Assistance needed, not charity

[Matencio]

Good morning (or whatever time it is when you read this) friend.

Let me begin by stating I'm not looking for charity, I'm asking for a hand up to help me get back to living a normal life in retirement.

What happened?
I'm nearly flat broke because I caught Covid 3 freaking times teaching. I'm a middle school teacher and had to file bankruptcy because of the medical bills and loss of pay. Things went downhill fast after that and Florida is a very expensive state to live in. Bankruptcy wasn't a choice, it was the last option and we took it.

The courts took the savings and made us sell everything of value to satisfy the bankruptcy - which hurt, but, it was fair to the creditors. I didn't want to cheat anyone. Life happened and I'm not complaining. But, it put us at step one starting all over again. Right now, I'll have to work until I drop dead unless I have an alternate plan.
I was already wanting a schoolie for a retirement home so I could visit the kids and grandkids all over the country. It wasn't meant to be a permanent home but it is now thanks to Covid. Hey, I survived catching Covid three times! I'm not going to complain. I'm alive and got my health with no side effects (I hope).

Owning a schoolie is the only real choice for me and the wife if we want an affordable home during retirement. I need to get out of the classroom and plan to teach online during retirement. I'm ready to retire now because I'm 63 and don't want to risk another illness that may take my life. Plus I don't want my kids financially taking care of me and the wife. Nobody wants their kids to have that burden. A schoolie solves all of that.

I'm using sweat labor to build the inside which I can do. I have the construction, woodworking, and maintenance skills and tools to do the build. I can plumb, frame, pull wire, weld, tape, bed, and texture. I just need an affordable, reliable bus to build out. Out here they use a lot of the Internationals which I'm familiar with.

If you have a bus you can accept payments for or want to trade teaching for, please reach out and let me know. I prefer a DT466 front-engine International because I can work on these and they don't heat up the interior as a rear engine bus does. Of course, beggars can't be choosers so I'll accept any bus that is reliable. I'd like to avoid any requiring DEF and really high miles.

Trade for Work
I can teach/assist home-schooled children if you want to exchange work for a schoolie. I can teach all grade levels. It's a good deal for you if you have a bus sitting around. I'm certified and teach science in Florida right now. Your home-schooled students don't need a certified teacher. Having access to a good teacher to be there on the other hand can be a Godsend if you're struggling. I also taught psychology and criminal justice for a university in Louisiana prior to moving to Florida. I can tutor those areas extremely well.

Someone out there can benefit a lot from my teaching abilities. I'm going to admit I'm terrible at advanced math. I can teach basic math and statistics except for Algebra or Trig. My availability is to assist/teach after I come home from work at the middle school. I'm available all summer and nights as needed. I can do video teaching and have a personal ZOOM account for one-to-one teaching. Let's trade if you need me!

Thanks for taking the time to read my request for help. A life of public service didn't make me rich but it has made me humble and shown me that when things are at their worst, people will step up to help anyone as long as the person or people help themselves. I've always been the helper. Now I'm the one in need. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Mike Atencio

[Whywalk]

I am in Washington state and can't help, but I saw your post and wanted to reply just to tell you that I'm pulling for you.
Good luck to you, sir!

[Egg Bus]

I am all the way out West and don't have a bus to sell, but I'm sending you encouragement! I'm a teacher too, so I feel ya!

[LargeMargeInBaja]

Mike,
This forum is skoolie-centric, The Place To Be for everything bus.
I am a guest here, little to contribute for late-model conversions.
Much of my blathers involve ancient history, the equivalent of wrinkled vets elbowing the bar at the Veterans Of Foreign Women club-house.
.
So -- treading lightly on the members toes -- might I suggest a different route?
Are you locked into a bus?
Could a box-van or horse-trailer help accomplish your goals of visiting your family?
.
If they live near water, could a boat be practical for full-time live-aboard?
.
I seem to believe many of the conversion skills discussed here are transferable and adaptable to other platforms.
However, I freely admit I could be delusional, in desperate need of different meds and a stern talking-to by Trannt Perfesserionerals.

