Things you often Wonder

[Rugeley Villa]

Just now, Seat68 said:

I used to have a collie cross so hoovered daily but now my dog doesn't really shed so on the whole, no need. 

Laminate flooring is a bugger for collecting dust 

[Rds1983]

8 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Laminate flooring is a bugger for collecting dust 

Good for skidding along in your socks though. 

[mjmooney]

3 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

I have to fight with myself not to hoover once a day most of the time . The day after I’ve hoovered and mopped which I do once or twice a week  the following day I’m ok but yeah I like hoovering . My wife banned me a few weeks back because I get all irate and worked up when I’m hoovering and I’m a bit snappy once I’ve finished. Two dogs ,cat,  three kids plus me and wife is my excuse to hoover everyday.

Ooh, you've reminded me - I never did update my vacuum cleaner thread with my final purchase decision, did I? Anyway, I got one of these, and it's ace. Light and easy to use. Once a week, minimum, but more often if the kids have been round, as they leave crumbs everywhere. 

[Rugeley Villa]

8 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Ooh, you've reminded me - I never did update my vacuum cleaner thread with my final purchase decision, did I? Anyway, I got one of these, and it's ace. Light and easy to use. Once a week, minimum, but more often if the kids have been round, as they leave crumbs everywhere. 

What’s the suction like Mike ? I’m asking for a friend 

[Rugeley Villa]

Are static caravans worth it? When I say worth it I mean to buy .

[rjw63]

2 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Are static caravans worth it? When I say worth it I mean to buy .

Depends.

On the one hand you have somewhere to go for a break whenever you want.

On the other hand, after purchasing you have to shell out for boiler service, gas bottles, electric and water,, insurance and of course the biggun, ground rent.

Its ain’t cheap.

[Rugeley Villa]

2 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

Depends.

On the one hand you have somewhere to go for a break whenever you want.

On the other hand, after purchasing you have to shell out for boiler service, gas bottles, electric and water,, insurance and of course the biggun, ground rent.

Its ain’t cheap.

Yep , that’s what puts me off rob but I’d love one. I enjoy caravan breaks. Obviously you can rent it out , but is that worth it . Plus a good static isn’t cheap. 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Rugeley Villa

[Seat68]

7 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Yep , that’s what puts me off rob but I’d love one. I enjoy caravan breaks. Obviously you can rent it out , but is that worth it . Plus a good static isn’t cheap. 

Lets say you find a site that you think yeah I want to come here multiple times a year for x amount of years. 

You see a van, if its 20k, its likely to be 10 to 15 years old, nothing wrong with that, price will dictate age. If its sold by the site, that figure will include siting. It will be in situe.

If it's 40k, much better van, probably 5-7 years old, possibly on a better pitch.

That's the initial outlay. Then annually you have service fees, around 1.5k a year, rising to 4k, sometimes higher for sites with great facilities in a great location.

Then you have gas, not a huge amount, but an expense. Potentially electricity but sites tend to work water and electric into the service fees.

So thats the cost so far, but then some sites are not 12 months a year, so you can only use your van 9-10 months a year.

Now here is the kicker. Most sites have a 25 year restriction on vans, once it reaches 25 years old, you find a newer one, you have to dispose of your old van and replace it.

[Rugeley Villa]

3 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

Lets say you find a site that you think yeah I want to come here multiple times a year for x amount of years. 

You see a van, if its 20k, its likely to be 10 to 15 years old, nothing wrong with that, price will dictate age. If its sold by the site, that figure will include siting. It will be in situe.

If it's 40k, much better van, probably 5-7 years old, possibly on a better pitch.

That's the initial outlay. Then annually you have service fees, around 1.5k a year, rising to 4k, sometimes higher for sites with great facilities in a great location.

Then you have gas, not a huge amount, but an expense. Potentially electricity but sites tend to work water and electric into the service fees.

So thats the cost so far, but then some sites are not 12 months a year, so you can only use your van 9-10 months a year.

Now here is the kicker. Most sites have a 25 year restriction on vans, once it reaches 25 years old, you find a newer one, you have to dispose of your old van and replace it.

Just too much outlay isn’t it unless you’re pretty comfortable for money. I’m also aware of the last bit of your post where sites have a restriction on how old your static is. Unless you’re renting it out I can’t see how it would be worth it unless as I’ve said you really can afford it.  Renting out comes with its own problems too I’d imagine. 

[Seat68]

1 minute ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Just too much outlay isn’t it unless you’re pretty comfortable for money. I’m also aware of the last bit of your post where sites have a restriction on how old your static is. Unless you’re renting it out I can’t see how it would be worth it unless as I’ve said you really can afford it.  Renting out comes with its own problems too I’d imagine. 

Yeah agreed. My wife has been talking about one for years and its the age restriction that has always swayed me. I can't afford a 40-80k static, and even with the age, you wouldn't in my opinion make that money back in value, so to speak. Where as a 20k-25k van, if allowed for longer, you could probably justify that. An example I was looking at, lovely site by Borth, good facilities, could see me spending a lot of time there. 25k for the van. 2.5k per year service fees. However its already 14 years old, so 11 years left, if fees remain the same, thats 52k. Which might be reasonable value if you are in it every single weekend, or rent it out and make some money off it, but for me I consistently say no to it.

