Finances Archives - Interstellar Orchard

Happiness Per Dollar

December 14, 2017 | 21

When I was preparing to hit the road I made a list of the necessities for RVing, both things I thought of, and what other people said were must-haves. The list became so big that not only was it not affordable, it wouldn’t all fit in the Casita. There was an important lesson here: not…

Sugar Beet Harvest Job Descriptions and Recap

October 14, 2017 | 45

Today (Saturday the 14th) was my last day working the sugar beet harvest, woohoo! Our last truck came in at 11:37pm last night, so today day crew just came in for four hours to clean the machines well. A task that would have been better if it hadn’t been cold and raining this morning, but…

What Day Is It?

October 7, 2017 | 26

Here I am again, after dark with just a couple hours until bedtime trying desperately to update the blog before my last ounce of energy leaves me. On the plus side, today (Day 8 work-camping at the beet harvest in North Dakota for those just tuning in), was our first short day due to weather…

Record Keeping for a Blog

March 10, 2017 | 12

It’s tax season again, and on Wednesday I shaved an additional 15 minutes off of last year’s time for a new record of four hours, of which only an hour and a half was spent inputting numbers into TurboTax. The other two and a half hours was bookkeeping for IO, so that if I get…

The Vehicle Replacement Fund

March 2, 2017 | 47

Last fall I experienced my first vehicle break-down since hitting the road, and repairs ended up costing more than my truck was worth. The whole ordeal made me rethink the idea of an emergency fund and ultimately, expand on it. Most experienced full-timers tote how important it is to have an emergency fund and I…

2016 Amazon CamperForce Review

January 23, 2017 | 21

Want to know what the pay is really like for Amazon’s CamperForce program? I’ve sat down and done the math, and here are my numbers for the 2016 peak season at the Haslet site: Total weeks worked: 10 weeks, 6 days. Total hours worked: 442 Overtime hours worked: 18 Base pay: $11.50/hour Overtime pay: $17.25/hour…

2016 Full-time RVing Cost of Living & Income Report

January 16, 2017 | 38

Wondering how much it costs to live full-time on the road? You’ll quickly learn when researching this question that the number varies wildly from RVer to RVer. This can be frustrating because it makes it harder to narrow in on how much it’ll cost you. But another way to look at it is this: That…

2017 Health Insurance Update

November 30, 2016 | 44

In 2015 I wrote a pretty lengthy article on South Dakota health insurance for pre-medicare RVers. You can review that article for the full story but here’s a recap: From 2012-2014 I had a low cost, high deductible plan that would cover me in case of emergency only, everything else I paid out of pocket.…

Boondocking Review

November 5, 2016 | 56

While on the topic of experiments after the dehydrated food update, now feels like a good time to address the bigger experiment I did this year. As longtime readers know, this was the year I finally got solar power and a propane heater and tried boondocking. It was also the first year I didn’t work…

It’s That Time Again

February 26, 2016 | 15

I still keep waiting for the ball to drop, but I don’t think it’s coming this year. For the first time since I hit the road, my taxes were, well, almost easy. Maybe it only seems easier because of the practice and accumulated knowledge of having done it for several years now. Either way, I…

2015 Full-timer Cost of Living and Income Report

January 29, 2016 | 41

I summoned the willpower to secluded myself from the Xscapers festivities last week long enough to work out my 2015 cost of living and income numbers. Here they are, conveniently tacked on to the chart I’ve used for previous years for ease of comparison. As always, let me stress that these numbers will be different…

Haslet CamperForce Review

January 2, 2016 | 26

Some numbers from my Haslet CamperForce experience, I know how much people love numbers! Total weeks worked: 9 weeks, 6 days. Total hours worked: 480 Base pay: $10.75/hour Differential pay for working Saturday and Sunday: $1.00/hour, started early November Overtime pay: Time and a half for everything over 40 hours in one week – $16.125/hour…

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