A Major key to My Motorcycle Lifestyle is my Low Cost Housing
Now, the system will almost always try to suck you into the trap of chasing more dollars to solve the problem.
Why? Because that way you are solidly snared in its trap... and serving it... that's why!
You need to do what serves YOU! You Need to Ride to Live.
I figure, if I reduce the dollars I have to make... that means I have to work less hard and work fewer hours... and That means... I have more time and more energy left for a Motorcycle Lifestyle!
When you think of your cost of living... where does the biggest chunk of your income go? Your housing, right?
And... unless you've been living under a rock for several years... you've learned that houses, the most expensive part of the Traditional American Dream, are truthfully NOT an investment... at best for most... an expense that if you're lucky... you don't lose, too much...
What's my alternative?
What if... that expense didn't exist? or at least, had been dealt with up front, to eliminate that ongoing expense?
What if... you had a dry, comfortable, warm, good, place to live... that you owned... and the ongoing cost was ZERO dollars... or... at the least... awfully minimal?
Think about it... You want to live a full time Motorcycle Lifestyle... and the greatest obstacle is money... so... To me, the most sensible thing to do first, is Minimize the amount of MONEY you need to produce, in the first place!
That's really a simple idea, isn't it?
But... the "System" screams at you to do the opposite... and make MORE MONEY!
Which of course... benefits the system... and drains your soul.
It's my proposition (Not especially original!), that you deal with that false need... by radically reducing your NEED FOR MONEY.
The shiny consequence of that is, rather then devoting more of your life... to securing the simple necessities... you take care of those necessities early on...
Then, all that TIME and ENERGY you would have devoted to simple subsistence labor, over your lifetime... is now YOURS... to do with whatever you damn well please!
The life that allows me to Live to Ride is made possible in large part, by the low cost alternative housing of my RV Boondocking Motorcycle Lifestyle.
It's so simple... it's ludicrous! It's a true case of Less is more!
If you hadn't already figured this out... I live, full time in a Fifth Wheel trailer... and park it... All over the west.
With a comfortable, PAID FOR RV... parked in Dispersed Camping areas... outside of the insurance on your rig... whatever maintenance you need to do on it... and annual registration... the only cost is your fuels! (gas and propane)
My Motorcycle Lifestyle doesn't require that I pay $1,000 or $1,500 or more a month in rent... NOT EVER!
I dump my tanks for free at National Forest or State Dump Stations... get my water there... and though I use National Forest/BLM/National Park campgrounds on occasion, I spend less then $200 a month on those... usually less then $100 bucks!
The rest of the time... as I live my Motorcycle Lifestyle... I'm parked... as I am as I write this... in a dispersed campsite on National Forest or BLM lands... I often go weeks... without spending one thin dime, on a campground fee...
My power comes from the sun by way of my solar electric system...backed up by an on board generator...
What that means is... I don't have to work to produce that $1000 or $1500 or the $2,000 a month I used to foolishly drop into the black hole of a mortgage... If I do work those hours... that money goes in my pocket! Otherwise... the time is Mine!
What would that reduction in NEEDED INCOME do toward achieving your Dreamed of Motorcycle Lifestyle?
Now... to keep this all honest... let me drop in a lil' caveat here. Once I penciled this all out and knew what I wanted to do... my plan to "buy myself free" from the "system" that had misled me... got blown out of the water, unexpectedly, by the collapse of the real estate scam.
That left me with a significant amount of debt that eliminating my house was supposed to have cleared... That didn't happen when my equity vanished... or was stolen... depending on how you want to look at it. :o)
but... Here's the deal with the Motorcycle Lifestyle that I enjoy;
My cost of living is STILL, the lowest it's been in years. Far, Far, lower. Over the next year or two, as I work off that debt that I got BS's into taking on... my cash outlay cost of living will decline another Nearly 50%!.... while my "Independent" income (part 3 of this article series) continues to slowly grow... if incrementally.
Bottom line... If I hadn't foolishly taken on that debt in the first place... or procrastinated, six months too long, in divesting that miserable house (6 year old house appraised/sold for 20% less then it's current construction cost)... my cash cost of living would be way WAY below my Current Income!
Procrastinating cost me a fortune... Don't repeat my mistake! Don't procrastinate... Grab hold of your Dreams and chase 'em down Today!
