time in history. Not to mention that the average new car being sold now is around $47,000 off the dealership lot. Oh, and you have to pay all of these new “dealership markup fees” because of Covid-19. Let’s insert the awfully high prices of gas around the nation right now as well, being close to $4/gallon on average.

See, just a few years ago it used to be that you could finance a new car for 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months depending on various factors. Within just the last decade, the car loan term has expanded from 4-5 years to now 6-8 years being the standard practice. Because new and used car prices are at all time highs in history right now, lenders are taking advantage of capitalizing on more profit through interest. To the average person, buying a car seems easier because the price tags aren’t as important, but because the loan term can be reduced to a smaller and smaller monthly payment for flexibility.

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Ditch the Car Payment

The average car payment in America is close to $700/month and that leaves me in actual fucking awe. Maybe I’m just not the “average” person in America. I’m weird. Outside of the box. I’d rather pay much, much less for my car – and enjoy a hefty savings account. Better yet, invest a chunk of that money into my future retirement.

Did you know that an investment of $700/month could make MOST people a millionaire in their retirement? Because I did, and I’m here to share that knowledge with you.

Check out this retirement calculator by Ramsey Solutions. Even if you started at 42 years old (halfway to retirement from 18-67) with ZERO initial balance and invested $700/month, you’d become a millionaire in 25 short years. Don’t believe me? I’ll let the numbers do the talking!

The great thing about this calculator, and many others is that you can insert your age, monthly contribution amount, and see how much you’ll end up with! It works magic for anyone. Now I get it’s hard for most of us to just believe that this little calculator knows everything. Technology isn’t always right, or at least I’ve been told that.

Let’s put some actual facts into the equation.

The crazy thing is that this above calculation was almost worst case scenario ($700/month from ages 42-67). I’m not even factoring in the employer match that your job might offer. I’m not asking if you could save up more money, or work another job, to get more retirement money. I’m starting halfway to retirement at age 42 with the numbers. Imagine the money avalanche that you could have at retirement if you are 35, or 20 years old. The reality is, all you might have to do is ditch the car payment and drive an older beat up car. Ask yourself, why do we all need $40k cars anyway? Are we trying to impress society?

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Do You Want to Retire?

In a study recently, less than 1 in 4 Americans nearing retirement age believe that they will be able to retire comfortably. What does comfortable even mean in this crazy intense world nowadays? Generally accepted by many now is that you need 70-80% of your working salary income to enter retirement. This is affected by many factors including mortgage, bills, and whether you want to travel or stay local in your later years. You might even pick up an expensive hobby like golf – keep this all in mind when planning your retirement.

I personally don’t think waiting UNTIL retirement age (60’s) is a good plan for my retirement. I also don’t have the most enthusiasm in our government and their social security program to support me single-handedly in my elderly years.

So what’s your plan?

Regardless of your age, income, and other excuses, you CAN start today. You can choose to take control of your money, if that’s what you want to do. You can decide to retire in a beach house down south (Hey Florida!) if that’s what you want. Start dreaming about how you want your retirement to look – whether it’s 5 years away, or 40 years out.

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The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

-Chinese Proverb

Once your goal is in place for retirement, make a plan. Can you drop your ridiculous car payment to set yourself up for the future? Can you skip the expensive coffee, or eating out a few times a month to help fund your financial future? I can. I am empowering people everyday to help do the same with their future.

Use my link here to get started with a retirement account on WeBull today. If you already have another retirement account, you are ahead of the game!

I highly recommend digging into these similar reads to keep you learning about and investing money:

Follow us on Instagram to keep in touch with our travels, here’s the latest posts:

Categories
Finance Lifestyle

Lifestyle Inflation

You see the neighbor’s sparkly blue BMW sitting out front of their mansion. You notice the new Mercedes they just bought their high school aged kid next. You have a choice of what happens next. Do you want to struggle to keep up with the Jones’?

