Growing up.....poor to retire in an RV

[TR25]

As I like to think...and think about why/how people think, this subject has always been interesting to me.
I'm a boomer. My parents were of the greatest gen, thus both went through the great depression. Obviously, my grandparents and other relatives did too....as did millions of people in the usa.

One of my beliefs is that if something detrimental happens to a person, if it's bad enough, they never forget it. Sounds trite, but goes deeper than just remembering. If it's bad enough, people choose not to think about it or in some cases, literally blank it out.

People raised in the GD, their ways of doing things, living, usually reflected that. Growing up, we rarely got new clothing. The girls made a lot of their own, but everyone below the first of each gender got handme downs. If there were holes in them, they got patched. If they were too short for the next in line, the hem got extended and for a while, I think it was in style to have that extra strip at the bottom of your pants. Related families passed their kids clothing around too. Light bulbs were used to darn socks. Everyone had quilts and they were all home made...and although heavy, comfy.

Food--none of ot was wasted. Everything was big batches and there's even something called "depression era food", like boiled dinner, potatoes and eggs, spaghetti, chili, ghoulash, etc. Ate your ration and if you were still hungry, you ate bread. Pop was a rarity. Even into adulthood they continued to eat like that.

Living? Live in a small house, and bunk beds for the kids as bedrooms where shared. Then live in that house until you get old, then retire in it as it's paid off, your car is paid off. That was the goal, the dream.

Weird how things from the formative past can impact us. I bought my first RV in my early 30s as security, so I'd always have a place to live. Now I have 2.5 (I was home-challenged as a kid). I have 2 freezers and 2 fridges with a utility room in the basement, full of food (At times I had to steal food to eat as a kid). I have 4 nice vehicles now (struggled to have one with matching tires until late 20s).

So did any of you grow up in any way to impact your choices now? Were you one of those who worked their whole life, then when retired, sold the house, got an RV then took off to see the usa? Or just hit the road? I have relatives who lead that normal life, worked, now retired, are doing the RV thing and one about to.

Can be interesting to know more about how a peson wound up where they are. Guess that's why I've been interested in the whole vanlife thing as there's usually a story behind most of that.

 

[newmarokie]

I am always fascinated to hear the stories of people that have had success and the road they traveled to get to where they are today. If the campfire burns long enough you can learn some of the details of early struggles and chances taken that lead to success.

 

[Boat Bum]

Yankee frugality was ingrained in us from the day we were born; I was youngest of four.

 

[John&Andrea]

Yep boomer, great parents, I was raised right, good values, how to work and take care of my self and others. Never had to worry about where. A meal was coming from.
Grew up in a family business so working was a given. I did not mind working.
We did not take nice vacations, a few tent camping trips in the 60s.
I never made a lot of money but I did learn to save.
I RV today to see things I did not see when I was younger. Life is good.

 

[TR25]

I am always fascinated to hear the stories of people that have had success and the road they traveled to get to where they are today. If the campfire burns long enough you can learn some of the details of early struggles and chances taken that lead to success.

Yup. One of the things I learned later in life than I should have is, if you just shut up, you can learn something from others. That, combined with everyone's favorite subject is themselves (carnegie sales course). So just respectfully going up to people and starting a conversation, one can learn a whole not they'd not have otherwise.

I learned from a nebraska rancher/farmer that short horns are just as good and better for the buck than black angus. I was at some ag gathering, saw an old guy in a cowboy hat, looking at the livestock, so i went up and started talking to him, about the weather of course.

A lot of knowledge and stories are disappearing w/o being shared. Tech has a lot to do with that too.

 

[TR25]

Yankee frugality was ingrained in us from the day we were born; I was youngest of four.

Yup. A new pair of boots/shoes you bought big so you'd still have them instead of outgrowing them.

An interesting note: There's no such thing as [black] soul food. Why? Southern whites at the same food.