Now... here's something I think is a Big thing... especially for younger folks... or Older puss guts like me who've been kicked in the slats by a rough Old world... You don't need a passle of money, and you don't need one of those High Dollar, $200,000 (and more!)luxury rides neither.
All you need to enjoy the Motorcycle Lifestyle that I do is a Clean, Functional Rig. A tight roof. Working systems; water, heater, refrigerator, furnace. Good wheels and tires... Don't buy a rat hole... You don't need to. There are too many good Old clean rigs around.
If you are frugal enough, I've seen, in the last three weeks, several old but very clean Class C Motorhomes, one with a brand new factory engine, for less then $5,000 that would house your Motorcycle Lifestyle in sweet class! Hang a Motorcycle trailer behind that lil' beauty... and you are HOME Baby!
If you've already got a Pickup... You can find clean... and I mean CLEAN old Travel Trailers for well under $5000... your bike goes in your truck... and you eliminate the need for the Motorcycle Trailer!
There's all sorts of options to shine up your Motorcycle Lifestyle...
Here's a few examples;
This good ol' "C" was advertised on Craigs list for under five Grand...
A clean, older, Class A motorhome I saw in Zion... You can get these older rigs for a song... I recently saw one for well under that $5,000 number I mentioned. Put a small motorcycle trailer behind this and you'll be in Heaven! and don't let the doom and gloom guys get to you. The fuel cost ain't gonna be a big deal. Really... You move the rig with the seasons. Go slow and not far in the rig... and you won't spend that much... Most of your time... is gonna get spent splitting the wind from camp, on that 50 mpg Motorcycle :)
Here's my own rig, in our camp on the Bitterroot in Montana... (and to let you in on a little secret... I'd just as soon have a smaller rig then my 30' fifth wheel.) It's probably worth in the $10,000 range... give or take...
Now... for those of you with a little more austere a mentality... the guy in this rig... is Living Full Time... he Pulls that trailer with his Jeep... He put a bunk, a desk, that's a shower in that green "shelter" along side... and the rest of what he needs in what started out as a cargo trailer.
So... if you used a 1/2 ton pickup, instead of the Jeep, you've got the carry vehicle for your Motorcycle... and just about as minimalist as you can get... with your living quarters!
Think about this... you pay the five grand or whatever you can find your rig for, up front... and your housing cost... your RENT... outside of maintenance... is GONE! Well, if you boondock like I do...
If you want to stay where there's outhouses and water... and other folks around to visit with... let's say you pay $12 bucks (give or take) a night at a National Forest camp... and your monthly rent is $360 bucks! How sweet is that? What are you paying now? I'll bet a lot more then $12 or even 15 bucks a day.
Think about it!
If you split 50/50 between the two... Your rent drops to $180 bucks... which is what I budget... How hard are you gonna have to work to pay that? ... or put better... Think about the Motorcycle Lifestyle you could be living; When you're NOT going to have to work nearly as hard, or as long... to pay that Rent!
Over time you can upgrade your rig with cash... I put a solar power system and large battery bank on my own, that minimizes my need to run a generator... and less fuel to buy... as on "Ongoing" expense...
So far my batteries have lasted five years, and they'll need replacement soon... but all in all... even once maintenance, repairs, insurance, propane and such for utilities are factored in... my costs are a fraction of the old sticks and bricks expenses...
I know guys (not living a Motorcycle Lifestyle... but living in small, paid for rigs on the road) who claim living expenses under $600 bucks a month... and they're still a touch overweight! :)
It can be done, and done well!
How many of you know someone... Who doesn't share our dream? who has no intention of living this way?...But, Who has a bigger place, where you could rent a parking spot... at a nice price :) (there aren't any free rides!... and you sure don't want to impose on Friends!)
But...if you could park in such a place to give yourself a 'breather'...while you; keep working your "regular" job for a while... working the kinks out of your outfit... and getting your "Independent Income" enterprise off the ground... You could make a real run at it!
"Independent Income" enterprise = Part 3 :o)
You can do it! You can Live to Ride your Brand Spanking new and shiny Motorcycle Lifestyle! ... and you can do it sooner rather then later!
Grab Your Handles and Ride into your own, Motorcycle Lifestyle.
Return from Motorcycle Lifestyle to Motorcycle touring on Freedom Road