It creeps up on most of us, and you have to be very careful. You get a nice promotion at work with a hefty raise. Your wife successfully launches her side business tutoring school kids on the weekends. You find yourself with more zeros on your bank account than you’ve ever seen. You have a choice of what happens next.

You see the neighbor’s sparkly blue BMW sitting out front of their mansion. You notice the new Mercedes they just bought their high school aged kid next. It’s getting hot out this Summer and you see them all kicking back and laughing out by the pool. You spend your own time mowing your lawn and doing landscaping almost every weekend to keep up a good curb appeal. But regardless of what you do, that pesky neighbor pays professionals to come out and spread grass seed, spray pesticides, and mow their yards. What is this, the freaking Biltmore House? You have a choice of what happens next.

With your new wealth, you could start paying for a better lifestyle. You could look cool like your neighbors do, at a cost. Everything comes at a cost. Part of this cost is that you are comparing yourself to your neighbor. This could be a lack of confidence. Jealousy. Or it could just be lifestyle inflation, creeping up in your mind. “Well I make more money now, I can afford nicer things.” You have a choice of what happens next.

See, I intentionally ended the last three paragraphs with the same line.

“You have a choice of what happens next.”

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Powerful. I’ve learned that we get caught up in the small details. You make more money now, so you can afford more things right? Your neighbor has better things than you, well it must be time to keep up with the Jones’. But why?

Why can’t you make more money and keep the same old things you already have? Because you think you deserve better. Because capitalism and our culture teaches us that we all deserve nice and shiny new things ALL of the time. We all deserve the best. Even YOU can afford a nice BMW with the right financing terms. Marketing makes it seem like all of us can join the wealthy elites with the right utilization of debt.

Flip the Coin

You don’t have to play into lifestyle inflation. Do you know what you can achieve by keeping new found money in your possession? I do. If you manage to keep those greedy car companies, furniture stores, and other consumer products away, that can be powerful.

Imagine living the same life you have been, without purchasing a lot of new things. You could find contentment within the present. You don’t need a new car, a larger house, or a bigger ego. Imagine that.

Contentment is a process, a journey, and a way of life. Can you be content with less things than someone else has? Can you find happiness not within things – but within people and memories? Because I can. I know this exists, and I’m writing about these stories every day. I’m seeing people who walk this life every day. Financial minimalism can be achieved for anyone – who is willing to seek it out.

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See, I also left out a key detail about that pesky neighbor we talked about earlier. They have the sprawling mansion, a BMW, the Mercedes, and a pool. Plenty of other things too that you could only dream of having one day. But they are struggling financially. They have so much debt that I’m convinced the father sold some organs to afford those things. They sit up at night wondering how they’ll afford the next thing. Their kid is spoiled and hasn’t learned the meaning of money. The mother and father argue to the point that their marriage is in jeopardy next. Does this look like the life you want?

Happiness doesn’t equal things. Do you really want to strive to be them? The material possessions will not improve your life. Buying too many things and living beyond your means often comes with a hefty price tag.

What Does Moving Forward Look Like?

Decide what’s important to you. Do you want to put your family in jeopardy by buying too many consumer products? That’s exactly what can happen when you let a mountain of debt rack up higher than your bank account. Prosperity, which is the counter-opposite of struggling with debt, would look a whole lot better for your children one day.

Set your values. Are you the type that wants to never use debt again? If you are, start today. Cut those credit cards up, stop watching TV commercials, and run the opposite way of retail shopping. Anything in life starts with intentionality. Then you can build up over time from baby steps, to larger steps, of living and breathing a healthier air.

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Regardless of which direction you choose to go in, remember that living beyond your means is not sustainable. Just because your neighbor or someone else has nice things, does not mean you need to compete with them. This also appears that they look good on the outside, but you don’t know how they are truly doing on the inside. Maybe you want nice things like they have, but you can choose to not go in debt over your head for them.

