theboondork's RV blog

cash, who needs it?

9/26/2018

This is a picture I took last year at Quartzsite. It might take a minute for it to animate.

I was thinking recently about how little cash I actually use anymore. I used to be a cash kind of guy, and I paid for most things with cash. For some things I used credit cards and checks, but mostly I used cash because long ago I figured out that you can get better deals with cash then you can with a credit card or a check.

But slowly over time, starting with when I went full-time, I became less worried about getting a good deal and more concerned about convenience. The first thing that went away was mailing in bills, there was too many problems associated with getting the bills and too much inconvenience paying them by mail, so using Wells Fargo Bank on the Internet and paying bills with a couple of clicks became my first step to being cashless.

My next step required a mental change on my part. I used to think it was silly to pay for a $20 item with a credit card, because dealing with the credit cards and bills was more difficult than whipping out a $20 bill. But now I pay for everything with a credit card, I don't care if it's fifty cents, it goes on my credit card, because that has become more convenient.

Now I do have to carry some cash for things like a tip at a restaurant, to pay the iron Ranger, or the very rare RV Park that will only take cash, and yes I have stayed at one that had that policy, but in general cash has very little meaning to me anymore and I think I could probably live without it.

Since most State and local parks will take a check in the iron Ranger envelope, you can put a tip for the waitress on your restaurant bill, and I stay in so few RV parks that running into one that only takes cash wouldn't be a hardship for me. So I went from being a guy who was concerned about the ramifications of America becoming a cashless society to someone who couldn't care less about having cash available..... And even though I know that's a good thing for me, but I don't know if It's a good thing for society.

theboondork

Butterfly on purple flower Denver Colorado

A butterfly on one of the few flowers left in the flower garden.

4 Comments

Linda Sand

9/27/2018 02:55:44 pm

I've traveled that same route regarding cash. But, once I got comfortable using my credit card for everything I had trouble remembering to bring my checkbook into the registration station at La Posa South.

Tom

9/27/2018 03:35:32 pm

I've checked in there a few times myself. But since I normally get the $40 two week stay I've usually got the cash on me to pay for it.

What I often do is spend a few weeks boondocking in random places around the Quartzite area, then go to an LTVA for two weeks, leave there and spend another few weeks boondocking in random areas again.

The reason I do that is I never feel 100% safe leaving the Arctic Fox sitting out in the desert all alone while I'm gone for several hours, such as going to the Parker Walmart. But when I'm boondocked at an LTV A I feel that the Arctic Fox is about 95% safe with me gone. So for those two weeks I take care of all my laundry, shopping, and whatever else that causes me to be away from home for a few hours.

I realize I wouldn't have that problem if I was boondocked around traveling companions or people that I knew like a lot of people in Quartzsite do, it must feel really good to be able to go to Parker and spend half a day shopping knowing you've got four or five neighbors keeping an eye on your RV.

But the lone wolf full timing that I have chosen means that I'll always have at least a twinge of fear that the Arctic Fox may not be there when I come back.

Tom

9/29/2018 01:34:40 pm

I bought the annual pass because I was in and out of there often. The break even point, if I remember correctly, was ten weeks which was easy for me to do over the months I was in the area. Only two weeks of that was camping with friends but I was living in a Class B so there was nothing to leave behind when running errands.

9/29/2018 02:15:35 pm

Sometimes I wish I had a class B, but it would have to be a tall one so I could stand up, and four-wheel-drive would make me feel better. It would be great for going places that I'm afraid to pull the Arctic Fox.

But then again when it's raining for a few days, and I'm trapped inside the Arctic Fox, it sure is nice to be able to walk around and have a bed that's always a bed, and a sofa that's always a sofa, kind of like living in a small apartment.

I guess there's no perfect RV for every occasion. I think if I were rich I would have a class B stored in Colorado so I could go up into the mountains whenever I felt like it without having to live in a tent like I do now. Because so far Colorado is the only place I go where I feel the need to leave the Arctic Fox behind and travel in my truck.

Even though I always look forward to going to Quartzsite the experience is kind of like being in Las Vegas in that it's great to get there, but it gets old really quick. Usually about a month or so is all I can take of the Quartzsite area and only a week of that can be during the Big Show because dealing with the crowds is not much fun for me.

Great to hear from you as always.

Tom

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cash, who needs it?

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