# After living in a converted school bus for a year, a retiree is now $10,000 in debt and selling her schoolie



## Robert59 (Oct 18, 2020)

*After living in a converted school bus for a year, a retiree is now $10,000 in debt and selling her schoolie — here's the one cost she didn't see coming*
https://www.yahoo.com/news/living-converted-school-bus-retiree-183135528.html


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## Pinky (Oct 18, 2020)

The bus was 20 yrs. old when she bought it. If I were her, I would have expected mechanical problems.


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## JimBob1952 (Oct 18, 2020)

She sounds - to put it kindly - like a fool.


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## Lethe200 (Oct 18, 2020)

It's sad but happens much too often - people jump into a retirement scenario without doing adequate  research and analysis.

They make assumptions based on ignorance, and don't know the right questions to ask before a smart decision can be made.


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## Aunt Bea (Oct 18, 2020)

Buying something and being able to afford it are two very different things. 

I'm not sure that she has learned much if she is going to sell the bus at a substantial loss to buy a car and trailer that will depreciate and eventually need the same maintenance/repairs as the bus.


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## tbeltrans (Oct 18, 2020)

Aunt Bea said:


> *Buying something and being able to afford it are two very different things.*
> 
> I'm not sure that she has learned much if she is going to sell the bus at a substantial loss to buy a car and trailer that will depreciate and eventually need the same maintenance/repairs as the bus.



I have had this conversation on several occasions with various people.  It just seems odd to me that the concept is so difficult to grasp.  I don't know anything about the person in the OP (there could well be extenuating circumstances we are not aware of), so I can't really comment knowledgably on that, but I can about the conversations I have had in person.

Tony


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## Manatee (Oct 21, 2020)

She is in way over her head.


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## squatting dog (Nov 19, 2020)

Unless you're mechanically inclined, no bus will ever work for you. Another thing I noticed was the $45k spent to convert. That means she paid someone else to do the work. Again, unless you have the skills, bus life ain't for you.  
This comes from a long time bus lover / builder. 
https://lifeisacarnivalblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/


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## Gary O' (Nov 19, 2020)

squatting dog said:


> Another thing I noticed was the $45k spent to convert. That means she paid someone else to do the work. Again, unless you have the skills, bus life ain't for you.


Yup

Much like living off grid in the mountains
Seems the simple life
I've seen many folks come.....and many folks go
You can't hire that stuff out
Or expect help
If it needs doin', you best be able to do it


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## Kadee (Nov 19, 2020)

We lived in a 1988  16ft caravan  for two years , we completely renovated inside including replacing the old bed with a lift up version you can store stuff under ..we did ALL the work including the fabric upholstery it cost us about $500 in materials for every thing
We traveled around Australia for 2 years  in between selling our home in the suburbs of Adelaide and having this home built .
So in saying that unless the woman intended living in the bus for the remainder of her life she was unwise to spend so much money on it as that sort of accommodation ,which rarely gains value they are very expensive to run fuel / servicing wise  .We met many during our travels who wished they’d never invested in such a heavy / slow moving vehicle


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## Kadee (Nov 19, 2020)

Before and after photos of caravan lounge


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## Pinky (Nov 19, 2020)

Kadee46 said:


> We lived in a 1988  16ft caravan  for two years , we completely renovated inside including replacing the old bed with a lift up version you can store stuff under ..we did ALL the work including the fabric upholstery it cost us about $500 in materials for every thing
> We traveled around Australia for 2 years  in between selling our home in the suburbs of Adelaide and having this home built .
> So in saying that unless the woman intended living in the bus for the remainder of her life she was unwise to spend so much money on it as that sort of accommodation ,which rarely gains value they are very expensive to run fuel / servicing wise  .We met many during our travels who wished they’d never invested in such a heavy / slow moving vehicle


@Kadee46 
I only traveled Victoria and SA, but found the caravan parks very well maintained. You were fortunate to travel around for 2 years. I bet you met a lot of interesting fellow-travelers.


