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Old 05-12-2015, 11:50 AM   #21
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yeah I know all the little things will add up to more than I'm probably expecting and very quickly but I don't expect this to just be done right away and I also plan to do absolutely everything I can do my self I'm very good at self learning so that will be half of the fun! It comes down to I trust things to work out if they are supposed to and I'm just trying to find out about every possible avenue. I am not set on any one direction as of yet. I do appreciate the insight and the info though!

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Old 05-12-2015, 11:57 AM   #22
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My big worry would be maintenance/repairs. Even in a dream world where you pinch pennies and don't buy $3000 solar setups, you're going to need to put SOME money and work into the bus. A single tire or brake swap could wipe you out if you're stretching just to get the bus itself. Even little things like sandpaper, wire wheels, and rust-converter add up super fast.
TRUTH!

My metal tent as it sits has over a thousand in wire wheels, chisel bits, sandpaper, chemicals, more chemicals, tools, paint, ospho, masks, gloves, goggles, it goes on and on. A Lowes card will be needed! JK!
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Old 05-12-2015, 11:59 AM   #23
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TRUTH!

My metal tent as it sits has over a thousand in wire wheels, chisel bits, sandpaper, chemicals, more chemicals, tools, paint, ospho, masks, gloves, goggles, it goes on and on. A Lowes card will be needed! JK!
Same here...
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Old 05-12-2015, 12:08 PM   #24
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lol alright thanks for the numbers I'm trying to gather a rough estimate of its cost and that helps
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Old 05-12-2015, 12:20 PM   #25
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One cost that is always one to consider when bus shopping is tires.
Here in our area, and believe me I've shopped around, a new set of six mounted is going to cost 1800. Stay away from 20's and look for more modern 22.5's. Look at tire date codes too.
I will be buying two new ones, replacing the axle seals, and one new airbag for the rear. I'll be lucky if I get out of that for less than 1000. Real lucky. I'll be doing it all myself except the tires of course.
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Old 05-12-2015, 12:33 PM   #26
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yeah i have been wondering about tires and also brakes and roughly what pricing is looking at in our area. expensive seems to be the word =P but honestly about what i figured
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Old 05-12-2015, 12:55 PM   #27
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some people will argue with the following statement

If you have a local place that does commercial tires or a local OTR Business, stop in and ask them for steer(front) take offs, if they are worn evenly they can be used on our skoolies that do not see 80k pounds and 75 mph

just a thought and only my opinion mind you ;)
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Old 05-12-2015, 01:01 PM   #28
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For what I've seen used tires going for here, I'd rather cough up the extra cash for new, virgin tires.
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Old 05-12-2015, 01:03 PM   #29
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it probably does help to know the owner/operators etc...
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Old 05-12-2015, 08:04 PM   #30
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I have over $2000 in new steel, and having the metal shop sheer, and bend it alone.

Insurance for 2 years while being built. $2400

Insulation $7000

and the list go's on and on.

Nat
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Old 05-12-2015, 08:32 PM   #31
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new tires would probably be what I decided on as well, what is the general life span of bus tires? assuming they are being kept up on to not dry rot in the florida sun? obviously driving and how much you do goes into that. But lets assume its not driving a ton but does move around to keep everything good and moving.
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Old 05-12-2015, 09:35 PM   #32
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8-10 years roughly.
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Old 05-13-2015, 12:29 AM   #33
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Zie, You mentioned

"Anywho beyond all that I'm going to look into the lot my friend has his bus parked at which is a whopping $50 a month! incredibly reasonable and I could manage that even with renting as long as not one extra penny is spent".

Is that just for storage or could you possibly live there? If you could find a place to put your bus while you live in it and fix it from what you say, you could possibly swing buying a bus on a credit card (especially, one of those pay in full in xxx amount of months and pay no interest). I would then calculate by 5 months what your monthly payments would be and double or even triple up on the payments or even take the difference between your current rent & new rent and apply it to the credit card. This would guarantee you having your bus now vs later and pay only what the bus cost and not tons of interest attached. However, I wouldn't even consider it without something in writing guaranteeing your stay there though.

