what to do? where to live?

twiggy2

twiggy2

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Highlands from Essex
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I have less than 2 weeks in the house, a place I could go for a couple of months has fallen through, my plan is to get a camper and live in that as I cannot afford to rent but have a few places I could put a van over night.
With all the change I just wanted to get out of the house and have a bit of breathing space so I don't rush into a van purchase. I need to stay in the area due to work and kids (who will have oth left home by then).
Any pearls of wisdom?
 
Don't know the background here (sorry) but for something short term, although it Might be a bit difficult at this time of year (school hols etc), you could try a static caravan park?
 
Barlow's idea I think, although I can't think of any your way that doesn't mean there isn't! Best of luck anyway. You can hire campervans, although I have no idea how much they cost.
 
they cost more than a house and most wont take the dog, what I had lined uwas a mobile on a farm, good price and initially he said dog was fine and i could take the guard dog out walking with mine if they got on, but I spoke to him today and he was adamant no dog! his farm his rules though.
Work goes with the current house (sort of) and I don't have a definate end date for that-I also don't want to 'rock the boat' by jumping ship on the job till I have my deposit back on the house! I hate renting.
Campervans to hire are really expensive and the dog again is an issue.
Thanks for the ideas though
 
Rent a room in a house, some accept pets. I did this for a few years to save money and get back on my feet and in work after a long illness. I was renting a large double bedroom for £300pcm which included all bills. Have a look on spareroom.co.uk
 
The campervan option could be a good stop gap whilst you work out exactly what you want to do. There's been a big boom recently in motorhome ownership, so you shouldn't lose much money if you sell it on later, as they are in great demand.

Best of luck with whatever you do.
 
I was in a similar situation a year ago and worked out a caravan was best bet, staying in lower end caravan parks. You will have to move every so often as places have limits on length of stay. eBay and gumtree had loads of cheap caravans (needing a bit of tlc).

I also looked at renting a room and I did find a couple of potential places that would consider having the dogs so worth having a look as previous poster suggested.

In the end I didn't need caravan as I found a flat to rent in my price range that allowed dogs which seemed like a miracle tbh! Good luck :)
 
We lived in our caravan for 18 months a few years ago until finding a property. If you join Caravan Club & Camping & Caravaning Club their sites are really good and well maintained also pet friendly. We used a main one for a base and had to pull off for a weekend once a month, easy if you have a campervan. The caravan club used to have winter locations you could book for a lower cost. Hope you manage to sort something out.
 
Site fees would be almost as much as a cheap rate in a travel lodge. CLs (certified locations) are cheaper but don't always have any facilities.

Motor home hire is astranomical, about 800quid for a weekend up here.

I agree with you op, that buying is probably your best option if you can afford something that isn't going to cost you a fortune in garage fees.

Is it an agricultural job as you have more rights as a tenant then.

Are you looking for a new job? Would a live in position suit?
 
FfionWinnie said:
Site fees would be almost as much as a cheap rate in a travel lodge. CLs (certified locations) are cheaper but don't always have any facilities.

Motor home hire is astranomical, about 800quid for a weekend up here.

I agree with you op, that buying is probably your best option if you can afford something that isn't going to cost you a fortune in garage fees.

Is it an agricultural job as you have more rights as a tenant then.

Are you looking for a new job? Would a live in position suit?
Click to expand...

My house is not attached to the job ut I work part time for the people whos house I live in and pay full rent, in October I could have gone full time in my other job so spoke to the person whos house I live in and they assured me jo with them was secure, 2 months later told me they want to do horses themselves as no-one is going to be competing (and empty nest syndrome), so I cannot afford house without job and kids leaving home etc.
My other part time job is secure, long term and well paid. If I could find a morning job with accomodation on where I could put a van/caravan that would be perfect.
The problem is you can spend a fortune and gets massive garage fees and you can spend nect to nothing and get none, I do get reduced rates from my ex's nephew who has a garage but it still adds up.
need to do something but I really wanted a bit of breathing space so I can concentrate on getting out of the house before making a big decision on a camper van
 
Tesco car parks will allow you to stay overnight in a camper van (not for a long time obviously but a night at a time)
Things that would concern me about living in a van/camper

1) Dog getting hot

2) keeping an older van on the road can be very expensive, tax, insurance, mot etc.