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## Kadee (Nov 19, 2020)

Pinky said:


> @Kadee46
> I only traveled Victoria and SA, but found the caravan parks very well maintained. You were fortunate to travel around for 2 years. I bet you met a lot of interesting fellow-traveler


We did meet allot of very nice fellow traveler some we stayed in contact with for 14 years until they both passed away suddenly ..we visited each other over the years
We didn’t stay in allot of caravan parks we stayed in national parks / beautiful riverbank / seaside locations allot had beautiful amenities for free or low cost ( better than some caravan parks ) we liked places where we could walk / explore see and hear birdlife.
We considered that a luxury be to heathy enough to climb mountains walk through forests of huge trees ect ..we don’t have bears of anything like that to worry about ...
This book was a bible for finding the best areas to stay 

@Pinky


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## squatting dog (Nov 19, 2020)

Gary O' said:


> Yup
> 
> Much like living off grid in the mountains
> Seems the simple life
> ...



Yeah, but on their online forums, they said it was easy to just live off grid, and live off the land.    BwaaaaHaaaaaa


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## Gary O' (Nov 19, 2020)

squatting dog said:


> Yeah, but on their online forums, they said it was easy to just live off grid, and live off the land.   BwaaaaHaaaaaa


Heh, the only 'easy' thing about it, is the dream
First year, I literally worked night and day
One can only read/study so much, then....it's hands on learning
Learning whether you can or whether you want to that bad...whether yer willing

What kept me, and my lady, was enjoying the work.....the accomplishment


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## Phoenix (Nov 19, 2020)

I would get claustrophobia living in a small place.  But it would be nice to have a camper van or something like that in case the wild fires hit us here next year, so we'd at least have a place we could live.  My husband is a tall guy, so that makes that iffy.


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## Remy (Nov 19, 2020)

I feel bad for her. I agree, she didn't think everything out but I guess she's not the only one. I follow some RV, campervan, trailer people on YouTube. It wouldn't be for me. I think she needs to find a home, settle and see about traveling from there. 

I agree doing that bus up like that was not wise. It's not worth much if it doesn't run unless she wants to park in in a year round RV park and live there. A bit sad. I sure haven't always made the smartest decisions myself.


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## Gary O' (Nov 19, 2020)

Remy said:


> I feel bad for her. I agree, she didn't think everything out but I guess she's not the only one


One does feel bad for folks that act on a whim
Seems they fixate on their own *'can do' *thoughts and skewed initiative 
Then
Grim reality

Some do the most outlandish things, thinking they'll be pioneers...trend setters
One couple bought wunna those sheds you see...for a few bucks down
Those shed folks will even set it on yer property
We visited 'em
Nice, younger couple
Being native Americans, they commenced to build a teepee
Were gonna raise fish in that teepee 
Also, were gonna keep chickens in it...*'to keep the teepee warm'*
I jus' shook my head
Couple months later, they moved back to town
Burnt the shed up from their makeshift wood stove 

I could write a book on what folks try 

I might


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## Phoenix (Nov 19, 2020)

Making good and bad choices is just part of life.  We can learn from each of them.


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## OneEyedDiva (Nov 20, 2020)

My goodness.  She could have had a tiny house constructed for about the same amount of money, hitched it to her vehicle and hit the road. To buy an old bus and pump that much money into it was foolish. She should have had a trusted mechanic (is that an oxymoron?) check it out first and not taken the word of who sold it.
https://www.itinyhouses.com/tiny-homes/35-frugal-tiny-houses-can-build-buy-budget/
She may have also come out cheaper buying or renting a travel trailer. This site has them for under $25,000.  For either option, her vehicle would need the specs to be able to tow them.  Watched the video for this trailer. It looks really nice inside.
https://rv.campingworld.com/rvdetai...tream-enlighten-25bh-bunkhouse-20k-LAK1799676


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