 

[TR25]

Grew up in a family business so working was a given. I did not mind working.
We did not take nice vacations, a few tent camping trips in the 60s.
I never made a lot of money but I did learn to save.
I RV today to see things I did not see when I was younger. Life is good.

You and yours earned it.
Back then, did you do the canvas 'army tents' too? Looking at older pix, it was amazing how a couple with so many kids all slept in a canvas tent like that.

One thing I learned from a wealthy gent is you make your money, not when you sell something, rather, when you buy something. If ya think about it, that's pretty wise, altho reverse thinking to most.

My RV/Camping life began when I got out of the mil. Had nowhere to go, was a bit lost, so packed my alice pack, stuck a 1911 in my jacket pocket, went to the highway, stuck my thumb out and off I went to see the usa.

Learned a lot about backpacking, places and people then. It was an adventure and recommended other young guys do it. Well mebbe sans the gun. Saw a lot of small, off the road places that way as locals gave me the rides and they knew all the best spots. Discovered very cool hot springs in northern NM for example. Put a hammock on the side of a mountain and watched them until the next day, monday. No one was there on monday, so I had it all to myself. Wonderful experiences generally.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

"One thing I learned from a wealthy gent is you make your money, not when you sell something, rather, when you buy something. If ya think about it, that's pretty wise, altho reverse thinking to most."

Well yah! Retail is a ceiling. The only way to make a living selling anything is to buy below market with allowance for selling costs.

Consumers spend!

 

[RobertE]

What you described is just about exactly how I grew up. 6 kids, my father worked and was the provider of our well being (and tanning our backsides when we needed it). My mother kept house and raised us. I got a new pair of dungarees for school and before I even put them on my mother put patches on the inside of the knees.

Kid's are coddled too much. Participation trophies, parents and teachers lying, telling them they did good when they did not. Our T ball uniform was our gym shorts and a T shirt. I remember taking them to our coach's house where he used a stencil to spray paint "Jets" on them with a number on the back. Now it's $200 for uniforms and $100 to the athletic association to play T ball.



I'm 70 with two boys ages 33 and 30. They are both men of good character and that I am most proud of. I would like to thing the things my father taught me came to them through me. I remember him saying "when you shake hands, don't give somebody a wet fish". He taught us our word was our bond, if we said we were going to be somewhere or do something we had to do it come hell or high water.

We were taught to respect women. Yes ma'am, no ma'am. Hold the door open for them, offer help when needed. I don't open the car door for my wife, but I do open doors for her.

I could go on and on but sometimes I think the current generation of males - I will not say men - have no concept of what it means to be a protector and provider, which is the instinctual and natural role for men.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Yet there was another teaching that is equally valuable. Honor and respect are earned, the title without the work is charity and won't be valued.

 

[Underboss]

I had a long post but decided its easier to say, I started with nothing. I built it myself, never borrowed or inherited a dime. I have spent money on toys all of my life, but that was while making sure my future was secure. I was blessed with some abilities and an incredible work ethic. I attribute that to my father.
I find it funny when people comment about the things I had or have when they are clueless of the 100 hour weeks or the effort I put in to get there and here.

 

[Boat Bum]

I started with nothing and still have most of it left.

 

[TR25]

"One thing I learned from a wealthy gent is you make your money, not when you sell something, rather, when you buy something. If ya think about it, that's pretty wise, altho reverse thinking to most."

Well yah! Retail is a ceiling. The only way to make a living selling anything is to buy below market with allowance for selling costs.

Consumers spend!

true, but a lot of people just buy w/o putting any more idea into it than I'll sell it for more later.....nor matter the purchase price.

 

[TR25]

I find it funny when people comment about the things I had or have when they are clueless of the 100 hour weeks or the effort I put in to get there and here.

Most people aren't very deep thinkers.
For example, do some work on someone's house If it's a T&M (time and materials) job, they'll look at the hourly wage and compare it to what their boss pays them. Then be put off as it's a lot more.

