cheetahdavie Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Is it my imagination or are some campsite owners getting a little carried away with their prices on the back of the current popularity of caravaning/camping. Internet prices for a pitch near Bath came in at £132 for 4 nights, I appreciate its a popular area, not so popular that there were vacancies at the end of July, I won`t be filling any. Even with the drop in the value of the Euro, France is still a better bet. Written by Mirage [7/08/09] Sorry for "pinching the thread. As I read this my thoughts went back to days long ago [30+ years] when I converted an old Transit.Seats out,Tongued and grooved wooden floor and tin opener on the lid to give a pop up roof.The fun..Belgium/Holland/Germany/Luxembourg/Switzerland/back through France.you know?Many have done it. The point of my tale..the cost of not just Sites but ownership.As I type away[still a one finger typist!] I am idly costing on the back of MMM magazine..Insurance?Road Tax/Mot all due this month. A quick scrawl..servicing/Tyres/Exhaust?Loss of interest on capital.. the costs?wow! Not far short of £4 K just to have it sat "gleaming" on the drive [ I have just cleaned it] Camp sites are very full during the School hols[i know about C Ls but my 6 year old Granddaughter"gets bored without the excitement??] If I find a site with vacancies in"Peak"season it will cost from £20..£40+ per night [extra if I roll out the fiamma] Being a private sector pensioner [0.07% increase last April and no cast iron guarantees it will be paid let alone rise in future ] I am beginning to wonder? The `van` is used as often as I can, but remove the school hol periods,my annual pilgrimage to Australia for 6 weeks [forgot storage costs and paying someone to mow the lawns?] and the usage of the van becomes less and less. Cant get more than 6/8 weekends in the remaining days[and have a life?] On the road 25/27 mpg.. Is that a "reluctantly for sale" ad I see my wife writing?? It ain't just the cost of sites as Mirage suggests.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I saw a sign on a van last week that read - 'THIS MOTORHOME IS SPONSORED BY OUR KIDS INHERITANCE' I do have every sympathy with folk who are running a van on a limited budget as it's not so many years when we were in that same situation - and I remember often having 'local' holidays because we couldn't afford too many tankfuls of fuel! However the questions we always now ask ourselves when we start to doubt the wisdom of owning an expensive van is - 'what else would we spend the money on if we didn't have the van?' And 'what would happen to the money if we didn't spend it?' So would we rather we spent it, or our kids spent it after we've gawn - and that's a bit of a no brainer for us - especially as the kids ain't done bad so far already!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messerschmitt owner Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 in reply to the first thread, aren't some of the issues of running costs of our own making. I too remember slumming it in a Bedford CA Romany and the pleasures camping brought then. Nowadays, we have all been brainwashed/fooled into believeing our vans have to have every gadget known to man and then some. It's like having a baby - we are told we need all sorts of stuff, but in reality, if you take a long hard look at how often we use our vans (for most of us) the cost of purchasing SOGs, awnings, fuel cells, gaslow tanks, gel batteries, generators, fancy tellies that work on 12v, satellite systems, bike racks, towbars, etc., cannot be justified. Comfort is comfort but when travelodges can be booked for £19 a night, how easy is it to justify the vans we have and the accessories it is deemed necessary to own. It strikes me that many of us could save a small fortune on unnecessary accessories we're all fooled into buying by dealers and manufacturers telling us we desperately need them or our lives will somehow not be complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 messerschmitt owner - 2009-08-18 1:46 PM in reply to the first thread, aren't some of the issues of running costs of our own making. I too remember slumming it in a Bedford CA Romany and the pleasures camping brought then. Nowadays, we have all been brainwashed/fooled into believeing our vans have to have every gadget known to man and then some. It's like having a baby - we are told we need all sorts of stuff, but in reality, if you take a long hard look at how often we use our vans (for most of us) the cost of purchasing SOGs, awnings, fuel cells, gaslow tanks, gel batteries, generators, fancy tellies that work on 12v, satellite systems, bike racks, towbars, etc., cannot be justified. Comfort is comfort but when travelodges can be booked for £19 a night, how easy is it to justify the vans we have and the accessories it is deemed necessary to own. It strikes me that many of us could save a small fortune on unnecessary accessories we're all fooled into buying by dealers and manufacturers telling us we desperately need them or our lives will somehow not be complete. Isn't this now called Glamping, its a bit like Primark being now called Primarni by the anti-Chav's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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