How do you support this fun habit of ours

I can tell u my secret....I worked about 55 hours a week for the best part of 40 years..my wife also worked but with a 'normal' job...and we are now cooling off..i now work 38 hours a week and its a snack !!....when u work like that u have no hols and dont spend money !!

The holiday doesn't necessarily have to cost lots of money but in my case, I have the million dollar bank account. not!!!!!!
In roachies case, I think he has a good relationship with the local bank manager.

Laura,

I put in a solid 24h week with my toolmaking job and that is only when I am not travelling.

As of tommorrow I will be on the road until mid October, so I will not be doing my toolmaking job until I get back.

Belinda has a good job that pays all the bills and while I am away I can save some money.

Vic covers fuel, accommodation and wages while I am away so there is not that much that I have to pay for.

I am very lucky that I am able to have a job that allows me to travel and to also get paid to do it.

I am very lucky that I have a second job that allows me to travel and have the job waiting for me when I get back.

I am also very lucky that I have a wife and daughter that allows me to travel and that is very important to me.

Wayne

Hi Laura.
I and many others worked away from home for months at a time for 12 hours a day 7 days a week to pay off houses etc. Plenty of jobs going now at sums vastly in excess of what I earned with much better time off.
2 weeks on 1 off is typical of minesites and 2 and 2 is the norm for some highly sought after jobs.
Go for it now and give up the holidays for a while, you can take them all later.
Good luck.
Alan.

PS. The government now pays me appearance money so I only appear at the workplace 5 days a week. If they want me to work they'll have to pay me more!

Laura

Many of us are Senior Citz. Some retired wealthy, others retired not so wealthy. Put me in the latter category.

I have made sure however, that I have NO DEBT whatsoever, and own everything. House,cars toys and rubbish. Also do not have a Credit Card.

Some savings and some pension goes on travelling.

When travelling only fuel and repairs come into the equation. Food and clothes are part of normal living.

So you budget and save up for the trips.

Just think of it....only 36 years to go afore you are a Senior....LOL

We live on one 'average' income and we rent...so it doenst leave a lot to spend on gear and holidays etc..um or save money.

The way we get around it...is keeping our eye out for stuff...mostly at garage sales. probably 80% of our gear in the house/shed/4x4 has been bought over the last few years...at some ridiculous price...

eg yesterday i bought 2 GME TX3200 UHF's for $5 (not working) managed to trace the fault on one and fix it...so there's $150-200 when i sell it...

I would keep it, but I already have on in the vehicle...also from a garage sale last year for $100 with all accessories when they were selling for $350+ in the shops.

The stuff we have isnt crap...we dont buy crap...its either nice enough to have (and my wife is fussy)...or fixable...Our house is well appointed, but at discount. which allows us to enjoy the lifestyle we like. If we bought everything new (we do buy stuff new aswell...) then we wouldnt be able to afford much.

I just bought a quality 4 burner bbq for $25 with full 9kg gas bottle, just needs a sand and a varnish, and it will look like i just bought it...

So i either fix it...and we decide to keep or sell it. The car is no exception, its well appointed, dual batts, storage system, recovery gear etc etc.

Necessity is the mother of lots of illegitimate ideas!

Rev

yeah , willem i think you are right, we have paid our dues now it is time to enjoy...though i would have loved to travel when our kids were young, the timing just wasn't right..and money wasn't there, now it is kids have grown and we are able to travel a little bit until we retire and then we are off!!when is the right time i don't know, laura, just think what you want out of life , you onlyhave you kids for a short while so enjoy!!

Well I tried to sell my body to medical science ...but they rejected it. Stood on a streetcorner and got a cold. Bought stocks and shares and we all know what happened.
Seriously, it's all a matter of saving up if you don't have a lot of spare. Perhaps starting a small business on the net to suppliment your finances. Go around the garage sales and see what you can resell.
There are many ways of making it happen. Most of them take time.

Overtime. Overtime. And a bit more overtime.

Work between 50 & 70 hours a week for 42 weeks of the year, and do as much as you can in the leave that's left - including all the stuff I didn't do during the year (chores) cos I didn't have any days off.

Dave

Use what is at your diposal . I dont keep up with the jones's . But above all else put away 10% of your weekly net pay . You might have to cut back in other areas but this is the best piece of advice that i can give you . Cheers .