No matter how many things you own, you have to live with yourself. Do you want to own a lot of things, and be struggling financially? Or would you rather not own anything, and be able to smile and breathe normally? You can set the example for your children.

Here are some related reads that I highly recommend:

Categories
Finance

Quick Money Hacks

Step right up and get your Quick Money Hacks – audio version!

Inflation – it’s no surprise to most Americans. It’s been on the horizon and has smacked us all in the face with full force this year. The cost of everything is rising due to various factors: COVID, government legislation, supply and demand shortages across every industry, and, you know, the entire world shutting down. Now in the fall of 2022, is absolutely the worst time to buy anything – as compared to any previous time in history. It’s expensive for anyone to buy their first house, first car, food, clothes, or really anything in this economy.

Here are various statistics referred to as the CPI (Consumer Price Index) provided by the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) – a government entity:

This information is tracked from June 2021-June 2022.

  • Food has risen 10.4%
  • Energy has risen a grand total of 41.6%
  • The most annoying one to many: Motor fuel (this includes gasoline, of all types) has increased a whopping 60.2%
  • New vehicles cost 11.4% more
  • Used vehicles are up 7.1% (still a mind blowing phenomenon here)
  • Household furnishings and supplies are up 10.2%
CPI (Consumer Price Index) Graph – provided by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Enough of the facts, let’s jump in to the practical things that we all can do to save money in this perfect storm of economics.

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1. Why Shop Name Brand?

Listen, name brand products have their place and there is a reason that they got their fame as being a “name brand.” Yeti makes great products, their coolers and mugs are fantastic products. However, the fact of the matter is that if you are paying for a Yeti product then part of that cost is higher simply because of the Yeti name. This increase goes back into their massive company – distributed throughout share holders, execs, marketing, advertisements, paying employees, etc. This extra price hike is not usually the case with cheaper products that most consider “knock-offs.”

Here’s a great example:

Move the slider all the way to the right ($25 Yeti mug) then move the slider all the way to the left to see the “knock-off” at less than half the price ($8 Walmart mug – VERY similar product).

2. Become a Great Cook

Who says you can’t have gourmet food, like eating out at a fancy restaurant that you love? Teach yourself through YouTube, Food Network or even good old fashioned cook books (like gramma used) to become a fantastic chef. With simple ingredients you can buy at any grocery store you may be the next master chef.

One of the greatest things is that you don’t even have to tip anyone for their service! Unless you’d like to tip yourself, I guess? Oh! And pants are totally optional.

3. Check Your Subscriptions

According to the Motley Fool, the average American spends $219/month on entertainment subscription services. I think it goes without saying – that is a lot of money to most people! Let’s be honest, do you really need to keep up with 20 separate TV series at the same time? Do you even really have the time in the month to watch Netflix, Hulu, YouTube TV, Disney Plus, Apple TV, Paramount +, HBO Max? The crazy thing is the list goes on, that was just scratching the surface of subscriptions available. I think you get the picture. Or if you cancel all of these to save money – you won’t.

Easily replace some of your entertainment watch time with a new hobby, taking a walk, or spending more time with your kids/animals. These few ideas can distract your mind from always wanting to keep up with the newest hit TV series that keep taking your money and help you live a fuller life anyway.

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4. Make Coffee at Home or Work

Did you know that the Starbucks corporation pulled in almost $32 billion in annual revenue last fiscal year? No, I’m not joking. This is a number that most of us literally can’t fathom. Here are some of those numbers for your viewing pleasure:

Starbucks revenue numbers based off of the stock market – from Macrotrends.net

There’s a reason that coffee is such a global phenomenon … not many people can get wonderful, relaxing sleep anymore. We are all over-stimulated throughout the day with the constant buzzing of our smart phones and the over-stimulation from the chaos of the modern world. We never allow ourselves to truly rest and our tanks run on empty on the daily. This drives us to search out the next “hit” of energy so we can make it through another work day, PTA meeting, school play, or client meeting – lucky for us, at only $8 a coffee, Starbucks has us covered.