3) new vans are VERY expensive

4) Would need to keep moving about and finding suitable locations to park. I would imagine more than a night or two at any one location would start to get you moved on unless obviously you are out truly wild camping somewhere on the moors or on a site paying fees

5) Water, electric etc. Can buy big bottles of water easy enough for drinking, showers are not really a problem if you have any sort of facility in work or are a member of a gym, but toilets could be an issue, with a bit of planning it is not impossible but would require either some spending - portapotti with liners; or a fair amount of thought in terms of where you stop, keeping your water tanks filled up and finding somewhere to empty a chemical cassette etc. Leisure batteries need to be charged using a specialist charger so you would need to buy one and have potentially a couple of spare batteries with access to a source

6) dog loose in the van, even if you have air con etc you risk a "helpful" passerby breaking in to save the dog on a hot day. You also risk the dog trashing the van (dog dependent) or soiling in the van. Dog in crate - bit rubbish if the dog is crated for long periods of time especially as you will not have a "garden" or whatever to let the dog have a roam and a play. I camp a fair bit and there are some areas where I actually find it really hard work as my beagle is a livestock chaser so needs to be either secure or leaded. If we are camping she can spend days just on a lead, she gets more walks (at least 3 45 mins a day plus little toilet trips) but I don't think it is as much fun as having a run and a play, and in a caravan or camper there is not much indoor space for a good romp about

7) clothes washing and more importantly drying, especially if you work outdoors you will have things you need dry for tomorrow and without heating electric etc that is not always easy.

Sorry for the essay, I am sure you can do this but these are the things that primarily would worry me and the questions I would want answering before I went for this as a full time choice. A lot of other stuff will come up but mostly it is stuff you can deal with. Some of these can be eliminated if you have an office job with any sort of provision for cyclists - here we have a drying room and a shower block so immediately life is easier...

Finally, I have a house and rent a room to a girl who has a dog, she pays £250 a month all bills included, helps out round the house a bit for me, whoever is in makes food, we pretty much share shopping, dog food and care. I tend to organise more of it but she pays the way for her own dog etc. She has been with me for a few years, we are working to improve the room she rents and she has been pretty tolerant of the house not being amazing and times I have been diying etc. We now have a nice lounge, a nice almost done bathroom and a nice bedroom that is half done along with a new roof! She has been incredibly patient as such while her rent comes in handy, she probably just about pays for herself in the overall scheme of things, we help each other with the dogs, sort each others washing out when needed and have gotten to be good friends.
 
Roxylola said:
Tesco car parks will allow you to stay overnight in a camper van (not for a long time obviously but a night at a time)
Things that would concern me about living in a van/camper

1) Dog getting hot

2) keeping an older van on the road can be very expensive, tax, insurance, mot etc.

3) new vans are VERY expensive

4) Would need to keep moving about and finding suitable locations to park. I would imagine more than a night or two at any one location would start to get you moved on unless obviously you are out truly wild camping somewhere on the moors or on a site paying fees

5) Water, electric etc. Can buy big bottles of water easy enough for drinking, showers are not really a problem if you have any sort of facility in work or are a member of a gym, but toilets could be an issue, with a bit of planning it is not impossible but would require either some spending - portapotti with liners; or a fair amount of thought in terms of where you stop, keeping your water tanks filled up and finding somewhere to empty a chemical cassette etc. Leisure batteries need to be charged using a specialist charger so you would need to buy one and have potentially a couple of spare batteries with access to a source