[Matencio]

Elegant and insightful.
Of course, there are other alternatives. I have a pick-up truck with a camper shell. Retiring, the bus will be a permanent home for us. The other choices including my truck and camper shell have been ruled out mostly due to it being impractical. A cargo trailer would be my second choice but the wife will have nothing of that and as the old saying goes, if mama isn't happy, no one is happy.

A boat is the coolest idea but I know nothing about living on a boat and I want to travel and see the country before it's my time to cross over to see all of my loved ones. I still have a few good years left to spend with my grandkids and what better way than to do it in a converted bus? They (the kids and grandkids 21 in all) already named it the Gypsy Rose and I don't even own it yet. How can I not embrace that? An adventure with my kids and grandkids.

So a bus it will be - oh, and there's the fact that I drove for Greyhound for several years until the big strike in the late 80s-early 90s. That was a love of life for me. So a bus, one way or the other, is what I'm going to do. I'm not, nor ever have been a quitter. That's how I survived Covid three times. I don't know how to quit. If my truck was paid off, I'd sell it for a bus. I have a year left of payments and then I'll sell it to get the bus if necessary, though I really don't want to. I love my truck. Thanks for the suggestions.

[DeMac]

We're old, too. So what. My disabled vet heart bleeds. Getting old sucks, it ain't for whimps.

Buses are an expensive accessory vehicle, similar to a boat, airplane, RV. It is a large possession. A thing, which also requires a place, housing.

So then what? Will you be dragging a bus with you when you are looking for a place to live. 'Oh, my bus eats so much fuel... I need a Place to park my bus. Sneaky. Just get some kids.

A bus is a money pit. Travel is expensive. Buying, restoring and converting a large vehicle is a monumental task, long term investment. It is more expensive than a site built home. Land is cheaper than bus fuel ($1per mile @ only 8k mi year) Investors often repeat the same mistakes. Listen to someone who is offering a more traditional way.

A Bankruptcy Judge? Not a thief took it. A judge made you return money. Taxpayers (us) picked up the rest. But you promise to work it off, this time. Ha.

[Veloc]

If you have a truck, look at a 5th wheel or bumper pull trailer. Both depreciate incredibly fast, so a decent used one can be had for a small fraction of what a new one goes for. Be worth a look, and you can keep the truck provided it's a full size.

[Rwnielsen]

The "bus" itself is the cheapest part of your plan...by far. I recently turned 68 and I'm still working, hoping to retire somday too. I have to keep working so I can afford to finish building my bus. I have a ways to go and, at times, it's not easy.

[Matencio]

Withdrawn. I'm rewriting this

[Matencio]

We looked at those options and in the long term, they weren't a good choice. Paying so much for a trailer with particle board and 2" walls, no insulation, and wonky one-of-a-kind parts seemed like a terrible investment. The ones we looked at were cheaply made and devalued the moment they left the lot. Used ones were in terrible repair and the older ones still gave off Formaldehyde gas. And all of them had leaking roofs. The bus was the final choice after looking at all of the other options. Once it's built, it's a no-rent solution. I can park it on my kid's land in Louisiana and only pay for utilities and maintenance. My SS check will be able to do that and I'll be able to afford meds for my diabetes and some other things going on. I'll still have to work too. I like working, just not with middle school kids. Thanks for reaching out.
Mike

[Matencio]

[QUOTE=DeMac;468428]We're old, too. So what. My disabled vet heart bleeds. Getting old sucks, it ain't for whimps.

Buses are an expensive accessory vehicle, similar to a boat, airplane, RV. It is a large possession. A thing, which also requires a place, housing.

So then what? Will you be dragging a bus with you when you are looking for a place to live. 'Oh, my bus eats so much fuel... I need a Place to park my bus. Sneaky. Just get some kids.

A bus is a money pit. Travel is expensive. Buying, restoring and converting a large vehicle is a monumental task, long term investment. It is more expensive than a site built home. Land is cheaper than bus fuel ($1per mile @ only 8k mi year) Investors often repeat the same mistakes. Listen to someone who is offering a more traditional way.

You lost me at "So what. I'm a Disabled Vet..."

Clearly, you want me to withdraw my request to help myself. It's clear that your "I'm a Disabled Vet " sympathy needs outweigh any request I have. Please post an address where I can send a card and a donation for your tragic bleeding heart. That medical condition needs to be checked immediately.