Next time, make your coffee at home in the morning. Put the coffee pod in while you are getting ready first thing in the morning. It takes mere minutes – less than the time it takes you to sit in the drive through while the fancy baristas make your overpriced Iced Caramel Macchiato. Or, even better, take advantage of that dusty Keurig in the corner of the office kitchen and make it for “free” at work. There’s no excuse.

5. What’s a Library?

Many people might not realize that there is a thing in society called a library. You might remember this from back in grade school, when you were forced to go check out a book for your English report. Yes, libraries do still exist – even in this digital age of Kindles, iPads, and smart phones. Drop by your local library and see if they have a few books that interest you. In the process, you’ll save tons on each book that you would have bought online or at a fancy Barnes and Noble. You can read for free from the library’s wonderful collection, and can take it home for two weeks – FOR FREE – for your viewing pleasure.

Also, another thing to note is that libraries are not just a thing of the past when we wrote on stone tablets and gathered around camp fires in caves. They also have high-speed internet connections, top of the line computers, cutting edge data resources, and more – that you can use – FOR FREE. Printers are also available for small fees that you can use as well. Many libraries even offer free internet hotspots that you can take home to use with your own devices. All you need is a library card – which is, you guessed it, also FREE!

6. Start Carrying Cash!

Hopefully everyone recognizes the above image. Look familiar?

Yes, start carrying cash. Go by the local branch of your bank and withdraw a few hundred for restaurants, gas, and shopping for the month. Chances are that many of the places you visit on a daily basis will offer a cash discount, I’ve seen this as high as 8% at a local restaurant. If you visit your local luxury store – I mean gas station – then you will see on the gas price board that there is both a cash and credit price per gallon. According to NACS (the Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing), credit card processing fees at gas stations average about 2.5% of the total transaction price. See here.

See cash price of $4.19 versus the credit/debit price of $4.29.

Let’s do some quick math and see why this is worth it! Per AAA, the nation’s average gas price is currently $3.70 as I am writing this blog in September 2022. If you take 2.5% of $3.70, that’s a small savings total of 9 cents per gallon. But if you multiply this out, you’ll realize some actual savings. As an example, let’s say you have a 20 gallon gas tank, and 20 times 9 cents equals $1.80 that you could have saved on your single fill-up. Sure that seems like such an insignificant number, but the savings truly can add up.

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Let’s look at the savings over the span of a year:

Close to 50% of Americans fill up once a week (pre-pandemic times)

So we can safely assume that we fill up close to 50 times a year, at the savings rate of $1.80 (shown in above paragraph) equals out to savings of $90/year by paying cash instead of with a card. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Another HUGE area for saving money is by taking advantage of the cash discount at the register. Next time you go out to eat (if you aren’t on the beans and rice diet by Dave Ramsey) check the bottom of your receipt. Most likely, there’s a line that says something like this:

Cash discounts are typically around 4% and do add up over time.

7. Pay Less for Groceries

Sure, there’s a stigma in society about shopping at health food stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joes for only the best in organic products. The honest truth is that you can still eat healthy, and even have certain dietary restrictions, even with your goal of saving money on groceries. My personal favorite grocery is Aldi; they pride themselves on some of the cheapest prices around, while also maintaining quality. Aldi goes a step further with their products – promising no certified synthetic colors, added MSG, or partially hydrogenated oils.

Another one of the low cost contenders is Wal-Mart. My girlfriend’s least favorite store on planet Earth. Here’s why: the downside with shopping at Wal-Mart is that you must be resilient with your spending. You can easily get lost in their hundreds of aisles and end up with everything from a new rug, to shoes, to groceries all in one visit. It can be a trap – don’t overspend here! But, if you stick to your grocery list, Wal-Mart does offer considerable savings on every day staples compared to regional grocery stores like Publix, Ingles, Menards, or the like.

