Going Back to a Tent

[kalex]

Unfortunately i might need to sell my camper and go back to a tent :'(
My wife and i have a 20 month old boy and she currently works 3 days a week. I look after him 1 day and my parents for 2 days. However my wife really only wants to work one day a week max and be at home to look after our son. (unfortunately we can't have any more children, so we don't want to miss a second of him growing up.) The only way we can afford to do this is to sell our new camper (custom made Tambo, bought Nov '09) to clear some remaining debt.
Has anyone else had to do similar and go back to the old tent?
Any ideas or suggestions???

[Wazza]

Is the selling of the camper your only option? I am a stay at home mum (but am looking for full time work now both my kids are at school) and there are other options to try and finacially manage. There is heaps of ways for a young family to eliminate debt. Would your wife consider night work? I used to do nightfill for a few hours a night from 8pm, so kids were in bed, I got to spend all day with them etc. Its decent money for only a few hours work, and it would still allow her to stay at home during the most part of the day. Another thing is will you be entitled to family tax? Get your wife to ring family assistance or go to their website and do an estimation. I didnt actually realise I was entitled to claim any assistance until my accountant mentioned it. Almost every family is entitled to something, even a small amount will help in the long run.
Also I am on a parenting website and there are heaps of work at home mums, doing book editing, selling homemade stuff, running web businesses etc, so its more income from home.

But if going back to a tent is the only option you have, its really not that big of a deal. The time spent camping with your son and watching him grow will far outweigh any finanical problem you have. Campers are easy come by, you can always buy another down the track.
Good luck!


Mrs Waz....

[TOY80ST]

Kalex,

Is there anything else you are willing to sacrifice. Beer, Cigarettes were the first of mine to go when we ran into financial trouble. Then it was the pay TV and a mobile phone. For a night out at the moment we cook a BBQ and put the fire on in the shed we sit up there and talk for a few hours. No telephone distraction and no TV. does wonders for the relationship too.

Good luck with it.

[Mr Ploppy]

Mate we had a similar dilemma upon the birth of our daughter 4 months ago. Had way too much debt for our liking and didn't want to work extra hours as we both wanted to spend more time with our little girl. So I sold my well kitted out Patrol and a kayak, bought a Land Rover Discovery and a second hand camper trailer, paid off a heap of debt, cut back to 4 days a week of work and we have decided to hit the road next year for a year or longer working our way around. The idea is to keep it as simple as possible. Keep the overheads down and focus on what is important.

Best of luck with whatever you decided.

[kalex]

Thanks all.

Mrs Waz, what is nightfill work?

We have already cut down on most things, we don't smoke and only drink one bottle a week. Still looking at what centrelink can offer.
We have a trip to the Kimberley planned for next year, so do we put it off (don't want to) or do it in a tent?

[Bird]

Inform the wife that she needs to keep working or you will end up having to keep selling things over time. Hard but thats how it is. Mate of mine is in your boat. His missus refuses to work - the kid is now in school, she still refuses to.

Its hard having kids and knowing whats right and wrong.

I dont think most people (not saying you) realise what they are getting themselves into. Theres 100's of sacrafices that will need to be made over the next 16 years..

[darren]

Mate
 I don't think its any one but your business how you want to raise your boy. I wont let my wife work so she can be there for my kids, but that's just me.
 On the subject of your post. Do what you have to do, As long as your still camping and getting out there you will still be happy, and so will your son. You will still have a lot of your kit, and you never know, an opportunity may come up in the future.
Good luck
Darren

[Crazy Dog]

Hi Kalex...

Night fill work is mainly in supermarkets where "night or afternoon staff" restock the shelves.

Hope that answers your question.

Grrr!!!

[fishfinder]

I may be in a similar situation but the wife is unable to work , so I decided to sell the boat am in the process of selling the camper and I am selling the house and removing all my debts and relocating to another destination from WA to Tassie . Before I leave I will buy a  better camper and slowly travel across the centre to have a look at the rock and and then on to Tassie . When I get there look for a job pay cash for a house and still have a couple of $$$ to fall back on , but in not doing that we will be able to make by but would rarely get out of the city to enjoy this country , so we opted to enjoy life not be a slave for the zero return , so if you have to sacrifice the camper for a tent well good on ya by still getting out and about . Life is too short not to enjoy .

Edit it is not "I" it is my wife three kids and my self

[Signature035]

.....I can speak from experience as well....... selling assets (particularly small ones) is just a band aid solution,.....  you end up back in the same spot a few months down the track and have to go looking for another assset to sell.  People end up loosing houses going down this track. 

As my accountant regularly reminds me.....    You either need to consume less or earn more....   Harsh..... but real.

[WaituiRob]

Hi Kalex,

I feel for families these days as I think it is so much harder for Mothers to stay home than it was in my day.
  As I don`t know how you manage your finances it is difficult to comment but having done a budget counselling
 course last year one of the key issues is knowing exactly where you spend every dollar.