Laura, guess we put in the hard yards farming and spending little on ourselves for a long time. Nearly married 35 years so a business partnership where we relied one on the other but prioritised expenditure. What is the productive expenditure and what will return better? How will the business expenditure also have a broader benefit, even if not directly to me or us?

Weave yourself into the broader business community of your industry as there are spinoffs. Slow at first, then you build on them.

Stocks and shares we bought in the late 80s have built into our super and have contributed little to that in recent years but it is ready for when I retire I guess. I like what the government annonced for this latest budget as that will ultimately assist a lot of people to get their nest egg together. I have to say late 80s above as it wasn't until around 40 I seriously got closer to getting shares for the super.

I see lots of people Laura that want everything up front including 30 square houses. That doesn't save for the rainy day or get everthing together despite what the real estate market people would tell you. We got into our special home only 10 years ago.

Love the name too Laura, always have, and my grand daughter shares it with you.

Theres light at the end of the tunnel.

We had our 4 kids young. They are all early 20's now. We're out there spending their inheritance :-)) And a bit of long service leave helps make it happen.

Holidays don't have to cost much - though the fuel is always expensive. I love watching the kids play with 'nothing'. The stuff you find around your camp that is free - rocks or seeds or wood etc. Can stay at places cheaply too - nice little trip to Berri and Peterborough and Birdsville and near Winton didn't cost too much - cheap camping and sometimes a feed for us hard up folks.
Andrew

And for everything else, there's Mastercard......

Hi Laura,

You seem to be in a very similar position to us. We seem to be the only people we know who missed the housing boom and are still renting........and now can't afford to buy. So we are off on a seachange adventure, looking for a nice smallish town...where we can afford to buy a house.

Next year we are taking our four kids around Aus for a year. They will be aged 9, 5, 3 & 3. They may not remember much in the years after, but I disagree with the comment that they are too young to "appreciate enjoy or learn' from it. The things they learn from the places they go and the people they meet will become part of what makes them who they are. I have no doubt about that.

It's not a cheap thing to do either, because although you can bush camp a lot (as we will be doing), when you are going for a year, you do need to spend a certain amount of time in caravan parks. Most caravan parks charge anything from $3 -$12 for each kid aged 2 - 25. That's a fairly big cost per night!

The only way we have been able to afford such a trip is through a salary sacrificing arrangement. For four years you take a 20% pay cut and in the fifth year you recieve 80% of your pay and have the year off. Obviously not every employer offers this, but it's a great option if they do.

I hope you can find some way to make it all happen.

I just live vicariously through you lot...

Hello Laura

Great to see a young person putting some thought into the big picture of where they are going financially .

First , the good news . Because you are young , you can spend up at this time of life and enjoy yourself ; you will have time later to accrue wealth . Current advice is that you should start investing after the age of 28 . Given the increasing wealth of Australia , you could perhaps stretch this out a couple of years .

You are correct to question the desirability of buying a house now . A financial planner or accountant can explain why some people are better off to rent and invest the money saved . The plan here is accrue assets quicker than paying off a housing loan , to by a house later .

You can be rich , without pain , so long as you invest small ammounts , wisely , over a long period of time , compounding the returns . For example , from the age of 30 , in addition to your employers 9% super , invest 10% of your income in a good super fund .

You can even do better if you take an interest in investing . Start by reading "Rich Dad , Poor Dad" , and also old copies of the monthly financial magazines , especially " Money " with Paul Clitheroe .

The simple answer for me is "no kids"
Just a personal choice mind you!

Just got tot the stage where the kids are almost looking after themselves.
We both put in some hard years at the beginning to pay of the mortgage.

Now we are debt free, and the kids are still at home, so they still pay board while we are away to cover rates etc. :-))

Only work 50 hours a week now instead of 70, and still have more money than we used to. We are below the average wage, but still afford travelling.
That reminds me, I have 42 weeks of annual leave and 22 weeks of long service leave to use up. Can't take it all at once since the business would go bust.
But at least we get a good few weeks (4 to 6) every 2nd year now for a big trip, instead of a couple of week every few years.
Starting to fit in a few small trips (2 weeks) more reguarly now too.