8. Insurance Isn’t a Scam

Have you been with the same insurance company for years? Whether it’s home, auto, boat, RV (Hey! That’s us) or life insurance, there are plenty of companies competing for your money. It never hurts every few months to shop around at multiple insurance companies to find the best rate and coverage options. You never know what you could be saving, potentially hundreds of dollars per year. A pro-tip here is to make sure you work directly with a high quality insurance broker. Working directly with a broker allows you to get educated in each type of insurance, what certain coverages are and whether you even need them, which companies best match your needs, and also allows you to shop around multiple insurance companies for rates.

I also want to mention that many people believe insurance is a scam, which is difficult for me to disagree with a majority of the time (ha!). However, what ends up being more expensive is when you actually get into an accident and it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. When these major life events occur, insurance is able to take the cost and reduce it tremendously. Over time it just makes more financial sense to pay smaller amounts monthly into the plan vs. losing everything as a result of what would have been a covered claim. Insurance can save you money and heartache in these extremely painstaking circumstances.

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9. Ditch Your Debt

I’ll let this paragraph from Ramsey Solutions speak for itself, folks.

Debt. A uncomfortable topic commonly avoided by the majority of people. Whether you find yourself owing student loans, car loans, credit cards, or store cards, it all is a burden. The cruel honest truth is that if you have debt, you are inevitably paying more for something than you should. Debt allows you to have something now, pay more for it later.

Debt allows you to have something now and pay more for it later. Oh, and there’s plenty of traps along the way for your wallet to stub its toe on: late fees, interest charges, balance transfer fees, maintenance fees – OUCH!

– No Place Like Gone, 2022

If you have “extra” money hiding under your mattress, are willing to work a plan to get out of debt, or are down to work a side hustle – let today be the starting point. Check out Financial Peace University by Ramsey Solutions, as it’s one of the most well-known financial plans out there that can work for anyone – as long as you follow it! The sooner you get your butt in gear by working an extra job, staying on a budget, and being intentional, is the sooner that you can be saving thousands in debt charges and be on the path to financial freedom.

10. Have a Yard Sale

Do you have a garage attached on your house that’s slap full of junk … I mean old books, clothes, workout equipment, tools, and other things you haven’t used since last spring? Or are your attic rafters falling through your ceiling with too many holiday decorations that you no longer have the willpower to put up and take down every year? Anything can be sold – at the right price. Have a garage sale with any thing that you haven’t used in the last six months. If it doesn’t spark an emotion in you (like joy or peace) then it doesn’t need to be living in your house rent free. It’s spring cleaning time, baby! We all know how the saying goes, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” You could end up with hundreds of bucks in one weekend! Ca-ching! AND your house will be a less cluttered home for you to enjoy the things you do keep.

Bonus #11: BE RESILIENT!

It’s Saturday afternoon and you find yourself in the car again driving through downtown, glancing at all of the shopping you could do. Retail therapy is the name, and shopping is your game. If you are trying to save money, don’t let this be you. I will even take this a step further and say that if you are shopping to cope with being sad or depressed, talk to your doctor or seek out a therapist immediately. I did. Stuff can never replace real human connection or “make” you feel better. So stop buying more of it to fill the void. You will save tremendous amounts of money in the long run by solving your underlying problem today. Get the help you need ASAP so that you can enjoy shopping, within your means, and not rely on it as an unhelpful and damaging coping mechanism. Your future self will thank you!

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In Closing:

Desperate times call for desperate measures – in the midst of 2022 following a global pandemic, we are all trying our best to combat economic inflation. The good news is that you don’t have to be all that desperate or alter your life tremendously to save money. After this read, you can walk away knowing that you have a better handle on what to do next. The future is in your hands now.

The best way that you can be prepared for bad financial times is to:
take control of your finances, find ways to save money each day, get on a budget, and to continue educating yourself on the matter. Ready to dig deeper? Check out some other money tips in the articles below:

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