If you account for all your expenses for a week there may be takeaways, bought lunches or coffees which can
  add up to a substantial amount  in a week.
Also would there be a saving on fuel or fares if your wife wasn`t working?

Together with the family allowance  and any cuts you you may be able make in your budget you might be able to see your way clear to keep your camper.
  However it pans out I wish you and your family all the best.

  Robyn.
  

[McGirr]

Kalex
The old saying you can make more money but not more time. Being in realestate I see alot of sad situations and I am not saying you are in this boat but do what you feel will make you happier and relieve the stress. We have a mortgage consultant in our office that helps alot of people in certain situations. It may be worth looking into this.

Every avenue is worth looking at.

On the happier side cherish the time watching your son grow up. Start him hitting a golf ball you never know down the track.

Mark

[baldheadedgit]

As my accountant regularly reminds me.....    You either need to consume less or earn more....   Harsh..... but real.

Very very true............! sometimes you have no other options but to cut down to the bare bones, or as you say, sell of a toy or two,, we have all been there at some stage,, hard, but it has to be done,,,  so bite the bullet, hang in there, and do what has to be done, , you know your finances better than anyone on here.
BUT, and there's always a "but" (i'm sitting on mine) there is light at the end of the tunnel, it may be dim now, but it will get brighter.
You can always buy another Camper later.. and who know's, it could be bigger and better.!!!!!
Steve

[kalex]

Thanks everyone for the advice.
One thing i didn't make clear before is that the debt we have is mostly the camper itself. We are still paying it off.
So by selling the camper, it allows a little more in our budget to still go away together and enjoy time together.

[HEM19X]

kalex,

Can understand where you are coming from as I used to see a lot of it.

Have you tried talking to your financial provider? If you are up front with them they are most likely to help by extending loan terms etc providing the loan is upto date. If not perhaps refinancing it with someone else.

Officially they are required under the Credit Code to assist whenever a customer claims "Hardship". But that isn't "open season" on everybody claiming it there are some strict guidelines so perhaps check out their web site [or in person].

Regards

Hem

[NewcastleKnight]

Mate
 I don't think its any one but your business how you want to raise your boy. I wont let my wife work so she can be there for my kids, but that's just me.
 On the subject of your post. Do what you have to do, As long as your still camping and getting out there you will still be happy, and so will your son. You will still have a lot of your kit, and you never know, an opportunity may come up in the future.
Good luck
Darren

I think Darren provides you with a very good answer here.  Despite all his bravado he really is a wise man!

Mate, you will do what you have to do and only you know what that is but time spent with your young one for both you and your wife are memories that you guys will always have.  

Good luck!

[Wazza]

Mrs Waz, what is nightfill work?

Night fill work is mainly in supermarkets where "night or afternoon staff" restock the shelves.

Woothworths/safeway and coles have it, but I actually did it at Big W and I also helped stock and build new stores, which was heaps more work and was from 6pm until 3am most nights, the normal nightfill staff wouldnt stay that long, except around Christmas. Its not a great job, but its $22 an hour before 12, and it goes up if you are there after, so its pretty good money for a few hours work. Its pretty easy to come by too, if its something your wife would be interested in, I would just approach your local stores direct or call late afternoon and speak to a nightfill manager.
I wouldnt hesitate to do it again, it allowed me the freedom of being with my kids during the day, napping when they napped and I still was able to keep a social life and go away most weekends.

[TOY80ST]

My wife works at McDonalds on weekends when I am at home. She does three shifts a week it doesn't seem like much but it aids the family income and she still gets to do all the things she wants with the kids and their school like Friday assembly, helping out in the reading for kindergarten. She is also the president of the child care centre where our bay (2yo) goes 2 days a week. We send her there mainly to learn social skills with other children. She takes her to play group also.
I am a cub leader because my son enjoys going there and I get to have an input in his acheivements. I also take the two eldest kids to their dancing lessons. I enjoy my wife working on weekends because it forces me to take time away from doing other work and spending time with them. We still get to spend time as a family together and we allways eat dinner at the table together.

My kids are Boy 8, Girl 5 and girl 2.

[idlegossip]

We still get to spend time as a family together and we allways eat dinner at the table together.

My kids are Boy 8, Girl 5 and girl 2.

And that my friends is what it is all about.

It doesn't matter what you accumulate through life in terms of possesions as the value is no where near the value you get when you spend time as a family unit together. These will be the things most kids will remember when they grow up. These are also the things most parents tend to forget and try making it up to their kids with material gifts. For me one of my biggest fears as a young parent has always been waking up one morning in the future and my kids are grown up and them turning around to me and saying "Who are you? Where were you when we were growing up?" Money and assets can always be made but time gone by can never be regained.

Kalex, rest assured that your son will remember the trips and fun times he has with his parents as he gets older more than whether he slept in a camper or a tent. Do what you have to do but never forget to live and enjoy life with your kids. Sometimes in life you need to take a step backwards in order to move forwards and progress.

