Eric Holen

For well over a year now, Yvette and I have been bouncing around the idea of purchasing a camping trailer. We love camping and are getting a little old for using a tent, so on the surface it seems like a good idea. We even rented a camper a couple of times and really enjoyed the comfort.

However, when I dig a little deeper into the financial side, I wonder if purchasing a camping trailer is the right decision. When we retire, we do plan on buying a trailer for traveling. My current thoughts are whether we should buy a trailer now just for camping.

We have been looking at camping trailers in the 18 – 21 foot range, which is small enough to be towed by our current SUV.

Assuming $17,000 for a new camping trailer at 10% interest for 10 years, Yvette and I would be paying out $225 a month or $2,696 annually just for the loan. On top of that, we would likely see another $100 monthly or $1200 annually for insurance, storage, maintenance, and the registration. Combined, those costs come out to $3,896 annually.

Now, after a little research, I found that I can rent comparable campers in Austin for under $125 per day. That means to just break even, I would have to use our camper for 31 days a year versus renting.

In the last 12 months, Yvette and I have rented a camping trailer for 7 days and tent camped for an additional 2 days. That’s only 9 days which is still way off from the 31 days needed to break even.

Granted, there may be conveniences to owning our own camping trailer, but financially, it doesn’t seem to make sense at least for now.

• Had a great time camping this past weekend with friends at Potters Creek on Canyon Lake. Here it is August and it was our first group camping trip of the season. Hoping to squeeze at least one more this year. Even though I wore sun screen, still managed to get burned on my shoulders and knees. Our friends brought out a personal water craft (PWC). Found out that 42 mph is the fastest my mind and heart would allow me to go.
• After a great trip, got home to find out the air conditioning had gone out again and it was 84 degrees in the house. After removing the panel, I confirmed the capacitor that had just been replaced 11 days ago, went bad. I called San Marcos Air Conditioning and they were out in just a few hours to replace the capacitor under warranty. The technician assumes that since we had not been running the AC very much over the weekend, it was a bad unit. He replaced it with two capacitors, one for the motor and another for the compressor, to distribute the load.
• Talking with the AC technician produced one of those “ah ha” moments. When I asked about installing a new AC unit, ours is 7 years old, he stated that they generally start around $7000. That put things into perspective for Yvette and I. While we continue to reduce our debt, we need to start building a home repair fund for major repairs as our home gets older.
• If everything goes as planned, Yvette’s mom should be permanently moving back in with us next week. After her being here for the month of July and gone in August, we are looking forward to having her move back. We anticipate that she will be taking El Paso trips, for a few weeks at a time, every few months since that is where her family is located.

• Yvette and I were in the gym at 4:50 am this morning, the first time in at least a couple of months. It felt great even if my body told me I wasn’t strong enough to do my old dumbbell routine.
• Almost a week and a half with Yvette’s mom staying with us. The transition has been a lot smoother than I originally thought. It will be strange when she heads back to El Paso at the end of July.
• Wanted to go camping with friends this weekend, but it couldn’t happen. Looking forward to our camping trip at Canyon Lake in August.
• Closing in on a year of maintaining my weight at or below 160 lbs. A couple of weeks ago, Yvette finally made me donate the last of my big clothes that I had been holding onto for just in case.
• Had a great time meeting with friends for dinner and drinks last week. Wish we could do it more often.
• Pleased that we paid off another bill this month as we work towards becoming debt free, except for the house. It is a slow process, but Yvette and I are making progress every month.

Yvette and I just celebrated our 13^th anniversary, which makes it a lucky number.  But then 12 was a lucky number and 14 will also be a lucky number.  How did we celebrate?  We went camping for 4 nights in a rented 28’ fifth wheel trailer.

It was Yvette’s idea to go camping as a way for us to save money while getting us both out of the house and away from work.  At 4 nights, it was the longest or tied for the longest camping trip that we have taken.  Yvette was right, the trip relaxed us.  We played games, walked and read books, all while enjoying great weather.  Yvette was right.  Getting away from work, at least for me, was a great way to recharge myself.

One of the interesting things that Yvette I started doing since our 10^th anniversary, is reminiscing over the past and quizzing each other on fun facts.

Here are two of the questions that came up this trip.

Question:  Which is the only state, in the contiguous 48 states, that Yvette and I have eaten just one meal?

Answer:  Utah.  Yvette and I crossed the state line from West Wendover Nevada into Wendover Utah to eat lunch at a Subway restaurant.

Question:  How many different barbecue restaurants have we tried in Austin and the surrounding areas?  Chain restaurants, with multiple locations, only count once.

