I am 65 years old and have lived in the same apartment for over 20 years. By the standards of LA living, it is a very good deal. I love my neighborhood and have excellent, very cool, helpful, friendly neighbors whom I have known for all or most of the time I've lived here.
It is a very nice small apartment in a safe, pleasant neighborhood, a parking place directly next to my front door (in LA, that's a miracle), a small garden in which I have raised all kinds of veggies and flowers (still have some squash producing well right now), a manager who will fix anything immediately with a smile (he's a genius and very kind), even your car if it doesn't start and, most of all, and most apropos to this website, some extremely low rent ($825 a mo. plus low utilities because it's small and LA weather is mild).
I have calculated that if I do what I dream of doing and move into a motor home, it would cost as much or even more than it costs me to live renting my apartment right now. But it's what I really want to do. I want to roam after I retire, spend summers around the Oregon area, winters here or in the AZ desert or something like that.
Here are the possibilities, when I retire in a year or two, as I currently envision them:
Keep my apartment, buy a small converted van and spend summers up north and winters down here in my apartment. That would mean I would be on an incredibly stretched budget and would not be able to do a lot of roaming around and could be stopped by any emergency, not to mention that I would have to ditch my other dreams, such as self-publishing one of my books.
Give up the apartment, move into a converted van or small motor home and hope for the best. Roam all I want, be free, publish my book, promote it wherever I want, whenever. The down side: No garden. Would miss my neighbors although I could still visit them. Would have a whole new set of challenges, problems and new things are tough at my age. If my health doesn't hold out, I might wind up having to find another pad to live in and the rent or mortgage would be much more than I am paying now and since I'd be retired and living on less than half my current salary the higher rent would be a hardship.
I am inclined to go for the motor home idea because I know from experience it's the things you don't try that haunt you as you get older, not the risks you take. But I do love my apartment. And it is cheap!
Any thoughts?
Would appreciate comments and advice on a tough decision
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Lauriejane
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I was going to say sublet, then I saw your last post. Honestly it sounds like you want to have your cake and eat it too. In my opinion, part of the ethic of this site is that you make sacrifices to get what you truly value.
When will you retire? Is there a reason you need to make the decision right now, as opposed to continually evaluating the circumstances?
When will you retire? Is there a reason you need to make the decision right now, as opposed to continually evaluating the circumstances?
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Lauriejane
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I could move in a motorhome while still working. It would save the commute to and from my job, which would save some money and would give me a chance to get used to it before I retire. Or I could wait. Maybe I shouldn't be ruminating too much on it. But, you are right; if I want to roam, I have to give something up, probably my apartment.
My husband and I have been living mobile for the past few months and just recently went back to renting an apartment for a short break. Some things were very cheap (housing, no utilities) but other costs were greater (transportation costs, increased temptation to eat out). We ended up spending about the same amount as if we'd stayed home, but that was greatly helped by staying with friends for free a lot of the time. We traveled in a station wagon rather than a motorhome, so it could be different. I would recommend you try it out if you've thought about it and really want to go. Also, if you aren't attached to living in LA specifically, cheaper apartments can be found in other cities with reasonably mild climates. Personally, I rented a 2br apartment for a while in downtown Atlanta for only $850. There were studios in the same building for $600. Traveling is fun for a while, but kind of tiring too. I particularly miss gardening, neighbors, and having pets.
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George the original one
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Is part of the problem that it would be really, really hard to get another apartment in the same complex in the future? How often does one of these apartments become available? If it's under a year, I'd lose the apt-- if you want it back in the future, maybe you can wait it out.
Also, are there other things that tie you to the apt in LA-- close to family, for example. For someone who is generally happy and has a positive outlook on things, it's easy convince yourself of all of the positive aspects of your current situation, while having become tolerant of the disadvantages. Thus you might find that you actually like your next place better, or at least just as much, and that might not really have as much to do with the apartment itself as your mindset. Although, if the price is really advantageous, this may not be true.
You could rent an RV for a month or two to figure out if it's going to work out for you-- as a way to dip your toe into the water without fully plunging.
In my current mindset, I'd be wary of leaving a really good apt-- if you think you could stay there indefinitely, and if you think it is really a deal you can't find anywhere else. A few other points to consider: it may not be realistic to think you'll be able to see out ALL of your remaining days in a van, and there are reasons to think that fuel prices will rise in the future-- most RVs get terrible gas mileage.
Also, are there other things that tie you to the apt in LA-- close to family, for example. For someone who is generally happy and has a positive outlook on things, it's easy convince yourself of all of the positive aspects of your current situation, while having become tolerant of the disadvantages. Thus you might find that you actually like your next place better, or at least just as much, and that might not really have as much to do with the apartment itself as your mindset. Although, if the price is really advantageous, this may not be true.
You could rent an RV for a month or two to figure out if it's going to work out for you-- as a way to dip your toe into the water without fully plunging.