[envee]

Hi Kalex. My wife and I have recently sold our camp trailer and gone back to tenting. Not for any financial reasons but because the camper wasn't doing what we wanted, so we decided to sell it and look for something different.  We are tenting in the mean time and enjoying it.  My 2 boys are adults now (apparently) but when they were growing up all the camping we did was in tents. They always had a great time, made lots of friends when we stayed in camping grounds and now it's great to see them camping with their mates.  Like previous people have said, so long as you are getting out there and enjoying yourselves and spending time together, that's the main thing. Hope it all works out for you.

[toad]

 I've got a tent for sale in the Classified Section!

[jetcrew]

I take my hat off to you both,

material possesions come and go memories last forever !

And your still going to get out there with your kids which is comendable .

To many people would just say sorry kids cant go but your finding a way and I respect that.


There is no point having a camper trailer in the shed if you cant afford to use it ,sell it and then you have the cash to go camping more. We did a similar thing a few years back.

My wife stays home we chose to do that , it took a few sacrafices but well worth it ,and besides my 3 yo cant tell the difference between a old 100 series or a new 200. But he would notice me never being home to pay for it.

As other have posted in the end do what works well for your family and good on you for having the courage to post about such a personal issue that we all go through but seldom share .

Kindest regards

Jetcrew

[kalex]

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. It's nice to know that others go though similar things. The final decision is still a little way off depending on what job my wife can find that fits our needs. Will keep you posted.

[Pebble]

Hmm well I think we sold our camper trailer primarily because we traded our car in for a different one (80 series to Subi Forrester) so the car wasn't suitable to tow it, we made a huge loss on the camper because we were building a house and really needed the money at the time too.
We ended up replacing the Subi for a more suitable Hilux Dual cab after all that, but at the end of last year we sold the Lux like you to clear the debt on Hubby's car that was still owing and that has made things a hell of a lot easier on us now, although we're still on a pretty tight budget with no real room to save any money on the side.

While one of the kids was starting Kindy part time (two half days and one full day) in the small town I live there isn't many work opportunities, but after I picked up my first job cleaning a house in a neighbouring town once a week the word sort of spread amongst friends and soon I had enough jobs to fill in the days that my daughter was at kindy and even took her to one job one day a week which was on the day she wasn't at kindy. This year they're both at school and I'm working every day, but I get to finish a few hours before school does which is great. People don't seem to mind paying $20/hr for that work, and time varies from 2hrs at some places anything up to 3.5hr or 4. The money I earn all up isn't that much but it certainly helps!

Anyway we went from a great camper trailer back to tents but we've pretty much only camped in them once in the last year, so we're yet to figure out how well it works for us. In some ways having a couple of tents and a small trailer is pretty much like a camper trailer, just a lot cheaper and possibly more flexible too (in where you set the tents up etc and weather you take the trailer full of gear or not).
I certainly know the kids really love being in tents! However I think my Husband is more of a camper trailer man. I'd love a simple set up where there wasn't a need to tow any sort of trailer but we don't even have a 4x4 that would fit us all in at the moment!

I suppose it really comes down to how much you need the money to do what you're wanting to do (your Wife staying home) vs your ultimate idea of a camping / traveling set up and weather you'll end up just buying another camper. But like they say the time is more precious than any possession so even if you sold it only to later buy another one and lose money in the process, well you might well find it was all worth it, perhaps you end up with a trailer more suitable for your then more mature family (meaning if you brought when the child was older). Or tents could just turn out to be your ideal set up! You will probably miss some of the convenience of the trailer to start with but you would probably find a way around that.

Your next challenge will then be trying to find a job that actually fits in with school hours, with no family around and a husband that works away that's my big battle, I seem to be good at cleaning and that fits in well at the moment but ultimately something else would be nice.

[nab]

I was looking to upgrade my Patrol to a newer version and get a camper trailer last year. The missus loves camping(woohoo) but doesn't like tents(double woohoo).

We had a few discussions about it over a couple of months and decided to keep the old Patrol and get a cheap camper trailer. The main reason was so we didn't have to borrow any money, therefore having the mortgage as our only debt.

We have since relocated interstate and bought a cheaper house in an average suburb for the same reason, to keep the mortgage down. We also now have an 8 month old girl who loves camping!

The missus is a nurse and has just gone back to work 1 shift each week. I am also like Darren, I did not want my missus to go back to work, but she loves it so we came to a compromise. I am an electrician on wages, definitely not making big dollars!

Moral of the story: We still have the old Patrol, towing our cheap camper trailer, living in an average house/suburb. Luxury sacrifices were made (the 51cm TV is the main TV, it is colour though ), BUT, the financial stress is not there and we get to go out camping regularly. I can take time off work and get to the good camping spots midweek when no one else is around and not worry if the bills will be paid. Seeing my daughters eyes light up when a kangaroo hops past the campsite or she touches a tree with rough bark beats the hell out of having a flash car/camper and a nice house in a fancy suburb!

If it comes to it, just sell it. Its only a camper trailer, and the stress relief and time spent with your wife and son will soon make you forget about the camper. As long as your missus likes tenting, do it!