Answer: We came up with 11; we must like barbecue.  One of the 11 we recorded that day when we tried a place in Elgin.

Finally, I am not the greatest when trying to come up with a gift for Yvette.  In addition, this year we agreed to keep the gifts under $50 to save money.  I surprised Yvette and myself this year.  In December, Yvette took me on a cruise for my 40^thbirthday, but it meant that she was missing out on attending a Wynonna concert.  Well, about a month ago, I found out that Wynonna would be playing at Billy Bob’s in May and the tickets were only $35 each.  Yvette opened the card with the tickets on the drive-up to the campground.  When she screamed, I knew that I had done good this year.

Yvette and I have been tent campers for almost 12 years now.  For the last few years, we have gone tent camping with a great group of friends two or more times a year.  However, as we get older, the thought of camping in a trailer starts to sound like a better option.  We had been looking at different trailers, but then started to wonder whether trailer camping would be as fun as tent camping.  So we decided to rent a trailer and try it out a few times before making a purchase decision.

While looking through Craig’s List, we came across a couple who are trying to sell their trailer, but were renting it in the interim.  The only downside is that they would only set it up on one of three parks around Granger Lake outside of Taylor, Texas.  After giving it a few seconds thought, Yvette and I decided to try out the rental.

Out of the three parks that were available, we ended up selecting Taylor Park because it had several hiking trails and two old bridges.

On Friday (Mar 5), we packed up all of our camping equipment, except our tent, and drove north towards Taylor.  For lunch, we stopped at Louie Mueller Barbeque in Taylor.  A friend from the Kyle Fire Department had recommended the location.  We walked in, grabbed some menus and sat down.  That was the clue to the “waitress” that we had never been there before.  She directed us to the counter so that we could get in line.  We were just in time because by the time we got our food, the line stretched to the door.  While the BBQ was very tender, it wasn’t our favorite because it lacked flavor.  In addition, their sauce did not add much.

After lunch, Yvette and continued our drive through Taylor to the Taylor Park campground in Granger.  We checked in at the gate then drove to our site. The site that we selected had a great view of the lake as well as quick access to the trails.

At exactly 2:00 PM as scheduled, David, the trailer’s owner, drove up with a 28 foot 5th wheel camping trailer.  We were impressed.  Not only was it big, but the inside and outside looked great.  David had the trailer setup in less than 30 minutes and then walked us through, explaining the features.

Once David drove away, Yvette and I proceeded to unpack our SUV and move into the trailer.  Once we were moved in, Yvette and I took a walking tour of the campgrounds.

We walked down one of the feeder trailers that led directly from our site to the walking trail.  From there, we explored the beach and then Hoxie Bridge, one of two old bridges in the park.

After making a full walking trip around the park, we returned to our camping trailer to settle in for dinner.  After a dinner of fajitas, we stepped outside and sat around a camp fire, one of the first that we had to build ourselves.  In the past, we had left campfire building in the capable hands of our friend Dallas, so it was a challenge and learning experience for us.  When it got too cold, we returned to the trailer, played some games, and crawled into our warm bed.

On Saturday morning, I got up before Yvette and baked, not fried, hash browns in the oven while cooking eggs on the stove.  We spent the day relaxing, reading outside while listening to the sounds of nature, playing games, and watching some movies.  Then we took a drive around Taylor and Granger, and even stopped at Granger Dam. 

In the afternoon, I took a 90 minute hike along the Comanche Bluff Trail, which included a view of the Friendship Bridge, the second of the two older bridges in the park.  I had to cut the hike short when I ran into a lot of mud.  On my next trip, I hope to hike the entire 3.2 miles one way.  For dinner, Yvette baked steaks because we forgot to buy charcoal.

The next morning, I fixed Yvette some “camping” French toast, which means that it was regular French toast without our sugar-free syrup, which we did not pack.  Following breakfast, we played some more games and then started packing and cleaning up.  At 2:00 PM sharp, David showed up to pick up the trailer.

Yvette and I agreed that while we are not giving up tent camping, we love trailer camping.  Waking up in a comfortable bed versus and air mattress that had lost some pressure in the night was nice.  Getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without having to put on sneakers was also a benefit.  Given the March weather, it was nice to being able to enjoy the campgrounds and then retreat to the warm trailer when it either started raining a little or got colder.

We are already planning another camping trailer trip in April for our anniversary.  What’s interesting is that renting the trailer had an unintended revelation.  Renting a trailer seems like it might be a lot less expensive then actually buying and maintaining our own trailer.  We’ll have to see if that affects our purchasing decision.