In my current mindset, I'd be wary of leaving a really good apt-- if you think you could stay there indefinitely, and if you think it is really a deal you can't find anywhere else. A few other points to consider: it may not be realistic to think you'll be able to see out ALL of your remaining days in a van, and there are reasons to think that fuel prices will rise in the future-- most RVs get terrible gas mileage.
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jacob
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I'd suggest not getting too geographically attached to a given city. It may be impossible to find another apartment in the same city, but surely not somewhere else. If you're coming from a van and don't depend on a geographic job, there are many possibilities.
I consider myself quite flexible and adaptable but even then there were some slight pangs of "are we doing the right thing" that lasted several weeks after moving into the RV. Now it feels completely like home. However, there are many stories about "boats for sale in the Caribbean" because people turned out not prefer doing it even as they had been dreaming about it for years.
Trying before you buy is tricky. There's a big difference between trying something for a week, for two months, and for several years. These are all different situations. On the two month time scale you will experience the problems you didn't on the weekend timescale but you don't know how to deal with them yet. There's a lot of tricks you learn along the way.
I don't know how you are with space. Our RV is actually bigger than the rooms I spent most of my 20s in. For someone coming from an apartment style space, you could "play" RV. It's a silly game and somewhat unrealistic, but it's better than nothing. Move everything you do into a single room. Eat, cook, sleep, keep your clothes, laundry, ... there. Prospective boat dwellers are sometimes recommended taping off an area of their living room---boat interiors are much smaller than RVs. If you're going for a class B van, use the smallest room. Start living as if it was an RV.
Also, I'd recommend starting parring down possessions WAY in advance. Getting rid of stuff is tough if you don't want to just throw it out.
I consider myself quite flexible and adaptable but even then there were some slight pangs of "are we doing the right thing" that lasted several weeks after moving into the RV. Now it feels completely like home. However, there are many stories about "boats for sale in the Caribbean" because people turned out not prefer doing it even as they had been dreaming about it for years.
Trying before you buy is tricky. There's a big difference between trying something for a week, for two months, and for several years. These are all different situations. On the two month time scale you will experience the problems you didn't on the weekend timescale but you don't know how to deal with them yet. There's a lot of tricks you learn along the way.
I don't know how you are with space. Our RV is actually bigger than the rooms I spent most of my 20s in. For someone coming from an apartment style space, you could "play" RV. It's a silly game and somewhat unrealistic, but it's better than nothing. Move everything you do into a single room. Eat, cook, sleep, keep your clothes, laundry, ... there. Prospective boat dwellers are sometimes recommended taping off an area of their living room---boat interiors are much smaller than RVs. If you're going for a class B van, use the smallest room. Start living as if it was an RV.
Also, I'd recommend starting parring down possessions WAY in advance. Getting rid of stuff is tough if you don't want to just throw it out.
Not trying to influence anyone--just my own feelings on it.
I am also 65 years old as was stated by Lauriejane in the OP.
My disclaimer is that I have basically lived under the best of conditions and the worst of conditions in my lifetime. Everything from five star hotels to a tent in the Iraq Desert, complete with cold blooded crawling vipers under my cot.
At age 65 I am retired and we have a travel trailer (26').
I really enjoy going up to spend the weekend at the trailer. We usually stay 2-3 nights. I am excited to go, but equally just as ready to end it and get back home. RV's are cramped. The bathroom is tiny and close quartered. The bed is ok, but nothing like my bed at home. The A/C roars like a Lion in summer, and the heat dries my skin in cooler winter and the two small propane tanks run out quickly with the furnace. The tiny kitchen is ok for quick meals only. The dinette is usable but not really comfortable for long periods. Most of my complaints are geared to my age of 65, an age of when you look mostly for comfort out of life. This said, I really enjoy RVing but not more than 3 or 4 days at the most.
For me, living in one would be a NO-GO if I had other options.
I am also 65 years old as was stated by Lauriejane in the OP.
My disclaimer is that I have basically lived under the best of conditions and the worst of conditions in my lifetime. Everything from five star hotels to a tent in the Iraq Desert, complete with cold blooded crawling vipers under my cot.
At age 65 I am retired and we have a travel trailer (26').
I really enjoy going up to spend the weekend at the trailer. We usually stay 2-3 nights. I am excited to go, but equally just as ready to end it and get back home. RV's are cramped. The bathroom is tiny and close quartered. The bed is ok, but nothing like my bed at home. The A/C roars like a Lion in summer, and the heat dries my skin in cooler winter and the two small propane tanks run out quickly with the furnace. The tiny kitchen is ok for quick meals only. The dinette is usable but not really comfortable for long periods. Most of my complaints are geared to my age of 65, an age of when you look mostly for comfort out of life. This said, I really enjoy RVing but not more than 3 or 4 days at the most.
For me, living in one would be a NO-GO if I had other options.