FYI, I'm a vet too but I didn't bring attention to it by downing someone else or using it to gain sympathy. Where do I send the boxes of Kleenex again?

As a final thought, if you have to make others feel bad about themselves so you can feel good about yourself, you have major character flaws. and for the record. Everything I owed was paid in full during my bankruptcy. Your ass didn't spend a cent for anything. I even had a few dollars returned to me.

Being a better man, I forgive your ignorance and meanness. It's the least I can do for a disabled vet, one vet to another.

[DeMac]

You invited yourself into a skoolie group to beg for a free bus. Told your son story. My response in not unique. I am not here to make you "feel", that is why you wrote your message. You have some feelings, too, right?

You made your own bed. Credit is a promise to work off debt (slavery). I didn't open the floor to your false promise to work off your previous promissory note(s).

All professional investors expect an initial investment from the loan recipient. You have done nothing to attain the extravagant purchace. You have zero experience with owning a bus, but you tell us (false witness) why its cheaper. We know the truth. Where are all the friends and family that you have built relationships with, over decades? No help. They know you already.

I'm off to work. Old &/or disabled still go to work. Some until the last day.

Nobody files bankruptcy because they have enough assets to pay all debts to zero. Please.

[Hutchy]

"I'm using sweat labor to build the inside which I can do. I have the construction, woodworking, and maintenance skills and tools to do the build. I can plumb, frame, pull wire, weld, tape, bed, and texture. I just need an affordable, reliable bus to build out. Out here they use a lot of the Internationals which I'm familiar with."



If you have these skills a better route in a skoolie forum may be to offer your skills for hire then buy a bus

[Matencio]

I never considered doing that. Thanks. I'm going to do that while I'm off during the summer. I have the tools and all so that's a really great suggestion. I owe you a cold one or two.
Mike

[Rwnielsen]

Originally Posted by Matencio

I never considered doing that. Thanks. I'm going to do that while I'm off during the summer. I have the tools and all so that's a really great suggestion. I owe you a cold one or two.
Mike

I think you'll find no shortage of people needing help with their build.

[Bus'n it]

You may consider a coach bus. Not all RV’s are built out of particle wood. I sold my skoolie project. I come to find that the way I wanted it, would have cost me in excess of 100k for something that is worth 10k on the market. Bought myself a 1993 Newell coach that needed a little interior updating. It’s all steel and aluminum construction with factory applied spray foam. Best financial decision I ever made. I am 52 and would most likely be dead by the time I finished the skoolie to my standards. Not due to finances but for time. DeMac is absolutely correct on ownership expenses. I have close to 25k in the upfit of my bus and haven’t begun to replace wear items such as fuel lines and other rubber stuff. That said, it’s a million mile design and then some. YouTube videos glorify the nomadic lifestyle but you have to think about where you are going to park and how that $5 a gallon diesel is going to get paid for. My bus resides on its concrete slab awaiting $1300 worth of diesel to fill it once the price gets back to $3.60 a gallon. Until then, it’s a good looking man cave/guest house. We went through Covid 2 times before and after getting vax’ed. it was a misery the first time and a breeze the second time. It affects everyone differently. My father in law got it first and was hospitalized. We got it from him. I am glad you got your second chance. Yes, it sucks you are starting over but I am a believer that some of the best comebacks are from starting over. Keep your mind clear and don’t rush into anything. Do all your research first.

[Brian S]

Originally Posted by Veloc

If you have a truck, look at a 5th wheel or bumper pull trailer. Both depreciate incredibly fast, so a decent used one can be had for a small fraction of what a new one goes for. Be worth a look, and you can keep the truck provided it's a full size.

I totally agree. I am nearing completion of my E450 Collins five window and would definitely have gone with a small 5th wheel or just a 15 foot travel trailer to pull with a pickup/suburban. The bus is awesome, it has just taken way more effort, aggravation and money toward unforeseen mechanical issues than planned. Good luck.

[Matencio]

Hj Brian,,
I'm considering buying an 8.5 X 16 or 20 ft trailer. I'll pull it with my truck. I have an F150 2wd with a V6. Those hold their value well and should I get a bus, everything can mostly be reused in the bus. If we like it, we'll move up to the bus. Small steps first.