6) dog loose in the van, even if you have air con etc you risk a "helpful" passerby breaking in to save the dog on a hot day. You also risk the dog trashing the van (dog dependent) or soiling in the van. Dog in crate - bit rubbish if the dog is crated for long periods of time especially as you will not have a "garden" or whatever to let the dog have a roam and a play. I camp a fair bit and there are some areas where I actually find it really hard work as my beagle is a livestock chaser so needs to be either secure or leaded. If we are camping she can spend days just on a lead, she gets more walks (at least 3 45 mins a day plus little toilet trips) but I don't think it is as much fun as having a run and a play, and in a caravan or camper there is not much indoor space for a good romp about

7) clothes washing and more importantly drying, especially if you work outdoors you will have things you need dry for tomorrow and without heating electric etc that is not always easy.

Sorry for the essay, I am sure you can do this but these are the things that primarily would worry me and the questions I would want answering before I went for this as a full time choice. A lot of other stuff will come up but mostly it is stuff you can deal with. Some of these can be eliminated if you have an office job with any sort of provision for cyclists - here we have a drying room and a shower block so immediately life is easier...

Finally, I have a house and rent a room to a girl who has a dog, she pays £250 a month all bills included, helps out round the house a bit for me, whoever is in makes food, we pretty much share shopping, dog food and care. I tend to organise more of it but she pays the way for her own dog etc. She has been with me for a few years, we are working to improve the room she rents and she has been pretty tolerant of the house not being amazing and times I have been diying etc. We now have a nice lounge, a nice almost done bathroom and a nice bedroom that is half done along with a new roof! She has been incredibly patient as such while her rent comes in handy, she probably just about pays for herself in the overall scheme of things, we help each other with the dogs, sort each others washing out when needed and have gotten to be good friends.
Click to expand...

Thanks for a reply that you have put so much thought into
I can answer a few of the queries straight off though;
dog comes into work with me and is exercised off lead every day (minimum of 1.5 hrs daily off lead)-I work at a vets/stable yards and some dog walking.
The van costs may be an issues but I hope it will be offset by not running a home (currently paying £900 per month plus bills) and a car.
filling a water tank can be done at work or stables, I have a few places I can spend a night a week (friends etc so if I struggle for a few nights here and there I can pay for a site.
batteries can be charged on a normal charger ut I would buy something with or fit a split charger so battery charges when engine on van is running.
washing and drying clothes is the biggest issue, I can use locl launderette for my stuff and work washing machine for dog stuff-drying things may be an issues but we have a wash room at work and I reckon I will get away with a few bits hanging in there when I am working.
Porta potti is easy any mains drain cover can take it (if I use a porta potti) and shower can be on board the van
 
The launderette will have driers so shouldn't be a problem. I think the house share/room renting is a good compromise though while you are still unsure and you don't have the initial outlay to buy the van, just generally a month's notice/deposit.
 
Sounds like you have something fairly well in place for most eventualities then. Like I said those would be things that would immediately worry me in the same situation and I would need to feel I could answer before I would go for it. Most other stuff I would say can be dealt with along the way. :D
 
While I think it would be doable on a practical level, would you really be happy with having to move on every couple of days and not really having somewhere to call home? Having to find somewhere to empty a porta potty, having to cook, eat, relax, sleep, get dressed, store everything all in one small space? Will you need a generator? Gas bottles are also a pretty expensive way of cooking.

I think renting a room might work out cheaper in the long run, and I'm sure you could find one where the dog could come too, especially if he doesn't need to stay there when you're not there.
 
If you haven't already, is it worth canvassing any of your clients or putting a card up in the vet's asking for lodgings or space to park a caravan/camper? You could always offer work in return.
I would think a caravan would be easier than a camper van and cheaper too if you could find somewhere to park it even if you need to move every 28 days; it would give you breathing space. Look on this site for sites; it's not dependent on membership of either caravan clubs and you can often find a bargain site which would fulfill your needs in your area. http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/.
 
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