[chrisp65]

Yep, my brother tried it, and the age restriction is problematic.

Also, if you do decide to rent it out, then all your personal belongings need to be removed, so you’re either driving there to empty it and take everything of yours back home, or paying for storage on site.

My brother did the sums, and bought one.

I did the sums, and decided the same money would get me quite a few fancy hotel weekends with zero admin hassle.

[rjw63]

1 hour ago, Seat68 said:

Lets say you find a site that you think yeah I want to come here multiple times a year for x amount of years. 

You see a van, if its 20k, its likely to be 10 to 15 years old, nothing wrong with that, price will dictate age. If its sold by the site, that figure will include siting. It will be in situe.

If it's 40k, much better van, probably 5-7 years old, possibly on a better pitch.

That's the initial outlay. Then annually you have service fees, around 1.5k a year, rising to 4k, sometimes higher for sites with great facilities in a great location.

Then you have gas, not a huge amount, but an expense. Potentially electricity but sites tend to work water and electric into the service fees.

So thats the cost so far, but then some sites are not 12 months a year, so you can only use your van 9-10 months a year.

Now here is the kicker. Most sites have a 25 year restriction on vans, once it reaches 25 years old, you find a newer one, you have to dispose of your old van and replace it.

The last site we had a van on didn’t have any age restrictions, as long as you kept it in good nick you could have a 40 year old van.

Also most sites that do have age restrictions usually have 15 years as their rule.

[rjw63]

1 hour ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Just too much outlay isn’t it unless you’re pretty comfortable for money. I’m also aware of the last bit of your post where sites have a restriction on how old your static is. Unless you’re renting it out I can’t see how it would be worth it unless as I’ve said you really can afford it.  Renting out comes with its own problems too I’d imagine. 

Just had a look on marketplace… there’s one in Tredegar, on a site with club house and fishing lake. No age restrictions on vans.

Ground rent a reasonable 2k, van is up for 7k.

[Seat68]

9 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

Just had a look on marketplace… there’s one in Tredegar, on a site with club house and fishing lake. No age restrictions on vans.

Ground rent a reasonable 2k, van is up for 7k.

That really is excellent 

[chrisp65]

10 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

That really is excellent 

You didn’t read the tenth word, did you?

[Seat68]

Just now, chrisp65 said:

You didn’t read the tenth word, did you?

Hence the ridiculous price tag then I will wager. It would be 6k in Cannock.

[Paddywhack]

15 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

I have to fight with myself not to hoover myself once a day most of the time . 

FTFY

[chrisp65]

I get that different people want different things.

I can do a quiet weekend in the country, but lordy, it would have to be a weekend I couldn’t do a week. We had a week just slightly out of season down in Cornwall earlier this year and I had to get out and go somewhere every day. It was a lovely place, sit out on a little veranda or porch, all trees and greenery, we had a robin that was scamming us for pastie crusts and the sound of crows in the distance.

But every day? For seven days? I’d have gone full wicker man crazy.

I’ve just booked a hotel up that London for this weekend. Central, good reviews, bit of greenery directly outside with one of them private garden things. Two minute walk to Hyde Park. That’s cost under £200 for two people.

You’d get an awful lot of weekends away in hotels for the same money as a caravan in Tredegar. If you had that ‘van for 5 years, that would be what £17,000 if there were absolutely no other costs at all, no fuel no nothing.

£17,000 over 5 years gets me quite a few city breaks. But then I guess I’m also kids free, and that has to be a big consideration. And most of the hotels frown on disposable bbq’s in the corridor outside the room.

But, it’s different strokes for different folks, innit. 

[Seat68]

3 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

I get that different people want different things.

I can do a quiet weekend in the country, but lordy, it would have to be a weekend I couldn’t do a week. We had a week just slightly out of season down in Cornwall earlier this year and I had to get out and go somewhere every day. It was a lovely place, sit out on a little veranda or porch, all trees and greenery, we had a robin that was scamming us for pastie crusts and the sound of crows in the distance.

But every day? For seven days? I’d have gone full wicker man crazy.

I’ve just booked a hotel up that London for this weekend. Central, good reviews, bit of greenery directly outside with one of them private garden things. Two minute walk to Hyde Park. That’s cost under £200 for two people.

You’d get an awful lot of weekends away in hotels for the same money as a caravan in Tredegar. If you had that ‘van for 5 years, that would be what £17,000 if there were absolutely no other costs at all, no fuel no nothing.

£17,000 over 5 years gets me quite a few city breaks. But then I guess I’m also kids free, and that has to be a big consideration. And most of the hotels frown on disposable bbq’s in the corridor outside the room.

But, it’s different strokes for different folks, innit. 

Thats why I like my motorhome. Yes I go back to St Annes for weekends around 5 or 6 times a year, but on the whole we like to see a bit of the UK, its been Scotland, Kent, Delamere Forest, Bala, Cirencester and the Cotswolds over Christmas. I really wouldn't want to be rooted to one place. I go on holiday to Brixham on Saturday and due to some work stress, we just want to relax in Brixham and not travel out anywhere, but I know in the end we will.

[Stevo985]

17 hours ago, Rds1983 said:

Who's going to run out of patience and give up first in the Conspiracy Theory thread?

I've got a couple more posts left in me. I'm losing hope though