Once the bus is paid for you can still take out of your pay check the money you now pay for rent spend half of it on converting and put the rest away. I have managed to accumulate a good bit of emergency money by this...and that money is great to have when you have to buy something expensive for your build and trust us, you will have quite a few expensive things to get.

Along those lines once I buy the bus I would cut up and/or put that card up and forget you even have it (I can't tell you how many times I have taken advantage of those "deals" only to cut up the card or if the interest rate was fairly decent tuck it away and never use them again except a life or death emergency) Don't worry, once you get approved for one you'll get bombarded with offers.

I may appear to be nagging you on this but my best friend went from his first credit to bankruptcy, homeless, vehicle less & jobless in less than a year. He now lives with his Mother and Sister 300 miles away from all his friends lost his house and pretty much fu----ed up his whole existence as he knew it, he was in his late 40's when this happened. I remember him saying to me that he's a grown man who knows how to handle his affairs and in response to my "watch it with credit cards, they can bite you in the a$$ big time" his reply was he had it all under control. The offers were tooo good and the cards so easy to use...until the monthly payments starting coming in and the job went away ( I think in a very short time frame had gotten and maxed out about 6 credit cards).

From what you've been saying, I wouldn't feel comfortable have more financial responsibility right now. If the Company you work for can cut your hours as they did, what's to stop them from cutting you and others from the payroll altogether. If you can't find a part time job now, what makes you think you can find another full time one when and/if that happens.

Last time...I promise to shut up and truly wish you well on your new journey. I guess you aren't much older than my grandchildren and my maternal instincts jumped out when I started reading your stories ( 1st the lost money order story then the buying a bus on a credit card) made me write what I've have as I would be saying the same to them had the stories been theirs.
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Old 05-23-2015, 11:19 AM   #34
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Insulation $7000

Nat
How in the name of all that is holy does one manage to spend 7k on insulation?
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Old 05-24-2015, 03:38 AM   #35
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How in the name of all that is holy does one manage to spend 7k on insulation?
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Old 05-27-2015, 11:54 PM   #36
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How in the name of all that is holy does one manage to spend 7k on insulation?
4 inches of top quality Rigid Styrofoam in the floor.

4 inches of top quality closed cell spray foam in the walls, covered with 2 more inches of top quality Rigid Styrofoam.

6 to 12 inches of top quality closed cell spray foam in the ceiling, covered by 2 more inches of top quality Rigid Styrofoam.

Add up all the square footage's and it comes to 7K Canadian. We dont have nearly as good of prices as you folks in the south.

Nat
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Old 05-28-2015, 10:00 PM   #37
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4 inches of top quality Rigid Styrofoam in the floor.

4 inches of top quality closed cell spray foam in the walls, covered with 2 more inches of top quality Rigid Styrofoam.

6 to 12 inches of top quality closed cell spray foam in the ceiling, covered by 2 more inches of top quality Rigid Styrofoam.

Add up all the square footage's and it comes to 7K Canadian. We dont have nearly as good of prices as you folks in the south.

Nat
I believe proper termanation is You Feller's
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Old 05-28-2015, 10:34 PM   #38
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... or "yall".

Based on Nats numbers we could make a killing hauling insulation to Canada for resale.
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Old 05-28-2015, 11:56 PM   #39
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Based on Nats numbers we could make a killing hauling insulation to Canada for resale.

Werd!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 05-31-2015, 06:41 PM   #40
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Sadly with the price of oil dropped, our dollar has too. Now anything coming from the state side is just getting more costly, but our price of fuel has not gone down at all.

Combine that with only 6 months of weather above freezing, trying to build a bus and make a living all in that short 6 months.

I have not had a day off in 18 days. My work days are minimum 10 hours, most times 12 to 14 hours a day.

Now I'm off to work on my car.........

Nat
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