They have no idea what it takes to start and run a business with employees. There's a lot of unpaid hours and hours put in not swinging a hammer on their job that was needed to do in order to do/get the job done.

I tell people to double their wages to find out about what it costs their boss to employ them. They truly have no idea.
And most are that way when it comes to others who make a lot of money. They just cannot fathom how it's done as all they have to do is show up at work, clock in, do tasks until time to clock out, then go home and wait for the check to hit their account when it's supposed to.

Just the nature of people.

 

[Dutch Star Don]

I was born in the mid 50's. My parents bought their first house for $5600.00 which I lived in until I was 20 years old. I started working at 15 and was full time my last year in high school, working at a tire store after school and Saturday. I remember my mom mixing skim milk, powder milk and can milk together. My parents were very frugal, but we did take an RV trip every year. We had a 12 foot Shasta trailer with the fins on the back. Clothes were bought big to last and all three kids were sent to 12 years of Catholic school.

My wife and I got engaged at 18 and we intended to get married when I landed a job at a local law enforcement organization. I left the tire store and went to work full time after high school as a mechanic at a local garage. I got good grades in High School and graduated with honors, but hated school and was not interested in college.

My wife and i decided I may never get hired into law enforcement and set a wedding date. She was working as a receptionist and we were saving every penny. My sister who was older was already married and buying a new home. We ended buying the one behind them. It was being built and was not completed until four weeks after we were married. Since my sister had sold her house, my mother told me on my wedding day that my sister, her husband and their new baby was moving into my room and I needed to find someplace to live. We lived in my camper shell in the driveway for a month until our house was completed.

About a year later, I was hired by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department did not pay well at first as friends were making much more in private industry. On graduation day, I bought my sister's eight foot Lance camper. My wife and I had been camping in our shell up until then. This began what is now 53 years of RVing.

We raised two kids and I moved along in the Department and bought our second home where we've lived for 43 years. We owned three Lance campers, one Dolphin camper, a Fleetwood Class C with no slides which we kept for 14 years. We bought a Class A gas as a pre retirement motorhome, but hated it and sold it a year later. We bought our first new diesel pusher, a 2005 36' Monaco Diplomat. We had that for ten years, bought a new 2014 Dutch Star 40' and then in 2019 we bought our current Dutch Star that we ordered from the factory. Probably last coach......can't afford another Dutch Star.

We liked to RV and later began boating, but always made sure we could afford the toys. My LAPD brother-in-law and I started Don and Gary's hillside weed abatement. After working our 11pm to 7am shifts, we would climb in our trucks and weed your hillside and take it to the dump. We later began rototilling and yard prep which eventually lead to concrete and brick work. We used that money to pay for the RV and boating trips.

Often while setting brick or prepping forms, we would laugh and say that some day, we'll be able to pay someone to do the work we were doing.

We both eventually promoted to better positions and after about 15 years of side jobs we were done. I did 34 years on the Department. I retired from the Arson/explosives Detail where I worked my last 16 years. I even had an arson dog.

I look back at those years, some were pretty lean,, especially when college and weddings came around for our daughters. After that, things got easier and the hard worked paid off. Even though the Department didn't pay well at 21, I was able to retire at 55. I'll mark 15 years of retirement next month.

My mother died young but my dad lived to 85. It was strange to see that I was making as much or more as him when he retired. I think that was it way it was with the boomers, doing better than their parents. I try to help my kids do better too. They're now in their 40's, both own their own homes and have two kids each.

Sadly, they may be the last generation to do what they did and I did, especially home ownership. With that said though, I see many now who do not see working more than their 40 hour work week. They feel shouldn't have to. They also spend on things that I don't normally buy for myself and especially at that age, like ten dollar coffee.

For now we still do about 12 weeks a year RVing. We try ad do one cruise every other year. I still do all my own service on the coach to save money, but it's getting more difficult and takes longer.

The journey continues.......now I'm trying to help my grandkids with braces, cars and eventually college.