Planning to live pretty simply for retirement, so no big savings going into retirement funds either.

As a start possibly consider purchasing an investment propertywhere the rent pays the mortgage,there are many places in aust that this happens,eg north qld,check out opportunities in rockhampton,mackay,or even darwin you can borrow almost everything with minimal cash imput from you,need to look for major centre with lots of employment etc .Some properties are cash flow positive....
Then if you choose wisely you will receive capital gain fater than you can save.You need to do lots of research but it is done by many people.

or Shares i personally dont know mutch about them but i am told you can borrow large amounts to invest in shareswith the only security being the shares you purchase from major banks,If this helps laura contact me privately for more info.

Had great trip to vic alpine region since i saw you last,and went to depot beach last weekend near batemansbay have you been there the kids will love it
happy travels..

hiya Laura,

We made a decision a 4 years ago when Callum was about 8 months that we'd rather invest our money in a caravan and go travelling rather than renting a holiday property and prop in one place. So we bought a caravan that needed work, and basically rebuilt it from the inside to suit ourselves. After our first big trip in 2004 we decided what we really wanted was a camper trailer so we could go to more remote places, so the van was sold and the camper bought.

I guess we are lucky, we bought our place on a couple of acres which is 60kms north of Melbourne when it was cheap to do so, we had both worked for a long time [being older parents....] and Al had bought a house and some land several years before we met, so we had some money behind us. Having said that, he still works long hours and lots of weekends so that we can afford to go away each year and we are very lucky to be able to do so.

The kids are aged 61/2 and 5 and love it, Callum was 2 1/2 when we went on our first camping weekend and we haven't looked back and hope to be able to continue to travel until they're at high school, regardless of their age, they have learnt heaps, and retain information and sometimes amaze us with what they've retained. We are all looking forward to getting away again in July for 4 weeks up into the Flinders and looking ahead to next year and a double crossing of the Simpson Desert.

It's a great "hobby" and when I think about it, the cost can be high esp with the rising price of fuel, but the memories and friendships formed are priceless.

cheers

enjoy it all

Lyn

Just my opinion, but I would prefer to buy a property that someone else lives in and pays off for you. There is tax advantages of you renting and renting out your propety but an accountants advise on this would be adviseable.
Also think of any small business where you can write off fuel or travel and this may turn your tax bill into your travel funds. Plenty of small businesses that fit this bill especially if you don't necessarily need it to feed and house yourself so long as your main source of income can do this you are halfway there.
Most people pay 10G or thereabouts in tax each year (obviously some pay more and some pay less), that is more than enough to fund a decent holiday each year if you can work out a business to reduce this tax you are paying. I AM NOT ADVISING TAX AVOIDANCE by any stretch of the imagination.
You are obviously a thinker so just need to think smarter and utilise the money that comes into your household.

Good luck,
Trevor.

How do you support this fun habit of ours> Drugs and armed robberies LOL

but Seriously
I was working a Job they payed decently, So I payed Cash for my 4WD stuck some stuff on it and still had some left over, unforchantly this job would not led anywhere and I would ether end up 35 With a bleep ed body or driving Hallpacks up and down a mine 12Hrs a day, good Money but not overly interesting, what was I told “You just need a mind like a gold fish”.

I then became a Apprentice and now have no Money LOL, But since I own my car I can still afford to do stuff, well putting a bit of money away, But this site doesn’t help and I have restrained my self many times from blowing $4000 on a 4-Inch lift, X amount on a front diff lock and 33-inch tyres and so on.

Laura,

Everyone has given you good advice and so not a lot I can add except to say that make the most of travelling with your kids. The memories and enjoyment that will come from these years are just as important as money in the bank. Years later, like me you will be able to look back on the photos with such happiness.

You have such energy and enthusiasm...your kids are lucky...they are going to travel and learn and be open to different ideas and ways of life. Those things can't be taught in a school.

Best wishes

Viv

Its great to see that everyone has their heads around the money side of our hobby/job.

I think we could all say tat we have all learnt smething out of this post whether its how others cope with work and kids and travelling or just what our "mates" are up to when they arent on the computer typing away giving idea's and help out...

We all love this country and from what people are saying - its apart of life this hoby and we just work it in with everything else...

Happy Travelling!!

Laura B